Decorators-Designers-Dealers Sale To Be Held June 7

The Southampton Fresh Air Home is hosting its 33rd annual Decorators-Designers-Dealers Sale and Auction Benefit Gala on Saturday, June 7.

Located on Barkers Island Road, the SFAH is a nonprofit center that provides services and programs for children and young adults with disabilities. The center offers multiple summer programs and off-season programs in the winter.

The sale features a wide array of furniture arranged by certain themes in the many rooms of the facility. Items available include antiques, pre-owned and new furnishings, designer furniture, lamps, paintings and more offered at a variety of prices. Themes include rooms with “traditional furniture” and Hamptons beach-style pieces, according to Design and Decoration Chairwoman Ann Yawney.

At the sale, guests are treated to cocktails and hors d’oeuvres as they walk around the different furniture-stacked rooms. Guests will also have the opportunity to participate in live and silent auctions. Gifts available in the auctions include vacation packages, golf outings, cosmetics, clothing and gift certificates from local restaurants. A wine auction will also be held.

The event is one of two main events that the center hosts to raise the necessary funds to continue to run its programs and improve its facilities, with the other being their annual picnic. These funds also allow the camp to ensure that all children, no matter their families’ financial situation, can attend the programs.

Planning for the event every year begins at the conclusion of the Fresh Air Home’s summer programs in September when the camp starts accepting donations, including couches, chairs, dressers, bedroom sets, glassware and china sets. The center’s staff and a group of volunteers then spends the following months unpacking and organizing the donations as they come in. By May, the donations begin being arranged into rooms.

The center has received donations at a similar rate to previous years, though with some different items than in years past, according to Design and Decoration Chairwoman Ann Grimm. The different items include upholstered beds, wicker and rattan furniture and “more contemporary furniture than in years past,” Grimm said.

Last year, between the sale and picnic, the center was able to cover half of its $1.75 million budget, which Executive Director Thomas Naro said they hope to achieve again this year. Naro noted that last year’s sale “was probably the biggest year since 2008.”

“Last year was a really good year in terms of gifts and donations in advance,” Grimm said. “We had some nice people who were more than generous in funding and underwriting things.”

One of the programs that the SFAH was able to expand after last year’s sale was the “Home Away From Home” program for children who have aged out of the summer programs but still need support as young adults. Run by a former camper, the program helps find employment and education opportunities for young adults, as well as teaches them life skills and hosts trips into New York City.

This summer, the center will run three two-week sessions of up to 60 campers. In these sessions, campers will participate in activities such as going sailing and learning to play golf.

“They have all kinds of events so it keeps them busy,” Yawney said. “They’re so happy to be here, and ‘please and thank you’ is in their vocabulary.”

The center also has a mentoring system where previous campers come back to serve as mentors for new campers. Grimm spoke of the benefits of this, saying, “The young campers have somebody to talk to who understands their problems because they have similar ones.”

The event is also an opportunity for the center to promote who they are and raise awareness of the services they provide, as Yawney said that many local residents are unfamiliar with the center.

Doors for the event at the Southampton Fresh Air Home, located at 36 Barkers Island Road, will open on Saturday, June 7, at 4 p.m. for benefactors and 5 p.m. for general entry ticket holders. Admission prices start at $250 for general entry and $375 for benefactor entry. For more information, visit sfah.org/ddd.