HVA Auction Is Returning With Unique Items For Watershed Protection

WASHINGTON — A week’s stay in fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg’s Paris apartment near the Seine, a hand-cranked Victrola from the early 1900s with a record of Dreamy Housatonic, and an original watercolor by the nationally acclaimed artist and illustrator Wendell Minor are some of the unique items being offered in the annual benefit auction for the Housatonic Valley Association. This year’s event will be held on Sunday, November 12, at The Washington Club Hall.

Each year as honorary chair, Ms Von Furstenberg and her friend Hamilton Smith have been the moving force behind the Housatonic Valley Association’s benefit auction.

Ms Von Furstenberg, who moved to New Milford, more than 25 years ago, said, “I think this place, one of the most beautiful in the world, ought to be protected. We who enjoy living here join HVA because we want to maintain the area and to save it.” Her desire to help led to her join HVA’s board of directors nine years ago and help in spearheading the annual benefit auction.

Festivities will begin at 1 pm with a silent auction and champagne reception. The live auction starts at 3 pm. General admission, which includes all of this, is $25. Patrons ($100) will also be invited to dine at a twilight dinner after the auction hosted by The GW Tavern in Washington Depot.

HVA executive director Lynn Werner said, “This is our major annual fundraiser. Every cent will help protect land and clean water in our region. Local businesses, artists, residents and celebrities are being extremely generous.”

Auction donations, which range in value from $30 to $3,000 and more – something for everyone – include getaways, antiques, art, handcrafted furniture, clothing, toys, garden products, sports equipment, dinners at elegant restaurants in the tri-state area, and tickets to Broadway plays, sporting and recreational events.

In addition to the Paris apartment, the auction offers a week’s stay in a restored three-story farmhouse in the French countryside of Provence, a house on Cape Cod or one on the harbor in Newport, Rhode Island; and getaways to the Boulders Inn, Interlaken Inn, Danbury Hilton Towers, and New Milford’s Heritage Inn.

Also going on the auction block will be dinner for 30 at The Boathouse in Lakeville, an exceptional Italian wine-tasting for ten, an omelet brunch with Bloody Marys for eight, or a holiday dinner for up to 20 at The Fife ‘n Drum in Kent. Sports fans may bid on racecar diving lessons at Skip Barber’s Introduction to Racing School, skybox tickets for Bridgeport Bluefish baseball games, VIP tickets to Lime Rock, or guided fly-fishing trips.

In addition to the early 20th century Victrola, other antiques include a set of six circa 1920 silver goblets and a collection of ruby-cut glassware, circa 1880. A T–shirt, compact disc and book from the movie My Dog Skip, signed by Kevin Bacon and Frankie Muniz (star of the TV sitcom Malcom in the Middle) is another celebrity item up for bid.

Proceeds will support projects to protect the Housatonic River, drinking water, and the fields, woods, hills and streams that make up the watershed — 2,000 square miles that includes 66 towns and 750,000 people. The watershed extends from Pittsfield, Mass., through the Berkshires, eastern New York State and western Connecticut to Long Island Sound. For more information, call 860/672-6678