With genuine regret we inform you that the Board of Directors of The Friends of Franklin has determined the organization will cease to exist as of an anticipated date of April 30, 2013. As you may know the financial condition of the organization has always been rather tenuous. With the recent resignation of Kathleen DeLuca as our longtime executive director and after a careful review of current membership and cash flow levels, the board on March 7, 2013 authorized a Closure Committee to effect the termination of The Friends of Franklin, Inc. The intent is to transfer any remaining financial balance, after final obligations have been met, to The Franklin Papers project at Yale University in memory of Claude-Ann Lopez.

This will be the last issue of the Franklin Gazette to be issued by our organization. The Closure Committee will address the existence of the website, consider the termination/transfer of the domain name, consider the possibility of another organization continuing publication of The Gazette, and perform various other tasks. Members of this committee will be board members Lee Knepp (chair), Jackson Boswell, Roy Goodman, E. Cutter Hughes, and Martin Mangold.

The organization's mailing address of PO Box 40048, Philadelphia, PA 19106 will remain operable throughout calendar year 2013, but any mail will be forwarded by the U.S. Postal Service to me, as president, at PO Box 76, McClure, PA 17841. The Closure Committee may be contacted through my email address lknepp@snydercounty.org, or through my cell phone: (570) 765-2358.

Please let me assure you this decision to close was not made lightly. We commend The Papers of Benjamin Franklin project at Yale University; Celebration! Benjamin Franklin, Founder; and other groups as they continue to champion the memory and legacy of Benjamin Franklin, and urge your participation in and support of their noble efforts.

Lee E. Knepp, President