Tuesday, May 9th
Dino’s Restaurant
*
13 Lord Street
*
Worcester, MA
Buffet dinner with:
bruschetta, salad, rolls & butter, coffee & tea, vegetables, roasted potatoes,
meatballs & sausages, and 2 entrees of the group’s choosing
Please make your reservation with Deb Cardoni no later than April 28, 2017.
[email protected] * 246 Deerkill Road Webster, MA 01570
Cost is $25 for chapter members and $27 for non-members.
6pm – socialize
6:15 – start dinner
7:15 – presentation
7:00 – business meeting
DICK WHITNEY,
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE OPTICAL HERITAGE MUSEUM IN
SOUTHBRIDGE, MA
DICK WILL DISCUSS THE OPTICAL HISTORY MUSEUM & AMERICAN OPTICAL
ALONG WITH THE INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN OPTICAL IN THE LOCAL AREA,
SCIENCE & SOCIETY .
Dick started work with American Optical in their Central Testing laboratory in September of 1974 and recently
celebrated his 42nd year of continuous service (now Carl Zeiss Vision). He was inducted to the Vision Council
Hall of Fame in Las Vegas in Sept. 2016. Dick is also the Executive Director of the Zeiss sponsored Optical
Heritage Museum in Southbridge. The Museum was originally founded in 1983 to celebrate AO’s 150th
Anniversary. Dick has worked to restart and grow the Museum for over 15 years, and thanks to Zeiss it
reopened 3 years ago has greatly expanded and can even be “walked thru” online at
www.opticalheritagemuseum.com
Optical Heritage Museum
12 Crane Street
Southbridge, MA 01550
The Optical Heritage Museum was officially opened on June 18, 1983 to celebrate the 150th
Anniversary of American Optical (AO). Southbridge had a long history of manufacturing optical
products, earning it the unofficial title "Eye of the Commonwealth", in reference to the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts. AO became the world's largest manufacturer of ophthalmic products, and at its
height employed more than 6,000 people around the world. Many of its workers were exempted from
the draft during World War II since they were doing vital defense work; including making Norden
bombsights to aid the crew of bomber aircraft in dropping bombs ac curately.