The building that holds the Loudon Village County Store will be going on the auction block in two weeks along with three sand and gravel pits, including one next to the I-93 welcome center in Hooksett.

Four properties owned by Plourde Sand & Gravel Inc. with mortgages held by the Great Lakes Finance Co. will be the subject of a foreclosure auction Jan. 31, according to an announcement by Paul McInnis auctioneers.

The sale includes the one-acre parcel holding the Loudon Village County Store, 40 South Village Road, with two apartments above it. The store is operating although its future will depend on any buyer.

The store drew attention in 2020 for owner Dawn Plourde’s aggressive pushback against Gov. Chris Sununu’s mask mandate in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. She was eventually fined $2,000 by the state for refusing to enforce the mandate, one of nine businesses that faced such action, but the fines and convictions were later overturned by the state Legislature.

Also for sale is a sand and gravel pit on 87 acres in Hooksett located between the I-93 Welcome Center and the Merrimack River, a 68-acre gravel pit in Allenstown that is not currently being excavated, and a 31-acre former gravel pit that is now a residential lot in Loudon.

All the properties will be sold separately. A $10,000 deposit is required and there is no minimum bid, although Great Lakes Finance Co. has the option to bid if it thinks the prices being offered are too low.

The auction will be held on the property of the Loudon Village County Store, 40 South Village Road, at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31.

The sand and gravel pits are among dozens that exist in New Hampshire. They take advantage of material that was left behind when glaciers retreated at the end of the last Ice Age, grinding up rocks into gravel, sand and clay, then melting into lakes which gathered and deposited the material in certain locations.

Details of the auction can be found on the auctioneer’s website, paulmcinnis.com.

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