Friday, January 27, 2012

SHOULD THE CARDER STEUBEN CLUB EXPAND ITS MISSION?

Several recent issues of the Gazelle Gazette have dealt with the closing of Steuben and questions involving the collecting of post-Carder Steuben, which for purposes of discussion, I will call Modern Steuben. The present Mission Statement of the Carder Steuben Club is “to encourage and promote the collecting and enjoyment of the glass of Frederick Carder.”

One of the issues raised by our Long Range Planning Committee is whether we should expand our mission to include the collecting of Modern Steuben. There was a time when Steuben wanted nothing to do with Carder Steuben but there was also a later time when Steuben embraced it’s Carder heritage and supported the resale of Carder Steuben

Last night your Board held its regular quarterly meeting. One of the items on the agenda was the question of expanding our mission. If we were to do this, we would have to modify the website to accommodate Modern Steuben, and this is doable. However, the bigger question is philosophical, not operational. Should we in fact expand our mission to include Modern Steuben?

We had a fruitful discussion and, while each board member expressed his or her opinion, no final decision was made. Instead, we decided to solicit your views. We have no idea how many of our Carder Steuben collectors are also interested in Modern Steuben. If we were to expand, areas where we might include Modern Steuben are the website, the Gazelle Gazette and the Symposium. If you would like to express your views on this issue please email either Alan Shovers at AShovers@kddk.com or me at elvidant@aol.com.

The final decision will be made by the Board but we welcome your input.

David Goldstein
President

www.cardersteubenclub.org

2012 Carder Steuben Club annual Symposium will be held at The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY from September 20-22, 2012.

Any opinions expressed by participants to the Gazelle Gazette e-mail newsletters are the opinions of the authors and are not endorsed by or the opinions of the Carder Steuben Club.©