GREAT CRANBERRY ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Our first year at Cranberry House was a rousing success.  The Preble-Marr Museum had more visitors than ever–sometimes as many as 100 per day–thanks to its more convenient location, plus the added attractions of the café, public trail, and cultural center activities.

The café on the front deck was a delightful place to enjoy a great lunch or snack.  Lauren Simmons proved to be a friendly and able cook.  Our public trail to the Western Way was a big attraction and saw constant use.

The cultural center had great appeal to islanders and visitors alike.  Our week-long “Art of the Cranberry Isles” exhibit showed over 50 art works; many sold.  Three concerts offered the island a variety of live music.  It was fun to sit on the lawn and hear good music.  Classic movies were shown each week, served up with hot buttered popcorn.  Guest speakers gave interesting and informative talks on history, geology, Hollywood musicals, and art.  We held classes in painting, poetry writing, and digital photography, and had a poetry night, a children’s craft workshop, and a teen fun night.  It was a very successful and varied agenda.

Activities in 2008 were free (except class tuition to pay teachers.)  This was to thank everyone for all the help they gave Cranberry House over the last four years.

But we did have to subsidize almost all events.  Fees, ferry trips, food, and other expenses were never fully covered by donations received in the jar at the event.

Next year we hope to offer classes in art, creative writing, photography, rug making, stained glass, and possibly others.  We plan to continue the movies, repeat the August art show, and have more inspiring speakers and wonderful musical evenings.

To present such an ambitious program, we are creating five funds to accept specific-purpose donations:

• Music Fund: supports live music concerts.
• Movie Fund: pays licensing fees.
• Program Fund: pays for other events.
• Operating Fund: pays office expenses, building repair.
• Endowment Fund: when funded, can replace all above.

You can donate to one or more of these funds using the membership form on the back.

Freak storm hits hard
A gusty late November rain storm cut power for two days, and blew down several trees on our property–two of them damaging the fire escape hand rails.  Fortunately, the building was only scratched, and power was restored Thanksgiving morning at 2:30 am.

Since the repair cost is likely to be less than our $5000 insurance deductible, we will have to pay out of scarce operating funds.

New Employee Hired
Due to the many details in advertising and coordinating cultural center and museum activities, the Board of Trustees has agreed to hire a part-time director next season.

Alyson Mayo will fill this position, and is additionally working one day a week this winter, to help archive our many documents and artifacts.  She will also write grant applications, and assist in event planning for next season.

New Trail Very Popular
The Maine Coast Heritage Trust cooperated with the Great Cranberry Island Historical Society, O.P. Jackson, and Bruce Komusin, who generously gave right-of-way over their land, for a beautiful trail to the shore at Whistler’s Cove.  This proved to be very popular with hikers of all ages and many came to the island for this purpose.  They also would visit the museum and café.