On Monday evening live alpacas and a goat paraded about the yard of Mort and Bev Fearey overlooking the Edgartown Harbor at the eighth annual garden party and auction that benefits the Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard.
Businesses from around the Island set up tables to auction off their products in support of the animals. There was no tent, and guests felt a slight breeze before sundown. Meg Mercier stood at an easel on the porch of the Fearey home, capturing the whole scene in a painting.
The garden party is the largest of the shelter’s fundraisers. In addition to Vineyard businesses donating goods for the silent auctions, the shelter set up tables of its own. At one, guests could buy a brick to be placed on the sidewalk in front of the shelter, in honor of a loved person or pet. Donations to the Suzy Fund table went directly to animals with major medical issues at the shelter.
The party was catered and manned entirely by volunteers, many of them Fearey grandchildren.
Hostess Bev Fearey explained that the shelter felt obliged to provide an inclusive and celebratory event, to give back to its supporters. “You have to do a lot because the shelter is run on total donations. It would not exist otherwise,” she said. She noted that even the international code flags on her flagpole were hung in honor of the event.
The shelter works to make sure that the donations it receives do not go to waste. Over the past eight years, the shelter has found homes for more than 800 Island animals — mostly dogs and cats but sometimes rabbits and guinea pigs. The shelter is also committed to providing proper medical care for every animal that comes in.
Board chairman Duncan Ross took on his leadership role six years ago out of a stubborn dedication to ensuring that no animal is left behind. “Our philosophy is to take care of domestic animals on the Island,” he said. “Once they are placed in the house they become ours.”
As guests made a final lap around the tables before the live auction began, Mark Lovewell strummed a guitar and played the harmonica. One animal lover, Kim Brooker, sat in a front row seat listening to the music. Though the invitation to the garden party suggested “Vineyard casual” as the dress code, Mr. Brooker was dressed in a blazer and light pink shirt that matched his pink socks.
He said he has owned more than a few dogs in his day, and is not one to dismiss the importance of an animal’s potential. “I have had winners in the Ag Fair,” he said. “Clarence, Maurice, and Marcel, to name a few. They all won blue ribbons.”
The alpacas took a break from their fans down by the water and Clarence (Trip) Barnes 3rd began the live auction. “I have been doing it since ’68,” he said in a conversation beforehand about his longtime work as an auctioneer on the Island. “Tonight will be a good time. The food is great, the booze is great, it will be a good time.”
On contrast with Mr. Brooker, Mr. Barnes was clad in jeans and a Barnes Trucking T-shirt. He led a spirited auction, successfully inviting bids for everything from pig roasts and Ms. Mercier’s live painting, to a day at the Westminster Dog Show and a sailboat harbor cruise. Bidding packages were all donated by friends and businesses who support the shelter.
Organizers said later that the event raised about $76,000.
Mr. Ross noted the worthy cause. “With each adoption, there are three winners: the animal, its new family, and us,” he said.
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