Hello to members and friends of the Friends of Nevada State Museum Las Vegas! This Thursday, June 17, will be our first in-person meeting at the Museum in 16 months – quite hard to believe it’s been that long! It will be good to see people’s faces on something other than Zoom. We hope turnout will be good because we are also moving the starting time to 3 PM (an afternoon session). The afternoon session is primarily to adjust to reduced museum resources, but the idea seemed very popular with many members.
Our first meeting will feature noted local author and photographer, Jeanne Howerton. Jeanne, will discuss her new book (SKIDOO), about a mail order bride in the mining area of central Nevada,. The discussion should prove to be quite interesting. Also, at the meeting, the museum will display a number of the items purchased by the Friends for the museum during the past 16 months. This is a chance to actually see the items purchased that we have been describing in newsletters and emails.
Other items of note:
- Our OAG grant from Clark County ends in June. We have spent the $10,000 awarded with the grant. The last monies were spent to purchase a subscription system to help Stacy Irwin (education curator) schedule trunk and student visits next school year.
- The final items from the member authorized expenditures in February have been obtained. These include new floor mats at the entry to the museum, and the digitization of 8 more films for preservation. This project is now closed.
- Our small fundraising activities have been mildly successful, In the last few months, we have received $210 from dine out activities, at Cafe Zupas (including a $70 donation from Jeff Alpert); approximately $236 from our clothing drive; $89.18 from Amazon Smile as a result of members using this Amazon fundraiser when purchasing items on Amazon; and $400 from dues payments. Thank you to everyone for your support in these activities!
- Our summer fundraising campaign will be “Money for Mannequins”. The campaign will kick off in July and will be featured in the July newsletter and specific emails/letters. The campaign will continue through August.
As you are aware, the museum has a new director, Ms. Hollis Gillespie. Hollis brings a lot of museum related experience to the job and definitely has ideas to help move the museum into the future. She is a strong supporter of the Friends. Currently, Hollis is focused on reopening for more hours with the reduced staff; beginning the hiring process to fill approved positions; developing relations with the Springs Preserve; and organizing the staff for the future. We will continue to work with Hollis as requested, but for the next couple of months we will be focused on the fundraising campaign
Jim Parish, President