Cryptozoology Museum Donates 100% Of Gate to Sanctuary Tattoo Event

The Iceman had a long night of working at the charity event, and now it is resting comfortably in its new display at the museum.

In a meeting of the executive advisor committee of the International Cryptozoology Museum on Monday, May 10, 2010, a suggestion was approved from the director to donate 100% of the monies collected for admission to our Port City Museum Hall crypto-sideshow to the Sanctuary Tattoo’s charity event.

In the invitation to the 10th anniversary happening, the hosting organization required of all vendors there to donate 20% of their sales to the targeted charity. We agreed to do the sideshow, to help Sanctuary Tattoo get people to come to the event, and gain publicity for this good cause, the Preble Street Resource Center. (Side note: “Preble” has a decidedly cryptozoological tie-in; see below.)

As it turned out, Sanctuary Tattoo obtained over $1000 from “dropped-in-the-jar” donations for the charity, immediately, at the front door, after people entered the “free bash.”

The full title of the event was the “Sanctuary Tattooʼs 10th Anniversary Blowout Bash to Benefit Preble Street Resource Center.” We thank Carrie, Chris, Jennifer, (all three from Sanctuary Tattoo) and Jon (from Port City Music Hall) for working with us closely.

Jeff Meuse, ICM docent coordinator, created replicas of the Nepalese Yeti skullcap, which was a 350-year replica itself. Also Jeff made a museum-quality copy of the Pangboche Yeti hand for the event, and eventually to go into the museum. Photo by Loren Coleman.

The museum staff and volunteers worked hard on the construction of various new pieces of sideshow art for the “bash.” The creative volunteer work involved local artists Sarah McCann (who recreated most of the Iceman) and Erin Ellis, with the cooperative efforts of coordinator Jeff Meuse and the consultation of yours truly, Loren Coleman, who examined the 1969 version of the Minnesota Iceman for Ivan T. Sanderson and Bernard Heuvelmans. Andy Graham of Portland Color donated a logo banner. Time was given during the event by all of us, including Phil Cook (the man with a truck), and my son, Caleb, (who, after a long day at college and his job, worked the admissions area for six hours).

During the night, people flowed into and out of our sideshow “tent,” from the constantly changing crowd of 1000 people who had waited in lines around the block. Some who attended the party upstairs, would drift downstairs and find us.

Most people paid the full admission of $5.00 to peek at the Iceman and 33 other items; some folks gave what they could, and a few special people and others viewed the exhibition free.

In the end, we took in a little pot of money. We could have technically donated our 20% (a little over $40) to the benefit, and walked away with some help for the museum too*. But we rejected on Monday the 20% benefit/80% vendor split. We wish to support the efforts of the folks at Sanctuary Tattoo, on behalf of the Preble Street Resource Center, as fully as we can.

Therefore, the ICM decided to give all 100% ($205) of what we took in to the resource center.

Preble Street is a low-barrier agency: meaning anyone can ask for and receive services.The people PRC serves are homeless and living in severe poverty. Many also experience chronic health problems, domestic violence, mental illness, substance abuse, and educational deficits. The Resource Center meets urgent needs–such as showers, clothing, phones, laundry, and mail and crisis intervention–and empowers people to find the housing, education, employment, health care, legal assistance, mental health support that can improve their lives.

Preble Street was named after Commander Preble. A little known fact is worthy of mentioning here:

“During the Revolutionary War in 1779, Commander Edward Preble and the crew of the American gunship Protector spotted and fired on a Sea Serpent, which apparently escaped unharmed, according to the 1846 biography of Preble by James Fenimore Cooper.” – pages 51-52, in The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep by Loren Coleman and Patrick Huyghe, (NY: Tarcher/Penguin, 2003).

We thank the fine people at Sanctuary Tattoo, and congratulate them on a wonderful event. While our financial contribution may not be much, we wanted to give as much as we could to the success of their event for the benefit of the greater community.

The posting here is peppered with photos from our sideshow, for those that couldn’t make it and are across the world. Please credit the museum if you use them, thank you. The Mystery Iceman of Maine and new Yeti artifacts are now housed in the ICM, permanently. Come visit us at 661 Congress St., Portland, Maine, Wednesdays-Saturday, 11 am until the last tour starting at 5:30 pm, and Sundays, Noon to 5 pm. We recharge our batteries on Mondays and Tuesdays, when we are closed.

*If you would like to support the International Cryptozoology Museum, your donations directly go to our operating costs. Contributions of funding, new items, and time are always appreciated, whether you are local or part of the greater community in which we exist. The ICM is a dedicated member of Portland, Maine’s Arts District, and we encourage the patronizing of our neighborhood businesses, as we see the area change into a center for creative thought, adventure, and exploration.

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.

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