2013 In Review-Minus Category Or Negatives

We would like to take a moment to share a few of the "Minus Category" items that the museum faced in 2013: We received no requests for any of our buses to be used for special photo, movie or commercial productions (a good revenue source). Please spread the word about the vintage and unique buses in our collection. Any interested production companies can contact the museum office and we would be happy to consider your request. Expenses continue to exceed income. Donation were down a bit in 2013. Any donations from individuals or business members are always welcome. The docent pool to work on the museum floor continues to dwindle. Many days in 2013 saw no museum members working the floor to answer visitor's questions about our buses or the museum. Even if you can only give a few hours a month or a year (as many menbers do not reside near Hershey), please contact the museum office if you can help us out. Also, more volunteers are needed for our work sessions, which will resume in March (weather permitting). We will post 2014 work session information here and on our Facebook page shortly. We are always happy to welcome new members. Although we gained some new members in 2013, the number was offset by the loss of smoe members for various reasons (lost contact, did not renew or unfortunetly have passed on). Individual or business memberships are available, as are life memberships for individuals. Please contact the museum office for information. The phone number is 717-566-7100 extension 119. The office is usually staffed on Tuesdays, however the phone messages are checked at least once or twice a day. If you get the voicemail when you call please leave a message and someone will return your call as soon as possible. Thank You for your continued support of the museum.

2013 In Review-The Positives

Welcome to 2014. We hope you all have a happy and healthy new year. Taking a moment to look back on 2013, there were several positives, among them: Between our 2 storage facilities and the display floor at the museum, all of our fleet is now stored under cover. The United Motorcoach Association granted us free annual membership as well as excellent press releases and coverage of our various projects and events in their Bus and Motorcoach News publication. The UMA also provided us with free display space at their 2013 Marketplace event in Orlando. ABC Bus, through board member Clancy Cornell supplied a display bus for our space at the Marketplace. We also received coverage in National Bus Trader and Bus and Coach News. The AACA Museum continues to include us in their advertising. The 2013 Spring Fling was successful, nearly the same overall as 2012's event. Membership renewals remain on par with 2012. We had several new business members join in 2013. We can always use more new members (individual and business). We acquired a part time paid mechanic, Jim Tay (who also works for Conestoga Tours part time) to help maintain our fleet. Also E & B Transportation and Wolf's Bus Lines continue to assist us with mechanical work on flood damaged buses. We acquired a 40 foot 1970 Flxible, a 1986 T8H-5307A (the last GM New Look ever built) and a 1993 Orion I in 2013. We sold the 1954 Flxible Visicoach (limited flood damage) and 5 buses for salvage (flood damage deemed beyond repair) which brought in $15,000 to the museum. The next post will look at some of the "Minus Category" items from 2013 and how we can hopefully create more positives in 2014.