When: Tuesday, March 1 at 6:00 p.m.
Where: The Depot

We will also have good old Irish music in the form of singer and guitarist Danny Gillespie. Stock up on extra Kleenex for Danny Boy.

Bring your favorite dish to pass (with emphasis on green vegetables and salad greens?), dig out your favorite green sweater and socks, and join us for another good evening. Also, be sure to bring your own plates and silver. We will provide beverages, napkins, and cups. A microwave and refrigerator are available in the kitchen.

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SUMMARY OF FEBRUARY BOARD MEETING

The latest Traverse Magazine printed one of our archival photos, winter perch fishing on an ice-less Round Lake, on its Nostalgia page. Our website has had 8389 hits. The museum store took in $803 in January. The 2005 historic photos calendars have sold out. Over 650 historic photos are now digitized. The possibility of changing our fiscal/membership year from July/June to the calendar year was discussed. We will purchase a digital projector for our programs and exhibits. The annual report will be placed on-line in June; hard copies will be available at the Harsha House or by mail. An academic study of the life, works, and influence of local architect Earl Young will be available in the Harsha House library this spring. We have obtained old middle school gym flooring to replace flooring at the Depot. Charlevoix's original lighthouse's Fresnet lens has been located in St. Ignace and we are working to have it relocated here. The Big Rock nuclear plant restoration project will transfer many historic artifacts and an invaluable photo record of the plant's four-decade existence to the Harsha House. A tentative exhibit on the plant is scheduled for the Depot in 2006. There will be no March meeting.

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LIGHTHOUSE TRANSFER IMMINENT

Transfer of the lighthouse from Coast Guard ownership to Society/City of Charlevoix joint responsibility should happen within weeks. The 1948 structure, eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, would be owned by the City. Restoration, maintenance, and the fund-raising needed to accomplish this would be overseen by the Society. A partnership will help in obtaining grants needed to meet the approximately $162,000 estimated for initial repairs and renovation. Further funding will come from public fund-raising appeals and private donors. We will keep the membership informed.

Members can begin to help with the purchase of a Michigan lighthouse license plate. Funds raised from these plates goes into the untouchable Lighthouse Assistance Program and will help fund one grant worth $40,000. Contact the local Secretary of State office, purchase when renewing by mail, or log into www.michigan.gov/sos. For more information, contact the Mighigan Lighthouse Project at 248-625-3607.

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SPRING HOURS

From now through Memorial Day weekend the museum will be open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. Directors are on hand Tuesday and Wednesday also for those who wish to conduct Society business or make purchases in the museum store. Come in the side door on those days.

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A THANK YOU TO FRANK OCHS

Society member and local pharmacist Frank Ochs recently loaned the Harsha House a priceless collection of negatives that his father, Harley Ochs, had taken in Charlevoix in the 1920s and 1930s. 128 were scanned and copied with permission to use for any Society purpose. We gratefully extend our thanks to Frank for this gesture and encourage members who wish to retain their photo records but share them with the community to consider doing likewise.

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The Society welcomes new members: Kelly Simpson, Bill & Gloria Broder, Fran Pletz.

Memorials received from: C. Marilyn Gibbons for E. Suzanne Grate Reis; Joe & Susan Spurlock and Raymond Schultz for James Ladd.