Southampton - The East End community is flying high with excitement in anticipation of the Fifth Annual Artist and Celebrity Birdhouse Auction to benefit the new Ellen Hermanson Breast Center at Southampton Hospital.

The event is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 10, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Parrish Memorial Hall located at Southampton Hospital. Actress Renee Zellweger will serve for the fourth year as honorary co-chair of the event, along with Betsey Johnson, who has adorned birdhouses for the cause since its inception.

This year's auction is in memory of famed artist, Tony Rosenthal, who passed after he began work on his birdhouse. Artist Don Saco, finished the birdhouse, with "Rosenthal flair" and it will go up for auction.

This year the birdhouse committee has unruffled a few auction feathers to better fit in with the problems of the failing economy. Local restaurants and markets have generously donated food for the event. With inexpensive raffle tickets, low opening bid prices, and an affordable admission, all can enjoy the festivities, while donating to such a needed cause.

Also donating their time and talent are dozens of artists and celebrities who have adorned birdhouses with 100 percent of the money raised benefiting the new Ellen Hermanson Breast Center at Southampton Hospital.

The diagnosis and treatment of the breast cancer is a clinical priority. Southampton Hospital's Breast Health Center is the only facility of its kind on Eastern Long Island featuring state-of-the-art services, from routine screening mammograms to sonograms, to stereotatic and core biopsies. Finely tuned teamwork and collaboration between the Breast Health Center, surgeons and medical and radiation oncologists provide rapid diagnosis and treatment. The namesake of the foundation, Ellen P. Hermanson, fought a personal battle with breast cancer by becoming an activist and advocate. A talented writer and journalist, she gave a voice to the issues related to breast cancer, educated her readers to the importance of early-detection and informed them of the availability of resources.

The birdhouse auction began as the brainstorm of East End artist and breast cancer survivor Karyn Mannix. She is one of the many women who benefited from the Breast Centers technology and because of early detection, she is now five years cancer free.

The Ellen Hermanson Breast Center at Southampton Hospital will preview the houses one week before the event at the Hampton Road Gallery, 36 Hampton Road in Southampton on Saturday, Oct. 3, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Bidding on the silent auction birdhouses will begin at the preview and be carried over to auction night.

Call 631-726-8715 for information and tickets. Tickets are $40.