How's MAC? Meher Archive Collective is committed to honoring Meher Baba through a culture of Integrity, Transparency and Trust; we take this Responsibility seriously, as we continue to build Expertise, and pledge to be of Service to all those invested in protecting Baba’s legacy. Message from the Chair In these uncertain times, MAC continues to pursue its mission and to build community. Renovations continue at the Meher Archive Collective facility. The recently expanded Board of Directors has come together as a vibrant team. Irma Sheppard and Winnie Barrett have stepped into chair positions and Greg Dunn has joined us to assist with the Technology Committee. We have engaged the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources for advice and support. If you have not seen our video page with a talk by Peter Nordeen—please see the link below. Our Sustaining Donor campaign is progressing and we are developing a Legacy Giving program. Please contact me directly to discuss how your long-term planning could support MAC. With hopes that you are all happy and healthy in His Love, Scott Tower 828.290.6972 / [email protected] Highlights MAC’s Video Page Last month MAC launched a video page with “Pilgrimage After the Time of the Mandali”, a recent talk given by Peter Nordeen. This is the first in a series of talks by Peter that will be featured on our website going forward. This wonderful talk was professionally recorded, and includes extensive Q&A. If you have not yet seen it, we highly recommend it and you can find it on MAC’s video page. Volunteer Announcements It’s a pleasure to announce that MAC has a new Communications Chair, Irma Sheppard, replacing Diane Tower-Jones, who is stepping aside and visiting England for a while. Irma has already been part of the Communications, Marketing & PR Committee, along with her husband, Karl, so she has some familiarity with this committee. Thank you to Diane, who dedicated herself to MAC and did an outstanding job as our first Committee Chair. Irma Sheppard taught French, English and ESL in Michigan. In Tucson, AZ from 1994-2016 she was in private practice as a psychotherapist. In 2000 she won the Martingale Literary Award for a short story. Her poems and vignettes have been published in journals and in books. With the publishing help of her husband, Karl Moeller, she has collected and edited 6 books of Baba lovers’ experiences of the Beloved. Irma has been a Baba lover for 40 years—coming to Meher Baba in Venice Beach, CA in 1980. She was an active member of the Baba community in Tucson, AZ for 33 years, hosting many events. Active in Asheville for four years now, she adapted and directed a short play for Baba’s birthday in February 2020. Another wonderful addition this month is Winnie Barrett who has agreed to be the new Chair of the Social/Outreach Committee. Winnie has been an organizer and hostess numerous times to many, many Baba events over these past years, so she comes to MAC already experienced in arranging social events for us. Winnie Barrett, a Baba lover since 1967, helped start the Denver Baba group, was a founding editor of the “Journal for Psychological and Spiritual Integration” and was an editor on the Denver newsletter, “Broken Down Furniture News.” As a Clinical Social Worker, she won 2 awards for contributions to her field. As a Denver shop owner, she created monthly events with different cultural themes around entertainment, refreshments, and displays of fine arts and crafts for sale. Winnie has been in Asheville for 25 years now, organizing weekly meetings for the Baba community here as schedulewalla. Her book, Baba Does the Impossible and other stories, relates her life with Baba. Winnie has served on 3 non-profit boards over the years and she is skilled in discovering resources for projects. Welcome Irma and Winnie to the MAC team! What's New? Website - work is in progress: MAC is engaging with web professionals to assist us in upgrading our website. An entirely new website experience represents time and sizeable technical challenges; we appreciate your patience and understanding regarding any temporary glitches you may encounter on the current site as we navigate this process. Library - the MAC Board voted to call the library the New Life Library since it will be in the Meher Archive Collective building. Plans for the New Life Library are moving forward under the direction of Anne Barker and her team, who continue to work on an inventory of the collection. Updates Archiving from Home In July, MAC launched a new section of the website called Archiving from Home (AFH), an idea presented by Renee Bussanich years ago, to help people take care of their own Baba-related materials at home—old letters, photos, hair in a locket, manuscripts, slides, etc. Why not offer pointers on how to protect these items most effectively? Think about sorting your collection—write a history of how they came to be, label and store them in boxes. Our next section will offer guidelines for scanning documents and photos. Archiving from Home Sustaining Donor Campaign Thank you to the 27 members of the Baba Community who have so far committed to a monthly donation of $25 or more. We’re almost halfway through our campaign goal of at least 200 Sustaining Donors; we very much need your support and help to reach our goal. Please consider taking the opportunity to become a Sustaining Donor between now and November 1st 2020. Your participation will make a real difference in furthering MAC's vision of creating an environment for the preservation of Meher Baba's precious artifacts. Help us to keep the energy moving forward by making your pledge today - Sustaining Donor Building Remodel Progress continues on MAC’s new home inside the new MAC facility. Central to MAC's grand vision is establishing the capacity to ensure the safe preservation of sacred items associated with The Beloved. Also central to this is the building of Archival Storage spaces which are fireproof, waterproof and secure. Many loving hands and hearts have been laboring for months to bring this to fruition. After extensive demolition, building new walls and pillars, the pouring of new floors and ceilings, and bricking in of windows; we are close to completion of the major components for the two rooms designated for this purpose. It is with great excitement that we see these spaces evolving into the home of our sacred treasures, and part of Baba's divine legacy for all creation. Please contact MAC at [email protected] Meher New Life Center, 53 Red Oak School Road, Weaverville, NC 28787 MAC's Mission Statement: To collect, preserve, and share Meher Baba’s Divine legacy of materials, artifacts, and words with integrity, love and transparency for the benefit of humanity.  |
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