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A True Town Supporter

In 2011, the Shore Line Trolley Museum, a local treasure with 100 trolley cars, was basically put out of action by hurricanes Irene and Sandy. Part of the solution to fix the problem included constructing two new buildings away from the floodplain to store 48 trolley cars. We started a campaign to raise $2 million to build the buildings. Who was there to help? Newly elected State Representative James Albis (D-99). With his hard work, James and others were able to get a bill passed providing $1 million to the museum. The museum raised another $1,250,000, and the buildings stand today full of trolley cars protected from extreme weather conditions.

A few years ago, another trolley museum lost its entire collection to a fire. As you might expect, since I am the retired fire chief, fire protection is always on my mind. The museum decided to start another campaign to bring a water line into the property to protect the collection from fire. Who was there to lead the way? None other than James Albis. James was able to secure new funding, which will provide a water line into the museum for fire protection in the yard and sprinklers to protect the trolley cars stored in the new buildings.

As a resident of East Haven and volunteer member of the museum, I am so proud and thankful for what James has done to help protect a local treasure. James has shown over and over again what a true town supporter he is. Having James in Hartford is a win-win for East Haven.

Wayne Sandford

East Haven