|
|
| |
|
The Klyne Esopus
Museum, located in Ulster Park, New York, is housed in a former Dutch
country church built in 1827. The museum offers a variety of exhibits
about the culture, commerce and history of The Town of Esopus. | ||
Article
IX, Section 6, Paragraph f of the Museum by-laws requires that the Presidents,
as part of their duties, provide a State of the Museum Report at the annual
meeting.
PRESIDENT’S STATE OF THE MUSEUM REPORT | ||
| I look forward to serving as your president, and thank you for the honor and vote of confidence. Filling the shoes of our past president, Alex Contini, will not be an easy task. During his six dedicated years, Alex helped guide the museum through several milestones, while it reaped multiple and notable accomplishments. During his tenure, However, the museum is currently faced with meaningful, although not insurmountable, challenges. Our country finds itself knee deep in recession. Unfortunately, the effects of the recession are felt by the museum as well. The museum’s income from its investments is not expected to be a source of funding this year. The principal of our investments has fallen which now prohibits funds from being withdrawn. Additionally, we are renegotiating our mortgage that was secured to purchase the neighboring property. Finally, the physical structure, built around 1827, is in need of numerous additional repairs. On the operational side, membership is down to slightly less than half the level that it reached in 1986, and attendance at our last permanent exhibit, Houses of Worship in Esopus was down from the prior year. Before the museum fulfills its mission to “Preserve, Interpret, and Disseminate the History of the Town of Esopus” we must preserve the museum building. In years past, when Bill Gates talked about the future of Microsoft, he had often stated that, while hugely profitable, Microsoft is merely two years away from bankruptcy, the implication being that all organizations, including huge behemoths, must adapt. Our cherished museum must also act quickly, move adeptly within a dynamic marketplace, adapting to the changing times in order to continue to thrive and be there for your children and your children’s children. I promise to help guide the Board through these challenges. |
In order to increase the membership of the museum, I hope to steer the museum through some newly charted waters, as we add an another dimension to the museum’s offerings. The Board and I hope to make the museum more a social organization than it currently is. Along those lines, on February 7th, we had our first new social event, a “progressive dinner”, which took place in three historically significant buildings within our town. The dinner was attended by over 100 people, and resulted in 30 new memberships, an approximate 20% increase in membership. On behalf of the Museum, I sincerely thank the Hite family and our neighbors in the Maple Ridge Community for graciously opening their homes to our membership. I also sincerely thank Frank Rinaudo, of Frank’s Steakhouse in Esopus, for his generosity in providing excellent food and catering services at a cost that enabled the museum to also earn a reasonable profit. I intend to support more and different social events of this kind. I also hope to encourage exhibits that have mass appeal, including those that have “an edge” to them, such as “Haunted Houses in Esopus,” the exhibit planned for 2010. At the recent Strategic Planning Meeting for the museum, we created a committee to secure grant money, an effort which will again take us into uncharted waters. While our successful fundraisers and dinners (the Strawberry Festival, the Turkey Dinner, the Recognition Dinner, and Amazing Concert) provide much of the needed operating funds, we hope that the newly directed effort to increase membership in the museum, increase fundraising, and pursue grants will yield additional working capital. This is important for structural repairs and the upkeep of our historic building. |
Finally, we are in the process of negotiating an extension of the mortgage held on the neighboring property, and are optimistic about the outcome. Upon conclusion of the negotiations, I will post the outcome on the website. Our membership is a powerful asset for the museum. We are a diverse, talented, and committed group. Some of you who were there in the 1960s, helped save the building from being razed, and have remained loyal members. Others of us who are new to Esopus, are interested in becoming more involved in the community, and meeting the local people. The museum embraces all of us equally. We invite you to attend all the museum activities, as they will continue to be educational, informative, social gatherings, an opportunity to meet your neighbor. I ask you to let me know your thoughts, as I have included my email address on the bottom of this letter. Tell us what you, the members, would like the museum to do differently. Better yet, join a museum committee and help us get there. Even better, if you enjoy the exhibits and events, simply ask your best friend to join. Imagine the power of that gesture, as I suspect that our membership would likely almost double. Regards, Click here to read the 2008 Presidents Message Click here to read the 2007 Presidents Message |
