February 2008
At our recent Executive Council meeting, we learned that the Society finished last year in the red. Since our operating budget, for a large part, depends on income from our endowment fund, it is suffering the effects of the current economic downturn.
In the upcoming year we will need to plan some fundraising activities to address the budget shortfall. The Executive Council has voted to utilize underwriting as an additional source of revenue. Therefore you will see a small amount of advertising in future issues of the newsletter and on our web site.
If you have not yet done so, I urge you to send in your annual dues, and at the same time consider upgrading your membership to a higher level. (Please check your address label: a red dot indicates that your dues have not been paid.) Additional donations towards our operating expenses will also be most appreciated. We thank you in advance for your generosity!
On a happier note, I am pleased to announce that Board member, John Meyers, has agreed to accept the position of Vice-President, and Lee Terry has been appointed Member-at-Large in his place.
Our new Publicity Chair, Ian Mills, has also been hard at work re-designing our web site. The new version will be launched in stages; you are looking at the results of the initial re-design, and more content will be added over time.
I especially want to draw your attention to the barn survey project, coordinated by the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation. We will be participating in the survey this year, in partnership with the TownÕs Agriculture Committee. Please consider volunteering for this important project that seeks to document our communityÕs agricultural heritage.
Finally, I would like to express our thanks to Program Chair, Norman Stevens, who continues to come up with exciting ideas and speakers. The schedule for this year appears in "Coming Events" under the left navigation menu, and on our Programs page. We hope to see you at all the programs and special events in 2008!
Thank you to all,
Fred A. Cazel, Jr., President
