Hi all,
For those of you who don't already know about the events at the Natural History Center in Bar Harbor, I am forwarding this letter that they posted to their Facebook page. Jeannette and I know all too well what Rich and Natalie are going through right now. So, if you're heading to Bar Harbor or have friends nearby, please consider taking a tour, arranging for a purchase or otherwise helping to pitch in.
Thanks,
Derek and Jeannette
------
What happened to The Natural History Center?
Through an unfortunate circumstance, the sprinkler system in the night club above The Natural History Center burst some time after midnight during the night of Saturday-Sunday July 6-7, 2013. The resultant cascade flooded through their floors into our store, causing extensive damage to both merchandise and the ceiling and walls of our downtown Bar Harbor store. We lost one-third of our merchandise, including high-end spotting scopes, binoculars, field guides, nature toys and games, and much more, as well as our computer and cash register systems, some furniture, and, as of this writing, an entire week of sales and walk-in tour customers.
Of course, this occurred during the busiest time of the year. The Natural History Center is in serious jeopardy of closing its doors for good as a result of an event that was beyond our control. We are trying hard to keep our spirits up and trusting that the insurance companies will help us weather the storm. We very much want to salvage our business and re-open our doors ASAP…and keep them open for good. Until then, we are focusing all our energy on getting the word out that we are absolutely open for tours! (We have merchandise available by appointment, too!) See our online calendar for tour options this week! http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.TheNaturalHistoryCenter.com&h=VAQFK6h8d&s=1
Repairs are well under way, thanks to the speedy response of the building owner, Michael Boland, who called in Trenton-based Eastern Mold Remediation (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.EasternMoldRemediation.com&h=XAQGCcBZI&s=1). Andrew and Brendan were the consummate professionals as they tore out wet walls and ceiling panels, installed powerful blowers and dehumidifiers to dry things out, and used preventative measures to inhibit the development of mold and mildew. Their professionalism extended to curious passersby who intended to shop in the store but instead had to be turned away. (They also helped smooth some of The Natural History Center owners Rich's and Natalie's concerns.)
At the time, Rich and Natalie, were booked for a week of tours and programming with Family Nature Summit (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.FamilyNatureSummits.org&h=dAQF4nGlt&s=1), a week-long family nature camp gathering hundreds of people annually at national parks (this year it was Acadia National Park). Family Nature Summit graciously and quickly mustered 33 volunteers and four vans to help empty the remaining undamaged merchandise and move it into the basement of our Town Hill home.
Carpenters (local Bill Sanborn and his crew) are now busy repairing and replacing the damaged portions of the ceilings and walls. We hope to re-open in the next week or two, but with doors closed until repairs are complete, we have, of course, lost all walk-in traffic. This means no one is buying any merchandise—field guides, binoculars, nature toys and gifts, or anything else, for that matter. We have also lost the majority of our tour business which heavily relies on walk-in traffic. Apart from tours that were, fortunately, pre-booked (some this week through College of the Atlantic's wonderful Family Nature Camp, several more through the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators), most of our tour business has come to a grinding halt, along with our retail sales.
How can you help?
We are very much open for tours! We need help getting the word out to potential customers. And we need to let them know our retail store will re-open ASAP! Send your customers to our website http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.TheNaturalHistoryCenter.com&h=HAQGs4yT9&s=1 to view the latest schedule of upcoming tours. We also create custom tours to meet people's specific interests. We offer a variety of trips: beginner and advanced bird tours, nature tours or combined cultural history and nature tours of Acadia National Park, tide-pooling excursions, private sea kayaking for one or two people, and more. We cater to families, couples, advanced birders, beginner nature lovers, kids with lots of energy, seniors with mobility limitations, and everyone in between.
Here are some ideas for how you can help:
• Tell your customers about the great nature tours we offer and send them our way!
• Share our phone number and website far and wide: (207) 801-2617, http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.TheNaturalHistoryCenter.com&h=OAQFjBwSw&s=1.
• Hang a flyer about our business being open for tours, despite the flood (we can provide digital or print versions of such a flyer).
• Link to our website from yours (for example, if you own an inn, highlight our business as a "great thing to do" for your visiting customers).
• Blog about our business and link to our website (post this letter in your blog).
• Share this letter with fellow businesses in the region via whatever social networking you use (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Youtube, Instagram etc).
• Like us on Facebook and post about our business on your Facebook pages (with links to our website).
• Encourage people to write reviews about us on Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Google.
We are also looking for places to set up temporary stores to sell merchandise. Our stock isn't doing anyone any good sitting in plastic bins in our basement. Do you have a corner where The Natural History Center could set up a temporary pop-up store? An event? A sidewalk?
As soon as the paint is dry, we'll be moving un-damaged merchandise back into our 6 Firefly Lane store. If we can salvage enough tour business between now and then, we will re-order merchandise to re-stock our shelves so they are even better than before! And we'll keep running tours. We want to make this business work in the long run and get back on our feet ASAP.
Who are the people behind The Natural History Center?
The Natural History Center is a small, independent, family-owned business. Rich MacDonald runs the show, and his wife Natalie Springuel (who has a full time job with the University of Maine Sea Grant program based out of College of the Atlantic) helps wherever she can. Even six-year-old Anouk helps with stocking shelves and making the place feel homey for our customers and their families. We have two staff, Carol Muth who has been with us since we opened our doors in 2010 and is a true treasure; Emily Ciciotte, a graduate of Ellsworth High School who lives in Bar Harbor, just finished her first year at Harvard, where life is not cheap. Carol and Emily are both out of work as a result of the flood but both are hanging tight until the doors re-open, offering whatever support they can (thank you Carol and Emily!). We entered into this business committed to helping boost the year-round Bar Harbor economy and strive to stay open most of the year, but we rely on the summer traffic to make that work.
As for the owners of the business, Natalie, Rich, and Anouk are long time Bar Harbor residents (Natalie has been here since the late 1980's, Rich since 2002, and Anouk was born here). All are active community members, known around town and throughout the island as good, caring people. We love where we live and work hard to be active members of our town. We volunteer for Bar Harbor town committees (Rich serves on the Conservation Commission, Natalie on the Marine Resources Committee). Anouk goes to Conners Emerson Elementary School and in the summer she attends Camp Beach Cliff (thanks to the help of a CBC scholarship). Rich is known for his long-time volunteer efforts as the vice-president of the Downeast Chapter of Maine Audubon. Natalie is known as a local facilitator, having helped the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce, COA's Allied Whale, and many other organization through planning efforts.
We are very worried about the potential that this flood will completely sink us. We were just beginning our fourth year. Conventional wisdom says it takes three to five years to make a business work in Bar Harbor. Indeed, we were just barely beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, hopeful that 2013 was going to be the year when the business would make enough to actually give Rich a regular paycheck. This setback is a big deal. Our goal is to re-open our doors, despite this significant set back, and keep offering great nature experiences and nature products to locals and visitors for years to come.
Thanks for reading and for your help and good thoughts. We'll keep posting updates on our website (http://www.thenaturalhistorycenter.com/) and Facebook page (www.facebook.com/TheNaturalHistoryCenter).
Rich, Natalie, and Anouk
Derek and Jeannette
------
What happened to The Natural History Center?
Through an unfortunate circumstance, the sprinkler system in the night club above The Natural History Center burst some time after midnight during the night of Saturday-Sunday July 6-7, 2013. The resultant cascade flooded through their floors into our store, causing extensive damage to both merchandise and the ceiling and walls of our downtown Bar Harbor store. We lost one-third of our merchandise, including high-end spotting scopes, binoculars, field guides, nature toys and games, and much more, as well as our computer and cash register systems, some furniture, and, as of this writing, an entire week of sales and walk-in tour customers.
Of course, this occurred during the busiest time of the year. The Natural History Center is in serious jeopardy of closing its doors for good as a result of an event that was beyond our control. We are trying hard to keep our spirits up and trusting that the insurance companies will help us weather the storm. We very much want to salvage our business and re-open our doors ASAP…and keep them open for good. Until then, we are focusing all our energy on getting the word out that we are absolutely open for tours! (We have merchandise available by appointment, too!) See our online calendar for tour options this week! http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.TheNaturalHistoryCenter.com&h=VAQFK6h8d&s=1
Repairs are well under way, thanks to the speedy response of the building owner, Michael Boland, who called in Trenton-based Eastern Mold Remediation (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.EasternMoldRemediation.com&h=XAQGCcBZI&s=1). Andrew and Brendan were the consummate professionals as they tore out wet walls and ceiling panels, installed powerful blowers and dehumidifiers to dry things out, and used preventative measures to inhibit the development of mold and mildew. Their professionalism extended to curious passersby who intended to shop in the store but instead had to be turned away. (They also helped smooth some of The Natural History Center owners Rich's and Natalie's concerns.)
At the time, Rich and Natalie, were booked for a week of tours and programming with Family Nature Summit (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.FamilyNatureSummits.org&h=dAQF4nGlt&s=1), a week-long family nature camp gathering hundreds of people annually at national parks (this year it was Acadia National Park). Family Nature Summit graciously and quickly mustered 33 volunteers and four vans to help empty the remaining undamaged merchandise and move it into the basement of our Town Hill home.
Carpenters (local Bill Sanborn and his crew) are now busy repairing and replacing the damaged portions of the ceilings and walls. We hope to re-open in the next week or two, but with doors closed until repairs are complete, we have, of course, lost all walk-in traffic. This means no one is buying any merchandise—field guides, binoculars, nature toys and gifts, or anything else, for that matter. We have also lost the majority of our tour business which heavily relies on walk-in traffic. Apart from tours that were, fortunately, pre-booked (some this week through College of the Atlantic's wonderful Family Nature Camp, several more through the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators), most of our tour business has come to a grinding halt, along with our retail sales.
How can you help?
We are very much open for tours! We need help getting the word out to potential customers. And we need to let them know our retail store will re-open ASAP! Send your customers to our website http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.TheNaturalHistoryCenter.com&h=HAQGs4yT9&s=1 to view the latest schedule of upcoming tours. We also create custom tours to meet people's specific interests. We offer a variety of trips: beginner and advanced bird tours, nature tours or combined cultural history and nature tours of Acadia National Park, tide-pooling excursions, private sea kayaking for one or two people, and more. We cater to families, couples, advanced birders, beginner nature lovers, kids with lots of energy, seniors with mobility limitations, and everyone in between.
Here are some ideas for how you can help:
• Tell your customers about the great nature tours we offer and send them our way!
• Share our phone number and website far and wide: (207) 801-2617, http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.TheNaturalHistoryCenter.com&h=OAQFjBwSw&s=1.
• Hang a flyer about our business being open for tours, despite the flood (we can provide digital or print versions of such a flyer).
• Link to our website from yours (for example, if you own an inn, highlight our business as a "great thing to do" for your visiting customers).
• Blog about our business and link to our website (post this letter in your blog).
• Share this letter with fellow businesses in the region via whatever social networking you use (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Youtube, Instagram etc).
• Like us on Facebook and post about our business on your Facebook pages (with links to our website).
• Encourage people to write reviews about us on Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Google.
We are also looking for places to set up temporary stores to sell merchandise. Our stock isn't doing anyone any good sitting in plastic bins in our basement. Do you have a corner where The Natural History Center could set up a temporary pop-up store? An event? A sidewalk?
As soon as the paint is dry, we'll be moving un-damaged merchandise back into our 6 Firefly Lane store. If we can salvage enough tour business between now and then, we will re-order merchandise to re-stock our shelves so they are even better than before! And we'll keep running tours. We want to make this business work in the long run and get back on our feet ASAP.
Who are the people behind The Natural History Center?
The Natural History Center is a small, independent, family-owned business. Rich MacDonald runs the show, and his wife Natalie Springuel (who has a full time job with the University of Maine Sea Grant program based out of College of the Atlantic) helps wherever she can. Even six-year-old Anouk helps with stocking shelves and making the place feel homey for our customers and their families. We have two staff, Carol Muth who has been with us since we opened our doors in 2010 and is a true treasure; Emily Ciciotte, a graduate of Ellsworth High School who lives in Bar Harbor, just finished her first year at Harvard, where life is not cheap. Carol and Emily are both out of work as a result of the flood but both are hanging tight until the doors re-open, offering whatever support they can (thank you Carol and Emily!). We entered into this business committed to helping boost the year-round Bar Harbor economy and strive to stay open most of the year, but we rely on the summer traffic to make that work.
As for the owners of the business, Natalie, Rich, and Anouk are long time Bar Harbor residents (Natalie has been here since the late 1980's, Rich since 2002, and Anouk was born here). All are active community members, known around town and throughout the island as good, caring people. We love where we live and work hard to be active members of our town. We volunteer for Bar Harbor town committees (Rich serves on the Conservation Commission, Natalie on the Marine Resources Committee). Anouk goes to Conners Emerson Elementary School and in the summer she attends Camp Beach Cliff (thanks to the help of a CBC scholarship). Rich is known for his long-time volunteer efforts as the vice-president of the Downeast Chapter of Maine Audubon. Natalie is known as a local facilitator, having helped the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce, COA's Allied Whale, and many other organization through planning efforts.
We are very worried about the potential that this flood will completely sink us. We were just beginning our fourth year. Conventional wisdom says it takes three to five years to make a business work in Bar Harbor. Indeed, we were just barely beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, hopeful that 2013 was going to be the year when the business would make enough to actually give Rich a regular paycheck. This setback is a big deal. Our goal is to re-open our doors, despite this significant set back, and keep offering great nature experiences and nature products to locals and visitors for years to come.
Thanks for reading and for your help and good thoughts. We'll keep posting updates on our website (http://www.thenaturalhistorycenter.com/) and Facebook page (www.facebook.com/TheNaturalHistoryCenter).
Rich, Natalie, and Anouk
------------------
Jeannette and Derek Lovitch
Freeport Wild Bird Supply
541 Route One, Suite 10
Freeport, ME 04032
Ph: (207)865-6000/Fax: (207)865-6069
www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com
Visit our E-store http://store.freeportwildbirdsupply.com/
Jeannette and Derek Lovitch
Freeport Wild Bird Supply
541 Route One, Suite 10
Freeport, ME 04032
Ph: (207)865-6000/Fax: (207)865-6069
www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com
Visit our E-store http://store.freeportwildbirdsupply.com/
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