Merry Christmas and Season’s Greetings from the Bennett Farm,
Santa (left) and Site Manager John Guss outside the kitchen on the Bennett Farm.
We have certainly been blessed and fortunate with the tremendous support from you during this third year of the Sesquicentennial Commemoration of the American Civil War. Our new museum exhibit gallery is now well underway, our plans are coming together for the grand finale of the 150th Anniversary (April 17-26, 2015), and we received tremendous support in the recent purchase of some of the Bennett Family’s original farm property that was endanger of being commercially developed. Again, WE THANK YOU. This recent achievement has proven America’s commitment to preserving our most treasured landmarks; the land where our history occurred.
With all of the wonderful success and good fortune this year, we have also experienced much sadness among our Bennett family. Dr. Kent Hinkson, one of our devoted friends and colleagues passed away earlier this year, and more recently, we said farewell to one of our devoted board members of the Bennett Place Support Fund, Inc. and past president of the Durham Civil War Roundtable, Jack Schrader. Both men will be deeply missed among our membership, but we know their legacy of the commitment to the preservation of Bennett Place and our nation’s history lives on.
Although we have closed the visitor center for renovations Bennett Place remains open for tours, school programs, and strolls through our Nature Trails. Our staff is on site to assist with any visitor services matters guests may have. Our hours of operation continue regularly, Tuesday-Saturday, 9am-5pm. So please stop by for a visit during the winter months. We hope to have our visitor center operational again for visitors by mid-late March 2015.
As we move forward with the New Year approaching, we ask for your continued support for all of our North Carolina State Historic Sites as this year will be another challenging year. It is indeed unfortunate that budget cuts loom once again with more cuts hitting our historic landmarks across the Old North State especially during one of the most important commemorations in our state’s history, but government officials continue to review and assess what they deem most important to our state’s welfare, and our historic landmarks are not deemed a priority. The financial cuts are becoming entirely too impactful to our historic landmarks for them to endure long-term. Nevertheless, in the immediate, we continue to march onward as a result of the generosity of those individuals and groups who appreciate and value our heritage, and who understand that it is not a resource that can be compromised. Donations can be made to the Bennett Place Support Fund, Inc. as we continue to need funds to support our operations at Bennett Place as well as future enhancements to our museum, visitor center, and educational programming. Donations can be made online at: http://www.bennettplacehistoricsite.com/museum-fund/
As we say farewell to 2014, we are very excited about the upcoming events and new museum we will be sharing with you in April 2015. We hope you will be able to join us for the grand finale of one of America’s most significant times in our nation’s history. Please continue to visit our webpage with all of the information on our 150th Anniversary Commemorative activities.
http://www.bennettplacehistoricsite.com/special-events/150th-surrender-anniversary/
Again, THANK YOU for your continued support of this national treasure.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
Sincerely,
John Guss, Site Manager
