Happy Holidays, Camp Battleship, Annual Contributions, and Thank You!

Happy Holidays to all of our crew, donors, and supporters!  We have a lot to be thankful in 2014, especially another year at the Battleship IOWA under our belt.  We have been open in Los Angeles about two and a half years at this point and have overcome many challenges.  We will continue to focus on being a positive contribution to our local community, a hub for veterans activities, and a family education museum destination.

LA Waterfront with Battleship IOWA
in the background.

Recently, the Port of Los Angeles committed to spending $50 million on the Ports O' Call infrastructure and began the process to allocate an annual amount towards Waterfront development.  This is a positive step forward as we feel it is necessary to establish a destination at the LA Waterfront to provide the Battleship IOWA a stable foundation to grow on.  We appreciate their positive step forward in establishing a world class destination.

The Broadside team recently sent out the October / November newsletter for our crew.  I only receive a small cross section of activities that occur on the ship daily and after reading the Broadside, I have an enormous appreciation for the entire crew.  The amount of effort and dedication that the crew continues to exhibit is absolutely incredible.  A special thank you to the Broadside team for contributing the numerous hours necessary to publish valuable information.  If you are not currently a crew member, please sign up at http://www.pacificbattleship.com/page/volunteer.

I was blessed to be able to join our crew in the Wardroom this past week for our holiday luncheon.  Our volunteer team assembled a great spread and numerous crew members chipped in to make the event a great success.  A special thank you to Sue Schmidt for always taking the lead on these events.  It is a difficult job and she always takes it on with passion and commitment.  I would also like to thank Chris Nelson for always taking on tasks that need to be accomplished regardless of what department it is in.  I peaked in the galley during the crew event and Chris was busy preparing additional dishes while everyone else was eating.  His commitment as a 7 day per week volunteer is commendable.

A fun letter we received from
a recent 5th grader.

2015 will be another great year at the Battleship IOWA.  We will be focused on museum & tour development, education programs, and rotating to maintenance.  As we speak, our Board of Directors is working on strategies and opportunities to raise the capital necessary for both accessibility, safety, and critical maintenance items.  The management team has began to rotate from the 2014 goals into our next major projects including the USS Iowa Veterans Exhibit, second deck expansion, missile deck interpretation, kids engagement, education programming, and a long-term maintenance plan.

In 2013 & 2014, we had numerous donors including ARUP, Engineering Contractors Association, Laborers Union, and Shultz Steel that helped in installing approximately $500k to $750k in water, sewer, and fire water infrastructure.  We are forever appreciative to these great entities for helping our museum continue progress forward.  Of course, the ship maintenance and infrastructure would not be possible without our great Operations team.  Thank you to them for their hard work.

We have one more major piece of infrastructure to get installed - shore power.  We have been negotiating with the Port of Los Angeles for over a year to come up with a new lease that will cover the power infrastructure.  We are hoping that these negotiations will finalize with a mutual agreement within the next month.  We have a critical AQMD date to achieve of March 31, 2015 and we continue to strive to reach this date.

Camp Battleship is now open!

Our first Camp Battleship evening occurred on December 13th.  The initial feedback we have received is very positive.  The Camp Battleship team gave the kids a great evening that was fun filled and I heard the food was excellent.  The tour guides were excellent in engaging the kids and making it a great time.  Our tour team is the main reason we continue to rate high on review sites!

We have received a lot of interest in the Camp Battleship program for 2015, with dates booking fast.  If you have friends or family interested in the program, please refer them to our website at http://www.pacificbattleship.com.  This program would not be possible without our dedicated donors led by the Crail-Johnson Foundation.  For more information on the program, please go to http://www.pacificbattleship.com/page/campbattleship.

We have continued our focus on fundraising and board development over the recent months.  We have a few new board and trustee members that bring the organization a depth of experience.  We welcome our newest board member Dan Kehl to the organization.  Dan is a recognized leader in the State of Iowa and has been a major contributor to our organization since the award of the ship.  He will assist in the growth and fundraising with the organization.  Our new trustee board members are Bruce MacCrae, Donne Moen, Scott Palmer, and Wayne Ratkovich.  All of these gentlemen are local leaders in their respective fields and are committed to the organization and future development.  We continue to setup meetings with potential board members and donors to extend our network.  2015 will be a strong year in fundraising development.

It is the time of the year when many of us think of our annual contributions.  We encourage you to consider the Pacific Battleship Center as part of your family giving program.  Numerous donors participate in our different programs, but a special thank you to Heyday Fitness and the Whitney Young Children's Foundation for their recent contributions.  Please visit http://www.pacificbattleship.com/page/donate to participate.

As part of our long term fundraising strategy, we have recently implemented Salesforce.  Our IT team has been focused on this implementation for the past 12 months and this is great progress in having a stronger data management system.   We appreciate our crew, donors, and supporters for being patient during our data stabilization period.  It has been a challenge, but we are much closer to having a well refined management system.

"Movies Under the Guns" showing of
the Grinch.

2015 will be a fun year for events including Music Under the Guns, Movies Under the Guns, American Holiday Festivals, and partnerships with regional non-profits to further strengthen our relationship with the community.  Make sure you sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date and follow us on our Facebook for frequent information.

Our sales & marketing team has been expanded with volunteers that are dedicated to supporting us.  This is the first time since we started that I feel we have a focused diverse team that take on our core markets of veterans and families.  I am excited with what we are seeing from this core group of people and we all look forward to a successful New Year.

In closing, our board of directors and management team wish you and your family a Happy Holidays.  This is the season to enjoy time with your family and reflect on the many things we are grateful for.  Please keep our troops, their families, and those struggling in our thoughts and prayers during this season.  Thank you again for being a loyal supporter!

Family fun playing Victory the Dog.  2015 will expand on Victory
with a STEAM introduction field trip program.