April President’s Report
April 16, 2021
We are now into month four of 2021 and our Officers and Board of Directors are actively engaged to promote the activities of the Armed Forces Heritage Museum. We are optimistic that we can soon conduct our meetings in person. W attempted to meet at the VFW 491 and Bryan Branson coordinated the necessary actions to utilize the outdoor Pavilion. Unfortunately, due to the weather forecast a decision was made to conduct a ZOOM meeting. A special thank you to Bryan for taking time to reach out to the VFW, who were eager to share their facilities with us.
Roy Plummer and Marc Iroff are continuing to come up with new initiatives and suggesting participation in related historic and special events. Arrangement was executed to participate in the New Jersey Governor’s Conference on Volunteerism and service conference. Marc Iroff and Lou DiGeranimo stepped up to participate in this event and their efforts are appreciated. Participation in the event was another opportunity to network with other organizations. Marc, Roy and Bryan Branson will be participating virtually in the Building A Place for History Conference on June 3, 10 and 17. Participating in this event should enlighten us on how we can plan to accomplish the mission of our organization.
Matt Wick continues to seek events where we can display the Mobile Museum. We were sad to learn two major events have been cancelled. The Bordentown Street Fair and Burlington Farm Fair have been cancelled due to limitations connected to the pandemic. We will be participating in the Moorestown Car Show event on May 1, 2021. We are still looking for volunteers for this event. Individuals who can participate must reach out to Matt so he can finalize our plans.
Sandy Conville continues to do outstanding work with Caddis Art. Mail Chimp is up and running and we released the first segment of the Greatest Generations Video earlier this month. There will be two more Newsletter releases in the next few weeks. We received our first Google Report on Thursday which contains significant information that we can evaluate and utilize to plan future strategy to carry out our mission. I encourage everyone to visit the web site and review the content. Recommendations for changes should be sent to Sandy and she will coordinate the required actions. Bob Vonbargen has provided several related Living History materials for posting to the Social Media program. We will be scheduling an Executive Meeting to discuss initiatives on how we can maximize our Social Media platform.
Glenn Hyman continues to work with Marc Kramer to conduct Veteran interviews. We must develop networking with Veterans organizations to advertise the scheduled events to increase viewer participation.
We are continuing to work with the staff at the Burlington County Historical Society on occupying the Lawrence House. I provide a list of individuals who can gain unescorted entry to the facility. Bob Vonbargen was the first person to obtain a key and received training on the alarm system. He and Roy Plummer visited the facility and produced an excellent video tour of the Lawrence House. Negotiations are continuing with the State of New Jersey to work out details on repairs and lease options. Bryan Branson will be providing an update on important information he has obtained from a state representative at today’s meeting.
Marc Iroff and Bob Vonbargen have updated the Bylaws and will be presenting them at the meeting today. A special Thank You to them for the time they have dedicated to accomplishing this action.
The pandemic continues to challenge our organization, but I am confident if we all work together, we will overcome roadblocks we may encounter. Let us hope we will be able to meet in person next month. Please keep Oren and Nora in your thoughts and prayers as they continue to deal with their medical challenges. Be Well and Stay Safe.
Respectfully Submitted,
Robert S. Dutko, SR.
AFHM President
