2009 NYCSHS Calendars Available
Posted October 12, 2008

The Society’s 2009 Calendar is now available. Address all orders for the 2009 calendar to NYCSHS, Dept. E, 17038 Roosevelt Ave., Lockport, IL 60441-4734. Our calendar is priced at $11.00 per copy, postpaid. Ohio residents must include 77 cents sales tax. Although our 2007 and 2008 calendars are sold out, calendars for many other previous years are still available; please inquire.
—The Directors

Charles M. Smith
Posted October 5, 2008

It is with great sadness that we must report the untimely death, on October 4, 2008, of one of the Founding Fathers of the New York Central System Historical Society, Charles M. Smith. As its long-time president, Charlie was a pillar of the Society, and the loss of his friendship, counsel, and guidance will be felt by all. We express our sincere condolences to his wife and many friends. Contributions in Charlie’s memory may be sent to the Morris Animal Refuge, 1242 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147. A full obituary will appear in a forthcoming issue of the Central Headlight.
—The Directors

2008 Annual Convention - Geneva, New York
Posted September 28, 2008

Our original plan for an Upstate New York convention to be situated in Utica met with multiple obstacles regarding pricing, dates, and excursions. Board members Howard Fine and Hugh Guillaume have gratefully and quickly come up with a superb alternate plan to hold our convention in Geneva, NY, on the weekend of April 16 through 19, 2009. See our Convention page for more informaiton.

Vice President's Report
Posted following the Annual Directors’ Meeting, September 25-27, 2008

Your Board met on September 25-27, 2008, and made an amazing amount of progress! The Society is facing many challenges at this point, but the Board passed several resolutions to manage and resolve our difficulties and to move ahead. Any minor differences of opinion and methods to be utilized were discussed in a friendly and positive manner, and a consensus was reached on all points. All votes were unanimous.

Major challenges include:

The delayed Central Headlight issues. Due to the illness of our editor Charles Smith, Rich Stoving has stepped up and will immediately serve as editor. He will work to create and provide the issues needed to get back on schedule.

Our original plan for an Upstate New York convention to be situated in Utica met with multiple obstacles regarding pricing, dates, and including an Adirondack Scenic Railroad excursion. Utica is therefore not an option anymore Board members Howard Fine and Hugh Guillaume have gratefully and quickly come up with a superb alternate plan to hold our convention in Geneva, NY, on the weekend of April 16 through 19, 2009. It is planned to include some excursions on the Finger Lakes Railway and several more interesting attractions. Full confirmation of the dates and of the convention hotel will be presented forthwith. I may be able to arrange another Hickory Creek charter.

Our plans for the 2010 convention in Michigan have progressed exceptionally well, due to the comprehensive groundwork of members Dick Croy and John Martin. More details about this will follow.

The NYC drawing digitization is complete with nearly 14,000 drawings digitized. Grateful thanks go to directors emeriti Charlie Smith and John Reehling. Our immediate project is to provide all members with an index that will depict exactly what each drawing relates to. Director Tom Gerbracht has spent many hours creating and composing this index for our benefit, and it should be available shortly.

Thanks to some generous friends and members, we now have the resources to move ahead with photograph and negative digitization, and arrangements are being finalized to begin this long-awaited project.

Respectfully,

Bill Strassner,
Vice president, NYCSHS