Historic Georgetown Inc.

The Rise of the Silver Queen has been published and is now on sale at the Visitor Center and elsewhere. As you may know, this book was a completion of a project begun by Liston Leyendecker. Chris Bradley and Duane Smith finished it off in a wonderful way. This publishing project was sponsored and financed by HGI.

The HGI Newsletter has continued to be published, and we hope that you find it entertaining as well as informative. I would like to thank Cynthia Skeen and the members of her Publications Committee for their fine work. Also, John Calhoun's Journal piece on the theater in early Georgetown came out this year and is a great addition to the scholarly work that HGI sponsors through publication of the Journal.

At its April, 2005, meeting, the Devil's Gate History Club celebrated its 10th year of presentations. The Devil's Gate History Club is an important part of HGI, and I would like to thank Bill Wilson and members of his Steering Committee for their creative work to come up with such interesting programs month after month.

Christmas Market and Christmas at Hamill House once again were very successful. HGI is now working with a larger group of merchants to broaden the involvement of the town and the merchants in Christmas Market. We look forward to working within that new structure to make next year's Christmas Market better than ever.

HGI continues to manage its open lands. We are involved in the Guanella Pass project, which is underway. In Silver Dale, survey stakes have been placed that show where the new parking area will be constructed as part of that project. New signs on HGI property along the road tell a bit of the story of the country through which the road passes. HGI has responsibility for maintaining the Notch Trail from Georgetown to Silver Plume. That trail needs some work, and I plan on leading a work party later in the summer.

HGI is sponsoring a walking-tour booklet for Georgetown. Bill Wilson has researched and written the booklet, Don Allan has taken the pictures, and it is just about ready to go to press. Now we need to come up with $10,000 or more to pay for publication. This is an important project, and we will be working diligently to complete it over the next few months.

The Kneisel House is currently vacant, but we are doing some limited work to re-fit the house for residential use. If anyone knows of someone looking to move into a very nice, small historic house, please have them talk to Dana Abrahamson.

Thank you all for your continued participation in and support of HGI, thereby contributing to another successful year.

By Sharon Rossino On June 18, Chairman Matt Skeen presented his annual report to about 40 attendees at the 2005 Annual Meeting of Historic Georgetown, Inc. The following is a condensed version of his comments. As I welcome you to the 36th Annual Meeting of Historic Georgetown, Inc., I notice that HGI was founded on May 6, 1970, and if you do the math, it seems to me that we've been in existence for 35 years; but nevertheless this is the 36th annual meeting. Recently Cindy Neely explained to me that very shortly after the organization was founded, even before it was more than a few months old, President Ron Neely sent out notices and conducted the organization's First Annual Meeting. So this is why we are today having the 36th annual meeting, celebrating and noting the completion of our 35 years of existence! Speaking of Ron, I think most of you know that he has been diagnosed with ALS (arterial lateral sclerosis), or Lou Gehrig's Disease. This is probably the first annual meeting that Ron has missed, but appropriately he is spending Father's Day weekend with his son, Burr, in Montrose. Ron will continue to lead the Georgetown Trust for the foreseeable future. I know that all our prayers go out for Ron and we wish him well as he faces this next challenge in his life's journey. When I reported at last year's meeting, HGI had just purchased the Centennial Mill. We have now almost completed the first phase of stabilization of the building. A new steel structure has been created under the shell to hold the building up, new windows have been installed in the front and sides of the building, a new roof put on, and the site is in the final stages of being cleaned up. The mill has never looked better within the scope of my 50-year memory of Georgetown. On November 11, 2004, one of the workers, Jason DeCanto, fell from the top of the roof of the Centennial Mill and died from his injuries. Jason was well known and loved in the community, and this accident was a terrible tragedy for us all. Construction on Hamill Park was well underway last summer at the time of the annual meeting. A lot of progress has been made, but we are far from satisfied with the way the park looks at present. More work is needed. After the meeting, please stop by while you are at the Hamill House and take a look. The Georgetown Trust finally received its Section 501(c)(3) designation from the IRS and came officially into existence. Since the last annual meeting, we held the official dedication ceremony for the Visitor Center. That was a glorious day. Dignitaries from all over attended and spoke, and the Masons from the local Masonic Lodge and from across Colorado placed the cornerstone with an impressive ceremony. HGI has now transferred ownership of the Gateway Visitor Center to the Georgetown Trust and has turned over management of the Mahany Building and the McCreedy House to the Trust.	The Rise of the Silver Queen has been published and is now on sale at the Visitor Center and elsewhere. As you may know, this book was a completion of a project begun by Liston Leyendecker. Chris Bradley and Duane Smith finished it off in a wonderful way. This publishing project was sponsored and financed by HGI. The HGI Newsletter has continued to be published, and we hope that you find it entertaining as well as informative. I would like to thank Cynthia Skeen and the members of her Publications Committee for their fine work. Also, John Calhoun's Journal piece on the theater in early Georgetown came out this year and is a great addition to the scholarly work that HGI sponsors through publication of the Journal. At its April, 2005, meeting, the Devil's Gate History Club celebrated its 10th year of presentations. The Devil's Gate History Club is an important part of HGI, and I would like to thank Bill Wilson and members of his Steering Committee for their creative work to come up with such interesting programs month after month. Christmas Market and Christmas at Hamill House once again were very successful. HGI is now working with a larger group of merchants to broaden the involvement of the town and the merchants in Christmas Market. We look forward to working within that new structure to make next year's Christmas Market better than ever. HGI continues to manage its open lands. We are involved in the Guanella Pass project, which is underway. In Silver Dale, survey stakes have been placed that show where the new parking area will be constructed as part of that project. New signs on HGI property along the road tell a bit of the story of the country through which the road passes. HGI has responsibility for maintaining the Notch Trail from Georgetown to Silver Plume. That trail needs some work, and I plan on leading a work party later in the summer. HGI is sponsoring a walking-tour booklet for Georgetown. Bill Wilson has researched and written the booklet, Don Allan has taken the pictures, and it is just about ready to go to press. Now we need to come up with $10,000 or more to pay for publication. This is an important project, and we will be working diligently to complete it over the next few months. The Kneisel House is currently vacant, but we are doing some limited work to re-fit the house for residential use. If anyone knows of someone looking to move into a very nice, small historic house, please have them talk to Dana Abrahamson. Thank you all for your continued participation in and support of HGI, thereby contributing to another successful year.

35 (years) and 1 to carry