Museum events for May.

[tomhauburn]

Hey, We are just starting and need pretty much everything. I am just now getting enough items to fill the place a bit. We need enough gear that we can do progressive displays for each type of gear. The closest we can come to that is with manifolds. Bill Oigarden brought us his personal collection of five that show the progression of how they developed through the years. Also I hate to give someone a list and not have them give us something that is unique because of the history behind it. A reel used to lay the first line in Madison blue may be one that is common but the story of how it was used, who owned it etc. makes it unique. What we are asking now is for people to donate what they have with a small write up of the item. We will sort out what we want displayed and either return or store for later any repeats. We really have not gotten more than one or two repeats. Most vintage cave diving equipment was either hand made or altered by an individual. Things like line arrows, old examples of line, dorf markers, masks, fins, bc, clorox bottles, etc. may not sound very exciting but they are needed. We don't have a metal backplate yet for example. Just think if it has some meaning to you then it will most likely make a cool exibit.

We are still lacking in books, photos, maps, videos and other forms of media that are cave diving related. All we really have of those items are from my personal collection.

Not to make this too long a post but intact collections are very important and hard to find. Part of the frustration is that a set of gear from any one era just does not seem to exist. Mary Ellen Eckhoff has joined our BOD and is helping us reconstruct a full set of gear that Sheck Exley used. We can't put one together right now. We need a full set of gear from each decade. Then I can "loan" or put displays into other museums as well as have complete ones for us. Just personally contact me or any BOD member if you need any more information. Remember anything you donate is tax deductable.

Cindy Butler

While we need a lot more, as Cindy has said, I want to stress there is a lot to see already folks. I had one diver who was going to get the 15 minute tour and he left after over an hour and only left then because he was late going back home. There is a lot of interesting gear and interesting things to see on tape or DVD or books that can be read. We are off to a good start and while we know its early, we have a good foundation. Please visit us and we welcome donations of gear, maps, videos. or anything you would like to give. Thanks to everyone who has helped out already.

Tom Hundley

[FW]

Hey Forrest, we had a good day. A couple families from the community stopped by also. You need to stop by and see the place some day. Cindy

I am going to get by there this weekend. Will you eventually have "regular" hours?

[Cindy]

Tom: Good point, we have some fantastic displays and a lot of great and interesting things have been happening! At 1 am working on a presentation I bet I was sounding a little negative. So many people have stepped up in support with both gear and money. A big thank you to all! And to Tom also for his tireless support. Cindy

Forrest we are hiring a girl next month to help me. I have been trying to keep the place open myself with help from the other BOD members. We are going to try staying open Wed, Saturday and Sunday next month. Wed. 10am to 4pm. Sat. and Sunday 10am to 6pm. Our movie night will continue to be every third Sat. night of the month. That's the 17th of June. Thanks for the prompt. Cindy

[Cindy]

The book signing is today! This is the last day you can buy tickets! The drawing is tonight and I will be calling the winning ticket holders.
Your going to miss out on some great prizes if you don't give it a shot! Cindy Butler