First and foremost, I would like to say that I
consider it a tremendous honor to serve as your President for the 2010 term.
There are so many things I would like to
accomplish, but I realize it can’t all be done at once so I thought I’d discuss
the top two items on my list.
1. Increase our membership. Members are the
lifeblood of organizations such as ours. Their dues provide our base income,
their bodies provide our board members and volunteers, and their minds provide
new ideas and contribute to our body of knowledge. I’m sure each of us knows at
least one person who is not a member of our Society and is interested in the
preserving history and heritage of the Morongo Basin. Just think, if all of us
were to recruit just one such individual, we could double our membership.
2. Finish phase two of our expansion project. We
sorely need the meeting hall this phase will provide. Currently our choice of
places to hold our lectures, annual members meeting, weed show, and other
gatherings is limited to our front porch or the original school room. As those
of you who attended our last annual meeting or Willis Keys talk, know the front
porch choice is often a very uncomfortable, breezy, and cool option. Using the
school room gets us inside but requires moving the old desks out of the way
(which creates undue wear and tear to the desks and our floor) and limits our
seating capacity to 45. The planned meeting room in the phase two addition will
significantly increase our seating capacity, won’t that be great? Think of the
comfort this will provide. Think of the manpower this will save. Think of the
possibilities this will provide for future endeavors. Think of what this
expansion will say to the community as a whole—that our Society is truly a
professional band of volunteers dedicated to the mission of educating and
preserving our local history. Now that would be great!
As you know, the Accessions Committee meets each
Wednesday morning from 9:00 to noon. The truth of it is, there’s more than
accessions accomplished during these meetings. On any given Wednesday you might
find:
Marilyn Fernald working on a display;
Bruce Arnett doing improvements or maintenance on our facilities;
Nolan Lockwood working on our financial records;
Pat Rimmington, Marilyn Collier, or someone else helping a researcher;
Pat Heumann inputting data to the Generations database or Desert Trail index, or
maintaining our membership files.
Al Gartner researching an article for our Journal.
Dick Moran and myself discussing the details of one of our projects or upcoming events
And then there’s the business of accessions:
Marilyn Collier receiving, logging, numbering, and storing newly received artifacts;
Sue McMahan and Cheryl Erickson clipping articles and adding to our vertical files;
Pat Rimmington sorting, identifying, classifying, and filing photos;
Velma Holland adding books to our library;
Bunny Boardman inputting data into our PastPerfect database;
Dan Luckenbill working on cataloging our vertical files.
Yes, it’s a very busy time on Wednesday mornings,
a great feeling of camaraderie, and we would all be happy to see your face
added to the crowd! There is no commitment required, just drop by and lend a
hand.
I will be looking forward to serving you and
working with you. I count on your help and feedback.
I thank you for this opportunity and look forward
to everyone’s participation. Your voices will be heard.
“The trouble with the future,” said the
American humorist Arnold H. Glasow, “is that it usually arrives before we’re
ready for it.”
