Editor, Gazette-Journal:

The Mathews Museum is becoming a driving force in bringing more visitors to our town, and we have the community to thank. Volunteers, individual donations, corporate support, and great publicity in the Gazette-Journal have all come together to make the museum an attraction that any community would be proud to have and support. Special thanks are in order:

To Mr. and Mrs. Tony Billings for the donation of their beautiful, 1891 A. B. Chase reed organ and almost half of the monies necessary for its complete restoration. To Mark Thompson & Co., master organ builders of Colonial Williamsburg, for making unprecedented “house calls” to the museum to complete the restoration. Future organ concerts are being planned in our new theater.

To C. W. Hudgins for the donation of his 19th century doctor’s carriage for our soon-to-be-opened, “Dr. Haynes Carriage House” exhibit.

To Julie Hardaway, President General of the National Daughters of the Confederacy, for having her board vote, unanimously, to transfer the $225,000 bronze statue of “Capt. Sally Tompkins – Angel of the Confederacy” to the museum, and to Tracy Molnar, Library of Virginia, for her assistance in making that transfer a reality.

To the Calvert Marine Museum for the permanent loan of the world-renowned “Aquascope,” centerpiece for the October opening of the “Gilbert Klingel – Man of Steel” exhibit. To J.C. Purnell for driving his truck to Maryland, picking up the two-ton artifact, and delivering it in time to meet the National Geographic team that came to Mathews to commemorate and recreate Klingel’s historic voyage to the bottom of the Bay to bring back the first color images ever taken there. To Haskins Bayside for providing storage for both the truck and Aquascope until Terry Hearn & Co. could install it inside the museum.

To our museum volunteers who, unselfishly, and tirelessly, provide the hours of work required to make our museum successful.

And a special thanks to our Board of Directors for believing in my vision for the future, which includes a major remodeling of the museum, having faith that our Mathews community will provide the support required to complete the project.

Stay tuned, folks, you’re going to love what comes next.

Tom Robinson, President
Mathews Museum