Golf with Andre Tippett brings highest bid!
It was a winning combination for the 5th annual Foxboro Cable Access/Doolittle Home auction, a chance to bring two friends and fill out a foursome of golf with Patriots legend Andre Tippett at the Tournament Players Club in Norton.
Andre’s appearance was made possible by the New England Patriots Charitable Trust and the golf date brought the highest bid of the auction, $1,425.
A total of $14,361 was raised during six hours of spirited bidding (up from $11,883 last year) on over 100 donated items to help Doolittle Home purchase a wheelchair accessible van to provide for the social and medical needs of residents and to allow the Home to continue offering van service to wheelchair bound veterans of Foxboro.
The day was a delight for sports lovers, with two tickets to a Patriots game - with VIP parking - going for $515, and a 10-ticket package of New England Revolution tickets, with parking, bringing a bid of $200, all made possible by the New England Patriots Charitable Trust, which also included a pair of tickets to the Kenny Chesney sold-out concert at Gillette Stadium which brought in $250.
Red Sox fever was running high as well, with the team donating a ball signed by World Series MVP Mike Lowell that went for $350 and a framed montage of World Series photos, together with a ticket from each of the four playoff games, courtesy of businessman turned philanthropist Don Rodman, which also went over the $300 mark.
The most spirited bidding of the day erupted when State Senator Jim Timilty went head-to-head with State Representative Jay Barrows as each offered their traditional State House Tour packages and lunch in the capital city.
Timilty threw in a round of golf with him and Selectman Mark Sullivan. Barrows countered with a Boston Duck Tour.
Former State Representative Ginny Coppola, who once held the seat now occupied by Barrows as did her late husband Mike, turned up the heat, making it a Republican (Barrows) Democrat (Timilty) competition. She added a State House flag to Jay’s package and even offered to provide home-baked cookies. Not to be outdone, Timilty promised to bring Boston’s popular four-term mayor along on the tour and the phones kept on ringing.
When the final buzzer sounded, the Timilty package sold off at $650, Barrows at $400 and two lucky families will get to see Boston like they have never seen it before.
Local interest ran high throughout the auction, encouraged by Big Board auctioneers Bob Hickey, Fred Green and Dick Kelter.
The Homer White painting, "Homeward Bound" was a high ticket item, bringing in $600. Donated by former residents Jim and Jeanne Bradley, they kept the tradition alive of having one of Homer’s painting in each of the five annual auctions.
The watercolor of the recently vacated 1925 Foxborough Fire Station, donated by award-winning artist Donna MacLure of Wrentham, is resting comfortable with a family with long ties to the local fire department. The winning bid was $225. A retired Foxborough fire alarm box, one of the more unique offerings, sold for $100.
The last of the Foxborouogh Common sketches by Mark LePlume, donated by Marie and Dave Crimmins, sold off at $300 and the "Entering Foxborough" bracelet from Cindi’s Jewelry attracted a bid of $200.
The historic house plaque, available through the Foxborough Historical Commission and donated by researcher Emelie Bonin, sold for more than its posted value and includes research valued at hundreds of dollars which is provided free of charge to any resident ordering a plaque for their own home.
Doolittle Trustee Lynda Walsh, who chaired the annual auction, labeled the results "heartwarming." She expressed deepest appreciation to the volunteers at Foxboro Cable Access for promoting, filming and televising the event, the Foxboro Jaycees for the Blue Wave of volunteers who did all the "lugging and tugging," the guest auctioneers, telephone operators, the Foxboro Reporter for publicity, the Doolittle dietary staff and Foxboro House of Pizza for feeding the volunteers and to her fellow trustees, staff members and residents at Doolittle Home who all contributed to the success of the event.
"Without the volunteers, the local merchants, businesses and friends of Doolittle Home, this would never be possible," said Lynda
Many people found the auction to be a memorable event, but none any more than the family so easy to pick out of the crowd at the pick-up desk that had made the successful bid to ride in the fire truck during the Founders Day Parade. Their young son was bouncing up and down with joy, telling everyone waiting in line "I’m riding in the fire truck." His joy came courtesy of Chief Gerald McNamara.
Thank you...
The sense of community that makes Foxboro such a great place was in full bloom Saturday afternoon for the 5th annual FCA-Doolittle Home Auction. More than 60 tireless volunteers, over 130 donated items from local merchants, businesses and friends of Doolittle Home, a steady flow of bids for six long hours and a final tally of $14,361 made for a truly remarkable, memorable day.Proceeds from the auction will be used toward the purchase of a new wheelchair accessible van for Doolittle Home that we might better serve the social and medical needs of residents and also continue services to wheelchair-bound veterans of Foxboro.
Special thanks to Trustee Lynda Walsh for chairing the event that requires months of planning and Trustee Bob Gillis for creating the web page and auction promotional material, Trustee Lynne Sarikas for her presentation on Life Care at Doolittle Home and Trustee Beth Ferencik for her committee work and to each of our guest auctioneers who did such a fabulous job.
Among the hardest of working volunteers were Willie and Cary Long, Jaycees Junior Grade, helping out their mom, Chris, who supervised traffic flow in the studio. Willie and Cary were runners throughout the entire auction, taking bids from the telephone operators to the respective boards for posting.
Once again, we are indebted to Mike Webber for the technical scripts and the host of talented technicians at Foxboro Cable Access, Marge Nash for creating all those public service announcements, Mike Everson, Frank McDow and Director Paul Beck in the control room and Ray McKenna providing continuous scans on Channel 22. We are indebted, as well, to Tom Whiffen for his creative editing of the videos shown during the auction which afford us the opportunity to share the Doolittle Home story with viewers.
Neil Kaiser plays a central role in the auction, literally, as floor director in the studio, spending the entire auction on his knees gesturing to auctioneers, camera and sound people, luggers and tuggers and presenters to keep everything running on time, in order, and at peak performance. Special thanks to Andrea Cummings for organizing the Blue Wave of Jaycee volunteers who did all the lugging and tugging, Lauren Bitar who organized the guest auctioneers and all who responded so generously with their time and talent. Trustees Ginny Coppola and Ken Bryant wrote scripts for the auctioneers and Marie Crimmins outdid herself in her customary role of Hostess Extraordinaire. Her husband Dave organized a host of telephone operators, so critical to the success of the auction, while George Sarikas and Christine Freeman handled the business office and Trustee Steve Foster and his wife Joan staffed the pick-up room while Trustee Richard Cross and others made calls to winners of bids.
Our cast of supporters includes the Foxboro Reporter for publicity and advertising, the administration and the dietary staff of Doolittle Home and Foxboro House of Pizza for helping feed the multitudes.
To each and every one, named and unnamed, to all those who bid and others who tried, to our donors, supporters and friends, I extend deepest appreciation on behalf of the residents of Doolittle Home. Thank you, each and every one.
--Jack Authelet, President
The Doolittle Home, Inc.