New London Maritime Society
works year-round to bring our maritime heritage to life. And, once every year, we reach out and ask for your support.
We are your local, independent, community museum - a cultural anchor in downtown New London and a leading preservation force. By contributing to the Society's Annual Fund, you provide the essential day-to-day support that enables us to preserve and present New London's maritime heritage.
What's up for 2014?
It's our Year of Long Island Sound, when we explore developing a network to link everything along the shoreline: lighthouses, special events, boating trips, history!
We're planning a family-friendly exhibition Kids Ahoy, and will present 16 weekends of Lighthouse boat tours and special events next summer. And because of your support, restoration of New London Harbor Light is scheduled to commence in May.
Please take a moment to make a 100% tax deductible donation to the New London Maritime Society, or Leave a Legacy.
The New London Maritime Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization, tax ID #06-10866688.
Many thanks for your support.
Print & send this form to:
New London Maritime Society
2013 ANNUAL FUND
150 Bank Street
New London, CT 06320
or call: 860-447-2501
email: [email protected]
THANK YOU.
The Custom House Maritime Museum/New London Maritime Society (NLMS) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization and receives no regular funding from any other organization. We rely entirely on donations and the money raised from visitors to the Museum. There is only one staff member; the museum is run by a dedicated band of volunteers who give generously of their time.
What did we do in 2013?
I'm glad you asked!
Since January, we've cleaned, painted, and reorganized the Custom House Maritime Museum, from top to bottom, and we're still at it! We've had a lot of help...
Throughout the year, UCONN Avery Point and Connecticut College students painted and clipped the shrubs. USCG cadets did more painting (with volunteer Tommy Soulignavong and trustee Rob Groves) and some real heavy lifting, while younger volunteer Maddie Brumgard helped with our special programs. Head docent Bill LaRoue ran the museum every day with a growing cadre of helpers, among these Lee Jewett, Jerry Corey, Jennifer Hillhouse, Adrianna Bates, Ken Halloway, and Jerry Theiler. Board president George Sprecace hosted a weekly TV show: Custom House Maritime Matters, and solicited for new volunteers & members. NLMS treasurer Alan Lyon kept our accounts afloat and in good order. V-P Rob Pittaway and trustee Russ DeMarco organized monthly Jibboom Club programs; this month Jibboomers visited the USCG Academy. Rob also had a sturdy coat rack made-to-measure for our narrow hallway. NLMS trustees Vincentia Belbruno, Margaret Palmer & Carolyn Leuze provided refreshments for every Custom House event. Carolyn Leuze & her sail-maker daughter Katie Bradford organized our Real McCoy Rum-Tasting Party, which raised the funds to stitch up a beautiful, light-weight, blue tent for the courtyard! NLMS trustee Jennifer Hillhouse orchestrated all manner of workers over many months to rehab and install two fantastic buoys: Bill & Jennifer at the front of the Custom House (she also kept track of the membership & organized a series of maritime talks). We received a City of New London facade program grant to fund construction of the buoy platforms. Mayor Finizio and Senator Andrea Stillman helped with the buoy launch. Honorary trustees Elizabeth & Anthony Enders held a reading and party featuring author Verlyn Klinkenborg to support the good work of the Frank L. McGuire Maritime Research Library, which turned 15 in 2013. Librarians Brian Rogers and Laurie Deredita ran the library, while Eugene MacMullan restored all fragile paper objects. Dirk Langeveld transcribed many of our letters/manuscripts. The Connecticut Ship Model Club restored several of our models. Artists Denny Moers, Tom Bombria, and Ruth Sussler presented exhibitions of their work. FEMA provided Hurricane Sandy funding for lighthouse damage (thank you Jenny Contois & Joe Courtney). Governor Malloy declared this the Summer of New London Harbor Light. We adopted a lighthouse: Race Rock! We had a USPS lighthouse stamp! We ran 14 Summer Lighthouse Saturdays filled with boat tours and special events--we even visited Plum Island! Bob Landry brought over his great lighthouse models from Fort Trumbull (now he's making one for us!). Jim Diaz helped with carpentry and all-round trouble-shooting. UCONN student Rachel Perry did a lot of painting and even served a dinner in the lighthouse lantern. Alan Lyon, Margaret Palmer, Roger Clements, Tom Kane, Rachel & Joe Perry, Adrianna Bates, & Frederick Rowe ran the lighthouse tours including two Open House Days at NL Harbor Light. Kennedy Marine--Pat Kennedy & Karl Kohler, and Water Transit Services--Matt Lynch ran the tour boats--for partial donation. Josephine Gangiatano, Peggy Peters, Joan Conley and Alma Peterson managed the desk & Museum Shop. There was a marriage proposal in the lighthouse lantern--she said yes! There was a Navy re-up ceremony at the lighthouse, too--and they stiffed us! Pianist Martin Berkofsky and musician/artist John Mock donated their talents on behalf of the lighthouses. Amistad author Marcus Rediker, lighthouse-keeper Doug Allen, and author/magician Todd Gipstein donated talks. We launched a campaign to Be Part of Something BIG - to restore New London Harbor Light -- and we're doing it in 2014! (More about this to come...) And, with the Ledge Light Foundation, we've now applied for another lighthouse: New London Ledge Light (thank you Todd & Marcia Gipstein for your work on the application & everything else). The City of New London's PR man, Saverio Mancini got us tons of media coverage (--thank you, Tammy Dougherty)! We installed an indoor-outdoor video- surveillance system, thanks to a generous gift from Carole Marx Scott, and immediately caught a plant thief (thank you NLPD). Joan Conley has begun writing our thank-you notes. We bought new chairs for the main meeting room(!), and installed a large-screen monitor for films and for a museum-orientation video, which is in the works (thanks to a Palmer Fund grant). Palmer funding also is helping us to refit the museum, in terms of accessibility and life-safety issues--including installing an accessible toilet on the main floor and new glass fire-safe door on the museum's lower level. We've built the collections, most notably this year with purchases of several Ellery Thompson paintings, the former lens from Orient Point (John Guccione got it to run), two whaling tools, and a contemporary lighthouse lamp from France by Israeli artist Dan Yeffert (thank you Dan and Karkula Gallery, NYC). Many members, old & new friends, among these Brian McCarthy, Ed Eschenfelder, and Gordon Napier, have made donations to the museum of wonderful paintings, postcards, objects, and books (some for keeps, some to read) --most recently Doug Braun gave us a tug model, lighthouse paintings & photographs, and Don Cameron promised us his beautiful ship models. And we're building a new child-friendly exhibition (thanks to a Bodenwein grant). SECONN skin divers & Mark Munroe presented two fascinating exhibitions (now on view); member divers Jay Kane and Ed Uditis loaned us their vintage dive gear (just reinstalled & now on view). We partnered all year with other organizations for special events, among these groups Barbara Neff & the City of New London, the Connecticut Freedom Trail, the Elks' Christmas Trees (in two weeks), and the Henry L. Ferguson Museum on Fishers Island, which presented an exhibition all about Race Rock Light (thank you Pierce Rafferty). We welcomed school children, home-schoolers, and Camp Rotary. We produced a website, quarterly newsletters and weekly e-mail blasts (like this one). We hosted meetings/events for Amistad America, NEMA, area music students, Kindermusic classes, Currach Rowers, and Small-Boat Builders, among others. Deborah O'Connor created silhouettes for Mothers Day. We received quite a few grants, too, from the Chester Kitchings Family Foundation, Quebec-Labrador Foundation, Frank Loomis Palmer Fund (2), Bodenwein Foundation, Gilder Lehrman Institute, FEMA, the City of New London, Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, Dominion Foundation, PortVision, Veolia Water--New London Water Authority (thanks to Veolia and in partnership with the City of New London we brought Nimble Arts Circus to the NL waterfront for the 4th year in a row).
It was an amazing year: THANK YOU ALL! AND EVERYBODY LISTED ABOVE WAS A VOLUNTEER!
(And very sorry if we missed someone or something...)
New London Maritime Society is open 230+ days, and just about every Saturday & Sunday, all year long.
NLMS runs with one full-time employee, executive director, Susan Tamulevich, and this year with two part-time workers: Rachel Perry (two months) to organize summer lighthouse programs, and Dirk Langeveld, (this past month+), to help with research & administration.
