Newton Historical Society
Minutes of November 14, 2011
Merrimac Savings Bank
Members present: |
Bill Landry |
Mary Riordan |
Karen O’Malley |
Mike Hughes |
|
Lisa Fortin |
Courtney Jason |
Sally Woodman |
Diane Morin |
|
Ron Saunders |
John Meserve |
Kathy Meserve |
Joyce King |
Bill Landry called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
Secretary’s Report – Mary Riordan
Sally Woodman made a motion to accept the minutes of October 11, 2011. Kathy Meserve
seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Treasurer’s Report – Bill Landry
The Checking income was Fall Festival tickets. Expenses were for the electric bill, Keane Fire safety, Whittier Presentation. The Money Market income was from interest, Fall Festival Sponsors and dues. Expenses were for the Fall Festival. Sally Woodman made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report. Lisa Fortin seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Old Business:
Reports of Curators & Committee Chairpersons:
Curator:
Ron Saunders reported he and Bill Landry are going to look at some ice tools that Connie Rowe wants to donate to the Society. The Marshall House Barn cleanup has not been rescheduled yet.
Historian: Courtney Jason had nothing new to report.
Archivist:
Accessioning: Karen O’Malley reported they have gotten through another batch of things. They found all but two of the scrapbooks. They took pictures of the outside of the books and entered them in the accessioning software. They’re next step is to printout what has been accessioned and determine what is left to do. Karen asked if we should continue to put newspaper articles about Newton in scrapbooks like Myrtle Rogers did. There was discussion on if we could capture articles from the Internet.
Mission Statement:
Lisa Fortin presented the following mission statement for consideration:
“The Newton, NH Historical Society shall collect, preserve and exhibit artifacts, documents and other material or information that celebrates Newton’s history. The Society shall maintain the Village Primary School and its contents for public viewing. The Historical Society is also responsible for the contents of the Marshall House including the maintenance and care of the property within the buildings.” There was discussion on the wording. It was suggested the end of the last sentence be changed from “maintenance and care of the property within the buildings” to “maintenance and care of the contents of the buildings”. There was discussion on how do we want to set up the Marshall House – should it be just Newton items or more of a period display. Karen O’Malley suggested since the Marshall House was a home there could be items from several generations in it.
Tree Lighting: Lisa Fortin suggested the Tree Lighting be held on Sunday December 11th. People should arrive at 4:30PM to put their ornaments on the tree. The tree will be lit at 5:30PM. This date does not conflict with other events in surrounding towns. She explained how the bags would be setup. The bags will be lined up from the Primary School House to the Library on the north bound side of the road. Ron suggested putting “No Parking” signs where the bags will be. Lisa Fortin will call Chief Streeter about the event. She will also contact the property owners between the Primary School and the Library. Diane Lozeau from Common Grounds in Merrimac is donating hot chocolate for the event. We will get cookies to go with the hot chocolate. Lisa spoke
with Mrs. Mears at the library about having the children from story hour make nature friendly ornaments for the tree. The children can bring their ornaments to the lighting or leave them and Lisa will bring them over. There was discussion on having a sleigh with Santa. It was decided we would not have one this year.
Lisa will inform Ann Miles we will not need the sleigh. Lisa will bring a boom box for Christmas music. Ron Saunders will get a couple of 5 gallon buckets of sand for the bags and deliver them to Diane Morin. Diane Morin offered space in her garage to setup and store the bags.
Programs: Sally Woodman reported she is continuing to collect article on events in our area. She mentioned Plaistow had recently had an event on the Penacook Indians. She asked the members to forward her information on any events they think may be interesting. She will contact the NH Humanities after the first of the year to request 3 presentations.
Fall Festival: Kathy Meserve thanked everyone who attended and helped with the Fall Festival. Attendance was down slightly but we still had a good turnout. We spent more on food and beverages this year in anticipation of a higher turnout. She thanked Cheryl, Ron, Sally and Diane for the tables, food platters and bring items from the Schoolhouse and Marshall house for the displays. She thanked Bill and Marilyn for their help in setting up the displays. She also thanked the bank tellers who volunteered their time to server the beverages. Bill Landry sent a letter to the Lawrence Eagle Tribune and the Carriage Town News thanking the sponsors. The gross revenue was $3275, up from last year. The profit from the event was $2818.75. Kathy noted that most people came early and
stayed until the end.
Review of Peabody Museum Tour: Bill Landry reported that the Tour of the Peabody Museum was fantastic. We got to see behind the scenes artifacts some of which are 10,000 years old. Bill mentioned that Don Slater offered to give another tour for the members who could not attend the first one.
New Business:
Fire Extinguisher in Primary School: Bill Landry reported he made an executive decision to put a fire extinguisher in the Primary School House for a cost of $98. It is located by the door to the back room.
Christmas donation to food pantry: Bill Landry asked the members to consider making a $100 donation to the Newton Food Pantry as a way to give back to the Town for their support this year. Ron Saunders made a motion to donate $100 to the Newton Food Pantry. Sally Woodman seconded the motion. Ron suggested we donate 10 $10 gift cards. Bill Landry will check with Tina O’Rourke on what would be the best way to do this. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Other: Lisa Fortin showed the rug she made for the reading area in the Primary School House.
Ron Saunders found a wool Army jacket that was worn by Wilt Avery. Ron would like to display it in the Primary School House.
Mary Riordan reminded the members we will be electing officers at our December meeting.
Correspondence:
Info on Bootland Farm – Smith Corner Rd. (Joyce King): Bill Landry received an email from Joyce King asking about information on Bootland Farm. Ron Saunders thought it was owned by the Martin family. Lisa Fortin thought it was a milk farm. Joyce saw a picture of Bootland Farm in a scrapbook at the Fall Festival. Bill offered to open the Primary School House to look for the picture. Diane Morin noted Bootland Farm is on the advertising curtain in the Town Hall meeting room. Courtney had a picture in her phone which she showed to Joyce.
Research request – Lorri Moses (Mike & Kerri Wilkes): Bill Landry received a request from Lorri Moses for a picture of the old Traveler’s Home at 3 Highland. Her son and daughter-in-law purchased the property. Bill found a picture in the Primary School House from 1909. He took a picture of it and sent it to her.
Next Meeting: Monday December 12, 2011 at the Merrimac Savings Bank.
Sally Woodman made a motion to adjourn. Cheryl Saunders seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote. Bill Landry adjourned the meeting at 8:13 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Riordan, Secretary
| 
