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.

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.

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.

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.

Two high rollers in a bidding war to share a peanut butter sandwich with Carly Simon?

Some dreams come in our sleep, others in the middle of the day, and for those who depend on Martha’s Vineyard Community Services throughout the year, dreams can continue to be realities, thanks to the 32nd annual Possible Dreams auction last night.

It’s been called the biggest event on the Vineyard social calendar, and the Possible Dreams Auction organizers found how to count just how big it had grown when a storm hovered over the lawns of Edgartown’s Harborside Inn on the first Monday in August last year.

Champion golfer Ernie Els will headline the golf offerings at this year’s Possible Dreams Auction, the charitable fund-raising event that benefits Martha’s Vineyard Community Services.