Tuesday, January 3, 2012

THE STATE OF THE CARDER STEUBEN CLUB

We are at the time of the year when we assess what we’ve accomplished, report on where we stand and set our goals for the new year. Notwithstanding the economy, 2011 was a very good year for the Carder Steuben Club. Our accomplishments include:

– The new website was expanded and has gained great acceptance in the Carder Steuben community

-Holding another successful Symposium

-Increased membership and improved finances

-Expansion of the Gazelle Gazette and addition of the Gazette archive to the website

-Increased support for museums that feature Carder Steuben

-Formed a Long Range Planning Committee

Marshall Ketchum, our Webmaster, has added almost 1,000 images to the website, including 648 pictures and 317 drawings. Website use has grown from 11,000 page views in January to over 13,000 in December. Sections have been added on Signatures, Colors and Shapes. Functionality has also been expanded to provide additional search options, online membership applications and renewal, and Gazette archive and search capabilities.

Scott Hansen, Vice President and Symposium Chair, put together and ran another successful (profitable) Symposium. The program and auction was outstanding and the Symposium Glass Show format was changed to provide a better environment for socializing.

Lon Knickerbocker, our Treasurer, worked closely with Al Bradtke, our Secretary, to retain and expand our membership. We ended the year with just under 200 members, which is a high for our club.

Alan Shovers, a Director and Past President, has continued to publish and edit the Gazelle Gazette. Gazette #1036 was published on January 3, 2011 and #1362 was published on December 31. A total of 327 issues for the year is almost one a day. Need I say more?

Al Bradtke took on the additional task of chairing the Long Term Planning Committee, which has solicited ideas from our members and is now evaluating them.

During 2011 we made donations to the Wichita Art Museum , the West Virginia Museum of American Glass and the New Bedford Glass Museum. We continued our membership in and support of the Corning Museum of Glass and its Rakow Library, and again made a donation to the Bob Rockwell Memorial Fund.

We produced and contributed an hour length video interview of Max Erlacher to the permanent archives of the Rakow. This is our second such contribution – the first being the Memories of Frederick Carder Interview.

In summary, it was a good year for our Club. However, (and there’s always a however) we are facing a major long-term problem. The work of our Club is done by volunteers and the pool of volunteers is not increasing by much. Although we recruited one new Board member this year, we have too many members who enjoy the benefits of membership without contributing to the work.

Many of us, including yours truly, have been involved with the Club since it began, and would like to pass the torch to a new generation. Scott Hansen has run the last three symposia pretty much on his own and is stepping down. When sought volunteers to work on the Symposium, the response was underwhelming. As of now it appears that the 2012 Symposium will be run by a committee of the Board but this is not a viable, long-term solution. We need more members to step up and get involved. If not, we will eventually fail. If you would like to get involved in the Symposium or any of our committees, please contact me or any other Board member.

I am sorry that I have to end this report on a bleak note but that is the reality for our Club.

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.

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