On September 5, 2001, the CMSGMA board of directors voted to not purchase the piece of property in Pelham currently owned by Harry Adriance. Why? Well, there were a number of factors that had developed in the past few months that made the land purchase clearly impractical.
    1. CMSGMA hired a wetlands expert to come in and survey the property. Through on site checking, studies of topographical maps, and even infrared satellite imagery (used to locate surface water) it was determined that there were only between 12.5 and 15 useable acres of good dry land out of the 80+ acres on the property. Since the show currently uses 20-25 acres, we would actually be losing space, a LOT of space.
    2. In early August, the CMSGMA Institute received its "C3" non-profit educational status designation from the Federal government (we already had approval from the state.) We had pursued this designation as protection from the town’s no-retail zoning laws. However, the town of Pelham’s zoning board was "not impressed" with our non profit status and did not believe that we would have the kind of protection that we would need. It was rapidly becoming clear that we would be continuously hassled by the zoning board and probably brought into court. While we still feel that we have the necessary protection, we would have to defend that in court, and that would take a lot of time and money, two commodities that we don’t have in abundance. In the end, the only people that would have made out would have been the lawyers.
    3. The buildings were starting to prove to be more of a liability than an asset. The chicken coop was going to have to be removed and it was going to be quite expensive to do that. The presence of vast quantities of chicken manure made the building material hazardous waste. This could have made the disposal of the lumber (and manure) a real problem.
    4. A growing concern was the physical location of the property with respect to the Quabbin Reservoir. While the property is legally not with the Quabbin Reservoir watershed area, (it actually traces around Harry’s property; Harry fought long and hard on that one many years ago) it is in the actual watershed area. A quick look at a topographical map or even a drive around the area shows how water that hits the ground on that property and on the surrounding area eventually drains into the Quabbin. The problem is that the political climate in the area towards protection of the watershed area is rapidly changing. The state of Mass. has been buying up property in the area (they just purchased a 45,000 acre lot) that resides in the watershed area. If they ever found out that there was a place that had oily, greasy, drippy, "things" that drip hazardous materials onto the soil that might somehow poison the water, the state would shut us down in a heartbeat. Then we would have land we couldn’t use, and a mortgage we couldn’t pay. Not good.
    So where do we go from here? It is clear that we still want to have a permanent home. But we are not going purchase land that is not suitable. It is a shame that it took this long to come to the conclusion that this land was not suitable, but we are all novices at this. We have learned quite a few lessons along the way.
    We are still actively looking for land and have quite a few prospects. Over the next few months we will be narrowing our search as we further define what kind of land we want and can afford. Shortly, we will be sending letters to those who have contributed to the land-purchase fund. We will be asking you if you will allow us to keep your donation for a while longer or whether you would like it returned. We hope you will strongly consider letting us keep your donations for a while longer.
    We still feel confident that we can find a permanent home, hopefully very soon. We have the momentum to get the difficult search underway, but need your patience (and maybe your help) to give us some time to complete the search. We know that in the long run, that the pain we are going through now will be worth it, to be able to put on the kind of show here in New England that we see only at other shows in other parts of the country.
    If you know of a suitable piece of land, please let us know. We have formed a land search committee and are looking at several options. However, you, the members, are our best eyes and ears. If you do come across something, please contact Dave Songer at 978-544-5295 or Bill Lopoulos at 978-649-7879. We are very interested in your suggestions.

    Thank you once again for your patience.