Community Services Hoped for More

By KATE BRANNEN

Martha's Vineyard Community Services is taking stock after its
most important fundraiser of the year, the Possible Dreams Auction,
raised far less than last year's auction.

On Thursday afternoon, Community Services reported that $444,000 had
been raised on Tuesday night, including sales from admissions and
concessions. In 2006, the fundraiser brought in $810,000, providing a
substantial part of the organization's budget.

Rain-Delayed Possible Dreams Raise $444,000

By KATE BRANNEN

On Monday night, when people were meant to be gathered in the garden
at the Harborside Inn in Edgartown for the Possible Dreams Auction, it
poured rain and flashed lightning across the Island, vindicating the
event's organizers and their decision to enact the auction's
first rain date in its 29 year history.

Imagine sitting in the VIP suite at the Circuit de Catalunya
racetrack in Barcelona on a sunny May day. As the Formula One race cars
whiz by, you clink champagne flutes with your lucky guest and smile,
thinking of the Michelin starred dinner that awaits you.

The Possible Dreams Auction last night drew $649,000 in bids for the
50 dreams that ranged from rides on the Flying Horses Carousel to an
archaeological adventure in prehistoric European caves, putting the
annual fundraiser on track for another record-breaking year.

The dreams are coming to town. Exotic, international dreams.
Adventurous, open-ocean dreams. Exhilarating celebrity-filled dreams.
Delicious gourmet dreams.

They all arrive on Monday afternoon in the gardens of the Harborside
Inn - more than 50 experiences and items that pretty pennies could
not buy unless they are bid on Monday night at the 28th annual Possible
Dreams Auction to benefit Martha's Vineyard Community Services.

Her schedule is never-ending. This summer she has managed to put together a full season of plays at the Vineyard Playhouse, direct two plays at the same time - Rounding Third and Romeo and Juliet - fill the Monday Night Special schedule with new works and famous names and still enjoy the beauty a Vineyard summer offers.

A bit of spontaneity, a little arm-twisting and a contagious spirit of generosity turned last night into another record-breaking year for the Possible Dreams Auction. The 26th annual benefit raised more than $515,000 in about three hours for Martha's Vineyard Community Services, just surpassing last year's half-million mark.

Last summer the eminently credible Walter Cronkite was correct as
usual when he predicted, "I'm expecting him to be right up
on that platform as he's been all these years, so I'm not
going to waste any tears."

Art Buchwald, succumbing to the request of Possible Dreams
cochairmen Kerry Scott and Amy Eisenlohr, has rescinded the decision he
made in August to step down as auctioneer of the high stakes fundraiser
for Martha's Vineyard Community Services.

Art Buchwald opened last night's Possible Dreams auction with the same wit that over 24 years has helped raise $4 million dollars for Martha's Vineyard Community Services: "Despite the 250 cars waiting at the blinker light," he declared, "we're going to start."

Nearly four hours later, Mr. Buchwald ended the benefit by auctioning the hat off his head for $4,000, bringing the night's total to more than $500,000, organizers said, an auction record.

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.