Dear Friends,
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!)”
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