ELHS-ELH&TS Merger Agreement Announced

It is with great pleasure that I announce the merger of the Erie Lackawanna Historical & Technical Society (ELHTS) with the Erie Lackawanna Historical Society (ELHS) and welcome all of the ELHTS membership. Former ELHTS members will have the same opportunity to pursue interests as the current ELHS membership. This opportunity arose over this past fall and developed rapidly after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Back in 2005, a group of DL&W, Erie and EL enthusiasts independently formed a group called the Erie Lackawanna Historical & Technical Society embracing the use of the World Wide Web to disseminate information to their membership and began publishing an electronic historical and technical journal. This journal, The Limited, has been available on their web site for the past three years.

In the autumn of 2007, the ELHTS board of directors decided to either merge with another railroad historical society or they would be forced to disband due to the lack of editorial support for their publication. The ELHTS Board spent some time in discussing various options on how and with whom to accomplish a merger in the best interests of their membership following a vote in which the membership authorized the ELHTS Board to seek a merger or to dissolve the society. It was during this time period that we contacted the President of the ELHTS, Richard Recordon, and proposed that they merge with the ELHS.

During a short negotiation period, we were able to agree upon the following terms of a possible merger.

1. The ELHTS will merge with the ELHS, with the latter being the surviving entity.

2. The ELHS will receive the treasury of the ELHTS.

3. The ELHS will receive the intellectual property of the ELHTS which amounts to the contents of the six issues of The Limited and the domain name for the web site which has been funded through 2008.

4. All ELHTS members in good standing (148) shall receive a new or a renewal membership in the ELHS at the basic membership rate for the 2008 cycle.

5. The ELHS will fund the necessary administrative costs to dissolve the ELHTS as a non-profit corporation in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

These terms were presented the ELHS Board of Directors and passed unanimously by its seven members. The ELHTS also voted in favor of the merger in a 7 yea, 0 nays, and 2 abstaining vote of their nine member board.

Per the terms of the merger, the 91 members of the ELHTS, who are currently also members of the ELHS, will shortly receive confirmation of a regular membership in the ELHS for the 2008 membership cycle. The 57 members of the ELHTS not members of the ELHS will shortly receive confirmation as new regular members of the ELHS for the 2008 membership cycle. Current ELHS members in the "Sustaining", "Patron", "Outside US" or "First Class Mailing" categories, or new ELHS members may upgrade the Regular membership to these categories for $25, $55, $15, or $10 respectively. Please Contact Randy Dettmer, ELHS Membership Chairman at this email address or via USPS mail at:

Erie Lackawanna Historical Society
c/o Membership Chair
290 West Prospect Street
Hudson,OH 44236-2240

for further details.

The ELHTS web site domain name has been renewed for 2008 and the six editions of The Limited remain available for download. Plans for the web site and the editions of the Limited are not formed as yet, however, we want to continue the efforts of the ELHTS and increase the use of the internet. It is possible that some of the material may be reprinted in The Diamond or in some other way made available to the total membership of the ELHS.

In accordance with the ELHTS by-laws and the terms of merger, the ELHTS treasury will be donated to the ELHS, less those administrative costs to dissolve the ELHTS as a non-profit corporation in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

On behalf of the ELHS Board, I would like to welcome all the ELHTS members to the ELHS and encourage all to participate. Please feel free to contact me or any of the other board members with your questions, comments, and ideas.
Thank you,

Paul Cappelloni
President, ELHS
pcap.bprr@verizon.net

* Portions of ELHTS President, Richard Recordon's message to the ELHTS membership are contained within this announcement and are used with his permission.