The founder of the Children’s Auction reflects on the event’s growth, popularity

LACONIA—Back in 1976, when Warren Bailey was starting his career as a morning DJ at WLNH, his mentor taught him something that has since changed the lives of thousands in the Lakes Region. “He told me, “The microphone is a powerful tool. Do something meaningful with it,’” Warren recalled. 

It wasn’t a message Bailey knew how to act on back then. He was 24. He had yet to glimpse need firsthand. But six years later, he knocked on the door of an apartment building in Laconia to let the resident inside know he’d won a prize for displaying a WLNH bumper sticker on his car. 

There was no furniture inside. A baby was lying on the bare wooden floor, wrapped in a blanket. Bailey was confused at first, thinking perhaps this man at the door was just moving in. Bailey then realized he was looking at poverty in the eye for the first time. 

Bailey heard the echo of his mentor’s mantra and well understood what he needed to do. He gave birth to the Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction that year, using the power of his microphone to raise money for children and families in need. 

Broadcasting on WLNH from an unheated van parked on North Main Street, Bailey raised $2,100, auctioning off two truckloads of items donated by people in the region. By ones, twos, and threes, over time, area residents got behind Bailey’s passion, adding their own and creating an event that helps to sustain 62 area nonprofits that provide for children and families in need.

The Auction now involves thousands, many of whom give up a week’s vacation for the privilege of taking part in dozens of ways. The items that are auctioned off are so plentiful the event venue is vast. A nonprofit board now governs the Children’s Auction. The total raised continues to climb each year. In 2018, the Auction raised $580,584.

“It’s overwhelming,” said Bailey, a gentle and tender man who gets weepy as he tells the Auction’s stories, which have played out over nearly four decades. They are the stories of the people who have helped the effort grow, the people who have been served and now give back. “It takes your breath away,” he added. “The volunteers are there every year.”

Bailey came to the Lakes Region and joined WLNH in 1976 after working in radio in Massachusetts and New Hampshire for several years. “I fell in love with the area and the station. The local owner and our wonderful staff was there for me right from the beginning,” he said. 

After leaving WLNH in 2001, Bailey co-owned a radio station and later moved to television and digital sales. In 2015, he launched his own media-buying business, WB Media 1—the “1” added so the firm wouldn’t be confused with Warner Bros.

As he does each year, Bailey will make his traditional appearance at the Auction, though, during the 38^th annual event, to be held from Dec. 3 to Dec. 7 at the Belknap Mall. Returning gives Bailey the pleasure of hearing stories from children who were helped long ago and now give back in gratitude—like the young girl who walked away from the auction site 25 years ago, accompanied by a crying mother; the mom was deemed unworthy of assistance due to an addiction and sent away by a volunteer—long since excused from service. Bailey chased the two out; he gave the mother $20, saying, “Promise me you will do something for your daughter with this.”

Not long ago, that girl—now a grown woman who is a paralegal in Boston—drove to the Auction. She asked for Bailey personally, thanked him for the help he offered her late mother, and handed him a check for $1,000. “That’s the kind of impact that the Auction has had,” Bailey said. “And that’s just one powerful story.”

In the beginning, Bailey spread the word by asking everyone he met to listen to his story of the Auction and its magic for 10 minutes. In this way, he built steady and unexpected support and growth.

In 1998, Terry Hicks came to town as the new general manager for Metrocast and offered to televise the event, which had previously been broadcast only on the radio. Around the same time, businessman David McGreevy spearheaded the building of an elaborate set from which the Auction took place. 

Alan McRae, who worked for the telephone company NYNEX, made it possible for the Auction to have four phones, instead of one. (Now there is an entire phone bank of volunteers.) And RJ and Bridget Harding, owners of the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion, offered their entire staff and a host of equipment for the full week of the event, starting a tradition that continues still. The Auction that begin with Bailey tabulating the proceeds with a pad of paper and a pencil became tech-savvy with the Harding’s IT assist.

Most recently, Patrick’s Pub & Eatery created Pub Mania, a 24-hour event that raises the lion’s share of each year’s profit, bringing in $353,361 last year and donating nearly $2 million over 10 years.

“The generosity of the community blows my mind,” Bailey said. “People would so often come to the broadcast and hand me $10, knowing it’s the last $10 they have, but also believing that someone else needs it more. There’s no shortage of Christmas spirit at the Children’s Auction.”

The Children’s Auction runs from Dec. 3-7 at the Belknap Mall. Bring an item to donate, or come watch the fun and bid!

Visit www.ChildrensAuction.com to learn more.

If you know a Children’s Auction Champion, send suggestions to Jennifer Kelley at Jenn@ChildrensAuction.com.

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EASTHAMPTON—Genevieve Brough, president of Finck & Perras Insurance Agency, Inc., recently announced that the firm invested roughly $40,000 in the wider community through sponsorships and donations to nonprofits in 2017.

“It’s my aim to have a tangible engagement in our community,” Brough said, noting Finck & Perras is intentional in supporting organizations that have a mission to improve the lives of children and people with disabilities.

Organizations the company supported range from youth sports and recreation programs in Hampshire County to Riverside Industries in Easthampton, Link to Libraries and the Children’s Advocacy Center of Hampshire County. “These organizations are among the great assets of our community. They’re part of its fabric,” she said.

Brough passes on her philanthropic values to employees, encouraging them to take part in community activism and fundraising. Finck & Perras has supported the United Way of Hampshire County for 19 years, for instance, encouraging employees take part in making regular donations by offering various incentive programs.

Organizations Finck & Perras supported in 2017 include: The Academy of Music Theatre, Northampton; the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, Springfield; Pathlight, Springfield; TedXEasthamptonWomen; Safe Passage, Northampton; the Northampton Family Fourth Celebration; Nonotuck Community School, Inc., Northampton; Cooley Dickinson Health Care, Northampton; and Look Memorial Park, Florence.

Finck & Perras provides home, auto, business and marine insurance and has offices in Easthampton and Florence.

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Event to take place Nov. 2 in Easthampton

EASTHAMPTON—TEDxEasthamptonWomen will take place on Nov. 2 at The Boylston Room East in Keystone Mill from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The independently organized event, licensed by TED, will feature local speakers and TEDWomen videos under the theme of “Bridges.” 

In addition to providing live, local speakers, TEDxEasthamptonWomen will also offer an opportunity to view the eighth annual TEDWomen event, livestreaming from New Orleans, Louisiana. TEDWomen takes place in New Orleans from Nov. 1-3 and will be streamed live to thousands around the globe at nearly 150 events in dozens of countries.

The local and global events aim to highlight the role of women in creating change.

Launched in 2009, TEDx is a program of locally organized events that brings the community together to share a TED-like experience. Some of the best talks from TEDx events have been featured on TED.com and garnered millions of views from audiences across the globe.

“Our goal is to provide an immersive learning experience and spark community discussion and involvement on the theme of bridging the world we live in with the one we want to create,” said licensee and organizer Gretchen Duhaime, of Belchertown.

Live speakers at TEDxEasthamptonWomen include: Julia Cole, founder of ReStyle, a service promoting clothing reuse; Brett Costello, a math teacher with a passion for financial literacy for women; Kasey Corsello, co-owner of Corsello Butcheria in Easthampton; Christine Eliason, who will share her humorous take on navigating adulthood as a Millennial; Berit Elizabeth, creator of Emotive Agility, using body language to transform the way you feel; Jacki Jacobs, photographer and video game designer; Dora Lewis, educator coach at Bay Path University; Mary Ann Marzano, founder of Organic Change for Haiti, a nonprofit providing housing and education for Haitian orphans; Cathy McNally, communications coach; Sally Morgan and Trystan Corgi, a physical therapist for pets and people and her Welsh Corgi companion, Morgan; Rob Peck of Zestworks, author and humorist; and Amber Sayer, a blogger, podcaster and autism advocate.

Tickets are $25 for general admission and are available at http://TEDxEasthamptonWomen.com. Lunch and coffee breaks are built into the day’s program.

TEDxEasthamptonWomen sponsors include Beetle Press, The Boylston Rooms, Cider House Media, CJC Events, Easthampton Media, Galaxy restaurant, Girlfriend In Your Closet, Lisa Quiñones Photography, Mill 180 Park, Myer’s Catering, Orange Scarf, Paradise Copies and the Women Business Owners Alliance.

Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED.

For information about TED’s upcoming conferences, visit http://www.ted.com/registration.

For more information about TEDxEasthamptonWomen, visit TEDxEasthamptonWomen.com.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or fewer) delivered by today’s leading thinkers and doers. Many of these talks are given at TED’s annual conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, and made available, free, on TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Monica Lewinsky, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman.

TED’s open and free initiatives for spreading ideas include TED.com, where new TED Talk videos are posted daily; the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from thousands of volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed; the annual million-dollar TED Prize, which funds exceptional individuals with a “wish,” or idea, to create change in the world; TEDx, which provides licenses to  thousands of individuals and groups who host local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, which selects innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

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The first program will be held Sunday, June 12 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Cultivate and Nest, 2 Bay Road in Suite 102.

Terra Missildine, founder of Cultivate and Nest, which opened in January, said the afternoon will offer activities for children of all ages as well as a time for parents to network and enjoy adult conversation. Refreshments will be offered.

“I wanted to create a new space for people to get together and build community,” Missildine said.

The program is free and open to the public and will be offered monthly on the second Sunday of every month. RSVPs are not required but are preferred by contacting Missildine at 413-345-2400 or cultivateandnest@gmail.com.

Cultivate and Nest is a membership-based co-office space that incorporates a child care component. Missildine currently has 24 members but is still accepting membership applications.

The cluster of offices is located on the first floor in the Hadley Crossing business park, with roughly 3,400 square feet dedicated to Cultivate and Nest members. Members pay in cost tiers that range from $100 to $600 per month, depending on amenities and level of office access.

Event and workshop space is also available for members and the community at large to host family friendly events.

The Nest—or kids’ space—at Cultivate and Nest is staffed by an early childhood care specialist from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., but access to office spaces is 24-7.

To learn more about Cultivate and Nest, visit cultivateandnest.com or call Missildine at 413-345-2400.

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This fall, after the Springfield Republican tallied its Reader Raves results, Janice was asked to write about three Reader Raves winners: Amelia Park Ice Arena & Garden in Westfield, Majestic Theater in West Springfield and Kate Gray Boutique in Longmeadow. (Note that our valued client, Glenmeadow Retirement, was also a Reader Raves award winner, but Janice was sadly not assigned to tell that story!)

There were nearly 100 different categories that businesses were recognized for in the Reader Raves competition—from best antique shop to friendliest cop. Here are those we had the chance to rave about:

Amelia Park Ice Arena & Garden of Westfield was a philanthropic gift to the community by the late Albert and Amelia Ferst. It is open year round and is a wonderful place to take a time out from the electronic era and enjoy athleticism and one another. It’s the home ice for the Westfield State University’s men’s and women’s skate teams as well as the Westfield High School’s Bombers and the St. Mary Saints. The rink is also home to two sled hockey programs for people with physical disabilities, learn-to-skate programs, an open public skate program, dek hockey—like street hockey—and box lacrosse.

In the summer, several hundred residents come on Tuesday nights for the Musical Moments concerts in the expansive garden, which is open to the public during the arena’s business hours.

The leaders of Amelia Park Ice Arena believe in collaboration. They host countless fundraisers for community members and nonprofits alike.

The 230-seat Majestic Theater in West Springfield provides a truly regional theater experience. Their core designers, actors, directors, stage managers, costumers, and other crew are all Valley-based, though they sometimes bring in actors from New York and New Jersey.

The experience at Majestic begins in its café with a view onto Elm Street. There is a small bar, a fireplace, and a cozy café. Sit and have a snack or dessert and a glass of wine while you wait for the doors to open. Before the performance begins, you can’t help but study the intricate set design with its elaborate details and enhancements. Once the action starts, you will be transported, from the first line through to the curtain call.

Shows typically run for six or seven weeks, so there are roughly 33 opportunities to see each one. Majestic Theater also offers children’s theater and live performances through the summer.

Kate Gray Boutique offers sleek and eclectic slacks, tops, jewelry, scarves, footwear and other accessories. And it sources its products globally from small, family-owned companies and designers/artisans with names that have long been synonymous with quality, craftsmanship and ethical business practices. Owner Kate Vishnyakov says the look her wares produce is modern classic, and the quality fabrics she stocks stand the test of time and pair well together, season after season.

Clients of Kate Gray range from 20-something New York executives to 70- or 80-something “fabulous grandmas,” along with the occasional husband or dad. Vishnyakov prides herself on providing fashion education to her customers by personally helping them choose a look that fits them.

Vishnyakov got her start in the fashion industry growing up in Moscow, Russia, where her grandmother taught her to sew. After moving to this country 20 years ago, she worked at Yale Genton in West Springfield, eventually becoming its manager and buyer and building a clientele of women—many of whom followed her to Kate Gray Boutique.

Janice will have more stories about local businesspeople in the 2016 Outlook section in the Republican. Stay tuned for more!

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NeJame and Kling, also husband and wife, of Florence, were recognized for the legal work they donated to the resource center to help it obtain tax-exempt status with the IRS, allowing any contributions to the center to be classed as charitable contributions.  Kling, who specializes in work with nonprofits, secured the organization’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and advised on board matters. NeJame reviewed and offered counsel on the center’s lease for its Northampton office.

The Lyme Disease Resource Center incorporated in October 2013. It serves those with tick-borne illness and their care partners, connecting clients and the community to resources, free activities, support groups, complementary therapies and workshops on the issues surrounding tick-borne illness.

Kling believes strongly that attorneys should contribute to the community and that is why, when a friend told her about the Lyme Disease Resource Center, she was happy to donate her time.  Both NeJame and Kling continue to advise the center on a pro bono basis.

“It’s an area of medicine where there is a rising consciousness,” Kling said. “People are realizing Lyme disease can be a debilitating disease that negatively affects many people’s lives. The Lyme Disease Resource Center is helping make people aware that the danger is out there, and it provides resources for people who misunderstand as well as misdiagnose the disease.”

NeJame & Kling Law offices are located at 90 Conz St. in Northampton.

For more information, contact Kling at 413-584-2675 or julieklinglaw@gmail.com.

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The hospital and its staff understand that Cooley Dickinson is part of a larger community, in which patients are also neighbors, friends, and family. Cooley Dickinson is known for its presenting sponsorship of the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life of Hampshire County, and Madelyn Breen, a longtime oncology nurse is seen as the face of Cooley at the event.

Rightfully so. Breen has worked at Cooley Dickinson for over 45 years. Though she officially retired in 2011, Breen continues to work in the hospital’s cancer care program. She still leads the Cooley Crusaders, one of the hospital’s staff-led Relay For Life teams, and she has been involved with the event since its premier season in Hampshire County 18 years ago.

“On a larger scale, because we are a community hospital,” said Breen, “it’s important for us to be involved in community activities. And personally, I have lost people to cancer. The people that I care for, whether they are patients, friends or family, are the inspiration for me to fight and to take part in Relay For Life.”

Cooley Dickinson, like Breen, has been with Hampshire County’s Relay from the beginning.  Its sponsorship and team donations have facilitated a stronger connection with patients and the county’s residents. This year, Cooley Dickinson presented a $10,000 sponsorship to the event.

Janice is proud of Cooley Dickinson Hospital, to which she has strong ties. She worked there for five years in the Marketing Department, and her two daughters and grandson were born there. She is a friend and former colleague of Madelyn and has worked with Madelyn and other leaders of Relay for over five years.

This year, the hospital’s Relay sponsorship comes while the Mass General Cancer Center at Cooley Dickinson is being built.

Avital Carlis became the administrative director of the new cancer center at the end of 2014. Relocating from Jamaica Plain near Boston to Northampton with her family has been long in coming as Carlis worked on the relationship between Cooley Dickinson and Mass General.

“Cooley Dickinson Hospital is right in the center of Northampton. We see ourselves as being a member of the town,” said Carlis. “It’s a lot of what drew me here to Cooley Dickinson. These are not only our patients, but also our neighbors who we might see at the market, or our friends and family who we spend our days with.”

The cancer center is coming after what Carlis describes as a long and happy Mass General Hospital affiliation that Cooley Dickinson has had since 2009. Carlis said that the staff is committed to treating patients with the best care available and its affiliation with Mass General gives them that increased opportunity.

With the affiliation, Carlis said, Cooley Dickinson cancer patients receive the standard of care that they would find at the major hospital in Boston, including the same chemotherapy regimens and genetic counseling. 

“More than anything, we want the cancer center to give the confidence to our community that we’re providing the best care right here at home,” Carlis said. “Patients will have the same access here as they would at a hospital in Boston. They’ll save those four hours driving back and forth every single day.”

This will be Carlis’ first Relay For Life as a member of the Cooley Dickinson community. She said she is looking forward to the event, which will be held June 19 and 20 this year in Look Memorial Park.

“We’ll be there and letting everyone know about the cancer center,” said Carlis. “What it will look like and what it will offer to our current and future patients.”

The community can be sure to see Breen and Carlis, as well as other members of the Cooley Dickinson staff, representing the Cooley Crusaders and other teams as well.

To learn more about Cooley Dickinson Hospital, visit cooley-dickinson.org. To volunteer or donate to Relay For Life, visit www.relayforlife.org/hampshirecountyma or email hamprelay@gmail.com

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