Provisions For The Future, Maintenance, And Expansion Of
APM
Brent Taylor, Treasurer of the Air Power Museum, and Executive
Director of the Antique Airplane Association based at Antique
Airfield (IA27) in Blakesburg, IA announced this week the creation
of an endowment that will support and preserve the APM.
"The establishment of
this endowment is a key element in our plans for the future of the
APM," said Taylor. "Last spring the APM Board of Directors
conducted an extensive evaluation of every aspect of the museum,
from infrastructure and buildings, to the aircraft collection and
even the website. We now know what needs to be done and this
endowment will provide the foundation for ongoing improvements and
growth at the APM."
As a result of that springtime evaluation, a Steering Committee
was created, made up of prominent business individuals within the
antique airplane community. This Steering Committee will help guide
the Board of Directors as a master plan is developed and project
priorities put in place.
"The APM's two main missions remain the same as they have for
decades," Taylor said.
"The first is to see that the museum exists to preserve and
educate the public about our aviation heritage. The second is to
see that the APM, the AAA, and Antique Airfield, remain the site
for the annual Invitational AAA/APM Fly-in that means so much to
antique airplane owners nationwide, because it is the place where
the "grass roots" of antique aviation can still be experienced.
"Therefore the Air Power Museum Legacy Endowment has been
established to make sure those two missions continue long into the
future."
The threefold goal of the endowment will be to ensure the future
and permanence of the APM; to rebuild and maintain the
infrastructure of the APM; and to expand the offerings and programs
of the APM.
A more detailed announcement will be made in the future
outlining methods of giving that will be available for potential
donors to the endowment.
However, funding for the endowment has begun. The start up money
came from the profits on the sale of the flown postal covers from
"Air Mail Days", the theme of the 2008 AAA/APM Invitational Fly-In
at Antique Airfield, held over Labor Day weekend of this year, and
donations to the APM PayPal account. Flown postal covers are still
available through the AAA/APM web site.