MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY! THIS IS GLACIER!

GLACIER TEAM! HELP IS ON THE WAY - HERE IS THE NEWS!

Senator Joe Lieberman is first to respond with a letter to MARAD (click here) requesting an extension for Glacier. We expect more letters next week from members of Congress.

Merrill Lynch's Boston office has volunteered to lead in guiding the financing effort. Initial meetings have been held and a schedule of responsibilities has been set.

God bless the loyal members who have responded to date with calls to their Congressmen.

We also thank those of you who continue to support our Youth Program and our continuing operations with volunteering and cash. We continue to receive new sponsors such as SolidWorks Corporation who donated much needed software this month. We are now seeking trained SolidWorks software operators; please call Gloria Lockett at Glacier’s office - 203-380-3466.

MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY! THIS IS GLACIER!

REQUEST IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE!

I wanted to send a note out to all of you to provide an update of the recent events regarding the Glacier. Many of you have dedicated much time, energy and dollars to our grand vision for the Glacier as a Medical Assistance and Research Ship (MARS), and for that we are grateful. In the final hours leading up to closing, our financing package fell apart. The crew has remained in a state of shock since the transaction collapsed. Four years of work evaporated in hours as the parties to the transaction failed to reach agreement in written documents that were meant to reflect the negotiated terms and draft agreements.

MARAD has to economize its operations and has notified Glacier Society that Glacier is headed to the scrap pile soon unless, by some miracle, we can acquire immediate assistance. Please contact your local Congressman or Senator with the request that they, too, support us by asking MARAD for an extension for the Glacier Society. Senator Joe Lieberman has already sent his request to MARAD and Senator Chris Dodd will be mailing a letter next week.

Captain George B. Newton, Jr., USN (Ret.) and President Bush's former Director of the Arctic Research Commission, has volunteered and is working hard to find fresh financing sources and help find a new port to moor Glacier.

We met last week and discussed alternative options for finding the funding to continue the GLACIER MARS project, and it seems the best approach would be to break it down to a simpler plan that would:

1. Secure the ship!!
2. Begin seeking funding from organizations and foundations.
3. Move the ship from MARAD to a private berth on the west coast, or to Boston.
4. Establish a platform from which to gather interest and support.

The Emergency Survival Plan is to seek refuge in the Boston Harbor (Glacier's original home port). We have held meetings in Boston and several more are scheduled for September and October. The short-term goal is to have Glacier berthed there as a museum until funding is secured.

The Glacier volunteers have restored Glacier to the point where she is secure and can be easily modified for display and would be a great asset for the South Boston community where she was berthed from 1955 to 1966.

Today we received a call from a financing source that is capable of offering a line of credit; hopefully this bulletin will induce others to step forward.

We are seeking the support of community leaders in Boston such as Bud Ris of the New England Aquarium, and the Mayor.

PLEASE HELP US TODAY TO CONTACT ANY INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE; POLITICIANS AND/OR ORGANIZATION(S) THAT CAN HELP SECURE PORT SPONSORSHIP IN BOSTON.

We hope to have fresh, and yes, positive, news shortly after the Labor Day weekend.

Thanks again for your help!

Ben Koether
Chairman, Glacier Society

PLEASE DONATE

RESTORATION LOG #45 - 01 May 2006

Last February we completed removal of all our personal gear from Glacier and loaded it into two 20' containers that await transfer from the ship to a shore facility. Our West Coast Team is seeking a location.

The 26' Motor Whale Boat will be moved this week to Martinez, CA under the command of Bill Jones and Butch Wallace. We need to find a permanent berth or move her ashore in her cradle for land shipment to the next destination. Yes, I know you all want to know WHERE! So do I, but patience, we have labored this long ...no time to give up! We just need some more processing time to work out the kinks in the financing.

Don Epperson and Joe DeFranco are building support for the Arctic Scout Program back in CT. A Planning and Strategy Meeting has been scheduled for this week.

Step by step we are cranking closer and closer to the final financing documentation. While that moves in the background, our doctors and scientists quietly work on their projects; so there is a lot of progress, but unfortunately, not so many pictures. Shuffling papers doesn?t make great photo press!

Thanks for your continued support.

BEN KOETHER
Chairman

Come join the party! IF YOU CAN NOT BE THERE IN PERSON, , PLEASE DONATE.

RESTORATION LOG #44 - 01 February 2006

"DREAM BIG AND DARE TO FAIL" WERE THE WORDS FROM COLONEL NORMAN VAUGHN WHEN WE MET AT THE BYRD POLAR INSTITUTE IN 1999.

Norman passed away this past December after celebrating his 100th Birthday. We'll miss him.

The past year moved so quickly and with such fervor that the monthly log was eschewed because much of what we were doing was finance and planning related rather than shipboard activity. For sure our team continued aboard ship, but the real action was in Washington where we crafted a detailed business plan for the redesign and rebuild of GLACIER. The pace of the meetings was so fast and the twists and turns so frequent that it was impossible to explain what was going on even to those who were intimately engaged in the process. Here is the summary of our travels last year and clarity as to where we are tonight.

• We completed the plan under the guidance of McKinsey & Co. and Alion Science Corporation's JJMA. Our mentor, Dr. Anthony Muller, passed away suddenly last fall and we are just now picking up steam with his replacement Johan Wagner, backed by Dr. Markus Klimmer. Bruce Samuelson has been our Washington anchor, responsible for keeping the dozens of participants' contributions edited and collated into the final document. We have lost 90 to 120 days in our schedule with Anthony's passing, which had called for closing our financing on DEC 31, 2005.

• We have decided to post the summary of our plan, the first 30 pages of over 200, on our web site so those who are interested may download that portion to gain an understanding of what we accomplished, while fully understanding the vision we are trying to execute. Click here to read a summary of the business plan.

• FEB 6 to 10 we will be aboard ship to remove our personal gear and prepare for the ship's transit to the next stage, as indicated in the plan. Monty Markham and his film crew are planning to be with us to record this historic event. Come join us! Get a haircut and a clean uniform!

• We failed to rally financial support for our project from either Congress or Alaska, which was extremely disappointing, even more so when the New York Times began a series of articles this late fall proclaiming the disaster for science and polar support in the breakdown of our Nations icebreaker fleet! www.nytimes.com/pages/science/sciencereport. The National Academy of Science also published a report on the Icebreaker situation www.nap.edu/catalog/11525.html. Each of you could help by writing your Congressional delegation and pointing out this travesty.

• Meanwhile, our Youth Program membership to honor Admiral Byrd's Expedition plows ahead. The Arctic Scout will soon be completed, and the Glacier's motor whale boat is headed to the East Coast to join her. We will soon have both boats running along the Atlantic Coast carrying the Glacier Society Flag, preserving the memory of Admiral Byrd and all who have served at the Poles, North and South, while honoring our thousands of individual and corporate supporters.

• We did succeed in recruiting many new supporters. A fine dental and medical team from Tufts University breathed new fire into our business plan with a vision of continued support. And we drew in a record amount of funds, although not enough to meet our financial obligations. Click here for a listing of all our volunteers who have contributed their time aboard ship, in the office, or at meetings and trade shows, helping us move our program. They are all Heroes! Thank You!

• Click here to see the list of donors who have given cash contributions or provided significant professional pro bono support to the building of our business plan and funding request. Raising the hundreds of millions to operate Glacier is a daunting task. We need to secure another $350,000 dollars to meet our current and pending obligations.

Come join the party! IF YOU CAN NOT BE THERE IN PERSON, , PLEASE DONATE.

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