Chair, FOMZI

Steering Committee

A small gathering for such an interesting meeting! We missed those of you who couldn’t be with us at the June 17 meeting, but here’s a recap: Prior to a short business meeting, Bob Curlee previewed a video he’d done for the museum’s Mt. Zion exhibit some years back and that he’s making available to us use in both publicity and fundraising. It has footage from early 8mm film and lots of pictures taken from Tusitala (the Mt. Zion yearbook) over the years. The group enjoyed trying to identify people we knew and all agreed that Hannah Phillips’s memory and recognition skills are outstanding.

It was particularly interesting to see spots on the campus that were recognizable to us all.

Bill McMaster also showed a number of photos of the Mt. Zion interior of today, pointing out areas still in very good condition as well as the few areas that will require extensive work and repair.

He also showed photos of the results of Batesburg-Leesville’s restoration of a historic small college building and construction of an adjacent new Midlands Tech building on the site (a building in a footprint very similar to that existing in Mt. Zion’s first floor, I might add!).

Bob is also working on a short feature presentation, that will combine video and still shots, and that can be used for spots on the local cable station and for speaking engagements before civic groups.

The business meeting covered a report from Bill about his meeting with the first of three engineers who’ve agreed to provide input on the building from a seismic perspective and help us clarify how the newer earthquake classifications and code requirements will impact on our renovation.

Bear in mind that this issue is not a deal-killer either way as far as FOMZI is concerned … it may eventually affect how much of the building we can renovate at one time and how quickly, but we knew going in that phasing would likely be a part of the plan anyway.

Once the other two have weighed in, we’ll determine how to proceed. The first engineer/code consultant should have his report to us by next week.

Our treasurer reported that, as of Tuesday, we’d received $3160 in donations! That’s from just a few people, so there’s definitely generosity out there!

We’ll meet again next week on Tuesday June 24, again at the Fairfield Motel Conference Room. Please try to be with us…we hope to move forward on our major public outreach and explore ways to maximize our database.

I know things seem to be moving slowly at this point…we’re perhaps being overly cautious while awaiting more engineering info … but it’s important to have as many questions answered as possible before we begin our fundraising in earnest.

This is a crucial time, and it’s difficult to identify the fine line point between gaining and losing momentum in the effort, but I hope our patience will be rewarded in a few short weeks.