President’s Report – March 2005

By Ira Pollack, President

This month I would like to wish you well and give you some quick updates on what’s going on.

We are pursuing new events at the Museum which will attract people with diversified interests. An example of this is our First Annual Hammer-In event at the Museum which will be held Saturday and Sunday, May 21 & 22, from 10 to 5. We will keep to our normal schedule of weekend train operations; this will be an added attraction. Now that our forge is operational, we have invited a number of blacksmiths and metal working artisans to join us. They will give demonstrations of their craft, exhibit and sell their wares in our yard. The number of participants is growing daily. I’m hoping some industrial gas engine owners also will join us.

We have a goal of having a special event every month, each with a different focus, to attract a broader range of guests to the Museum. Each event will work around and augment our regular yard operations. A Sperry Car, or Inspection Car Day has already been scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, June 4 &5. We will give rides to guests on board this equipment. We may hold another Speeder Car Day, on which we would give tours of the yard using the speeders. I’m also looking at having a music series for a fundraiser. I think these ideas would be good for variety at the Museum, and if held on a regular basis, establish the DRM in the public’s mind as a center of regular interesting attractions. If you have ideas to suggest of types of events to hold, or would like to participate in ones already mentioned, please contact me at the Museum.

Thankfully the seasons soon will be changing again, and we must finalize our plans for the upcoming months in the yard. As always, there are numerous projects to pursue, and I need your help. The more people we have volunteering, the more we can accomplish.

The main projects for this season will be finishing the lettering on the New Haven Boxcar #33732, cleaning up and painting the RS11 #1402 diesel locomotive, installing the semaphore’s operators shed, and continuing to enhance the exhibits in the yard. Of course, there will be many other projects and tasks, but I would like up to focus on these big ones. We have had some really big successes in the yard over the last few seasons. Let’s keep the momentum going!

Once the weather improves I will pick certain projects to focus upon in the yard each Saturday. I will keep you informed of these by posting, calling and announcing them at the Wednesday night programs. We will hope to see you by 9:30am Saturday mornings in the DRM yard. Our Museum continues to grow; we need your help to keep it growing. I’ve seen what we’ve done already and know that we can succeed in whatever we choose to do. It’s amazing what we can accomplish by working together. There is great satisfaction in seeing the results of a day’s volunteering at DRM. It is true that each person can make a big difference.

Please support our growth. See you in the yard!