376 Bridgehampton/Sag Harbor Turnpike, P.O. Box 316, Bridgehampton, NY 11932

631-537-8250

March 2014 – LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR

Dear Friends,

This year, CMEE will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its groundbreaking. In this 2004 photo of CMEE’s grounds, you can see Bridgehampton / Sag Harbor Turnpike in the background.

This year, CMEE will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its groundbreaking. In this 2004 photo of CMEE’s grounds, you can see Bridgehampton / Sag Harbor Turnpike in the background.

On February 25, CMEE hosted its annual “CMEE in the City” fundraising dinner, which was attended by a capacity crowd of 180 people. With help from the honorary event chairs, Arlene and Alan Alda and Joy Behar, CMEE celebrated the work of three trailblazing former trustees, Beatrice Alda, Natalie Barth, and Vicky Graham. You can see a selection of photographs from the evening on our website.

All of our honorees, as Natalie Barth mentioned during her remarks, “left the Museum even better off than when they found it.” With CMEE now serving over 60,000 visitors each year, it’s easy to forget its humble beginnings seventeen years ago when eight moms gathered around a kitchen table to discuss the idea of a children’s museum. According to Beatrice Alda, “there was nothing like CMEE on the East End when we built it —and 17 years later, really nothing compares.” She went on to say that the current CMEE community has elevated the Museum far “beyond what a few of us dreamed it would be (and we were dreaming pretty big!)”

Before moving into its permanent home in Bridgehampton, CMEE hosted a temporary exhibition at Guild Hall in 1998. Visitors to the exhibit at Guild Hall could go fishing, just like they do at CMEE today.

Before moving into its permanent home in Bridgehampton, CMEE hosted a temporary exhibition at Guild Hall in 1998. Visitors to the exhibit at Guild Hall could go fishing, just like they do at CMEE today.

What’s especially inspiring about the honorees was their willingness to roll up their sleeves and take on whatever role at CMEE was needed. For example, in addition to serving as Board President, Treasurer, and Campaign Chair, Vicky Graham developed museum protocols, managed fundraising events, and even submitted CMEE’s charter to the Department of Education.

As CMEE is embarking on a capital campaign that will see the Museum through its second decade, we are enormously grateful to Beatrice, Natalie, Vicky, and many others who shepherded CMEE through the struggles and successes of its first ten years.

Sincerely,

Steve Long, Executive Director

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