Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum inc.,

Director’s Report

By: Ashley Jaques

I can’t believe it’s already December!  With the winter comes the much needed but not fun rain… we ask that everyone please double check with the office on the road conditions and follow signage if a road is closed.  Also remember to pack your rain boots you will need them in some areas. I just took home my running shoes and high heels under my desk and replaced them with these… 

We have been blessed with more water leaks this year then I can remember everywhere and now we are having to address some repetitive vehicle traffic in those areas.  One area is the short cut through the train area where the sorghum press is currently.  This is a pipe that low lying and is breaking in different locations every time we dig it up.  Other fun ones include the one just outside my office window and the new one on the parade route.  We are never short of water leaks even when we think we have dug them all up. 

The board has been busy getting the updated strategic plan going with 2020 goals and committee members are meeting regularly.  I want to send out a huge thank you to our 2019 Trustees President Jake Williams, Vice-President Paul Schmitt, Treasure Travis Durst, Secretary Judy Maddox and trustee members Tibor Laky, Larry Thompson, Kent Graham, Jeff Hunter, Kevin Lauritsen, Dave Bowman, Jim Kirkes and Bob Millen.  Also a huge thank you too all of our committee members who committed their time to the Museum this year.  They really have put in a lot of hours behind the scenes and been out working on and off AGSEM grounds.  Without them we really wouldn’t have been able a lot of the projects done, THANK YOU! 

As we move into 2020 we are going to be traveling back to 1920’s and celebrating “A Decade of Ingenuity, Inventions that Changed History.”   As we roll out the theme in early 2020 we are excited to be able to show that AGSEM houses so many examples of the decade’s growth in one location, here is a few examples:

•             Automatic Watch

•             Bulldozer

•             Model A

•             Maria Kipp Inc.

•             Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory

•             The Cheeseburger

•             Radial Arm Saw

I am really excited about our upcoming AGSEM Family BBQ and Election January 18, 2020 and hope that you will come and enjoy a fun day with all of us.  We will be having an opening meet and greet hour starting at 11am inside the Assembly Building.  During this time you will get the opportunity to chat with the candidates, the current trustees and Museum staff or just hang out with your museum family and catch up with friends you don’t get to see too often or meet and make new friends. Voting and lunch will start at 12pm with the membership meeting kicking off at 1pm.  Voting will be open from 12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.  at which time four new trustees will be elected to the board.  Please take a look at the trustee candidates listed with in this newsletter; it will also be featured in the eNewsletter.  Bring the family, we will be having a caricatures artist and activities going on for everyone to relax and enjoy. 

A popular activity from last year was the baby photo game so if you would like to be featured as one of the babies we have to guess please send in your baby photo to Megan (agsemoffice@gmail.com) before January  17th. 

I really do encourage everyone to attend even if you don’t know anyone, it will be a great opportunity to learn about AGSEM and don’t worry there is a seat for you at our tables we really want to meet you. 

Looking back over the year I want to thank everyone who has called or has caught me on the grounds.  We have taken everything into committee meetings and looked at all the suggestions with other research we had been compiling.  Thank you to those of you who completed the survey in the November eNewsletter I sent out about the show.  We got some great ideas and comments from you.  If you haven’t been getting our eNewsletter it could be that we don’t have your email, please drop me an email to be added.  My email address is agsemdirector@gmail.com.  This eNewsletter will come out every month and will cover our three “e’s” EXHIBITS, EVENTS and EDUCATION.