Updated Tuesday!

WCTV Live Auction brings in bucks for nonprofits

May 13, 2012

The third annual WCTV Live Auction and Entertainment -- benefiting the Wareham Village Association and Onset Youth Center -- was 12 hours of jokes, music, and... well, coffee consumption.

WCTV Live Auction and Entertainment Chair Sally Morrison buzzed around the station's satellite "studio" -- the Dudley L. Brown VFW in Onset -- with emcee Scott Record and representatives from WCTV's nonprofit partners from noon on Saturday, May 12,  until midnight.

Though totals are still being calculated, Morrison said the nonprofits will likely each receive approximately $2,000.

Viewers could bid live at the VFW or watch on television or online and bid by phone. Everything from guitars to a house portrait to photography and a New England Patriots rug were auctioned off to raise funds, which will be split between the two nonprofits.

The Wareham Village Association sponsors various community events, including the annual Swan Festival in downtown Wareham and the town's Christmas parade.

Onset Youth Center volunteers are working hard to raise funding to get their Tenth Street building off the ground.

"It's just a great way for us to give back to the community and help some nonprofits that need help," WCTV Executive Director Jay Heard said of the auction after taking a break from manning one of the cameras early Saturday afternoon.

It was the first year that the auction was reduced from a two-day event to one, 12-hour day. Morrison said that next year the format would change again, as unfortunately, the 12-hour event was just as tiring for the crew as the two-day event!

"Each year it's kind of a work in progress ... to make it best meet everybody's needs," said Morrison, who has spearheaded the effort since the station's first auction in 2010. "It'll morph itself again."

Comedian Scott Record, a Wareham summer resident, emceed the event for the third year. This year, he brought along his daughter, Hannah, a college freshman and performing arts major to help out.

Despite some entertainment mishaps -- Marion teenager Aaron Norcross Jr., who was to lead the back-up band for the duration of the auction, came down with strep throat and one of the scheduled acoustic bands had to drop out of the event -- the day went off mostly without a hitch.

The day featured a myriad of local performers, most of whom were youth, with some coming from Buzzards Play Productions in East Wareham and the Burt Wood School of Performing Arts in Middleborough.

"They were just so delightful," Morrison said of the talent.

And Hannah Record? "She could make talking about lint interesting," Morrison said.

Morrison thanked the Dudley L. Brown VFW for hosting the event.

"They were so gracious," Morrison said of the VFW representatives who helped WCTV prepare for the event. "They were absolutely awesome."

So, WCTV's Live Auction and Entertainment - Take 3 - is officially a wrap.

"It's well-worth all those hours," Morrison said. "It's a lot of creative juices ... and of course, the generosity ... makes it all worthwhile."