[Thursday] Big Shoes

[Randall Snow]

Hi Everyone,

There is a bit of news from the museum's last board meeting that I'm both
proud and honored to be able to share.

Most of our recent volunteers wouldn't have known Fred Jaggi who was
formerly the president of the museum.  He served in that role from, I
believe, 2013 until his unexpected passing just before Steam Up in 2016.
He was instrumental in ensuring that the museum would live on beyond the
life of its' founder Bob Merriam.  Fred is the reason that I came to the
museum when I did to begin volunteering, and I know the same is true for
Craig and Dave Caldwell and possibly others.  I'll say I didn't know him
well enough, but I think he served a very critical role in the museum's
history that quite possibly wouldn't have happened without him.  Of course
I don't mean to diminish the lifetime contributions of Bob Merriam at all.
The museum owes him it's existence, its' physical location, its' support
base through the decades, it's vision, and so much more.  I appreciated the
description of him being the museum's prime mover for over 50 years!
Again, I didn't know him well enough either to really do him justice.
Since the unexpected loss of Fred the museum has been without a president.
With the additional unfortunate loss of Bob this spring, we lost,
technically, our president emeritus.  The museum, and I think all of us in
some ways, certainly felt those losses and struggled for a bit to find some
direction.

I'm honored to now say that I was elected as the new president of the
museum at our last board meeting.  Functionally this won't make much
difference as I've been leading the charge as director of operations, but
for our organization it's quite critical to have someone in that role.
Admittedly I feel underqualified to fill the role occupied by such
experienced people before me.  I have to laugh a bit at the unpredictable
turns life seems to take, and give in to the thought that everything
happens for a reason.  With the loss of Bob the museum has undergone the
biggest change since its' inception, and we've made it.  Now we have to set
our sights on the future.  I'm so proud to have been chosen to help steer
that course, and honor the efforts of Bob and his family, Fred, and the
decades of volunteers that have made the museum what it is today.

Cheers to the guy that Bob called "the young idiot" once upon a time.
Somehow now he's wearing the big shoes!

-- 
Randy Snow

Snow Findings Company <http://www.snowfindings.com>
Lovements.com <http://www.lovements.com>
New England Wireless and Steam Museum <http://www.newsm.org>
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