Hi «ename»:
This letter is being sent out to the membership on behalf of Alex and the Board:
November 14, 2015
Folks:
Next summer marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Shaw Island Library
and Historical Society. It is humbling and inspiring to realize that a small number of
people, without much money, were willing and able to create this wonderful
community asset. Their work has become a remarkable legacy for all of us; just one more
example of what makes Shaw such a special place.
To celebrate this achievement, we are planning a series of historical projects. One, of
course, will document the founding of the library & historical society, its construction
and development over the past 50 years. Since Cherie Christensen and others have done
an excellent job of compiling the historic documents of the society's founding, we have a
fine start.
But we're also going to look more broadly at the story of island life by collecting photos,
stories, artifacts, maps and documents that reflect changes over the past half-century.
We're thinking of focusing on different "slices" of Shaw life such as the school, the store,
the post office, NMT, agriculture, the religious orders and others.
To be successful, this will need many minds and hands. Four board members — Jan
Sanburg, Tina Hilen Mandt (a charter society member), Lorrie Harrison and Annette
Smith — have agreed to help lead this effort. There is plenty of time for you to get
involved, too. We won't begin rolling out the fruits of these labors until our annual
meeting next July. If you are interested, please email one of these board members.
Everyone's input and participation is welcome.
You may recall that a few years ago we decided to change our fundraising New Year's
Eve dinner, auction and raffle, from an annual event to every other year. We did this to
lessen the "ask" for your financial support because — through the community's
generosity — we have some reserves. To keep the New Year's Eve tradition alive, we
host fun parties in the "non-fundraising" years without the auction.
This is an auction/raffle year, so please mark your calendars for New Year's Eve at the
Shaw Community Building and watch for details in the weeks to come.
From the beginning, the Library and Historical Society has been about people coming
together to make island life better. We thank you for your part in that, large or small,
and look forward to working with many of you in the months ahead to celebrate our
beginnings and document our very rich history.
Since we aren't sending out snail mail letters this year (saving trees is a good thing), if
you traditionally donate to the library before the end of the year, or you can't make the
New Year's Eve auction, please feel free to send your check to us now at P.O. Box 844.
Looking forward to having a good time together on New Years Eve.
Sincerely,
Alex MacLeod
For the Board: Caryn Buck, Doug Crosby, Lorrie Harrison, Gary Lange, Tina Hilen
Mandt, Jan Sanburg, Annette Smith and Corinne Story