An auction held Aug. 10 on Diane and Don Pendleton’s property to benefit the Beacon Project was a huge success, raising $22,000 from sales of furniture, rugs, accessories, paintings, antiques, jewelry and other small objects. Co-chairs Diane Head, Libby King and Ginny Hall praised community members who donated pieces.
Under the bidding tent the atmosphere was festive, the refreshments tasty, and the capacity crowd in a buying mood, influenced no doubt by a rare outbreak of good weather. Before auctioneers Ethan Emery and Donnie Pendleton took over the gavel, Beacon president Bonnie Hughes greeted the gathering. “May you be blessed with feng-shui in the coming year,” she began, then happily announced that the Paul Boardman family had signed a letter of intent to allow the Beacon Project to purchase land across from the town office. The site meets the Project’s criteria of being centrally located, with good soil to support the heavy usage the facility will entail.
Other fundraising projects are in the works. For example, a log-cabin barn-raising patterned quilt in brilliant reds by Carole Nichter is making the rounds for raffling (tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5), with a drawing set for Sept. 1.
As the Snack Shack by Islesboro’s ferry landing is closed on Monday mornings, Beacon members have stepped into the breech by offering morning coffee and breakfast pastries in the ticket office to waiting ferry passengers, with proceeds to benefit the Project. A volunteer will even bring your jolt of caffeine to your car as you wait in line. Still another fundraising effort is the Beacon Project 2004 calendar, currently available for sale and proving to be a very popular item. The calendar is a collection of photographs shot by Islesboro photographers, all of whom contributed their work to the calendar. They’re for sale at the town office and available at many other island locations as well.
