Dear friends of the ACM,

Best wishes to you all for a joyous holiday season! Thanks to you all for your interest and support of the museum. I hope you agree, this has been quite a year for the ACM. Our program calendar continues to develop and we have made incredible progress towards the development of the Industrial History Center. As we close out 2019, plans for the coming year are taking form. It is easy to see that 2020 is going to be an exciting year for our organization!

Thank you volunteers! An important (and essential!) part of the ACM are the many people who are part of organization from the Board of Directors, committee members, and volunteers who help at our events and behind the scenes. We have welcomed new Board members Maris DiTolla (chair of Development), Pat Boyle-Steed (chair of Youth & Family Programs), and Joyann Reynolds (chair of Collections) and established new leadership with Chris Deorocki (Board president) and Tom Pendergast (Board vice-president). Our committees and workgroups have added new members and accomplished great things such as our Family Day and the Driving through History program. And the Industrial Survey Group continues to make new discoveries about the history of Amesbury and the region. We are a thriving organization that reflects so much about our community.

The Industrial History Center. Planning and fundraising for the build out of this new program venue has been a primary focus for all of us. The ACM has received major donations from businesses and individuals. We have assembled a great team of architects, builders, and program planners contributing to the effort. All working behind the scenes in what we call the "quiet phase" of our campaign. Soon this will all change and we will go public with this effort, share our vision for the history center, and invite our community to get involved. It is a very exciting time!

Closing out 2019 - the Annual Appeal. In October we mailed our annual appeal. Thank you to all who have sent your contributions. In addition to our membership program, the annual appeal provides unrestricted funds for our operations. And this support from our community provides the foundation for all we do. In 2018, we raised just over $10,000 through the appeal. This year - we are working to grow this fund to $12,000. If you haven't already, will you make a contribution to our effort? Every amount moves us closer to our goal! You can make your contribution through our website here or via our #giving Tuesday campaign on facebook. Thank you everyone for your generous support!

New Display - the Counting House windows. Next time you are downtown in Market Square, take a look at our new display "Work and Make." Industry in Amesbury." The storefront has become a fun venue for recent historical information we have discovered. And we are very grateful to Morrill Electric for their contributed services, Jay Gould for use of the windows, and the Amesbury Public Library for ongoing access to their historical collections.

Best wishes to you all.

John Mayer
Executive Director