Monterey History & Maritime Museum

August 11, 2010

Dear Members,

We have been so busy in the past few months, I haven’t given our cherished members an update on our progress!

Everything is on schedule and we are very excited about the progress we have made in the past eight months since we closed in January.

Our progress since our last update is as follows:

• We welcome several new Board members: Yvonne Ascher, Pat Coniglio and John Enns.
• We are a bronze sponsor for the BLUE Ocean film festival and Conservation Summit.
• We have just received a generous grant of $47,300 from the Community Foundation from the Scott Fund and the Engracia Irene Murray Field of Interest Fund for collection assessment.  This is in addition to the Robert and Virginia Stanton grant we received earlier.
• To date, we have received $147,300 in grants in less than one year.  We are awaiting approximately $600,000 in grant proposals.
• Last year we ended with a DEFICIT of approximately $444,000.  This fiscal year 2009/10 will end with a DEFICIT of approximately $145,192.
• We are closing the sale of the Perry-Downer House to Classic Catering, and plan to put a substantial portion of the proceeds back into our endowment.  They will expand their Gatherings event rentals here, so it will still be enjoyed by the community for weddings and events.
• We completed the sale of the Fremont Adobe to longtime tenant Parker Lusseau Bakery, which has helped the bottom line and keeps the adobe open and well-maintained for the community.
• We just received a generous donation from RM Auctioneers of $5,000.
• Our website is updated with new events on the homepage and should have a complete new face in the next several months.  Our Facebook fan page is growing daily, treating fans to ‘Fun Facts’ of Monterey History.
• Our childrens’ ship has been drawing new excitement as privateer Hippolyte Bouchard’s infamous “Santa Rosa” pirate ship, recreated by local artist Erik Sineska.
• Our last ‘A Brighter Light’ lecture presented by Lila Staples was a great success. The monthly series will resume in December.
• Pierce Ranch Vineyards is our new wine sponsor, and will offer tastings at our upcoming receptions.
• We are beginning the Collection Storage Room renovation to bring it up to museum standards, thanks to our Community Foundation grants.
• Our architects, Jennifer Siegal and Libby Barnes, are moving forward with exciting designs for the lobby and main floor of the museum.
• The lobby exhibit, with our “wall of ships” and ship’s lanterns will open in late fall. The main floor will open in early 2011 with some exciting interactive features and captivating design.

I encourage all of you to continue to support the museum. We need your financial support to re-open in 2011.

Sincerely,

Pam Crowe-Weisberg

Executive Director