Each year more than 6,000 people are served by Martha’s Vineyard Community Services, the largest human service provider on the Island.

“I always think that number is so important,” said Sandy Pimentel, a member of the board of directors. “And they never turn people away.”

When Sandy Pimentel from the Martha’s Vineyard Community Services board of directors called me back in January to ask if I would consider hosting the 2013 Possible Dreams auction, taking up the gavel where legendary humorist Art Buchwald left off, I was completely blown away.

The Island community raised more than $450,000 for Martha’s Vineyard Community Services at the Art Buchwald Possible Dreams Auction Sunday night, an amount expected to increase still by the end of the week. The total surpasses last year’s amount by at least $50,000.

Before comedian Jimmy Tingle could start his newest gig, he had to make a visit to the roundabout.

Mr. Tingle takes up the gavel for the Art Buchwald Possible Dreams auction this weekend, and he visited the Vineyard last week to meet with event organizers and the staff of Martha’s Vineyard Community Services. The auction is the principal annual benefit for Community Services and takes place Sunday, July 28 at the Winnetu in Edgartown. The day and date are changed this year from the traditional first Monday in August.

Newly famous after a second place finish at the World Series of Poker last Halloween, Jesse Sylvia saw the Martha’s Vineyard Community Services as a way to put his talent to good use.

The Art Buchwald Possible Dreams Auction, the summer event that benefits Martha’s Vineyard Community Services, will celebrate its 35th birthday this summer with a new name, a new site, on a new day and date, and with a new auctioneer. For many years, the late humorist and Washington Post columnist Art Buchwald emceed and anchored the annual event

The auctioneer leapt off the stage and sat on a bidder’s lap. The man responded to the pressure, and upped his bid. But Laure Sudreau-Rippe was determined. She raised her paddle and bid $17,000 to attend Vineyard Playhouse production of Love Letters with Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen.

At the 33rd annual Possible Dreams auction, which took place on Monday evening in Ocean Park, caring community members gathered to make donations to one of the Island’s most essential organizations in exchange for unforgettable experiences.

If there's a paradox in the Possible Dreams Auction, it's
that the folks who run Martha's Vineyard Community Services count on
the money it raises as a definite reality.

They need the funds, and over the past 22 years, this auction
peddling wild and far-fetched dreams has anchored the development
efforts at Community Services and enabled the agency to make daycare
affordable to working Islanders and to offer counseling and substance
abuse treatment to people with no insu

A heavy and chilly bank of fog rolled in over last night's Possible Dreams auction in Edgartown, but it did nothing to cool down the bidders who went wild for items featuring Carly Simon, David McCullough and Walter Cronkite.

By the time the marathon event wrapped up some three hours later, Martha's Vineyard Community Services had raised $403,600 from 48 dreams, topping last year's $325,000 mark by a margin of nearly 25 per cent.

Laughter and money seemed to go hand in hand at last night's Possible Dreams auction in Edgartown. The better the one-liners, the higher the bids.

Fortunately, there were some pretty glib celebrities willing to
stoke the fire, and in the end, the 24th annual auction of 53 dreams had
pulled in more than $376,000. That figure fell short of last
year's take of just over $400,000.