NEWTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Minutes of July 11, 2011
Merrimack Savings Bank
Members present: |
Bill Landry |
Mary Riordan |
Karen O’Malley |
Pat Wonson |
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Lisa Fortin |
Courtney Jason |
Sally Woodman |
Diane Morin |
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Cheryl Saunders |
Ron Saunders |
John Meserve |
Kathy Meserve |
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Bill Landry called the meeting to order at 7:04 PM.
Secretary’s Report – Mary Riordan
Kathy Meserve made a motion to amend the minutes to change the location of the meeting from “Merrimack Savings Bank” to “Town Hall”. Bill Landry seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Kathy Meserve made a motion to accept the minutes of June 13, 2011 as amended. Karen O’Malley seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Treasurer’s Report – Bill Landry
The Checking income was from dues. Expenses were for the electric bill and materials for the Primary Schoolhouse. The Money Market income was from interest. Expenses were for materials for the Primary Schoolhouse. Cheryl Saunders made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report. Courtney Jason seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Old Business: Museum Grand Opening
Village Primary School Museum Status:
Exterior Painting / Shutters – The right side and the front are painted. Nick Giorgi also will paint the front porch and steps. Nick has some shutters he will give us for the right side of the building. Nick is going to check a salvage place for shutters for the front of the building.
Display Setup Status – Bill Landry added names to the baseball pictures. Ron Saunders reported he will add a switch lock and Morse code Key and Sounder from Wilt Avery to the railroad display. Ron received a painting by Newton resident Cliff Bryer of New Boston Road from a man in the parking lot this evening. The man wished to remain anonymous and did not offer his name.
Action Items: - Bill Landry will make a sign for the items donated by Wilt Avery.
- Bill Landry and Ron Saunders will bring the remaining desks to the Schoolhouse on Thursday 7/14 and put the glass back in the display.
– Lisa Fortin will take the painting and contact Carol Szot about cleaning it.
- Bill Landry will get a guest book and a donation jar for the Marshall House & Schoolhouse.
Action Items: (Cont.)
- Cheryl will lookup Cliff Bryer in the 1977 Town Report and give info. to Bill Landry.
- Bill Landry will put a step ladder in the Schoolhouse for Lisa Fortin to use in cleaning the inside of the windows.
Rug Repair – Lisa Fortin has repaired the rug using material as close to the rest of the rug as she could. The rug is back in the Schoolhouse. She recommended getting a spongy backing for the rug to reduce the wear on it. Lisa is still working on the smaller rug.
Info regarding Schoolhouse & Marshall House – Bill Landry has posted an informational sheet at the Schoolhouse, the Marshall House and the Cobbler Shop.
Action Item: Bill Landry will email a copy to Mary Riordan
Lisa Fortin was given 2 photos of Marjorie Reynolds and her library science degree. Marjorie was the Librarian when the Library was in the Schoolhouse. She asked if we wanted the photos. Bill suggested we could possible hang them on the wall in the schoolhouse. Lisa will bring them to the next meeting.
Bill suggested the people who will be at the Schoolhouse and Marshall House go through them before the Grand Opening. He will try to set that up.
Marshall House Status: (Open House & Cobbler Shop only)
Cleaning & “De-micing” - Bill said the mice problem has been addressed. Cheryl asked them to check for ants. The cleaners have finished and washed the windows.
Setup –
Action Item: Cheryl will put what clothes she could salvage back in the Marshall House. She suggested we store them and only display them when it is open. Karen O’Malley suggested we put all the cloth items in a trunk to protect them when the house is not open.
Plans for Museum Opening:
The Grand Opening will be Sunday July 31st from 12:00 to 3:00 PM
The following members have volunteered to staff the two locations:
Primary Schoolhouse |
12:00 – 1:30 PM |
1:30 – 3:00 PM |
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Sally Woodman (refreshment table) |
Karen O’Malley (refreshment table) |
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Diane Morin |
Kathy Meserve |
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Courtney Jason |
Ron Saunders |
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Cheryl Saunders |
Barb DiBartolomeo |
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Marshall House |
12:00 – 1:30 PM |
1:30 – 3:00 PM |
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Pat Wonson |
Courtney Jason |
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Mary Riordan |
John Meserve |
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Ron Saunders |
Cheryl Saunders |
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Bill Landry will be going between the two buildings taking pictures.
First shift volunteers should arrive at 11:30AM
Action Item: Ron Saunders will setup the tent and a folding table at the Primary Schoolhouse
Refreshments: Bill Landry said he found some plastic cups and napkins we could use.
Member |
Item |
John & Kathy Meserve |
Small bottles of soda and water |
Pat Wonson |
Brownies |
Cheryl Saunders |
Cookie bars |
Marilyn Landry |
Baked good |
Lisa Fortin |
Baked good |
Sally Woodman |
Baked good |
Courtney Jason |
Baked good |
Kathy Meserve asked if we should tell Chief Streeter there would be traffic that day.
Action Item: Cheryl Saunders will talk to the Chief.
Outside Displays: There will only be an outside display at the Marshall House.
Action Item: Ron Saunders and Bill Landry will put Forrest’s Hayford Carriage and the Stock out on Sunday morning.
Invite Photographer from Carriage Town News:
Action Item: John Meserve will contact Larry Kennedy at the Carriage Town News
Publicity: Bill Landry reported the flyer slide is being shown on Channel 20, he posted the flyer around town, emailed the flyer to his Newton resident list, put a posting on the Newton “Internet Blog Site”, sent the information to the Carriage Town News and the Lawrence Eagle Tribune and sent it to Nicole Wolf.
Action Item: The following people will post the flyers: Lisa Fortin - the High School, Cheryl Saunders - Acios, Pat Wonson - Rowe’s Corner Market and Duke’s Stateline Market, Ron Saunders - Common Ground, Merrimac, and John Meserve – Merrimack Bank, Merrimac. - Bill Landry will invite the town officials and community leaders to attend the “Grand Opening”.
Cotton gloves for visitors: Lisa Fortin found 3 kinds of gloves. Bill Landry asked if we really needed gloves. Cheryl Saunders offered we need them to protect the items. We will have a sign indicating people should put the gloves on if they want to handle the items and the volunteers will remind people to wear the gloves.
Action Item: Cheryl Saunders will look for inexpensive cotton gloves.
Bill Landry received a journal from Ray Thayer. Ray said he had 50 or so of these he would give to us if we could use them. It was decided to give them to people who made a donation to the Society.
Action Item: Bill Landry will contact Ray Thayer about the journals.
Sally Woodman suggested the members wear name tags. John Meserve has name tag holders.
Action Item: Bill Landry will make the name tags.
New Business:
Reports of Curators & Committee Chairperson:
Historian Courtney Jason – Nothing new to report.
Archivist Lisa Fortin – Lisa, Karen O’Malley and Mary Marshall met and redesigned the Accession form. The information on the form now matches the information in the computer software. The categories will be standardized to make searching the database easier. Bill asked if this replaced the Deed of Gift form. Lisa responded it does not replace it. Lisa suggested we decide what we want the Marshall House to look like so we do not accession items that we are not going to keep. Ron Saunders suggested the Marshall House should be set up as a house. There was discussion on whether to focus on an era or have items from several eras. Lisa suggested we create a Curator mission statement to use as a guideline for accepting items.
Scanning Karen O’Malley -- She is working on a print format corresponding to the new form. Once complete the accession records that were originally on the old form will be printed in the new format.
Programs Sally Woodman -- The Town Hall upstairs meeting room is now air conditioned. She reported the Whittier presentation will be in the Fall. She has not received potential dates from them yet. Bill Landry suggested we have the Whittier presentation in November. Sally asked the members which of the following topics she should work on next: NH Cemeteries & Gravestones, The Old Man in the Mountain, Lizzie Borden and Covered Wooden Bridges. Sally gave a brief explanation of each subject and the members were polled for their first and second choice. The results of the poll were 1st Covered Wooden Bridges, 2nd The Old Man in the Mountain.
Action Item: Sally will investigate the two subjects.
Other:
David Cheney re: Artifact donations -- David Cheney would like to donate several of his father Gordon’s items. One is a 6 – 7 foot wind driven well pump for the Marshall House.
Action Item: Ron and Bill will check it out on Thursday 7/14.
Cheryl Saunders asked if we had any names of people in the Revolutionary War. She received a request from a woman who was looking for information on a Newton man named Blasdell who was stationed in Portsmouth. Lisa Fortin said there was a book in the Library with names of New Hampshire people who enlisted in the Revolutionary War. Bill Landry suggested she look in the 250th Anniversary book.
Action Item: Lisa Fortin will talk to Chief Streeter about the Luminaries along the street for the Tree Lighting in December.
Correspondence: None
Diane Morin made a motion to adjourn. Karen O’Malley seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote. Bill Landry adjourned the meeting at 8:30 PM.
Next meeting is Monday August 8, 2011, 7:00 PM at the Town Hall.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Riordan, Secretary
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