The Klaxon Online

Winter 2010

From the Desk of the President

SFMLA President

David M. Goebel
RADM, USN (Ret)
President

The Submarine Force Library & Museum experienced some challenges in 2009 generated by the economic downturn which hopefully this year will turn around and economic growth will resume. Museum attendance for the year was essentially flat, down less than 1% from the previous year, but museum store sales were off by 10% from the previous year. We are working with a marketing agency to make sure we are doing all we can to provide museum visitors with what they need for an enjoyable experience.

We continue with our efforts to obtain all or part of Submarine NR-1 as a permanent exhibit at the Submarine Force Library & Museum. As you may recall, NR-1 was inactivated in November of 2008 and then towed to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for defueling and then subsequently transported to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for dismantlement. Dismantlement is scheduled to begin in 2015 and should the Navy make part of the hull available to the museum that will not happen until probably 2017. In the interim, the museum plans to install an outdoor exhibit consisting of the sail, fairwater planes, rudder and propellers hopefully sometime this year.

With our docent program entering its fifth year, we still seek enthusiastic volunteers to man the watch and help welcome visitors to the museum. We currently have about 63 volunteers on the roster and with another 30 or so we would be able to start providing guided tours of the museum. No experience is necessary. We will provide all required training.

Education Specialist, Liz Murphy has been on the job for a year now and has done great things for the education program. Activities for youth are provided at the museum during nearly every school break during the academic year and numerous times throughout the summer vacation. We continue to expand out outreach to the local school systems and are working to develop activities for all grades that support mandated state curriculum standards for public schools. All of this will help the museum in its quest for accreditation.

I want to take a moment to thank all of you for your support of the Submarine Force Library & Museum Association throughout the past year particularly in light of the economic downturn and its effect on museum store revenues. Many of you have been faithfully supporting the museum for many, many years. The Donor Registry for 2009 is at the printer and will be mailed very soon. As always, we try to provide an accurate listing of all who have contributed to the museum; if we have made any errors, please let us know. We want to properly recognize all of our donors.

We will hold the annual Submarine Force Library & Museum Association Meeting on Friday, May 21, 2010. All members are invited and we hope to see many of you at the annual meeting. As is our tradition, there will be a reception following the meeting; a time to renew old friendships and perhaps make some new ones. Remember, this is your museum; please come visit often and bring your friends.