The Waban Area Council is running a Silent Auction today at the Waban Village Day celebration. This fundraiser will allow the Council to reach more of the residents of their catchment area to alert them to the Council’s existence and function as a communication liaison between the community and City Hall. The items on the Auction Block include a GENUINE PATS AUTOGRAPHED FOOTBALL and a Chef’s Tasting for 4 at Seasons 52. There is also an original watercolor from Waban artist, Elaine Eisenberg, a case of really rare imported beer and a case of wine and many restaurant gift cards, services, and goods. Check it out and chat with the Councilors who will be on duty from 11AM to 3PM. BID EARLY AND OFTEN!
The Not So Silent Auction
by Lisa Parlagreco | May 18, 2014 | Newton | 9 comments
Nice job Waban Area Council. Great event, great auction.
Thanks, Greg: It was a glorious day and a very successful auction! It was great seeing you and our many neighbors from Waban and beyond meandering through Waban’s Lower Square, mesmerized by the inspirational sounds emanating from the music (vocal and instrumental) wafting into the Square’s air! The Waban Improvement Society, our sister organization runs a really fun Village Day! We are lucky to have her by our Council’s side. I would say that Waban is pretty well covered. Now, if we could only get the approximately 8000 registered voters in our catchment area to know that we exist and that we meet on the 2nd Thursday of the month at the Waban Library Center at 7:30PM and that they are welcome to come to our meetings and that, if they go to http://www.wabanareacouncil.com, they can sign up for alerts on Waban issues, then, with that knowledge, we would be better able to sleep, knowing we were getting an “A” in hyper local government!!!!!
I think I must have been at a totally different event… Attendance was way down from prior years at Waban Village Day. Only one local Waban business had a presence. The usual excitement was definitely missing. What happened??
WRONG! We had nearly every Waban business in the Upper and Lower Squares happily offer items for the Silent Auction. From an ice cream cone from Freeze to a case of wine from Waban Market the merchants reached out and showed they care about their community. People were crowded around our tables all day and there were definitely lines at the kiddie rides. Hamburgers and cold drinks were in every pedestrian’s hands and the 5K run had as many enthusiastic cyclists, joggers and walkers as years past. I suppose you left before all of Waban was dancing to the Newton Family Singers and happily delighted by the fabulous bandstand sounds. You want energy? Come and talk to me next year!!!!!! 02468 rocks!
I think what Native was referring to was the lack of booths from businesses. I recall Whole Foods, were there others?
I wonder if the preponderance of Village Days has businesses rethinking their strategy of having a booth at every event. The price adds up and you have to find employees to staff each event. Cumulatively that’s a lot of weekends away from your family and friends.
Sallee, you are incorrect. Perhaps the local merchants offered silent auction items but they were not there greeting people and they did not have tables. The merchant tables looked like tired garage sales. There were easily only 1/2 to 3/4 of people attending. All of those manning tables were commenting on it.
There is always competition for people’s time on a spring Sunday. This year there was the special event at the Newton Civil War memorial that forced residents to make a tough choice between enjoying the village activities in the early afternoon or honoring some of our city’s veterans. The ensuing parade may have also reduced the attendance at the Waban Village Day. All three events were worthy of particpation by Newton residents.
I thought there was great turnout this year. I know that they ran out of Waban Fun Run t-shirts by the time my friend and I wanted to sign up–which means more than 200 people walked, ran, biked, strolled and bladed through the streets of Waban.
As always, the music was terrific. More vendors this year–with more interesting offerings than the past couple of years.
All in all, by my reckoning, another extremely successful Waban Village Day.
Sallee, I thought the Waban Village Day was an A+ event! Weather was perfect, music and family singers were fantastic, and delicious food for reasonable prices, and free cake!
The only down side is that I won a bunch of silent auction items, and you didn’t show up to the Depot today. I left you a message on your home phone, looking forward to hearing from you soon.