The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Guests pony up at gala for library
Art Around Box event raises thousands
MORRIS — Morris Public Library Director Elena Granoth was among library volunteers who enjoyed the evening while guest auctioneer Timothy Chapulis solicited bids for items from the crowd of about 125 guests during the seventh annual Art Around the Box Gala Event and Auction on Saturday at The White Barn at South Farms.
Granoth said prior to the event, “It’s getting bigger and better every year. It is now not just an auction of fine art but now of valuable items, gift certificates and gift baskets.”
“The event’s name came from one of our board members, Jennifer Whittlesey’s, trip to Cape Cod one year,” Granoth said. “There a nonprofit organization was having a fundraiser where decorated lunch boxes by local artists were auctioned off. Our event is slightly different: We feature a variety of decorated keepsake boxes and birdhouses decorated by local artists.”
Whittlesey said beforehand, “I am really excited that the event took off the way it did.”
The benefit event, featuring wine, refreshments and live music provided by library employees and their family members, took place at The White Barn’s Parlor Room, which at one time served as the barn’s original dairy cow milking parlor. The room, with barn wood walls and trim, was now filled for the library’s gala event with rows of wooden tables and a stage area featuring live music and the auctions.
Beneath the 16-foot ceiling, which was covered with reclaimed metal roofing and custom lighting, auctioneer Chapulis of Bristol’s Tim’s Auctions solicited bids from the crowd for handmade birdhouses and mailboxes, gift certificates, famous and local paintings, an original Rolling Stones poster, jewelry and the mystery puzzle box treasure-hunt journey-instigator. Granoth estimated about $7,000 would benefit the Morris Public Library.
The event marked its
second year at The White Barn. Prior to that, the event was held at White Memorial Conservation Center in Litchfield.
The Mystery Puzzle Box, a popular annual prize, is a small, locked wooden box created by longtime friend of the Morris Public Library Denis Williamson. The box is decorated whimsically by notable Bantam artist Elizabeth Wolff with mice-on-postage-stamps and a larger mouse dressed as a private investigator with a magnifying glass directing the user to “Press the Button to Begin.” Whoever would win the box received an opportunity to go on a treasure hunt. This would be the fifth time the box would be auctioned off annually and be used for the quest, Williamson said.
Williamson, a retired computer consultant, explained to the crowd: “The idea is that the box gets bored sitting inside the house and wants to go on a trip once a year.”
The box, using a button and a digital counter, directs the winner to another prize’s location somewhere in Litchfield County. Williamson said the user pushes the button, which tells them how many miles to the prize clue’s location. The contraption’s instruction sheet reads that the “Quest Destination” is reachable by car. One can push the button only 50 times in order to locate the prize clue. Each time the button is pressed, it lists the attempt number and the distance to the prize (for example, “Attempt 1 of 50; Distance 17.1m.” They added that starting with attempt 45, the box will take pity on your plight and help you by showing the direction you should travel in terms of northwest and southwest.
Once the location is reached, the box unlocks to reveal a list of treasures (as well as past winners of the box), and the participant returns to the library to receive the actual prizes, which includes $200 worth of gift certificates to local vendors and businesses.
The participant’s name will also be added to the library’s list of “Quest Champions.”
“There is only one Mystery Puzzle Box,” Granoth commented. “So it is a special treasure hunt.”
Morris First Selectman Tom Weik gave the highest bid of $250, being awarded the box. Weik commented later: “I have three daughters, so the quest will be a fun family activity.”
Some of the other coveted items being auctioned off by Chapulis (punctuated by rings of sleigh bells by a Friend of the Library throughout) included a fiddle signed by country artist Charlie Daniels and a signed electric guitar by blues performer Edgar Winter and performer/ luthier Les Paul. Other items sold off were overnight stays at Winvian Farms’ resort cottages in Morris (which sold for a bid of $380) and the Litchfield Inn in Litchfield (which sold for a bid of $150).
Local visual artists represented included Fran Clem, Lori Barker and Tracy Martin. Bonnie Grzelak contributed homemade teacups; Hilary Towne contributed a birdhouse adorned with Swarovski crystals with a base of a pig’s lower jaw.
Some of the more historically famous (and certified) artists’ work auctioned off included an inkdrawing study of a bullfight by Pablo Picasso ($425) and a luminouscolors-upon-black-background print work from Marc Chagall ($325).
Kara Barone, of Morris, who won the bid for the Chagall, (which had been valued at $750), said: “Now I have an heirloom for my kids. It is a piece of history.”
Sharon Sutton, of Litchfield, said she comes to the event each year with four friends. Last year, she had won the mystery puzzle box. “It took us about 20 presses on the button in order to get the location, but we all made a day of it,” Sutton said. “We went to a tag sale and to a bar.”
A concurrent silent auction hawked two antique butter churners, historic paintings and gift baskets from local vendors.
Visitor Sharon Copes said prior to the live auction that she had her eye on a few paintings and an antique vanity mirror, adding her name to the silent auction’s items. “I came the first year that the event was held at White Memorial,” Copes said. “It seemed like a good day and a good idea to do it today.”
The Friends of the Morris Public Library organized the latest $15-a-ticket fundraiser, the proceeds for which go toward the library’s book acquisitions, programs and special events, said Granoth.
According to local history, the Morris Public Library was incorporated in 1900 and has been located at a number of Morris locations, including the Community Hall at the local Town Hall; a room at the James Morris School; under the current Morris Town Firehouse; and currently the former auditorium area of the Morris Community Hall.
Some of the library’s current programs include a children’s story and music program every Tuesday at 10 a.m. A one-on-one technology-assistance class is held Tuesday, 3 to 4 p.m. and Fridays by appointment between the hours of 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.
The library’s hours are Tuesday and Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The telephone number is 860-567-7440.