After nearly two and a half years of effort, NELUG is very pleased to announce the completion of the Millyard Project! On Wednesday, November 29, 2006 approximately 100 people attended the official dedication of the LEGO Millyard Project at the SEE Science Center in Manchester, NH.  VIPs in attendance included the two main benefactors of the project, Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway and founder of the SEE Science Center, and Kjeld Kristiansen, owner of The LEGO Company, who flew all the way from Denmark just for the ceremony.  The ceremony, hosted by SEE’s Douglas Heuser, started with short speeches from our two good friends, LEGO Master Designers, Steve Gerling and Erik Varszegi along with our own Joe Comeau.  In addition to speeches from Dean and Kjeld, both the Governor of New Hampshire and the Mayor of Manchester also said a few words. There were about 20 NELUG members present who Kjeld readily greeted upon his arrival.

Everyone in attendance, including many long time TLC employees and Kjeld himself, were truly excited and amazed at the size, complexity and sophistication of the models in the display.

There was an incredible amount of effort put in over the last two and a half years, but nothing as intense as the five days preceding the ceremony. Erik and Steve worked virtually non-stop along with 10 NELUGers who burned more than the midnight oil to help out.  Working 16 hour days, the team completed an amazing amount of building to bring the LEGO Millyard to life.  The Kennard and Old Courthouse were finally brought to the deck and Pine Island Park was assembled which included a Ferris Wheel, roller coaster, carousel, swan boats, roller skating rink, bathhouse and so much more. The magnificent Notre Dame Bridge was also erected and extends right off the main deck right near the amazing cut-a-way of the Jefferson Mill, complete with a vast array of textile equipment. In addition to all of this, hundreds of carts and thousands of mini figs were placed throughout the nearly 2200 square foot display to give it the vibrancy of a bustling city.

Please visit our media gallery to see pictures of this amazing display by clicking on the photo accompanying this story and feel free to visit the SEE Science Center to see the real thing - even after seeing the pictures you will be amazed!

<a href="http://www.nelug.org/images/articles/20060211215207301_1_original.jpg" title="View unscaled image"><img width="113" height="150" align="left" src="http://www.nelug.org/images/articles/20060211215207301_1.jpg" alt=""></a> The Executive Committee is pleased to announce the release of NELUG's first Annual Report. Part traditional annual report, part yearbook, NELUG's 2005 Annual Report contains information on it's membership, the changes that occurred to the club over the year, its financial information, many highlights on the events and projects in 2005 as well as a recap on media spots. We hope you will find this information useful as well as fun not just now, but also in the future.

Moving forward, we very much would like to involve interested members in the creation of the annual report. There will be a post in the forums with this very same announcement in order to silicit comments and feedback - all of which are welcome. While we fell short of our February 1 goal this year, that will be the target moving forward.

Thank you to everyone for making 2005 so good!


The 2005/2006 Executive Committee,
Tom Duggan
Eric Kingsley
Joe Comeau
Dave Eaton
Mike Ripley
Jamie Berard

The Annual report may be downloaded here: <a href="http://www.nelug.org/annualreport/NELUG%20Annual%20Report%202005.pdf">http://www.nelug.org/annualreport/NELUG%20Annual%20Report%202005.pdf</a>; (8 MB)

At BrickFest 2005, Jake and Mark dropped a bombshell that so surprized everyone that the normally vocal crowd sat in stunned amazement...

Welcome!

The New England LEGO Users Group (NELUG) was formed in August of 1999 for the sole purpose of facilitating adults in the sharing of the LEGO hobby. Participation, though not required, is highly encouraged. NELUG does not favor one form of the hobby over any other, affording its membership a diverse range of exposure. NELUG's primary goal is camaraderie that is achieved by providing members the opportunity to meet other adults who share a common fascination of LEGO through correspondence, meetings and events.

For new members

NELUG is a semi-private group and we do charge a minimal annual dues payment for membership. If you are interested in joining, please read our By-laws. If you meet the membership requirements, you may join by signing up for an account on the website. Your dues must be paid within the month that you join. If you would like to talk with someone regarding membership please send a short detailed message and someone will get back to you shortly.

Potential Clients

If you have a potential project for NELUG please submit a short detailed message and one of our Executive Committee members will get back to you promptly. In the past we have done large commissioned works like those done for The New England Home Show or as simple as setting up our club train layout for Rhode Island Cooks. Our ability to fullfill a request depends on your requirements and our skill set, so please get in touch with us as early as possible when planning a project so we can decide if NELUG can meet your needs.

We are happy to announce that RSS is now available to members!

New to Rich Site Summary (RSS)? Want to add NELUG.org to your favorite aggregator? Perhaps you want content actually emailed to you instead?

You can find this information in the FAQ under How do I use the RSS feeds?

A special thanks to Dan Boger for creating the email component for everyone's benefit!

F O R E W O R D

This is a lengthy post, but please take the time to read it as it covers a number of changes that will be occurring within NELUG in the immediate future.

I N T R O D U C T I O N

NELUG has certainly grown since it started in 1999. Over the last year or so, we have seen the club begin to strain under the informal organization that has carried us up until now. As we have grown, questions about who has the authority to make decisions, the process of making decisions, accountability of NELUG's assets and financial resources, and even trying to define who is a member have all surfaced. These kinds of questions and needs continue to grow at an increasing rate.

Up until now, two members have basically filled a vast majority of the administrative aspects of the club. While this has worked fairly well, neither member was elected to this position. As a result, what happens if someone else wants to take on certain responsibilities? How do we go about this? What do we do if either member no longer wants to continue handling the responsibilities? How do you hold them accountable for anything? How does the outside world know who to contact? Who controls our finances? The list goes on. In short, NELUG's informality has become a barrier to its own future.