Silent auction benefits E. Hampton village

Want to spend a few nights in an 18th century Swedish mansion or dine with Martha Stewart? Maybe you'd like to catch Justin Bieber in concert in Brooklyn, or score two tickets to the Aug. 4 Yankees game.

How about an artist's proof print of a collage of a yellow Lab, made from candy wrappers?

Then start bidding online now, because those items, and about 175 more, are all available in Saturday's silent auction as part of the annual East Hampton Ladies' Village Improvement Society Fair.

The event, held annually for more than a century, has grown to become the biggest single summer event in the village, regularly drawing a crowd of 5,000 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., if the weather is good.

Admission is free, but the revenue from vendors and the sale of donated items -- local residents bring many items including homemade preserves and vintage clothing -- helps the society raise funds for many programs, including the $100,000 given out in local scholarships and its ongoing tree maintenance in the village.

The auction items in the online catalog -- LVISsilentauction.com -- can be bid on until noon Friday, and there will be live bidding at Saturday's fair.

The auction items are broken up into 10 categories, such as beauty and fitness and travel and resorts.

Bids for lunch with Martha Stewart start at $1,000, the same opening bid for the Justin Bieber tickets.

It's a system that has been perfected over the years by the LVIS, whose first fair 116 years ago raised money to water down the village's dusty streets and sweep its wooden sidewalks.

"The Ladies have shown over the years that they know how to get things done," said East Hampton village administrator Larry Cantwell.