https://www.facebook.com/phdrrhs/posts/ ... ?__tn__=-R

for those who cannot access it:

"To our members and friends,

Recent and past events, practices, operational decisions, and acts by former directors have led us to this point and situation in time for our non-profit. During a special meeting in June the Board of Directors convened and weighed all available information discovered in the last year. The directors voted on a formal dissolvement of the non-profit Port Huron and Detroit Railroad Historical Society (EIN 26-3375116), unless a new board can be established. The Board agreed to give a 30-day period of time to address this contingency plan. The 30-day end date set shall be August 28th, 2021. If by this time the minimal state requirements of a NEW executive board cannot be gathered, the Society shall file with the IRS and the State of Michigan for closure permanently.

Between now and August 28th, we will seek new members for the Board of Directors. Know that you will be required to pay for your own Michigan State Police background check prior to being considered as a board member. There will be a signable contractual agreement as a condition to be placed as an executive director on the board. The minimum State requirements for the new board shall be these positions: President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The Society by-laws authorize up to 9 directors. These shall be filled at a later special meeting after the new board has assembled and transition completed. The former current directors shall play no further role with the Society.

The new directorship shall assume all operational responsibilities of the Society and shall gain access to all property, records, equipment, internet technologies, banking, communications, social media and other items / articles of responsibility. They shall accept all rules, guidelines, by-laws, and other agreements as part of their operational structure. Since the incident with the former treasurer there have been changes made to the by-laws that better strengthen oversight and security of the Society’s finances. The new by-laws give the Board of Directors more powers of oversight and control over access to financial record keeping and power to keep the executive position from gaining any overbearing Society control. The changes bring in two standing committees that have financial oversight and audit responsibility and will ensure better oversight and controls of financial accounts and may prevent Society funds from being stolen again by any director having access.

Any future director must have the needed skills for executing their positions and be able to use computers, internet, email, social media, and basic word processing skills. To be blunt, this is a job. It is not easy. It requires several hours a week of dedication. Right now, the current directors are spent after fighting what battles and hell we have had to fight for the last year. If you want to take this over, run a non-profit for railway history preservation, please contact us and let us know: contact@phdrailroad.org

Prospects should live inside of a two-hour drive of Port Huron. Being local to the Blue Water Area / Thumb region of Michigan would be a plus. A letter of intent can be mailed to our address at 2100 32nd Street Port Huron, MI 48060

We were waiting for final closure on the treasurer embezzlement situation to release this information. We received word of restitution finally coming back to us from the court system this past week. Mr. Harvey is serving 93 days in St. Clair County Jail." - PH&D Historical Society

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How much did Mr. Harvey steal ???

Thanks, Ross Rowland

Ross, I asked a simple question with no agenda or subtext.

Accountants always want to know the price.

If it's a nominal fee, it would create a sense of investment while not turning people away.

I think it's a good idea, unless its prohibitive.

He paid $10,014.75 in restitution according to this July 8, 2021 article in The Times Herald:
Former treasurer of Port Huron and Detroit Railroad Historical Society gets jail time for larceny

Such a sad fate for an organization that a few short years ago held much promise. Three or four years ago they hired me to move PH&D 52 (Alco S1) from Knoxville to Port Huron, and to that end had traveled to Knoxville, made deals with the shortline railroad and a crane company to load the locomotive on a flatcar and was working out the final details with NS on the move when Mr. Harvey pulled the plug on my involvement for unknown reasons.

The 52 still sits and who knows what will happen to it now. 52 was a complete and operational loco when stored. They even went to the lengths of welding the long hood doors shut. However they did not weld the electrical cabinet door shut, someone managed to bust a window out of the cab and then proceeded to clean the electrical cabinet of any and all copper, rendering her pretty much useless as a functioning locomotive again. That would not have been an issue as it was destined for static display next to the caboose in PH, but it still hurts to see.

PH&D is a cuationary tale of what happens when personality conflicts metastasize to the point where it kills the orgaqnization. Would any newly constituted board be able to salvage the reputation of the PH&D at this point? It already had a couple strikes against it being located off the beaten path in PH on a very small site with no room to grow and limited means of generating operating revenue. Now add to that the number of local fans who have been burned and who would never go back to the PH&D. It's depressing to say the least.

There's some additional information at:

https://phdrailroad.org/news/f/july-2021-update

It'll be interesting to see what happens to the net assets of this organization if it dissolves --- they have to go to another non profit, but will anything be scrapped first.

Bob H

Is this the organization that was trying to preserve a Grand Trunk Western ice bunker refrigerator car some time back?

Les

Yes --- see

https://phdrailroad.org/our-rolling-stock

Bob H

Bob H -

Thanks for the info. Hopefully, the PH&D Historical Society will find a way to survive. But if there is no path, then hopefully GTW # 206447 (the ice brine reefer) and also PH&D bay window caboose # 62, will somehow be preserved.

Les

Well, unfortunately it looks like we're down another historical society in the Great Lakes State: https://www.facebook.com/phdrrhs .

Thanks for posting -- note that Port Huron has another, small but successful railroad museum located under the shadows of the Bluewater bridge to Canada....

See

https://www.phmuseum.org/thomas-edison-depot-museum/

Bob H

Very well thought-out museum for their website! Hopefully can put in some cameo appearances if they ever make a "Young Tom Edison" series...

Hot off the press, the PH&D HS headquarters has been vandalized this morning:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1878555 ... 060118785/

It's unfortunate that whoever posted chose to call out "railfans" as the problem. Do they have evidence that it was in fact railfans?

Even though I'm sure the organization is angry about this, it's not a good idea to use an angry tone when posting as an official account on social media.