45th Anniversary Commemorative Book November 2015 | Page 8

1970-2015

MAC
years

From the Director

On MAC’s 45th anniversary, I’d like to take stock
by comparing the accomplishments of the past five
years with the benchmarks I noted in six previous
commemorative books. In 1985, I honored MAC’s army
of volunteers, who founded the organization, saved the
Emlen Physick Estate and started our public tour, special
event and publication programs. In 1990, I highlighted
our starting the Cape May Lighthouse project and the
first steps towards the creation of a professional staff. In
1995, I celebrated MAC’s explosive expansion (in public
programs, budget, staff) while pointing with pride to
the premiere of the Cape May Music Festival. In 2000,
I featured such accomplishments as our acquiring
the Carriage House at the Physick Estate (leading to
our changing exhibits and the Café & Tearoom), the
launching of Spring Festival, Food & Wine Festival and
our endowment fund, and major strides in educational
outreach. In 2005, I noted the continued proliferation of
new programming, major progress at our historic sites,
tremendous strides in information technology and the
resilience of our staff and Board. In 2010, I reported on
the opening of the World War II Lookout Tower and our
first Designer Show House, the expansion of Halloween
programming and the debut of our first Facebook pages.
While sustaining all of these initiatives, the past five
years have witnessed a concerted effort to deepen our
relationships with a wide range of constituencies:
• Under the aegis of MAC Board leader Jeff Elliott, we
launched three Friends Groups in 2010, “communities of
passion” for lovers of the World War II Lookout Tower,
the Emlen Physick Estate and the Cape May Lighthouse.
Under the capable leadership of their staff coordinators
(Bob Heinly, Barbara Oberholtzer and Nanci Coughlin,
respectively), these Friends Groups have engaged
hundreds of enthusiasts in a wide range of programs,
while also raising significant funds to enhance these
properties (e.g., the erection of an All Veterans Memorial
at the Tower).
• Under the direction of Board Member Myles Martel,
the community has rallied around our Lessons of History
Distinguished Lecture Series, including the creation of a
sizable endowment fund to guarantee its future.
• For the venerable Cape May Music Festival, the
untimely April 2012 demise of jazz pianist George
Mesterhazy has led to annual tribute concerts that attract
the “Tout Cape May.”
• The exhibits in the Carriage House Gallery (renamed the Carroll Gallery in 2014, in honor of Tom

and Sue Carroll) have switched from general themes
to celebrations of community icons (e.g., the Chalfonte
Hotel, historic preservationists, firefighters, watercolorist
Alice Steer Wilson).
• Weekly “Lunch and Learn” lectures through the
winter months have provided intellectual sustenance for
our year-round population.
• Tom Carroll has recruited a large and enthusiastic
crew of volunteers who, every week, cut, trim and
manicure the Physick Estate grounds.
• Targeted iniatives have sought to connect us with
young families, second homeowners and visitors staying
in rental houses and campgrounds.
Equally important, the past five years have witnessed
an explosion of events on the grounds of our historic
properties, turning them into beehives of community
activity. At the Physick Estate, the 2012 launch of August’s
Craft Beer & Crab Festival (under the inspired leadership of
Graydon and Diane Hutchinson) has grown into the single
biggest day in the MAC calendar, while spawning such
“copycat” events as the Harvest Brew Fest in September
2015, as well as the Cape May Hops Fest scheduled for
June 2016. The Lighthouse grounds now host weekly
Family Fun Festivals/Crafts Shows through the Summer,
the Friends Group’s Christmas in July fundraiser, the
celebration of National Lighthouse Day on August 7 and
October’s Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey. And at the
World War II Lookout Tower, the annual Armed Forces
Day Ceremony has become a patriotic salute to veterans
of all wars and services.
Finally, the resilience shown since the turn of the
century has been truly put to the test by the continued
economic rollercoaster ride of the past five years. The
MAC Board, under the successive presidencies of Doug
McMain and Mary McKenney, has not only been an
unwavering source of stability and steady governance but
has also been a fruitful source of many of the innovations
described above. The MAC staff, meanwhile has become
the “poster child” for the productivity gains of our nation’s
“jobless recovery.” Despite a wage freeze since 2007, our
staff has eagerly taken on any number of new challenges,
thanks to the inspired leadership of our management
team (Chief Operating Officer Bill Ten Eyck, and his
successor, Melissa Zeides, Chief Outreach Officer Mary
Stewart and Chief Financial Officer Charles Kealy) and
their talented and dedicated lieutenants.

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B. Michael Zuckerman, Ph.D.