"It's a centuries old-New England tradition: a private museum owned by a private corporation. But with Camperdene's finances stretched thin, the tradition is in jeopardy. When Camperdene Mayor Barton Driscoll unveiled a budget proposal last month that eliminated all public funding to the Museum of the Year 1912, some residents began a crash course in how the institution is run. During the intervening weeks, a philosophical difference has come to light between members of the Museum Association -- the group charged in the institution's bylaws with maintaining the museum -- and the public. Members of the Association say they run the museum like a business and maintain a hands-off policy when it comes to local politics. But members of a support group who joined an effort to save the museum say the association should take a public stand and fight for the institution. The trustee's attitude of caution has been taken by museum supporters as indifference, and sometimes as secrecy. Nonsense, the association's president counters. At the same time, the town's own Finance committee has worked to determine if the museum could survive on its endowment -- a process the panel's chair calls frustrating.

"Like several other museums, Camperdene's is partially funded by the town but, according to its bylaws, its destiny lies in the hands of the private corporation, The Museum of the Year 1912 Association. Though it is a public resource, the museum's roots are in the private sector. Exercising a power that is comparable to that available to the board of a business corporation, the Association board governs the independent, not-for-profit museum with an iron fist. The executive committee of the Association oversees the funding and maintenance of the building and grounds and hires and fires employees, according to the museum's bylaws, first drafted in 1913. Within budgetary constraints, they can open or close facilities, expand or contract the staff, increase or decrease the budgetary allocation available for expanding the collections. Financial resources available to the msueum remain within the museum. They are not vulnerable to reallocation to other city or county departments. Conversely, nowhere is it written that the town has any obligation to foot any portion of the bill. However, Town meetings have voted through the years to give money to the museum to make it free and open to the public, says museum curator Neil Wright.

"Camperdene's Mayor Driscoll's rationale for ending town funding is that The Museum of the Year 1912 has a private endowment that could easily keep the museum open without any outside help. But with no funding from the town, the museum would have to resort to volunteer staffing, and would probably have to cut its hours of operation. Without a paid, professional full-time curator, the town would also lose state funds for the museum.

"The Finance Committee this month proposed including some funding for the museum in the budget. That recommendation came after a large public outcry to save the museum, and after updated budget information, which adds state aid revenues to Camperdene's fiscal picture. Neither the finance panel's budget, which includes some $90,000 in funding for the museum, nor the Mayor's budget, which offers no tax dollars to the museum, meets the budget request of the institution. Even if the Finance Committee's alternative budget passes, Museum Association President Wallace Barrow says the Trust would be hard pressed to make up the gap. Barrow says trustees are disinclined to comment on what the museum's fate will be. 'How well the museum is run depends on how the trustees see themselves,' said Nicholas Wentworth, a bookbinder on Banyan Street, a museum supporter. 'Do they see themselves as stewards of of a public trust? Would they do everything in their power to see that the museum is a great place?' Barrow insists the answer to that is yes, but that it is not the Association's place to take political stands. 'We're not a town entity. We have plans.' Despite charges that he appears ready to accept having a volunteer staff at the museum, Barrow said, 'It's a very poor thing for our employees not to be funded.'

"For as long as the Association fills its mandate of providing the building and keeping it open, the trust may receive funds from the town to defray expenses of running the library, the bylaw says. 'The museum should be a partnership between the town and the museum's trustees,' said Finance Committee Chairwoman Martha Stronski. But getting the financial statements they needed to make an informed decision about how to allocate the limited funds at their disposal was no easy task, said Stronski.'The trustees ignored our public hearing, they ignored our requests for their financial picture. Yet they'd be devastated if we took away all of their funding,' Stronski criticized. Stronski noted that other private corporations that the Finance Committee funds, such as the public library, the survival center, and the community center voluntarily submit their budgets to the panel.

" 'The idea that the Museum Corporation is sitting on a pile of private funds is misguided, Barrow said. But, the value of stocks and bonds held by the Trust added up to some $380,000, according to a recent financial report. Barrow said, 'We'd be derelict in doing anything with our principal.' The trustees only spend interest accrued on the endowment funds. Wentworth said that even after the finacial problems are settled for this year's museum funding, there is more work to do. 'We may look, top to bottom, into how the Museum Association is organized and look for ways to get more town involvement in running the museum,' he said. There was talk that 'the Association might have political or ego motives to try to undermine the museum,' Wentworth said, adding, 'We'd like not to believe those rumors.'

"Some have speculated that the Association's vice-president, Captain Richard Cunningham, himself is interested in running the museum. He said that is not true; while he enjoys conducting historical research there, he doesn't want to take on the time commitment of overseeing day-to-day museum operations. Museum curator Neil Wright, though literally an insider, is a man caught in the middle. He claims not to know all the institution's financial facts. At meetings during the past month, in which town department heads discussed Camperdene's budget, Wright had little information on library finances. Wright, whose salary is paid by the town -- but who work for the private Museum Association, says he is not privy to the fiscal accounts of the institution he oversees.

"Museum expert Martin T. Gleason, author of the book 'Politics and the Small Museum: A Management Guide,' noted, 'the many town and city museums scattered through the country all have a variety of governance structures. Some fall under the jurisdiction of city or county government and have no board of trustees at all, only an advisory board. Other museums are departments of city or county government and have a policy-making board as well. Another kind of museum governance sees the museum operating as an independent, not-for-profit corporation, with or without independent taxing authority. Finally, there are those village, town, or city museums falling under the jurisdiction of state government. In every case, the problem is that all of these museums ultimately depend on benefactors from the business world, where even the best-intentioned people sometimes have difficulty separating philanthropic and fiduciary activities from personal business interests, intervening in the running of the museums in often highly improper ways. The conflict of interest inherent in the situation often degenerates into abuse,' Gleason said. 'Normally, the board makes policy and the curator hired by the trustees manages the institution, carrying out the policies established by the board. When confusion about these roles arises between boards and curators, the affected institution and its staff and the community are cast into a kind of hell. Obviously, a museum should be the most inviting, interesting, elevating place in any village or city, attracting visitors and then holding their attention. But what sometimes happens instead is that museum trustees, clothing themselves in cloaks of privacy, degenerate into a self-perpetuating group of deluded individuals meeting in private, plotting ways to keep people out. Trustee accountability sinks to null. Trustees cease keeping public records, fail to reveal accounts of their doings, deny the press access to information concerning their activities'."

"Just so, museum curator Neil Wright claims he has 'long since' ceased to be included in the decision-making process. 'I nudge them, I persuade them, I talk to them, but the situation has sunk low.' Wright's every move must first be filtered first through his trustees. 'I have no idea what either their aims or their resources are,' Wright said. 'It's like trying to get Doctor Frankenstein's monster to sing.' The uncertain situation has provided at least one bright spot for the curator: the public outcry against eliminating funding for the museum has created a fertile ground for conversation, where condemnation of the cloak-and-dagger board gives way to flowering praise of Wright, reassuring him he's been doing very well what work has been allowed him.

"Letters have flowed daily to Selectmen and the Finance Chairwoman pleading to keep the museum open and functioning at least at its current level. Dozens of people have come together to form a support group to make strategy to keep the museum afloat. More -- almost 750 people -- have signed petitions in support of the museum. 'What they're finding out now is that the people do care,' Wright said. 'If it weren't for the public outcry, nothing would have happened,' he said. 'It was like a test'."

Neil was reading this news on a fine, sunny Saturday morning while enjoying a pancake breakfast at the counter of the Golden Spoon when Wheel Barrow suddenly appeared, taking a seat on the stool next to him. He was obviously distraught. He leaned in close, whispering, pointing out the "stupidity" of members of the Friends of the Museum Association Support Group, people who would "interfere" with Museum Association matters. "They may or may not be happy with the Association," Barrow said, "but if there are problems, then they're problems of the Association, and the Association has to deal with them, not these people. They're internal matters, none of their business. You're making me angry," Barrow warned, lowering his voice. "You watch out about your loyalty -- or else. Believe me, you don't want to say too much to your Friends in the Support Group," he warned.

"Everything you ever told me that was confidential, just between you and me, I've kept confidential, between you and me -- and my diary."

Barrow stood to go. Scowling at Neil, he said firmly, deliberately, "I don't trust anybody who writes anything down," then he turned and went out.

The Artifacts Committee, scheduled to meet that day, didn't show up -- except for Veronica Pillsbury. No one had told Committee member Veronica that the Artifacts Committee wasn't going to be meeting. She crossed the street to the Barrow Funeral home and learned from Wheel that'd he'd instructed the committee not to meet until the new fiscal year, starting in July. He said it was an oversight that Veronica hadn't been notified.

"I told him you were also hurt," Veronica told Neil after. "He told me, 'Neil does not need to know everything'."

On Mother's day, the kids filled the Wright apartment with festive decorations and served their mom breakfast in bed. In the afteroon, they all walked down the railroad tracks around the Town Pond to the Fire Station, where the firemen were holding a fireman's festival. Mayor Driscoll was there, dancing like Zorba the Greek, holding the Ouzo bottle high, grinning wickedly.

The next day, Monday -- Black Monday -- all the museum staff received pink slips.

Neil phoned Wallace Barrow. He was not in. Around 4:00, Neil saw him arriving home. He went over and buttonholed him. The two went into Barrow's dark back office. He was wearing sunglasses. Neil couldn't see his eyes. "It is done," Barrow said, and turned away.

Back at the museum, a visitor sat on the front steps -- a droll, hungover Mayor Driscoll. "You said I should come see the museum personally," he reminded Neil. He told Neil that Town Attorney Robert Carson had ruled that the "intent to remove" employees from the Museum of the Year 1912 had to be issued jointly by the Museum Association and the Mayor. The Mayor promised he would get for Neil a copy of the Town Counsel's letter. "I want you to know," he carefully emphasized, fixing his eyes on Neil's, "I am recommending that it not be you who loses his job. I am for the museum."

The next day, Neil walked over to Town Hall to pick up the promised copy of Town Counsel's ruling on the "intent to remove" museum employees. The Mayor was on the front steps. Wistfully, he said, "It's in there. Tell the Association three postions are to be cut -- all but the Director."

Julia Seymour-Stanton Mary Tuchlein had already begun packing their things. Only Audey Morris, Hayden Brown, and Neil were present at the emergency staff meeting Wheel Barrow had called to order. He read Mayor Driscol's letter aloud:

"This coming fiscal year's adopted Town budget substantially reduces funding to the Museum of the Year 1912. A reduction in personnel will be required. All museum employees to be affected by this budget reduction should be notified by June 11. The last day of the pay period is June 25th. Museum employees to be laid off cannot work beyond this date. The Town Attorney has indicated that the Executive Committee of the Museum Association and the Mayor are the joint appointing authority. It is requested that a joint meeting be scheduled to discuss what steps are to be taken for reduction in staff. Please inform this office regarding convenient dates and times."

Hayden Brown stood and went out. Wallace Barrow's eyes followed him out. He then held up a fresh page of paper. "This is a letter to Mayor Drsicoll from Town Attorney Carson." He read:

"You have requested information as to the correct procedure to be followed when laying off town employees because of budgetary considerations. The procedure that must be followed is outlined in the Camperdene Charter under Chapter 7, Section 7-11. This section provides, in summary, that any appointed employee may be removed from the duties by the appointing authority. The process involves a written notice of intent to remove and a statement of the cause therefore to be delivered in hand to the employee or by registered or certified mail. The employee then has five days to request a hearing. The written notice of intent to remove is issued by the appointing authority of the employee. An additional point must be made with reference to the town employees who work in the Museum of the Year 1912. Because said employees are town employees and since the executive committee of the Museum Association is empowered to hire and dischharge employees, it is my opinion that the notice of intent to remove must be jointly issued by the Mayor and the Executive Committee of the Museum Association."

Barrow said, "There is not money enough to fund more than one position. The half-time custodial position will go. Mr. Wright is aware he will become responsible for light housekeeping." Barrow requested that Neil should meet with his staff directly after he left, to discuss the matters that had come up at this meeting and to report to the Executive Committee in one week. Grinning hugely, Barrow closed the meeting.

Audrey went to the plush chair by the fireplace to sulk. Neil went over and sat down on the couch across from her. After a few minutes thick with her silence, she volunteered, "The Mayor is an idiot." She felt Wallace Barrow was being a perfect gentleman. She told Neil that Barrow had recommended to her, in private, that she should show no kindness toward the Town for what they were doing to her. The two now closed the museum and went out. Audrey was crying.

The next day, the Artifacts Committee met. Reggie Barrow was there. Veronica Pillsbury was not. Reggie informed Neil that he was now a member of this committee. He had been appointed to the post by his father, Wheel, Association President and Chairman of the Executive Committee.

On Monday, Neil marched alone in the Memorial Day Parade. Nick Wentworth, President of The Friends of the Museum, had recommended Neil should go out in comfortable pants, suspenders, a white shirt, and a straw hat, looking like an Amish farmer "out standing in his field."

On Tuesday, the Association's Executive Committee met with Neil at the long table by the air-conditioner. Neil present a proposal for reduced hours in diminished circumstances. A merry Wallace Barrow declared, "It just shows we never needed even one staff person, doesn't it?"

Neil submitted, for the occasion, a "dress code for staff and volunteers" and suggested the Association should purchase an answering machine.

The Captain intently studied his copy of Neil's handout. Then he turned to him and said, "We'll take this under advisement." Neil went and fetched papers that needed their signatures. As the papers were handed around, Neil noticed Carla Spagnoli was frowning disdainfully at Wallace Barrow (eyebrows furrowed, her nose high). "Carla?" Barrow said, "There is something you want to say?"

Carla Spagnoli held up a letter sent to Wallace Barrow from the President of the Friends of the Museum Association, Nicholas Wentworth. Her voice was shrill. She had not received a courtesy copy of Nick Wentworth's letter. Captain Cunningham had received a courtesy copy, she pointed out, but she had not. "How come I didn't get one of these?" Spagnoli cried out. "Who else didgot one? Who determines who gets what and who doesn't?" she demanded to know.

Greeted by puzzled looks and silence, Carla Spagnoli read the letter aloud:

"The Friends of The Museum of the Year 1912 have plans to begin raising money both from private and public contributions -- including town businesses, industries, non-profit and fraternal organizations, and door-to-door canvassing -- for the express purpose of building a brand new Museum of the Year 1912, from the ground up, in the town of Camperdene."

Ably, cunningly, Barrow and Captain Cunningham began loudly bickering, effectively shutting out Spagnoli from the conversation, maneuvering the meeting to a confusing, bitter close. It was all in the newspaper the next day.