DRM Express Track

By Ira Pollack, President

The President's address to the Membership at the Danbury Railway Museum Annual Meeting, Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Every Wednesday night, before our featured program, I do "What's Happening". It is an overview of what has been going on the previous week at the Museum, and what we expect to accomplish during the week ahead. When you look at these weekly reports, you see:

Here is what we do.

Here are the names of the doers.

Here is our progress report.

Look at where we've been, and look at how we are moving ahead.

The Museum is alive and well and growing.

It's our volunteers that make us shine.

It's these people who are doing it, either in a small way or a big way.

Look around. Look in the yard. Look in the building.

Look at the newsletter. Look at our many visitors.

It's all around.

It's a love, a passion, a fire that can't be put out.

Look at all the people in this room - all different - young, old, short, tall - all with that common love, and need to succeed.

Look at what these volunteers have done over these weeks, months, and now years.

These reports show the progression of our past.

We are moving forward with direction, with momentum, an unstoppable momentum.

We know what our past was. Now we must look to our future.

Over the past nine months we have formulated a business plan including goals with different levels of priority. They were picked by members on the Strategic Planning Committee and grouped by length of process into one, five, and ten year periods. Following are some examples:

One Year: Tour guide training

Obtain grants

Upgrade trackage in the railyard

Five Year: Raise a building at the turntable

Conduct rail trips going beyond the DRM yard

Secure trackage rights to the New York State line

Ten Year: Build a roundhouse and shop building

Conduct excursions with our own equipment

These are but a few of our goals, but this is our future.

This is where we are headed, and our course to follow.

I have seen where we came from, and I know we can follow this path to success.

Please support this plan and continue to support our growing Museum.

Thank you.