03/15/2020
Sunday, March 15, 2020
To our Railroad Museum of Long Island Family,
The COVID-19 Coronavirus is among us. I understand the anxiety this health risk causes for us all. Not only do we fear the effects of the illness, but we are troubled by the day to day disturbances it is causing in our lives and routines. We worry about our family members and our friends.
I wish every one of our members, volunteers and visitors Good Health and Peace during this time of stress and uncertainty.
As President of the Railroad Museum of Long Island I am keeping a close watch on developing COVID-19 trends on the East End of Long Island and throughout our region. The Trustees of the Railroad Museum met last Tuesday evening, March 10th and discussed the current health situation and its relation to the Museum.
• We support the efforts of local government and our municipal subdivisions in their actions to contain the virus and slow its spread – toward that goal our 2020 RMLI Educational Forum at the Riverhead Public Library on Saturday, March 21 has been canceled.
• Currently, all Museum properties are closed to the public. Upon opening, we will be disinfecting exposed surfaces of the LIRR 1964 - 1965 NY World’s Fair park train, between each ride, with a solution of 1 in 10 - bleach and water.
• Inside the Ron Freeman North Exhibit Hall – home of the “Historic Lionel Layout” – our docents will be using a solution of 1 in 10 – bleach and water to frequently wipe down the 81 action push buttons and handrail surrounding the layout. They will also be disinfecting panic bars and door handles on entries and exits and the counter tops of display cases.
• Inside the RMLI Visitors Center at Riverhead and inside the Museum at Greenport, our docents and gift shop associates will frequently disinfect counter tops, panic bars and door handles on entries, exits and bathrooms with a solution of 1 in 10 – bleach and water. Additional care will be directed at sanitizing our restrooms, toilets, washstands, baby changing tables, floors and walls.
• For the duration of this medical emergency, at Riverhead and Greenport, the public “Thomas the Tank Engine” play tables and wooden toy trains have been put into storage and will not be available for playtime. These public toys and play stations are very difficult to disinfect. Many children and adults handle these objects each day – passing them back and forth, dropping and picking them up off the floor, even putting them in their mouths - as children will do. We know these public toys are a favorite attraction for many of our visiting families, we apologize for the disappointment this may cause for the little ones.
The Museum remains hopeful to open Riverhead RMLI to the public at 10:00 AM on Saturday, April 4, 2020. We will continue to evaluate the latest health conditions in our area of operation, (the North Fork of Long Island, New York), and we will closely follow the recommendations of our State, County and Local Officials. To that end, the Museum may postpone opening for its 30th Anniversary Season. If a decision to delay opening for our 2020 Season is made, we will notify you through our website: www.rmli.org our Facebook and Instagram sites and by e-mail.
Special NOTICE to our active members and volunteers:
The Museum properties remain open to our active members and volunteers working on projects leading up to our 30th Anniversary Season. Work sessions continue on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Wednesday evenings – nothing has been canceled at this time.
That being stated – as your President – I wish to advise and give active members and volunteers direction on how to perform at the Museum during this medical emergency.
• If you have any question at all in your mind, stay at home. If you have any sense of feeling ill – particularly a sore throat or difficulty taking a deep breath, stay at home. If you have other, chronic medical conditions that make you susceptible to “what’s going around,” stay at home.
• If you know you have been in contact with others who you know are sick or have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, stay at home.
If you are well and are coming to the work sessions at Riverhead or Greenport, welcome! I do think it is important to maintain some of our joyful routines in life – wherever possible and safe. Let’s do the following as we work:
• Wash your hands. When you arrive at the Museum, after working on your project(s), before lunch or break-time, before you leave to go home, WASH YOUR HANDS!
• Do not shake hands. It’s OK to greet each other with a bump of the elbows or a tap of the shoes. Handshakes and fist bumps can pass germs between friends. (Oh, did I say wash your hands? :-)
• Try to keep a respectful distance between each other and your work stations. This can be hard if we are lifting, moving and positioning big stuff around the property. Easier if we are working on individual projects. Keep it in mind, an arms-length distance is very socially acceptable during these times.
• If you cough or sneeze, please cover your mouth and nose. (If you are coughing or sneezing allot – please stay at home.) Handkerchiefs, paper towels, tissues and the inside of your elbow are all acceptable forms of limiting the spray of bodily fluid when you cough or sneeze. Try to avoid using your hand for this – if you do use your hand to cover a cough or sneeze, please wash your hands :-)
As active members and volunteers of the Railroad Museum of Long Island we are well known to each other. We respect each other and we have shown great interest and compassion when one or another of our family becomes ill or is fighting a medical condition. I know we will use common sense in protecting ourselves, each other and our visitors.
Please keep these simple directions in mind as we work toward the goals of our Museum. If you have any questions or wish to inform me of any concerns, please e-mail me at [email protected]
If we decide to close the Museum property to members and volunteers I will inform you via e-mail and or telephone call.
Thank you all,
Don Fisher, President
Railroad Museum of Long Island
