The newsletter of the B Reactor Museum Association
Table of Contents
Lyle Wilhelmi
President, BRMA
Under the leadership of Jerry Woodcock, our previous president (who now holds the honored office of Past President), we came from "we want B Reactor set aside as a museum" to "now we have it set aside, so what can we do with it?" That is a gigantic step.
DOE-RL now seeks BRMA's comments on historic preservation reports. BRMA has a Memorandum of Understanding with DOE for cooperative development of BRMA's objectives. PNNL has included me on the team to identify historic artifacts during its building walks-through. Now we are notified of each planned B Reactor tour so that we can offer our assistance. We have an office in Bechtel's building. We have turned inertia to momentum, and now must keep things moving.
That is our challenge in 1998. We must continue to reassure DOE-RL that we have the talent and the resources to provide B Reactor tour support. Tours are becoming such an important part of our activities that we need a Tours Director. We must continue our effort to obtain artifacts from DOE for creating dioramas at B Reactor. We must continue with the oral history project, which is the crown jewel in our contributions to the interpretation of Hanford's history, especially that of B Reactor's. Because of the advancing age of those with first-hand knowledge of B Reactor in its early days, this project becomes more urgent with each passing day.
All of these activities require dedicated leaders to keep these projects moving along as quickly as possible. Our membership is full of old-timers who remember what took place and the atmosphere of the time. They have been a great strength in our organization. Now we need to enlarge our active membership. We need to enlist the help of any who will provide assistance. We must if we are to achieve our objectives.
We have many attractive projects. We must prioritize them, recruit project leaders and provide them with the funds to complete the tasks. We must have funds to complete projects. Donors are much more likely to donate money to complete specific projects.
We have started discussing what needs to be done to achieve our new objectives. Gene Weisskopf will discuss plans for making our board meetings more effective in this new role and plans for making general membership meetings more attractive to the general public. Pam Novak is raring to raise funds—as soon as we have clear goals to promote and fund.
The officers on the recently elected BRMA executive board (see the list below) have all stepped forward to help move the BRMA ahead during the coming year. They look forward to your support, your guidance, and your own efforts and assistance. Let's make as much progress in 1998 as we did in 1997.
The BRMA election for this year's slate of officers was held at the December meeting. Lyle Wilhelmi will take over the job of president. Here is the current slate of officers and chairpersons:
President: Lyle Wilhelmi
Vice President: Jim Stoffels
Secretary: Pam Novak
Treasurer: Roger Carpenter
Committee Chairs:
Fund Raising: Pam Novak
Health, Safety, & Engineering: Del Ballard
History, Artifacts, & Exhibits: Madeleine
Brown
Membership: Joe Hedges
Public Relations: Jim Thornton
Editor: Gene Weisskopf
The cries of "We need a new president!" and "It’s time for new blood!" could be heard echoing up and down the halls of the Richland library at the December BRMA meeting.
In spite of Jerry’s shouts, screams, and wailing, the membership decided that he had, indeed, served them long and well, and acknowledged this by electing a president who wasn’t named Jerry Woodcock.
Jerry’s "fall from power" was greeted with a loud round of applause from an appreciative crowd. Before he shuffled off to wherever it is that ex-presidents go, Jerry graced the audience with a look back at his reign as head of the BRMA:
Jerry noted that these are the items on the "plus" side of the equation, but that there are still several topics that need to be addressed:
Jerry went on to say that he was truly impressed with the accomplishments of the BRMA during his terms in office. He thanked the other officers, volunteers, and the supportive membership for all their work. We once again thank Jerry for his extraordinary efforts as President of BRMA, and hope to see him at our meetings when his hectic schedule allows it.
Gene Weisskopf
The Department of Energy (DOE) held a Hanford preservation public meeting on December 2, at the East Benton County Historical Museum in Kennewick, where Vicki Bergum graciously hosted the event.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the need to preserve the historical and cultural resources at Hanford before the site is sold, buried, demolished, or hauled off.
There have been a series of similar meetings and there will be more in the future, as the DOE attempts to define the resources at the Hanford site.
If you have assumed that there is already a clear plan for the final outcome of all aspects of Hanford, you’d better think again. Dee Lloyd of the DOE pointed out that it is an ongoing process, and meetings such as this one are intended to guide the future outcome of the site’s buildings and grounds.
The process of surveying the Hanford site, cataloging its countless features, and then determing their fate is a huge task. We and future generations will all have to live with the ramifications.
Even determining the importance of any one part of Hanford is no simple task. For example, the BRMA’s goal of preserving the B Reactor as a museum is a lofty one, but it’s just one small piece of the puzzle.
There are many other individuals and groups with interests in other historical aspects of Hanford, as well as its archaeological, cultural, geographical, and environmental aspects. Don’t forget the birds, bees, and other wildlife that inhabit the site, and how are people supposed to access all these riches?
There are also plenty of interested parties outside of our region, such as those from other Manhattan Project sites, DOE sites, uranium mines, universities, museums, and so on. Some organizations could find uses for existing structures on the site, and will have their names "in the hat" when the time comes.
As the data are collected, collated, shuffled, reviewed, and reshuffled, the DOE will continue to seek public involvement. One way you can keep in touch with the process is by visiting the Hanford Cultural and Historic Resources Program on the Internet at http://www.hanford.gov. Then click the Cultural Resources link.
You’ll find a variety of material here, including their mission statement, their newsletter, a schedule of upcoming meetings, and several documents-under-construction for your review and comments.
Or, you can contact Dee Lloyd at the DOE in Richland at 509-372-2299.
Sunday, February 8, 1998 at 4:30pm1015 Lee Blvd, Richland, just west of Jadwin |
The Dupus Boomer character and cartoon are © Dick Donnell; all rights reserved.
You don’t see many coal trucks driving through
Richland neighborhoods anymore, but they were a common site in
the days when Richland was "GI."
Living conditions in Richland were a constant source of inspiration for cartoonist and Hanford worker Dick Donnell. His cartoons appeared in the Richland Villager in the latter half of the 1940s.
 |
A Hot OneIf you shovel coal, monkey with a thermostat, clean your basement, haul ashes, bank fires and chop kindling, then you don't live in a prefab. Prefabbers merely flip a switch for heat–but of course they have to pay less rent. [Dick Donnell] |
The Moderator - Winter 1998
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