The email began, “I have a lovely hand-crafted backgammon set that I would like to donate to the auction.” Having no knowledge about this rare collector’s item, I reached out to Alexander Llewelyn directly to inquire about the board. It was established that the “Drawing Board” design was no longer available and luxury boards, like this one, would have an estimated value of $5,000 if purchased new today.
The Task Force committee, a community outreach committee for WestfordCAT, had some decisions to make. A promotional video was created to share on social media and flush out any potential buyers. After receiving a few inquiries and following several months of deliberations, a decision was made to bring it to Skinner Inc. for valuation and sale. Skinner recently added it to their “The Gentleman’s Auction” where it was one of the top items drawing bids.
The final hour was very exciting! For several days the bidding was stalled at $1,100. But, as often happens, as the auction neared it’s closing time the bidding started to get intense. First it jumped to $1,600 then to $1,800 and then to $2,100. Committee members were following the bidding war and texting each other wildly. The bidding stopped for a couple minutes and a “Is that final?” text popped up. But, before an answering message could be sent, the number bumped up again to $3,750 then $4,250 then $4,500 with under 10 minutes to go!! The clock ran down and the winning bid came in at $4,750!! The auction closed on June 3 at 7pm. 
The generous donation came in from Westford resident, Miriam Kadansky, wanting to support WestfordCAT’s Community All Together yard sale/auction held last September to participate in the Roudenbush Community Center’s Town Wide Yard Sale.
In an email exchange to share the good news, Kadansky replied, “Thanks for the fantastic news! I’ve used Skinner’s before, but somehow it didn’t cross my mind for the backgammon set. SO PLEASED we got almost full value for it. Not to mention all the auction fun. You’re first on my list next time I have something valuable to donate.”
Westford Community Access Television, Inc. (WestfordCAT) is a Massachusetts 501(C)3 non-profit corporation, appointed as the Public, Education, and Government (PEG) access provider by the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Westford with a mission to promote and encourage the use of public access resources to enhance a free and diverse exchange of ideas and interests that foster community participation and education.
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