"Military History" could use a little help.

[Old Fart]

MILITARY HERITAGE & AVIATION MUSEUM

FISHERMEN'S VILLAGE - 1200 WEST RETTA ESPLANADE - PUNTA GORDA - FL 33950

To: All Supporters of the Museum
From: Marilyn Smith-Mooney

IT IS IMPORTANT YOU HELP US RETAIN OR HAVE INCREASED OUR CHARLOTTE COUNTY GRANT FUNDING WHICH IS CRITICAL TO OUR MUSEUM'S CONTINUED OPERATION BEYOND SEPTEMBER 30, 2008!

We are asking you to please send emails to each of the five Charlotte County commissioners ASAP, and we also are requesting that you recruit as many friends, neighbors, and veterans as possible to join us in this critically important task. The County's drastic budget cuts this year could conceivably reduce or eliminate our grant allocation for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2008, and, if this happens, the museum may be faced with closing its doors.

Last year, the commissioners cut our monthly grant funding from $70,000/year to $30,000/year. It is because of our beneficial location in Fishermen's Village since last October and donations and fundraisers that we have been able to make up a portion of the $40,000 cut we sustained October 1, 2007. But it hasn't been enough.

One would think all that with all that our veterans have done for this country and the freedoms we enjoy today, we wouldn't need to lobby to point out to our county commissioners how important a museum that honors those veterans is. But we can't take the chance that they may think the community doesn't care.

Please show them that it does. Email the commissioners and tell them how important it is to support our veterans by supporting this Museum. Spread the word and the below-listed email addresses to everyone you know and encourage them to write to the commissioners as well. Remember, we have nearly 35,000 veterans in Charlotte County who can make their voices known on Election Day in November if the three county commissioners running for re-election fail to support the only museum for hundreds of miles around that is dedicated to keeping the memory of all our veterans alive and making sure that their personal sacrifices for our continued freedom are never forgotten.

THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' NAMES AND ADDRESSES ARE:

Tom D'Aprile
(up for re-election in November 2008)
Charlotte County Commission Chair & District 1 Commissioner
tom.d'aprile@charlottefl.com

Thomas G. Moore
(up for re-election in November 2008)
Charlotte County Commission Vice Chair & District 3 Commissioner
tom.moore@charlottefl.com

Adam Cummings
Charlotte County District 2 Commissioner
adam.cummings@charlottefl.com

Tricia Duffy
(up for re-election in November 2008)
Charlotte County District 5 Commissioner
tricia.duffy@charlottefl.com

Dick Loftus
Charlotte County District 4 Commissioner
dick.loftus@charlottefl.com

But don't stop there! Send letters to the editor of your newspaper asking members of your community to urge the county commissioners to preserve at least the current level of grant funding for the Military Heritage & Aviation Museum OR increase it to compensate for the 57% cut the museum sustained at the beginning of this current fiscal year.

Letters to the Editor should be no more than 250 words in length and have the author's name, town, and phone number appearing at the end.

EMAIL "LETTERS TO THE EDITOR" TO:

CHARLOTTE SUN-HERALD
Letters to the Editor
letters@sun-herald.com

Sincere thanks from the Trustees,Staff and Volunteers of the Museum

[Paladine030]

sent an email today to all 5......not sure what, if any, effect an out-of-stater can have, but I tried....

[Old Fart]

Thanks, every little bit will help.
They are about to find out that this area of Florida is packed with veterans from the last 3 wars and the present one too.
These veterans consider the museum to be "hallowed ground", not just another store in a very 'pricey' upscale mall.
During our tourist season in the new location, we attract 300 visitors a day, if we can manage to get a 1 dollar donation from each of these folks, we can just about hold our own.
But we are in the lean part of the year, we may attract 50 visitors a day. There are only 2 paid positions among our 30+ staff, the rest of us donate out time and in the case of Lee Ann and I that's a 60 mile round trip from home at $4 bucks a gallon.

[Woodmonkey]

I got the email from Lee Ann and emailed all 5 of the addys in it.

[Old Fart]

Originally Posted by Woodmonkey

I got the email from Lee Ann and emailed all 5 of the addys in it.

[Sally Brown]

E-mails sent. Some things are worth preserving and spending money on. This is one of them.