AUBURN’S HISTORIC & CULTURAL SITES COMMISSION
Meeting minutes from August 26, 2003
Present: M. Alberici, T. Bridenbecker, J. McCormick, B. M. Lewis, S. Craner, J. Bryant,
J. Kline, A. Wood, M. Vanek, P. Copes Johnson and E. McHugh
Excused: D. Lamb
Absent: D. Dempsey, C. Carter, T. Hussey P. Anderegg, M. Weitekamp, P. Wisbey, W. DeWitt and S. Marteney
Chair M. Alberici called the meeting to order at 3:35PM. J. McCormick read the Commission’s mission & vision statements. Commission members introduced themselves to County Historian Allan Wood.
I. Approval of the Minutes
M. Alberici asked for approval of the June minutes. T. Bridenbecker made a motion to accept the minutes as submitted, seconded by J. McCormick. All were in favor and the motion carried.
Committee Reports
II. Resource & Development Committee
D. Lamb is installing a show, no report. B. M. Lewis said the committee had not met.
III. Marketing Committee
As for leads from ads, M. Vanek said so far during the month of August the Tourism Office has responded to 576 inquiries; the top producers were Better Homes & Gardens with 80 leads, AAA with 116, Country Home with 147 and 55 that came over the Internet. The Commission website has had 32,156 hits to date; 529 this past month with an average of 21 hits a day.
M. Vanek invited Commission members to the CCCVB retreat in Ontario County on October 17th. M. Vanek said it is often helpful to see what other communities have developed and where Auburn/Cayuga County could be in the future. The retreat will focus on Geneva and Canandaigua, cities that have successfully developed both their downtown areas and their waterfront utilizing both private and public funds. The group will tour the Bloomfield Country Mile, the Smith Opera House (which is similar to the Schine and now hosts large acts plus on-going Cabaret performances), and lunch at Steamboat Landing. A visioning session will be held at the end of the day, followed by a reception hosted by Ontario County Tourism, with. So far, 7 people (now 22) have reserved space, and the cut-off is 30, so please get your forms
in quickly if you’d like to go.
M. Vanek encouraged people to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Bass Pro Shops on Sept. 4th at 11:30AM at the Mall. The Tourism Office will be hosting a booth for the outdoor show happening during this time frame. The Office is putting together welcome baskets for Bass Pro’s staff (6). If anyone has items to donate please get them to the Tourism Office. Bass Pro is slated to open April – June ’04. During the grand opening, various agencies plan to work together to provide an information booth. These include the Commission, the Tourism Office, the Downtown BID, the Chamber and the Mall. Gina Speno, Fingerlakes Mall GM recently attended a Bass Pro opening in Savannah, GA and there were 17,000 in attendance. They unfortunately did not have information available on other things to do in
Savannah. The Mall is encouraging groups to have their events and fundraisers at the Mall. September 24 – 26 the Mall is hosting potential national tenants such as Target. With this in mind, the Chamber Member Trade Show has been relocated from the Holiday Inn to the Mall (Sept. 25th from 5 – 7PM). J. Kline said the Commission will have a booth there.
J. Kline said Tom from Sign Guys dropped off the first of 6 vinyl pedestrian signs to the City garage. Installation of the signs is unfortunately dependant on current City projects. J. Kline was unsuccessful in reaching Jerry Del Favero to see when time could be made to get this done. S. Craner offered J. Del Favero’s cell phone number to help in reaching him. J. Kline said the Marketing Committee should meet to decide on the location of the first six signs. A long time ago, various locations were discussed, but now we need to choose just six. M. Vanek said she would set a date and send out a memo to Committee members. (The date is now set for Sept. 12th at 9AM at the Tourism Office.) M. Alberici asked about the signage that was to go along the arterial, M. Vanek said she wasn’t sure where things
stood and would inquire with City Planning.
J. Kline said there are two memos in the packet about both the Commission retreat and the Board Training retreat. The dates are set, the Commission session is Sept. 22nd from 10AM – 3:30PM at the Chapel, and the Board retreat is October 7th from 10AM – 4:30PM, location to be decided dependant on participation. Kendra’s Culinary Creations will be providing the lunches. Six objectives will be discussed at each retreat, as listed in the memo. J. Kline said the deadline for Board registration is September 8th, so please let Board members know right away. M. Alberici said even if a few Board members can make it, they can report back to the others, and Barry Warren will provide a written summary of the proceedings to distribute as well. E. McHugh said it is going to be a
requirement for organizations and museums to be chartered that a certain percentage of their Board members are formally trained. J. Kline circulated a sign-up sheet for both retreats.
IV. Community Outreach Committee
S. Craner said the Commission display is now on view at the Chamber. It looks very nice and visitors have responded favorably to it. S. Craner asked who would be interested in staffing the display at TomatoFest. J. Bryant asked when it was. J. Kline said September 6 & 7 (Saturday and Sunday) from 11AM – 6PM. J. McCormick said she would work the first shift on Saturday from 11AM – 2PM, and E. McHugh said she would help from 2 – 6PM Sat. and may have another volunteer from the Museum to help. B. M. Lewis offered to work from 11 – 2PM on Sunday and M. Alberici said she would work the last shift from 2 – 6PM. After a brief discussion about set-up and teardown, J. McCormick said she would pick up the display from the Chamber on Friday the 5th before 5PM, and M. Alberici will take it
down after her shift. J. Kline said the display header still needs to be made. S. Craner was going to look into it.
J. Kline said she needs volunteers to staff the booth at the Chamber’s Member Trade Show on September 25th. S. Craner said she would be hosting her own booth at the show and couldn’t help. M. Alberici said she could do it, and M. Vanek offered too. J. Kline said she would help too. J. Kline said set-up starts at 4:30PM. J. Kline asked if the trade show volunteers wanted their entrance paid to the Chamber BAF as well. They did, and J. Kline said she would send in the registration form and payment.
Passport to History
E. McHugh distributed and reviewed the written report on the program. The report covered the participants’ and teachers’ comments, the program budget, and recommendations for next year.
A. Wood suggested opening the program up to other schools in the County, and E. McHugh said the cost of printing additional passports would need to be underwritten, as well as the prizes since the money now comes from the City. Staff time commitment at the sites was also in question. Trafficking visitors is timely, and could the sites deal with more participants? (No one knew.) Transportation could also be an issue.
V. Quality Assurance Committee
Committee Chair W. DeWitt was absent, no report.
VI. Prison Museum Study Group
P. Wisbey was absent, no report. E. McHugh said their prison exhibit has been received very positively, and when the second floor renovations are completed next year, the exhibit will be on view permanently. E. McHugh thus questioned the need for the Prison Museum Study Group. M. Alberici said since Chair P. Wisbey was absent, the matter would need to be discussed with him prior to dissolving the Committee. J. Kline said this Committee’s status was on the agenda to be discussed at the upcoming retreat.
VII. Other Business
Common Threads
M. Alberici said the brochure has been printed and is available at the Schweinfurth Art Center. Various mailing sessions are being held at the Schweinfurth to get the brochures out. The next one is September 2nd at 5PM at the Schweinfurth. Go to the back parking lot, and enter through the rear door. Common Threads articles will be featured in national quilter’s newsletters and magazines. TV ads will be running in the Buffalo area during October and November. T. Bridenbecker needs 500 copies of the brochure by September 25th if they are to be included in the October Chamber Newsletter. S. Craner said she would also pull the information into their upcoming newsletter. J. Kline said the placemat is done and is being distributed to the restaurants by a Willard Chapel volunteer.
Other Business
M. Alberici said they hosted Louis C. Tiffany’s great grandson at the Chapel. He was in from Utah, and had heard about the Chapel through the Tiffany Foundation. He said the Chapel was one of the finest Tiffany sites worldwide. T. Bridenbecker said the Chamber is hosting their Annual Dinner October 9th at the Holiday Inn. The guest speaker is Pleasant Rowland. The Chamber is also hosting a breakfast with the NYS Comptroller at the Springside on September 15th at 7:30AM. Alan Hevesi will discuss the state of New York’s economy and where the money that is generated by the State lottery is going. The cost for the breakfast is $15.50.
E. McHugh said they have finished cleaning out all the artifacts in the attic so the renovation work can move forward. They have 22 folding chairs that they are giving away if anyone is interested, let her know. Their next exhibit featuring homegrown business Mack Studios will open September 12th from 6 – 8PM. Art works created by both Chuck and Peter Maciulewicz will be on display. Next year Welch Allyn, which originally started in Auburn, will be featured. Later, other organizations will also be explored.
M. Alberici said they will be having a Russian harpist perform for their last summer luncheon program at the Chapel. A. Wood says the County Ways & Means Committee authorized the creation of two part-time employee positions through the end of the year. A. Wood hopes there will be a full-time position available next year. It has been a difficult few months since Malcolm Goodelle passed on, yet the Historian’s Office has had a good crew of volunteers through the summer months. They are in the process of inventorying the archives to make it more user friendly, and will be continuing with this project through the end of the year.
S. Craner said they are updating their downtown Auburn brochure, which the sites are part of. Please review the information now listed and let her know if you’d like any changes to be made. The next version will come out in January 2004. Sales have been great for the downtown Auburn posters ($8) and postcards (.50). The postcards are gone, they are being reordered, but the posters are still available. There is a framed version of the poster in the window of the Tourism Office. It looks very nice.
In discussing the next meeting date, the people present thought a change in day would be preferable. Since the sites are closed to the public on Mondays, that might work better. Also, D. Lamb is usually installing a show at the end of the month, so maybe that could be changed too. J. Kline suggested discussing it at the strategic planning retreat.
With no other business to discuss S. Craner made a motion to adjourn, seconded by P. Johnson. All were in favor and the motion carried. The Commission adjourned at 4:55PM.
Recorded by Jesse Kline
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