As most of you should know, I am on the Bd of Dir of BRHS, the newest
Bd Mbr but involved with BRHS before there even was BRHS (CB&Q His.
Soc. back in 1976). I have been reading the emails back & forth &
will state the following just from my personal perspective & opinions
& NOT as an offical statement of the Board or any other Officer.
1 - As was stated correctly, this is NOT an official BRHS site
2 - One or more mbrs of the BRHS Bd do not even read these postings
as they either do not use the Internet or don't follow this list;
nothing wrong with that as it is not a prerequisite to become a
Director, much less a BRHS mbr
3 - The only forum for action relating to BRHS, good, bad or
indifferent is thru the elected Officers of BRHS and at Board
meetings and at the Annual Meeting (Sept 24 in Dubuque). In the
interim, as always, if anyone has concerns, questions, ideas, etc
they should be brought to the attention of the President, Gene Tacey.
If he does not get back to you then try other Bd mbrs but I have
found Gene to be a very dedicated President. (unpaid)
4 - Hol Wagner, as a mbr and as a partially compensated 'employee'
(As editor of the Bulletin) or anyone in his role, need not respond
to anything or anyone except the Board (and indirectly to the
membership as they present questions/comments concerning him, me or
any other mbr to & thru the Board). This is not unique to BRHS -
it's true of ANY organization I know whether for-profit industry, non-
profit social group, service club, vets' group, etc etc. If you want
to make an impact on ANY group you become a member. The ONLY
exception is when said group or officer violates a law in which case
a relevant city, state or federal agency can take action if evidence
of wrong-doing is make known to them.
(Personal note: I have been an Alderman and a City Administrator.
Elected officials & the groups they represent need not (and nearly
always SHOULD NOT) answer directly to 'charges' outside their offical
forum (stated meetings) until said charges go thru the prescribed
channels - to do otherwise is contrary to the principles of how
groups are to be run effectively. Any of you who have held office of
ANY kind (American Legion, church council, Lions Club, etc) know this
is how things are done - anything else is chaos.
To my knowledge there are NO pending or threatened actions by any
agency or person toward BRHS or any officer thereof at this time. As
always if any BRHS mbr has a concern on ANY subject, direct it to the
President or relevant Officer. If you feel the entire Board or any
mbr thereof is not acting in the best interests of the Society, then
bring matters up @ the Annual Meeting with sufficient proof or
arguments to convince a majority of those present to take action.
I would strongly urge all parties concerned to get their facts DIRECT
(not 2nd hand) and then if the spirit moves them follow channels. If
unhappy with the results, then convince BRHS mbrs @ the annual
meeting to take action. Rank & file members eun any group - elected
officers serve @ your pleasure and employees @ the pleasure of the
officers. (and as a 28 yr mbr I will be the 1st to point a finger if
I become aware of any wrong-doing; those of you who know me know I am
NOT shy!)
(And for the record, I had extensive correspondence and visits with
Bernie from the early 70's up to his death but the subject of where
any of his RR materials would go was never discussed as I felt that
not to any of my business at the time. I've known Hol since "75 &
fellow Board Mbr Dennis Popish since "76. Also, I am not unaware of
any large collections being donated to BRHS from other Historical
Societies with the possible exception [my memory is hazy & I don't
have Bd of Dir minutes in front of me] of some small qty of Q
material from BN via the GN or NP groups. We did use Society funds to
purchase (at a bargain price) rare equipment drawings from Bob
Landregan's estate. Last, the latest Bulletin (Pioneer Zephyr) was
delayed as Fedex lost the materials when enroute to the printer - Hol
was able to recreate same but it took some time understandably. It,
the Zephyr & the "05 calendar WILL be in mbrs hands in the not too
distant future - all are 1st rate!)
Gerald Edgar
vje68@hotmail.com (641) 923-2573 230 W. 5th St., Garner, IA 50438
PS - the archives question is a LONG subject but suffice it to say
BRHS was close to putting things @ Western Illinois U. @ Macomb yrs
ago but that fell thru. We have been looking for a site but for the
reasons mentioned by others, there is NOT an easy "fix" unless we
have a financial angel. If anyone has a lead to an academic
institution or professionally staffed museum, let the Board know -
please! The best bet at present is going in with GN & NP @ the
Jackson St. roundhouse in St. Paul. Better ideas???
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