Report to the Members 2003
Good evening. I’m Terry Placek and I’m the Vice President of the Board of Trustees. It’s my job tonight give you a report on the Fairlington Historical Society’s work in the past year… and our plans for this year.
Volunteers and Committees
But, before I talk about projects and accomplishments, I want to talk about the people who made them possible… and about the Society’s members and volunteers.
This year, we welcomed many new volunteers, including two exceptionally gifted people:
- Jeanne LaFleur, who:
- Gave us her knowledge and skills in fundraising and direct mail as we shaped a fundraising strategy and
- Brought us into partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation; and
- Stephanie Greenwald, who gave us her remarkable talents as a graphic designer and created:
- Our 60 th Anniversary logo
- The program for the 60 th Anniversary Celebration
- The design for our T-shirts
- The Society’s stationery package
- Janet Filer, who brought us the idea and the manufacturer of our Fairlington Historical Society T-Shirts
- Bonnie Blaszczyk, who was of invaluable help to the Board and the Fundraising Committee in organizing the financing strategy for all of the 2003 events and activities
Throughout the year, we were fortunate to have the help of many continuing volunteers, including:
- Patty Clark, who:
- Co-chairs the Fundraising subcommittee
- Created all of our fundraising databases:
- on foundations
- area businesses
- members and individual givers.
- Patty also explored just about every nook and cranny of the Fairlington property as she delivered dozens of copies of Fairlington at 50 to purchasers.
- Harold Reem, our ‘Photographer In Residence’
- Norma Reem, who chairs the Special Projects and Social Activities subcommittee
- Nancy Jackson, who serves on the Preservation Committee and manages our member and guest sign-in tables at meetings and events
- And, of course, Catherine Fellows, our ‘Historian in Residence,’ who has worked with us throughout the long process of bringing Fairlington at 50 back into print and has also consulted with us on the design of our oral history project.
- Ron Patterson
It’s hard to believe that we have been around long enough for volunteers to ‘retire,’ but we have. This year, we honored Ron, the founding president of the Society and presented him with a Board of Trustee’s award and a commemorative plate at the 60 th Anniversary Celebration. Ron’s service to the community and to the Society has been remarkable, and will be missed.
Award – Jeanne Muller
I want to take a moment now to acknowledge another volunteer who is not ‘retiring,’ but who will be working with us a little less - Jeanne Muller.
Jeanne served on our Historic Preservation Committee and, although not a member of the board of trustees, she worked as hard as though she were. Jeanne has been a part of all of the Society’s accomplishments since our founding. In addition, she:
- Worked with Ruth Kerns on the installation of all of our exhibits
- Was a member of the 60 th Anniversary Committee
- Took on the task of working with the Fairlington Citizens Association and Arlington County to secure a new brick entrance wall and historic marker for North Fairlington.
We have all benefited from her work and leadership and wise counsel. And, yes, we have forgiven her for being able to give us a bit less time in the future…
Jeanne… we couldn’t let this moment pass without a small token of our appreciation. If you wouldn’t mind joining me here for a moment… we want to present you with this Virginia Cup.
We hope it will remind you of how much we value your service… and enjoyed your good company… ever since the Society’s founding.
Welcome to New Volunteers
All of you contributed enormously to our accomplishments this year… thank you all very much.
I hope that we have new volunteers with us tonight… because even if you only have a little time to spare, you will find some marvelous folks who will be very happy for your interest and help… and some good work to do. There are several projects just awaiting people to take them on, and I’ll talk about those in a moment.
In the meantime, I want to welcome our new volunteers… and anyone with ideas and a little time to spare. We hope you’ll take a moment to talk with one of the Board members when we finish the business end of things here.
Annual Program Report
Fairlington at 50 Republication
Looking back over 2003, I think that one of our most important milestones was the publication of Fairlington at 50: The 60 th Anniversary Edition. Getting this wonderful book back into print was a major goal of the Society when it was founded in 2000, and we are very pleased that it was accomplished in 2003, the year of Fairlington’s 60 th birthday. Our thanks go to author, Catherine Fellows, who assisted at each step in the publication process, and to Ron Patterson, who served as editor and publisher.
60 th Anniversary Celebration
A second accomplishment was organizing a birthday party for the community… in the year of Fairlington’s 60 th anniversary. For those of you who weren’t able to attend, November 1 was a memorable evening. Fairlington was honored by residents and several of our elected representatives, and the group was addressed by an official of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Our thanks go to Tom Corbin, Stephanie Greenwald, Ruth Kerns, and Jeanne Muller, who planned the entire event.
Home and Garden Tour
As most of you know, Fairlington had not seen a Home and Garden Tour for several years… despite, I might add, the fact that most of us are pretty curious about the work our neighbors have done in their houses and yards. So, after several years without a good way to satisfy that curiosity, we were most fortunate to have remarkable group of volunteers and residents who so graciously opened their homes and gardens to all of the rest of us. Together, they produced a wonderfully successful day. Our thanks go to:
- Tom Corbin and Chuck Edwards, who co-chaired the committee
- And committee members:
- Judi Garth
- Linnea Barry
- Virginia Mathes
- Kym Hill
- Trudy Laub
- Harold Reem
- Liz Reynolds
- Diane McCormick
- Dolly Howarth
- Sandy Heaton
I think the community would have been pleased to hear this group tell us that they wanted to make the Home and Garden Tour and annual event… but they didn’t say that. As I’m sure you can imagine, organizing the tour is a huge undertaking. People’s responses, though, and a sold-out tour, convinced the committee that perhaps every other year would be feasible. We look forward to another tour next spring.
Boundary Stone
This year, we continued to work with the regional Boundary Stone Preservation Committee, which includes representatives of all of the jurisdictions in which the stones are located, the National Park Service, historians and others. This group is working to establish and preserve correct locations – because some stones, including ours, have been moved over the years – and to secure easements – because some stones are on private property. As you might expect, with as many interested parties as there are, boundary stone preservation is going to be a long term project for us.
Display Cases
We continued to feature displays in our two exhibit cases, located right over there – here in the North Fairlington Community Center – and at the entry hall in the South Fairlington Community Center. This year saw three different displays of information, pictures, and other memorabilia contributed by current and past residents. These displays have been prepared and placed by our trustee and archivist, Ruth Kerns, along with volunteer Jeanne Muller. Please don’t forget about these displays as you come across pictures and other memorabilia of Fairlington life. We have received some wonderful contributions and loans of items from many people… and always appreciate more.
Priorities for 2004
I want to close my report to you with our priorities for the coming year, which focus on brining the talents of new volunteers to our committees and projects.
- Oral Histories
The Historic Preservation committee is nearly ready to begin a long-term, oral history project. The committee has worked with Catherine Fellows to create the set of questions, and has assembled an initial list of some 25 people whose oral histories of Fairlington’s earlier days should be taken.
They plan to recruit and provide training for volunteers, and further build the Fairlington Collection at Arlington County Public Library’s Virginia Room, where all of the Society’s archives are housed. Preserving these kinds of records of individuals’ lives and experiences in Fairlington is one of our fundamental purposes as a Society. It will not only provide the source material for another publication one day, but will also ensure that the oral histories of our residents are available to generations of historians and scholars to come.
We are also interested in people willing to offer oral histories. We have recently reached out to our neighbor down the hill in Shirlington, WETA. WETA is planning to produce a program on Arlington’s history and we will play a supporting role as they consider including historical information, as well as personal reminiscences, about Fairlington.
- Walking Tour
We had an interesting series of email exchanges this winter with someone who lives in the area and wanted to visit ‘historic Fairlington.’ In the process of telling him how to get here and what to see, we realized that we really needed a good map and a ‘walking tour’ description for people. We are just forming a committee to undertake that project, and would love to have the help of anyone interested.
- School Program
We have long wanted to do something for the children of Abingdon Elementary, at least some of whom catch buses at historic markers and all of whom attend school in the midst of a historically significant property. We would love to find educators and anyone interested in shaping such a program and proposing it as a special activity for Abingdon.
- Community Education
We’ve received several ideas about programs for the community and are looking for help there too. One resident suggested that we do a workshop on how to construct a family history, how to find and archivally preserve key documents, and how to create this kind of legacy for your own family.
One of our trustees recently saw a fascinating presentation on all of the preservation activities now taking place at National Airport. And, we’re sure that there are many more equally interesting ideas out there. We’d love to have them and to begin a regular series of programs for residents.
- Home and Garden Tour
Given the success of the 2003, Home and Garden Tour, we certainly hope to organize another one in the spring of 2005. We’ll have some experienced committee members who we hope will volunteer again, but will certainly need more.
If any of these projects interest you, there is a sign-up sheet… or talk to one of the trustees.
Finally, please know how deeply we value all of our volunteers. None of the accomplishments of the last year… or those we hope to undertake this year… is possible without their efforts. We welcome your ideas… and we certainly welcome your time. If you have even a little time to contribute, we think you’ll find it well worth it.