The mercury shot up this week on the thermometer that radio station WMVY has posted to measure its fundraising progress. At press time yesterday the station was just twenty thousand dollars shy of its six hundred thousand-dollar pledge goal, with seven days left in the campaign to save the local radio station. After two months of uncertainty, things were looking possible and indeed probable for the popular station to stay alive by continuing as an online venture. That’s a giant leap for a tiny station, and all the hardworking people who have been on air day and night pitching the cause deserve admiration for this herculean effort.

And as the pledge meter ticked upward, the countdown also continued to the final days of the station’s on-air presence at 92.7 FM. Last week the Federal Communications Commission approved the sale of the signal to WBUR as planned, and the changeover is expected to happen soon, possibly in a matter of days.

Meanwhile, the WMVY playlist continues, including this weekend when the radio station’s signature annual charity event, the Big Chili Contest, will take place. The event, which sells out every year, is a key fundraiser for the Red Stocking Fund. If the station reaches its pledge goal by Saturday, there may be something extra to spice up the festive scene at the Portuguese American Club in Oak Bluffs. And that would be wonderful news.