Excitement through Evolution

Yesterday, our Governing Board Members held its bi-monthly meeting to discuss the business of the Friends of Independence and to make decisions that will best lead our organization into the future.  Like many non-profits, our leaders are part of the business community and use their knowledge and skills to help our organization thrive and grow.

For the past few years the Governing Board meetings centered on the financial health of the organization and how we would weather the down-turning economy.  Many of our discussions dealt with future funding and the stability of the Friends.  This is not an uncommon theme for most non-profits, and in comparison, we have weathered better than most.  However, it has become a repetitive, never-ending topic.  There never will be a time when we say that as an organization we have too much, that we do not need more, and that we will not accept funding; because we know that the more funding we have, the more we can do for our park.

Yesterday’s meeting, however, was different.  While we still discussed the financial health of the organization, we also started to discuss the future:  How we wanted to see ourselves, how we wanted others to see us, and what we wanted to do to have our name reach more people.  Looking around the room, I could see my board members becoming animated as they brainstormed the possibilities.  They were so excited for what we were doing that in turn they enlivened me.

As the lone staff member for the Friends of Independence, I am charged with thinking ahead.  It is my responsibility to look for ways to connect with our constituents and to plan events, programs, and opportunities that will make our organization more visible.  Usually by the time I present an idea to the Governing Board, I am past my excited stage; I am in the business portion of the planning.  I am working out the logistics to make sure that we not only can produce the program but that it will meet tangible goals.

I walked into that meeting yesterday with my facts and figures, and I walked out feeling very excited for the future possibilities because my board members were enthusiastic and energized.  It is an incredible feeling to have a clear idea of where you are headed and to have the support of the Board.  Next year marks the 40^th anniversary of the Friends of Independence.  While that is an amazing accomplishment, we know we cannot live on our past glories.

We are changing.  We are growing.  We are evolving as we should.  We know our future has unlimited potential.  And we hope that you share our vision.  We invite you to continue the journey with us as we explore and reshape the Future of the Friends of Independence.

Stay tuned for some incredible programming…

~Maiti Gallen

  Program Director

It’s Almost Here!!!!

The trees are still green and leafy, the flowers still bloom, but there is a bite in the air these days. A chilly breeze as you walk through Independence National Historical Park foretells of autumn days to come – fall days when the park is covered in leaves, our wildlife (the gray squirrel) is foraging for winter and you can hear the wind rustling through the grass.

Autumn is my favorite time of the year here at the park. The whole park comes alive with the bright reds, golds and oranges of the season. Instead of sunbathers worshiping the light of summer, we have parents and children holding hands as they scoot through the fallen leaves. People walk closer together to warm themselves against the chill in the air instead of finding solitary relief in the cool shade. I find the whole park feels warmer during these transitional days and the smell of hot cider with mulling spices wafting through the air will always make me want to stop in at City Tavern for a quick sip or two.

This is the time of the year when the park belongs to the locals. The summer tourists are gone, the ones who come here to celebrate our independence, who stand with us in spirit to fight for freedom and who happily take pictures of their experience at a national historical park. Even as the late summer tourists slowly disappear from our sidewalks, park neighbors emerge from their homes to reclaim the park as their own. Soon the benches will be filled with workers from the neighboring buildings trying to soak up the last rays of sun before winter’s gray clouds are upon us.

This is the time of the year when I feel most at home at my national park. So even though it is still in the high 70’s here in Philadelphia and the humidity levels have not dropped, I will wear a scarf and coat in happy anticipation of the chillier weather. I will also kick the leaves scattered on the ground and dream of days when I can secretly jump into the massive piles of leaves when our maintenance workers are not looking. I do all of this because I know, when there is a bite in the air, my favorite season at Independence National Historical Park is just around the corner.

~Maiti Gallen
  Program Director

Edgar Allan Poe ~ The Master of the Macabre

Fans of literature, mystery and the macabre are drawn to the Philadelphia house of Edgar Allan Poe.  Managed by the National Park Service, the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site celebrates Poe’s amazing literary accomplishments.  Edgar Allan Poe thrived and achieved his greatest sustained success while living in Philadelphia: here Poe invented the detective story, served as America’s premier though sometimes brutal literary critic, edited the country’s most successful magazine, and wrote enduring, haunting and disturbing stories and poems.