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  • Mark your calendars! Next Preservation Society meeting is July 24 at 5:15pm. Location will be announced later.
Featured Photo:

Secretary of State Jay Dardenne “cuts the ribbon” to open the new State-run museum while museum governing board members (l-r) Nettie Brown, Larry LaBorde, Kelly Wells, Conway Link, Jim Montgomery, and Dale Ward look on.

The open house on April 11-12 to celebrate completion of the "rim drive" for the no. 3 high service steam engine drew almost 300 visitors. Everyone had a great time admiring the engine run, watching the local blacksmith society demonstrate tool-making, lunching on hot dogs, studying our new water works model as it illustrated the water treatment process, and trying to put in the winning bid on their favorite item in the silent auction. The event was so much fun, we've all got our thinking caps on working on ideas for another program. In the meantime, though, you can come out any Saturday from 10am until 3:30pm to see the engine running and tour the museum, or during the week as shown in the following entry.

The open house fundraising auction to support the museum was a great success.  The Preservation Society wishes to extend a very big "thank you" to the following generous individuals and businesses who made it possible by donating items:

Chick-fil-A, I-220 at Airline          Monjuni's of Portico         Fertitta's Delicatassen & Grocery

Cotton Boll Grill                            Olde Oaks Golf Club       SciPort Discovery Center

Planet Beach (797-8826)              Porter's Cleaners             Willis-Knighton Fitness & Wellness

Kim Brice Designs (840-1642)     Bearing Service Co.         Christus Schumpert Bossier Wellness Ctr.

Glazer Companies                        Music Mountain Water     www.PersonalizedCoins.net

A Piece of Cake (564-4442)       W. Conway Link              Dalton Huddleston           

Cathy Ward                                 Kelly Wells                      Marilyn & Gary Joiner

The museum is open! The hours are 12noon until 4pm Monday & Wednesday, 10am until 4pm Tues, Thursday, & Friday, and 10am until 3:30pm on Saturday. The Preservation Society will continue to offer tours by appointment in addition to the regular hours, and will continue to be vitally needed to assist the State in making the museum a success!

First time visitors to the Pumping Station sometimes have difficulty finding it, so here's where it is: 142 N. Common Street. This is on the east side of the street 1/4 mile north of the intersection of Common with Caddo St. There is a "Shreveport Water Works Museum" sign in the front yard, as well as a large blue and white sign marking the driveway entrance.

The Caddo Career & Technology Center's carpentry shop has built reproductions of the cabinets located in the ca. 1911 water quality lab (located below the elevated water tank). Some of the student workers and instructor Mike Igo came to McNeill on 4/8/05 to move the new/old cabinets into the building. The original slate countertops have been set back in place, and this project is now in the "done" category!

Help needed!!! The McNeill Preservation Society is looking for volunteers who would like to help with the restoration of the vintage steam engines at the Pumping Station. This will involve everything from cleaning and painting to (eventually) making them run again. If you'd like to help, use the on-line information form elsewhere on the web site or call (318)221-3388.

On June 19, 2000, the Community Foundation of Shreveport-Bossier awarded the Preservation Society a $10,000 grant from the Rubye Moss Ratcliff Fund. The grant was made to support the filming of oral histories of personnel involved with McNeill and provide documentation that could then be used to produce films that could be shown at the Museum, or elsewhere, to relate the history of the Pumping Station. Since that time volunteers from the Preservation Society have been working on the project and have successfully brought the goal envisioned by the project to fruition, although creating archive material on McNeill's history is ongoing and will probably never be "finished." Thanks to all who worked on the job, including Jim Montgomery, David Nelson, Kristina Hardwick, Dr. Dayna Lee, and M&M Communications Concepts. Copies of the videos are available for purchase at $10 for VHS tapes or  DVD versions. Discounts are available for Preservation Society members. Call (318)221-3388 or use the on-line form elsewhere on this web site to request a copy.

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