Models Of Iconic Chatham Buildings Auctioned To Benefit MCS

CHATHAM – You can own a piece of the top entry in this year’s Fourth of July parade and help Monomoy Community Services complete its building renovation project by bidding on elements from the Phillips Farm Family float.

 An online auction of elements of the float runs through midnight on Aug. 28. The float, a celebration of the town, included eight scale models of a number of iconic Chatham buildings, including the Chase Park Grist Mill, the Chatham Squire and the Eldredge Public Library.

 Other pieces up for auction are models of the Whit Tileston Bandstand, the community center, the Chatham Orpheum Theater and the congregational and methodist churches.

 After the float won the grand prize in the parade, members of the Phillips family were asked about the fate of the model buildings. The family decided to put them up for auction — taking a tip from the annual Art in the Park auction — and donate the profits to Monomoy Community Services.

 Members of the family added some details to the structures, made sure they were weatherproof and arrayed them for display outside the Local Color Gallery in West Chatham, next door to Ocean State Job Lot. 

 The Phillips family began creating floats for the parade when they operated the Phillips Farm Stand, which was located at the current site of the Cornfield Plaza in West Chatham. The stand closed in 1986 but the family’s floats continue to be a highlight of the parade, and in fact more often than not capture the top prize. Five generations of the family contribute to the process of creating each year’s float, according to a statement on the auction website. This year’s float celebrated “Our Story” by recreating landmark buildings in town.

 Renovation and expansion of the Monomoy Community Services building on Depot Road is nearly complete. The work updated and upgraded the existing building and added a new addition to house the Chatham Children’s Fund operation.

 Bids can be placed at www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/phillips-farm-model-buildings-silent-auction. As of early this week, bids ranged from $100 for several of the buildings to a top bid of $250 for the Squire model.