Sheaffer Pen Museum closes doors due to lack of funding

Posted

BY PCC STAFF

FORT MADISON - The Sheaffer Pen Museum located at 627 Avenue G has announced it will be closing it's doors due to lack of funding, effective immediately.

A release from the museum's board of directors this afternoon outlined the reasons for the closure.

"After seven years of showcasing the rich history and powerful impact of the W.A. Sheaffer Pen Company locally, nationally and internationally, it is with a deep sense of sadness that we are closing the doors of the Sheaffer Pen Museum (SPM), effective immediately.

The primary reason for our closing is the lack of enough ongoing financial support. Without that support, the Museum, as a nonprofit organization, cannot afford to care for the archives and continue the exciting programs to display them as it has in the past. Several options to maintain the SPM were explored, but without success.

Over the past seven years we have enjoyed an international gathering with attendees from more than seventeen countries, several employee picnics, a 100 Year Sheaffer Centennial Celebration (1913 -2013), and sponsored a variety of Special Exhibits and Reminisce Nights. We welcomed visitors from the local area as well as from nearly all the United States and many parts of the world. We fielded questions from Sheaffer pen owners and aficionados, and posted historical information on the web. Our volunteers have been friendly, knowledgeable and dedicated. We are especially grateful to them.

Thank you to our generous benefactors and supporters these past seven years. Your Adopt-a-Case participation, monetary donations, Sheaffer-related contributions and oral histories have made our journey together worthwhile.

We are leaving with a heavy heart at this time, but with great pride to have been a part of the Fort Madison community and the purveyors of the legacy of the W. A. Sheaffer Pen Company in Fort Madison."

breaking news, closing, finances, fort madison, Pen City Current, Sheaffer Pen Museum

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here