Exhibiting the Pride of Esopus

To Preserve, Interpret and Disseminate
the History of The Town of Esopus

Alex Contini
President

The state of the Museum is good. In 2007 we paid all our bills and continue to have financial reserves. We did however spend money on plumbing repairs to the house and were required to purchase a new heating plant for the museum. We thank Don Cole for his community spirit in getting us a good deal.

We dissolved the Capital Campaign Committee with the intent of exploring other opportunities.

Our major events, the Annual Recognition Dinner, the Strawberry Festival and the Turkey Dinner, were successes. These continue to be our primary source of operating revenue and we encourage members and their friends, acquaintances, neighbors and even strangers they meet on the street to join us.

The 2007 exhibit Esopus: Then and Now met our goals of bringing new people into the museum and exhibiting the Pride of Esopus. We have had some invitations to put the exhibit on the “road.” We would like to thank Vivian Wadlin and Ray Rice for sharing their substantial collections of antique postcards and photos with the museum. We hope these photos will become the basis for a publication planned for the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the founding of the town in 2011.

We continue our relationship with the Ulster Historic Alliance. Their guest speakers have been very helpful. In November, we heard a talk on the various resources available to museums at the local, state and national level. We are working to find grant writer who will share his time among several Alliance members..

We ended 2007 with exactly 138 annual members and 48 life members. We were down about 22 renewals from 2006, but up 10 new members. So far 115 members have renewed for 2008 and some for 2009. Some of these people had not renewed for several years. We depend on membership dues to keep the museum open. The membership year is January thru December.

The 2008 exhibit will present the several religious institutions in the town. The working title is We gather together: Sacred Houses in Esopus. If you have any artifacts or photos which could support this exhibit, please consider loaning them to the museum for the 2008 exhibit. We open on the third Sunday in May but need time to create the exhibits.

The Klyne Esopus Historical Society chaired the search committee for the Town of Esopus Historian. We would like to congratulate Anne Gordon who was selected as the new town historian. She will be writing articles for our newsletter as well as other publications. She has already organized events in conjunction with the town library.

We mourned the loss of our dear friend and colleague Peter McGowan who left us in April this past year. Peter loved the museum and was very active in getting speakers for our programs. Over $3,500.00 in memorial donations were made in his name. Acting on the wishes of the donors, a memorial in the form of a cast iron bench was placed on the terrace in honor of Peter. Peter’s good friend and museum benefactor, Beatrice Moore, purchase two additional matching benches for the terrace. The remainder of the donations will provide stipends for our speakers. Peter often paid these stipends out of pocket.

We lost several other members this year as well. Ethel Howard, Evert Rimmi, Herbert Cutler, Doris Elmendorf, and Robert Finkle. The society sent letters of condolences. If you are aware of a member’s passing, please let our secretary Marie Kelekian know. We greatly appreciate it when families suggest the Klyne Esopus Museum for donations in lieu of flowers.

We have not been able to replace Ralph Ellis as Treasurer or Karyn Greico as Corresponding Secretary. I have asked Barbara Barton and Marie Kelekian to return to those posts respectively until someone accepts the nomination or appointment. As Barbara will attest, the position of treasurer isn’t as demanding now that we have a professional accountant keeping the books. The independent audit committee will review the books in the next few weeks.

I encourage our members to participate in our events, tell us their Esopus “stories,” lend or give historical artifacts to the museum, join the board, bring in new members and above all, support your museum financially. Please consider a bequest to the museum. You may not agree with everything we’ve done, but the Klyne Esopus Museum is the repository of the history of Esopus and relies on your generosity to survive.

We lost several other members this year as well. Ethel Howard, Evert Rimmi, Herbert Cutler, Doris Elmendorf, and Robert Finkle. The society sent letters of condolences. If you are aware of a member’s passing, please let our secretary Marie Kelekian know. We greatly appreciate it when families suggest the Klyne Esopus Museum for donations in lieu of flowers.

We have not been able to replace Ralph Ellis as Treasurer or Karyn Greico as Corresponding Secretary. I have asked Barbara Barton and Marie Kelekian to return to those posts respectively until someone accepts the nomination or appointment. As Barbara will attest, the position of treasurer isn’t as demanding now that we have a professional accountant keeping the books. The independent audit committee will review the books in the next few weeks.

I encourage our members to participate in our events, tell us their Esopus “stories,” lend or give historical artifacts to the museum, join the board, bring in new members and above all, support your museum financially. Please consider a bequest to the museum. You may not agree with everything we’ve done, but the Klyne Esopus Museum is the repository of the history of Esopus and relies on your generosity to survive.

Respectfully submitted,

Alexander F. Contini
President

Click here to read the 2007 Presidents Message

Click here to read the 2006 Presidents Message

Click here to read the 2005 Presidents Message