NEWTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Minutes of December 12, 2011
Merrimac Savings Bank
Members present: |
Bill Landry |
Mary Riordan |
Karen O’Malley |
Marilyn Landry |
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Lisa Fortin |
Courtney Jason |
Sally Woodman |
Diane Morin |
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Ron Saunders |
John Meserve |
Kathy Meserve |
Joyce King |
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Cheryl Saunders |
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Bill Landry called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM.
Secretary’s Report – Mary Riordan
Kathy Meserve made a motion to accept the minutes of November 14, 2011. Cheryl Saunders
seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Treasurer’s Report – Bill Landry
The November 30, 2011 account balances were:
The Checking income was dues. Expenses were for the electric bill and the PO Box renewal. The Money Market income was from interest. Expenses were for the annual insurance premium and the donation to the Food Pantry. Ron Saunders asked about the cost of the insurance. Bill Landry explained he had gotten quotes two years ago for the insurance and this was the least costly option. Courtney Jason made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report. Marilyn Landry 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 received a donation of some ice tools from Connie Rowe. He had a Deed of Gift form from Connie for the items. Ron also received some items from Wilt Avery. They are programs from the Grange with Ella Yates name in them. They are from several different years. Ron also received a World War II coat from Wilt that he’d like to put in the schoolhouse.
Historian:
Courtney Jason reported she has taken pictures of the pages of the personal diaries and she returned the diaries to the schoolhouse.
Archivist:
Lisa Fortin reported the accessioning will be suspended for the winter. They will pick it up again in the spring when the weather is warmer.
Mission Statement:
Lisa will email the finished mission statement to Bill Landry. He indicated the Executive committee would review and approve it.
Review of Tree Lighting: Lisa Fortin reported we had approximately 65 people attend. Cheryl Saunders suggested we only have ½ hour to put the decorations on and see Santa. She bought 36 candy canes and they were all gone. We had too many cookies and enough hot chocolate. Cheryl suggested we have smaller cups next year. Rick Fortin emailed out the pictures he took during the event. Bill Landry got a Facebook message thanking the Society for having the tree lighting event. For the first time having this event, it was a big success. There was a discussion on whether we can prune the tree and getting help from the Fire Department to decorate the top next year. Diane Morin volunteered to buy more lights and a big star at the after Christmas sales. Bill will put
something in the papers thanking the Recreation Department for the wreaths and Diane Lozeau from Common Grounds for the hot chocolate. Kathy Meserve made a motion to give Diane Lozeau a $25 gift certificate to Longhorn’s for her donation. Courtney Jason seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
New Business: ‘
Write-up in the Annual town report:
Bill Landry sent Nancy Wrigley an email asking if the Society could be a report in the town report. Nancy said she’d get back to him. Mary Riordan commented that the Town Report is an official document of the Town and as such private organizations probably cannot be in it.
Election of 2012 Officers:
The slate of officers nominated for 2021:
President – Bill Landry, Vice President – Kathy Meserve, Secretary – Mary Riordan, Treasurer – Bill Landry. John Meserve made a motion that the Secretary cast one vote for the slate of officers. Courtney Jason seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote. Secretary Mary Riordan cast one vote in favor of the slate of officers.
Committee Chairpersons: The committee chairperson will remain the same in 2012. Curators: Ron & Cheryl Saunders, Historian: Courtney Jason, Archivist: Lisa Fortin & Presentations: Sally Woodman.
Other:
Bill Landry reviewed the 2011 efforts of the Society. He summed it up as “This has been a hell of a year”. The opening of the Primary Schoolhouse, the presentation events and the progress on the archiving/ accession were great accomplishments. He expressed thanks to the members for all their efforts. Bill and Ron mentioned comments by Ann Miles on how much we have accomplished in such a short time.
At the request of Ann Miles, Karen O’Malley went to the Amesbury Carriage Museum to give them a demonstration of how we use the accessioning software. Bill Landry also noted that everybody should be very proud of what we’ve done and how everybody pitches in and supports each other to get these things done. He thinks the townspeople are noticing the events of the Society. Kathy Meserve noted Bill Landry’s direction was a big part of our success.
Correspondence: None
Next Meeting: Monday April 9, 2012 at the Merrimac Savings Bank.
Cheryl Saunders 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.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Riordan, Secretary
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