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We hope you are staying healthy and safe...
NEWSLETTER TABLE OF CONTENTS

  • Earth Day was inspiring
  • Hexion Inc. puts ATB on website
  • Pandemic shuts down screenings
  • National Public Television airdates continue (see NYC Flyer)
  • Reindert Groot's Bakelite Review feature (revised)
  • Additional content in the works
Earth Day turns 50!

We hope you were inspired by the 50th anniversary Earth Day.
 
Since our film touches on plastic pollution, we urge everyone to consider the earth when making plastic or disposing of it. Fortunately, many global plastics manufacturers are coming to grips with the problems and are working on solutions. Today, while the need persists, they’re making ventilators and personal protective equipment. Also, an increasing number of mindful consumers worldwide are inclined to reduce, reuse or recycle plastics.
ATB screen grab of recycling bucket
"In 1970, along with the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act, Wisconsin (D) Senator Gaylord Nelson, who also served as Governor of Wisconsin and whose overhaul of his state’s natural resource program earned him a reputation as Wisconsin’s ‘conservation governor,’ proposed a national day dedicated to raising awareness of environmental issues. It became known as ‘Earth Day’."

Read the full article at the Adirondack Almanack - Adirondack Explorer’s online news journal:

...and more from the Adirondack Almanack on Senator Nelson here:
Hexion Inc. website addition
Bakelite® Summit Header
In early March, Hexion, Inc., headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, positioned ATB on their website: Bakelite® Summit . There you will find several intriguing portals to explore.

Hexion is a global producer of thermoset resins, related technologies and specialty products. It owns the Bakelite® trademark and is featured in All Things Bakelite (footage showing phenolic resin being used today - a BMW, wind turbine and bag of raw material).
Bakelite® screen grab from the film
In 2008, Hugh met Hexion's Marketing & Communications Manager, Michael Stahl in Columbus, Ohio, intending to form a collaboration. Since then Hugh and Michael stayed in contact, sharing their interest in the history of Bakelite and Baekeland.

We extend our gratitude to Hexion and to Michael, for his efforts in bringing us on board with Bakelite® Summit.
COVID-19 shuts down Screenings
In early March, due to the pandemic, we cancelled the screening at the Avon Theatre in Stamford, Connecticut. We're hopeful the Avon will find another date after the pandemic is over.

Also in early March, the American Chemical Society cancelled their Spring meeting in Philadelphia where we were scheduled to show the film to the Division of the History of Chemistry (HIST).

We’re grateful that organizers of the ACS event offered to include a link to the film on the HIST website  They also offered to include the film in the HIST program during their Spring 2021 meeting in San Antonio.
National Public Television Airdates
We are thrilled to enter a second year of nationwide public broadcasting, continuing to April 2021. Our first year, according to Nielsen’s National Television Household Universe Estimates, we reached 57% of the 350 stations nationwide, represented by 150 programmers. Some of whom already aired the film multiple times.

We are grateful to the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) for their guidance
and support in bringing our film to national attention for a second year. 

Upcoming airdates in Idaho, New Jersey, New York and Puerto Rico are posted on our website .
Because the film will be shown in the New York City area, we include this flyer.
Baekeland lived and invented Bakelite in Yonkers, New York. Much of his work and leisure time was spent in New York City.

He was a member of the Chemists’ and University Clubs, frequented theater and restaurants and drove his various automobiles into the city and on roadways surrounding it. He was a member of the Cruising Club of America and sailed his yachts the Cygnet and later, the Ion up and down the Hudson River.
Enjoy the film and share the flyer with your colleagues, friends and family in the greater New York City area.
Reindert Groot's Bakelite Review
This is a revision from the original Newsletter of April 28, 2020
Bakelite Review.jpg
In 2007, Hugh met Reindert Groot, founder of the Amsterdam Bakelite Collection  at the 100th-anniversary celebration of the invention of Bakelite in Ghent, Belgium. In 2008, the two collaborated on an exhibition of 600 objects from the ABC at the Mark Twain Library in Redding, CT.

In 2009, the show went to the Castle Museum in Saginaw, Michigan, and in 2010 to the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, New York, titled: "Bakelite in Yonkers: Pioneering the Age of Plastics."

Since 2014, Reindert has been publishing an online magazine called the Bakelite Review. You can find the Reviews on Reindert's website under "Press" .

The Review pictured here consists of an English summary of the enclosed Dutch article about collectors and displays objects from Reindert's collection. Also, Reindert mentions a previous article on Lawrence "Larry" Byck, one of Baekeland's first employees. Read the story at Bakelite Review #8 .

You may also recall our April 2018 Newsletter featured an article on Burk Wagner, Marc, John and Hugh's visits with Larry's daughter, Nancy Byck Welch. The story and three video interviews with Nancy are on our website: allthingsbakelite.com .
Lawrence "Larry" Byck
Reindert shooting Bakelite samples
From their respective homes, John, Craig and Hugh continue to work on Bakelite and Baekeland related videos; some to be added to our website .   
Needless to say, during the pandemic, with social distancing in place, all private and theatrical screenings are suspended. However, DVDs of the film are available on our website .
"We hope you and your families stay safe and sound during this trying period. Like the pandemic 100 years ago, this too shall pass. We trust the people of the world will emerge more compassionate for each other and the earth."
Hugh Karraker - Executive Producer
All Things Bakelite: The Age of Plastic
Official Trailer
All Things Bakelite: The Age of Plastic
Official Trailer with Open Captioning