August, 2009

"Moving Forward, With Your Help!"

“How’s it going?!” I have been asked this sympathetic question literally hundreds of times during the past several months. It’s a legitimate and natural question, given the extreme changes that the MCHS and MCFTA have experienced recently, and continue to operate within. We’ve received many letters, emails, and other communication, each one expressing strong support, varying degrees of understanding, and dedicated concern for the future of the MCHS.

The short answer is: We’re doing well, given our current circumstances. Though we’ve lost positions and staff, have reduced public hours, and have painfully eliminated some programs and activities to assure that our reduced resources meet our core responsibilities, we continue our work and move forward. There simply is no alternative that is acceptable.

We are moving forward because of our dedicated membership and others who value and recognize the value of history and heritage. New volunteers have come forward to join our existing corps to assist with a wide variety of organizational needs: collections and archives work continues, the front desks of both the Doan History Center and The Dow Museum are partially staffed by volunteers more often (additional assistance is still needed, though! ), History Day Camps are successfully running over last year’s attendance and revenue numbers, the Historical Sites’ gardens and grounds look splendid, and work is underway to assure that our most popular and significant public and educational programming is firmly underway. All of these works and accomplishments are possible only because of the volunteer base that strongly supports the MCHS in a wide variety of ways.

We’re doing a lot, but we’re also doing less. The ever-popular Ice Cream Social - a summertime tradition for MCHS members and others alike - will not be held this summer, as this “successful” event still ends up in the red. It will come back in summer 2010 as an MCHS fundraiser, and will be offered as a special project of the MCHS Advisory Board, thereby largely freeing up remaining MCHS staff to pursue other more essential responsibilities.

We are continuing to learn how to do more with less, are forced to make some hard choices, and continue to prepare for the future…and the MCHS staff and Advisory Board, along with the MCFTA administration, are not doing this alone. Many of our members have come forward with their time, opinions and guidance, and dedication. Numerous members have also increased their membership levels and have also made generous cash contributions to the MCHS. These generous and supportive actions are directly helping us during the challenging economic times we are operating within, and I hope you will consider such support as well.

We’ve also received numerous suggestions to raise additional operating funds, and one member even suggested that we should have a special meeting to solicit ideas from our membership. Thus, I invite you all to attend a special “Fundraising Ideas Meeting” on Wednesday, August 19, 7-8:30pm, at the Doan History Center. Please plan to attend this informal meeting, and come armed with creative ways to help us raise funds. Are there successful ideas you’ve seen used in other organizations or communities, or new ideas that you’d like to discuss? We’ll enjoy progressive ideas and discussion, as well as light refreshments! I’ll also share some ideas the MCHS and MCFTA have already discussed. This meeting could be a turning point for the MCHS, and your support and input is needed. I hope to see you there…and I promise not to have the Great Depression-era song, “Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?” playing in the background!