January 5, 2011

With a new year upon us the Aurora Historical Society is excited about the “New Look” that is taking place within the Museum’s archive storage area.  While the work is still not finished, countless hours of work on the part of our director Marcelle Wilson, members of the Board of Trustees, and other volunteers will allow for a grand reopening of the museum in April. While dealing with the events of the “2010 flood” have demanded extensive time and money, the flood provided us the opportunity to examine and evaluate all of our artifacts and archives.  As a result we are in the processing of making sure that our holdings match with our mission.  Special mention must be made of the hard work that out-going president, Tim Holder, in dealing with the issues presented by the flood.  As past president he will continue to lead the society through the complicated world of dealing with our insurance claims for the damage incurred from the flood.  As newly elected president I looked forward to helping guide the society through a meaningful year as we to work together to make the Aurora Historical Society a continued vital part of the Aurora community.  Not only will we continue to provide a wide variety of educational and social opportunities for our membership, we will also aggressively work to increase our membership rolls.  We will work with the Rotary to explore new ways in which the two organizations can cooperatively work together as was done in the past with the Antique Show.  Also on the agenda for the Board of Trustees in the coming year is a examination and review of the society’s constitution and bylaws, the creation of a “speakers bureau” which will provide the society with the opportunity to reach across the Aurora community; and the continued cooperation with City officials to evaluate the use of the community’s historic properties.

J. Kudley