Welcome
to the official website of the Pioneer Valley Military &
Transportation Museum! We are located at Westfield - Barnes
Airport in Westfield, MA. We are a non-profit 501(c)3 educational
museum-to-be preserving and presenting all forms of military
transportation.
Our
vision is to have an “Active” museum! Trucks that
can be driven, aircraft that fly and other vehicles milling
about! We plan to have much more than static displays like many
museums. Our goal is to educate the public in an exciting manner
with a hands-on experience for all ages. See a WWII airplane
take off and fly, view a working air tower replica from the
war and read about history first hand from a letter written
almost 100 years ago.
Our
site will allow visitors to view aircraft activity at the airport
including F15 activity as the 104th Fighter Wing prepares for
full operational status as well as to periodically observe vintage
war birds and other vintage military and civilian vehicles visiting
the museum.
We
welcome all new members! A large membership makes up a great
institution. Come be part of history in the present and in the
future.
-
Our
PVMTM Winter Gala/Auction is scheduled for March 22nd
, 2008 at East Mountain Country Club! We
are continuing to collect auction items! Please let us know
if there are any items you wish to donate! We have combined
this event with our Annual Meeting!
Click on "Special Events" for more information as
it becomes available!
A
message from our president!
Dear Member:
This is my first letter as the leader of this organization.
I want to start by thanking you for voting me in as president.
I bet Barack or Hillary would love to become the president as
easily as I have. I hope that my term as president will be successful
and I hope to make some significant accomplishments.
I do have some goals during my term. I plan to focus on what
we set out to do quite a few years ago… to build a museum!
My first plans are to concentrate on our design. We began some
discussions recently to switch to a village concept instead
of fewer large buildings. This concept was discussed years ago
and then somehow vanished. The village concept will include
many small buildings each with their own theme. My plan is to
focus on selecting a design concept and following it through
the process. There are still a few issues to resolve, a few
questions to be answered and many details to discuss. So far,
the board is in agreement with the village concept and we are
continuing to forge forward. Once we have completed our design
phase, I hope to begin our feasibility study and a capital campaign.
Our board meetings for this year will revolve around designs,
themes, museum layout, capital planning, board development and
anything else that will put us closer to breaking ground.
I would like to comment on the Gala Auction & Annual Meeting
held on March 22nd. It was a great success! I would like to
thank all who attended the event but most of all I would like
to thank those who donated items for the auction. Also, I would
like to express gratitude to the members of the board and all
the others who helped with the event. Without you, we would
not have been successful.
There are several ideas I have for our summer projects though
I have not confirmed them with the board yet. As an example,
we have several repairs to do on our equipment, as well as preventative
maintenance that should be done. As the weather warms up, I
hope to begin working at the museum site. I estimate that around
the second week of May we should be there every Saturday from
9am to 12pm. This is a great opportunity for members to see
what we are working on. If something we are doing interests
you, stop by and say hello! We would love to see you!
There are a few events this year to watch for. We are planning
a large Hangar Dance for September. Please make note that the
May dance has been changed to September. The board recently
decided that this change will work better for the organization
this year. Please keep an eye on our website for further information
regarding the September dance. There are a few other events
to look for this year. The USAF Thunderbirds will headline the
2008 Great New England Air Show at Westover Air Reserve Base,
September 6th & 7th . More information will be provided
as soon as it becomes available. We are planning to bring two
airplanes and a few military vehicles to Westover. In early
July, we plan to host a fly-in/cook-out for the EAA Warbird
Chapter 7. Details for that event are not confirmed yet. And
on September 26th, 27th & 28th we will be at the Brainard
Airport in Hartford, CT for a Veteran's celebration.
This year will be very busy! I hope we can make some progress
towards our goals. I also hope that we will see some of our
members at our events and at the site for a visit this summer.
Remember, “there is strength in numbers”. With your
help we can build this organization. Please talk about it with
your friends, family and neighbors. There are many who believe
that preserving history is important for our children. Help
us achieve our goals by spreading the word. Every little bit
does help.
Leo Dube President
Newsletters!
For
the 1st quarter 2008 Newsletter Click Here!
For
the 4th quarter 2007-2008 Newsletter Click Here!
For
the 3rd quarter 2007 Newsletter Click Here!
For the 2nd quarter 2007 Newsletter Click Here!
For
the 1st quarter 2007 Newsletter Click Here!
We
use Adobe PDF files throughout our website. 
|
