November 29, 2004

Dear Fellow Society Members and Friends;

This is the second annual president’s letter that I am sending on behalf of the Board of Trustees to the membership of our Society. We are also sending this letter to all the people who generously supported us by attending our gala on the opening night of our special museum exhibition As Time Goes By: Remembering Ingrid Bergman.

In my letter to you last year I wrote that we planned to make 2004 the year of new initiatives by launching a major new development program with four goals: making our financial situation more secure; improving the quality of the 8 historic structures in our care; laying the groundwork for permanently employing a curator; and generating more programs and exhibitions for the benefit of the entire community.

Let us review where we stand with these goals, taking them in reverse order. In the summer of 2004 we presented our second special exhibit, As Time Goes By: Remembering Ingrid Bergman, which was very popular. Over 300 people attended the Opening Night Gala; over 1500 people visited the exhibit; and it was widely covered by the press.

We established as a precondition for the hiring of a curator that we have $100,000 in hand or committed. This would enable us to hire on a part time basis a person to serve as museum administrator and curator for a period of three years, with funds available to carry out museum projects. Our long term goal is to make this a permanent position. Our special exhibit in 2003, The Gruccis of Bellport, gave us a very good start, and the remarkable financial success of As Time Goes By put us three quarters of the way to our goal. We still need $25,000. The Post-Morrow Foundation has very generously offered us a matching grant of $9,000 spread over three years. Thus we need to raise $16,000 before we can hire a curator. In order to do this without a major fund drive, we are allocating this year all of our membership dues income above the basic level to the museum fund. If a substantial fraction of our membership and of our new members could support us without hardship at the Patron or Benefactor level that would put us over the top of the $100,000 that we need to professionally staff the museum for three years. Many hands make light work of even the most daunting goals. Please be as generous as you can.

When we look at the properties in our care, we find them wonderful, old and worn but familiar and beloved. However, we had two consulting engineers examine our buildings, and while they were sympathetic, they still found many problems. When looked at with a fresh eye, our most immediate problem is the street half of the Brown Building at 12 Bell Street. This is an important building. Bell Street is now a historic district, most of Bell Street was built by the firm of Robinson and Watkins in a simple Queen Ann style, and the headquarters of this firm was in what is now our Brown Building. As the original exemplar of the style of Bell Street the Brown Building should not only be brought up to code, it should also be restored to the design and maintenance standards of the houses on the street, the firehouse across the street, and the original Catholic Church down the block. That calls for a lot of work and money. The trustees are presently preparing grant proposals due in January since there are some federal, state, and local funds available for this sort of project One requirement for being considered for most large grants is that we have a paid staff member. Thus our first goal is to bring aboard the museum administrator/curator, who will serve as the contact person for the granting agencies.

This brings us to Item 1, increasing our financial security. We feel that the Society’s financial security is dependent on its importance to the community. Thus, as we gain greater visibility, as we draw more people to our museum, as we enrich the center of Bellport with our historic complex, the community will recognize us as an important contributor to the life of the village. Our regular operating expenses (for heat, electricity, insurance, paint, roofs, etc. for eight structures) are ever-rising. We hope to meet these expenses with an ever rising membership. Please renew your existing membership. Please join if you are not already a member

The Society operates entirely through the generous contribution of time and effort by its membership and other friends. The Society pays its bills entirely through the generous financial support from its members and other friends. Any dues or contributions you make are 100% tax-deductible and 100% of those funds go to operating the museum complex. We especially want to thank the volunteers who have so unselfishly given of their time. We want also to thank our new friends for the support they have freely given to our projects over the past two years and we urge them at this time to become members of our Society. Finally, we look forward to seeing you at our holiday party on December 11th and we wish everyone a happy and prosperous New Year.

Sincerely,

Carol K. Bleser, President

P. S. We send the President’s Letter to our Life Members to keep them informed of our progress and to offer them the opportunity at this time to make contributions to the museum fund for the curator.