From left, ‘Jersey’ Jon Szalay, Cooper Ray and Glenn Ray of Tyrone, and Robbie Wolf pose with Shep, Glenn’s faithful sidekick, during Ray’s appearance on “American Pickers.” The episode airs tonight at 9 p.m. on The History Channel. Courtesy photo

A Tyrone resident will appear on the History Channel series “American Pickers” tonight.

Show staff recently paid a visit to Glenn Ray, owner of G&R Excavating and Demolition, to seek out any treasures in his private collection.

Ray has owned and operated G&R Excavating and Demolition since it started about 35 years ago, but his love for salvaging items of historical significance from demolition jobs stems from his days as a young man working at his father’s salvage yard and garbage business.

“I used to root through the cars and save stuff I would find,” Ray said. “I just never quit doing it, and I came up with a lot of hidden treasures.”

Ray said he would also look through old houses, commercial buildings and anywhere else he might be able to find something.

In a press release, Ray said that his “hoard has become a bit out of control.”

According to Ray, antique experts Robbie Wolfe and Jon “Jersey Jon” Szalay visited three separate properties where they combed through the family’s massive cache of architectural salvage.

“They were very professional,” Ray said. “They met with my boy at another building. He called me and said the ‘American Pickers’ are standing in the shop.”

Ray said that as he started showing the Pickers more buildings, “they got more interested” and “spent a couple days going through everything.”

“They explained why they wanted to buy certain things, which did my heart good,” Ray said. “They were serious about the things.”

Ray said that one thing the Pickers bought a lot of was wrought iron fence that he had saved from old job sites. They even picked up an old Coca-Cola machine.

“I’m excited myself to see the show,” Ray said. “I couldn’t believe how professional it was — how it was done.”

The show’s producers also interviewed Ray at his home and discussed his business and his long history of stock car racing.

“It was a very nice thing for me to be able to work with them; they treated us well,” Ray said. “They had the whole crew with them.”

The episode, titled “Junkyard Jewels,” which is number seven of season 24 of the series, will air at 9 p.m. today on The History Channel.

This episode is about three years in the making, as Ray said he and the Pickers had been exchanging emails about a potential visit before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ray added that if anyone else is interested in looking at his collection, he and Ron Gilligan of Ron Gilligan Auctioneering would be having a multi-day sale to clean out his buildings. While the sale will be held at Ray’s home, other details are in the works, he said.

“A lot of stuff has been going into those buildings for the last 35 to 45 years,” Ray said.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.