Cheers pours out fun, funds

Eddie Doyle (left), organizer for Cheers for Children, Brian Nolan, Tom Kershaw, Victoria Ruff, and Bruce Dean (right) gave $11,000 to Globe Santa outside the Hampshire House. (Aram Boghosian for The Boston Globe)

Despite a recession that has curbed the expectations of charitable campaigns across the nation, Cheers for Children topped its fund-raising total from a year ago and on Monday presented a check for $11,000 to Globe Santa.

"It's a miracle that we did so well," said Eddie Doyle, chief organizer of the event. "People really showed their spirit and donated in kind."

The 29th annual Cheers for Children holiday gala and auction was held Dec. 3 at the Hampshire House and raised $49,000.

Cheers for Children traditionally splits the proceeds from the auction among four charities: Globe Santa, The Cam Neely Foundation for Cancer Care, The Jimmy Fund, and Friends of Floating Hospital for Children. Each organization this year added $11,000 to its coffers thanks to Doyle, his invaluable fellow volunteers, and Hampshire House owner Tom Kershaw.

This year's gala also benefited The Massachusetts Soldiers Legacy Fund, which will receive a $5,000 donation.

The 2008 festivities featured a silent auction and a soiree that has earned the reputation as the unofficial start to Boston's holiday party calendar. The fund-raiser has evolved into a more open format that forgoes a live auction to allow guests the time and space to walk through all three floors of the historic site.

"This began as a time for our regulars, but it's grown over the years into not only a great cause but a great party on top of it," Doyle said. "Using all the floors helps because you're not bumping into the same people all night and the three levels are loaded with items to bid on."

A popular part of the night is still the celebrity bartenders, and this year's group included regulars such as 1976 American League Rookie of the Year Mark "The Bird" Fidrych, former Red Sox manager Joe Morgan, WBZ4 News chief political analyst John Henning, Red Sox radio voice Joe Castiglione, and Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy.

But there were newcomers as well, including Castiglione's counterpart on the Red Sox Spanish language broadcasts, Uri Berenguer, Joe Piantedosi Jr., owner of the nearly century-old Piantedosi Baking Co., and a former Red Sox slugger that surprised even the organizers.

"Sam Horn showed up totally unannounced and jumped behind the bar on the first floor," said Doyle.

Some of the more sought-after items in the auction included an autographed basketball by Celtics captain Paul Pierce, a week's vacation in Las Vegas, two trips to Florida - one to see the Beach Boys and the other to see the B-52s, and a custom 4-foot high "flying pig" weathervane from Mary and Fred Hurley at Boats and Motors.

Other popular listings were restaurant and hotel gift certificates from Mistral and Teatro, Flemings, the Seaport Hotel, the Royal Sonesta, and the Holiday Inn, two dinners for six guests, personally prepared by Hampshire House head chef Markus Ripperger in the winners' homes, and golf outings at The Country Club in Brookline and on Martha's Vineyard.

Doyle said the doormen "came up huge," this summer, collecting children's charities donations. Tom Babson, a "Cheers" actor who lives on Beacon Hill, visited the pub on his lunch hour, entertaining guests and autographing photos of the cast.