NEWTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Minutes of September 12, 2011
Newton Town Hall
Members present: |
Bill Landry |
Mary Riordan |
Karen O’Malley |
Barb DiBartolomeo |
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Marilyn Landry |
Courtney Jason |
Sally Woodman |
Diane Morin |
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Ron Saunders |
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Bill Landry called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM.
Secretary’s Report – Mary Riordan
Sally Woodman made a motion to accept the minutes of August 8, 2011. Barb DiBartolomeo
seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Treasurer’s Report – Bill Landry
The Checking income was dues and donations. Expenses were for the electric bill, materials for the Primary Schoolhouse and bank fee. The Money Market income was from interest. Expense was the final payment for Schoolhouse painting. Marilyn Landry made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report. Diane Morin seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Old Business:
Granite State Poker: Bill Landry reported he called the phone number he had for them but it has been disconnected. He believes they are no longer operating. He noted the good thing is we are now current on all our charitable organization registrations.
Reports of Curators & Committee Chairpersons:
Curator: Ron Saunders reported the Barn Cleaning will be Saturday October 1st at 9 AM.
Historian: Courtney took pictures of the diary pages and is now sorting them and making notes.
Archivist:
Accessioning: Karen O’Malley reported they have finished accessioning the Marshall House and Cobbler Shop. They accessioned the Cobbler Shop by groups of tools. Ron Saunders asked Karen if she had noticed dead bugs in the Marshall House because the exterminator had noticed some. Karen replied she had not noticed any. Karen reported all the pictures have been put into the computer. She is still entering the accession form data.
Karen asked the members how they wanted to accession the scrapbooks. The consensus was to accession the whole book and indicate the general topic and timeframe of the items in the scrapbooks.
Mission Statements: Waiting until Lisa Fortin reports.
Dec. tree lighting ceremony: Waiting until Lisa Fortin reports.
Programs: J.G. Whittier Presentation: Sally Woodman reported the presentation will be 7:00 PM September 26th at the Town Hall. Sally clarified with Cynthia Costello that she will speak on J.G. Whittier and connections to Newton. Bill reported it will be run on Channel 20, it is on the Board outside the Town Hall, he sent it to the newspapers and he will send an email to his list of residents. Bill found book on Whittier in the Marshall House that he will bring to the presentation. Bill will get the beverages – water, Diet Coke and Sprite in small bottles. Lisa Fortin, Sally Woodman, Marilyn Landry, Courtney Jason and Cheryl Saunders will bake. Barb DiBartolomeo offered to bring cheese and crackers.
Bill Landry related an email exchange with a man from Maine who was looking for burial information on James Peaslee. The man mentioned there was a connection between the Peaslees, the Chase family and John Greenleaf Whittier. He spoke of Hannah Chase, who committed suicide on the eve of her wedding, being the basis for Whittier’s poem Suicide Pond. Bill could not find the poem, but did find that there is a place on the Whittier property in Haverhill called Suicide Pond. Sally passed this information on to Cynthia Costello.
Sally Woodman mentioned that Mary Winglass suggested we have two people handling the parking for the event. Bill suggested we open the front door of the Town Hall for people to enter through. There was discussion on where the members should park for the event. Bill Landry will contact Chief Streeter to inform him of the event. He will also check with Larry Foote on whether we need a representative of the Fire Department if we have more than 49 people. Bill suggested the people with the refreshments arrive at 6:30PM to set up.
Fall Festival:
Bill Landry relayed the following information he received from John Meserve. The event will be Saturday October 22nd from 4:30PM to 6:30PM at the Merrimac Bank. This is the 40th anniversary of the Society. Although the Society was formalized in 1973, John found information that is was originally formed in 1971. John would rather we focus that night on the event and not open the Museum that night. Posters will be put up in the usual places. Bill will print and distribute the tickets.
New Business:
Newton Lions Club: Bill and Ron found two roadside signs of the Newton Lions Club in the Marshall House Barn. Bill was talking to members of the Plaistow Lions Club who had information on the Newton Lions Club. One person gave Bill a Certificate of Appreciation the Newton Lions gave him. It had the names of the members. Bill will get a Deed of Gift form completed for the item.
Slide show on Channel 20: The slide show of the Museum renovation and Grand Opening is currently being shown.
Next Meeting: Bill Landry is talking to Donnie Slater about having our October meeting on Tuesday October 11th at the Peabody Museum in Andover. Bill suggested we car-pool to the Museum. He will notify members when it is finalized.
Other: Barb DiBartolomeo offered a book to the Society on how the Baptist church on the corner of Rte. 108 and Highland St. was moved by a team of oxen.
Correspondence: Mary Riordan reported she received a phone call from Phyllis Crowell of Kingston who had seen our slide on Channel 20. She has some pictures of Newton Junction. Mary gave Phyllis Ron & Cheryl’s phone number. Mary gave Ron Phyllis’ phone number. Mary suggested Ron & Cheryl’s phone number be put on the Channel 20 slide. Bill will update the Channel 20 slide.
Sally Woodman made a motion to adjourn. Marilyn Landry seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote. Bill Landry adjourned the meeting at 7:45 PM.
Next meeting is Tuesday October 11, 2011, 7:00 PM place to be determined.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Riordan, Secretary
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