In response to Ms. Merrifield’s opinion, “The Real Status of the Globe Restoration Project,” printed in the September 3, 2015 Seal Beach Sun she states that I stated, “Work stalled in mid-April when the continents slid off the frame…” The actual quote appeared below the photographs in the May 14, 2015 edition of the Golden Rain News in the article, “Continental Shift,” by Randy Ankeny:
“Work stalled in mid-April when continents slid off the frame, and the globe remains shrouded in white while the GRF seeks information on how to proceed.”
My statement that “any attempt to replace the continents makes it a very expensive copy of the original” is an opinion. I personally regard “replacement” of something to be a “copy.”
This concept will remind all of us of the story that when the goldfish died, our mother dutifully flushed it down the toilet and went to the pet shop to buy a new one, hoping that we children would not be able to tell the difference. This worked much of the time, but not always. In the case of the continents, we have already been told that they have “died” and they are being “replaced.” Is this the same as being the gullible children who accepted the new goldfish as the original? Not possible, we have already been told that the “goldfish has died.”
It is correct that the Physical Property Committee had considered conducting a poll of all of the shareholders at its July 1, 2015 at a cost of $23,893.60 according to a memo dated July 4, 2015 attached to the agenda for their August 5th meeting.
It should also be noted that the agenda shows the July meeting held on July 1, while the memo shows that it had been proposed at the meeting on July 2.
Since the Physical Property Committee holds its regular meetings on the first Wednesday of the month, I would assume that the meeting was held on July 1st and that the reference to a meeting on July 2 was a typographical error.
As I had surgery on June 30th, I was in the hospital and then recovering which prevented me from attending these meetings in person. I have always understood, however, that the agenda, minutes and articles placed in the Golden Rain News provide this information for shareholders who are unable to attend.
As a “globophile,” I have a strong attachment to the globe over many years, first as an officer at what is now the Joint Forces Training Base, then as a stay-at-home mom and now as a resident of Leisure World. I was fully committed to restoring the globe and worked with Ms. Merrifield to this end. It was in an e-mail from her to me that she stated:
“According to GRF records, the Globe was scheduled to be stripped and painted in 1982, when it was only 30 years old. Unfortunately, the Globe was not stripped, it was just painted. If the Globe had been stripped in 1982, it would have revealed corrosion of the continents. At that point in time, the corrosion probably could have been repaired.”
Perhaps, if the globe had been properly maintained, it would have been restorable at a reasonable cost and we could have saved ourselves from a great deal of debate, time, and money.
Margie Meigs is a Golden Rain Foundation shareholder who lives in Mutual 2, Leisure World Seal Beach.
