November – December 2016 President’s Report

Dear Members,

We have had a change at the Executive Level of the DRM. In September, Wade Roese resigned as President. All is fine with Wade. After a decade of serving the Museum as President, Vice-President, Board Chairman and member of a number of committees, he decided it was time to spend more time with his family and on his other interests. When I last spoke to him, he was happy being able to get back to working on his train layout.

On Tuesday nights, Wade was a fixture at the Museum working with the train layouts, displays and any impromptu meetings that came up. Prior to the Wednesday evenings programs, he brought members and guests up to date with Museum news. Many other hours were spent at the front desk, attending meetings, learning about and participating in the StEPs program, taking phone calls and emails and countless other administrative tasks. We should all be grateful for the hours he donated to the DRM. Thank you Wade on behalf of the DRM!

According to our by-laws, the Vice-President immediately fills the open position of President. The VP position needed to be filled, and at the October board meeting, Chuck Sager was elected by the board to serve the remainder of the term. Thanks Chuck for stepping up. Also at the October meeting, a new Building Committee was named with Marty Grossman serving as Chairman and consisting of members Jeff Van Wagenen, Justin Chapin and Bob Pitcher.

At the November meeting, a new Exhibits Committee was formed with Bob Boothe and Jose Alves serving as Co-Chairs and Peter McLachlan, Phillip Beard and Mike Madyda as members. Also the By-Laws Committee was reactivated with Jeff Van Wagenen as Chairman and Bob Boothe, Justin Chapin, Mike Madyda and Steve Gould as members.

In the last couple of months, progress has been made on the relocation of the Mill Plain Station to the railyard. The location has been marked off and work has begun to prepare the site. When you read this, I suspect we will be much further along in accepting ownership and getting contracts signed for the actual move. When visiting the Museum, please be sure to see the museum-quality HO-scale model of the station, scratch built by member Loren Hendrix.

One last thing for this report, Metro-North donated seven pallets of track mats that they no longer had any use for. These are placed in-between the rails wherever motive power is stored to absorb any fluids that may leak. I don’t know the exact cost of the mats, but can say that would have cost us several thousand dollars. Thanks Metro-North!

With the end of a successful year upon us, let me thank all of our members and volunteers who gave their time and support to the Museum. Happy Holidays!