NEWTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Minutes of June 13, 2011
Merrimack Savings Bank
Members present: |
Bill Landry |
Mary Riordan |
Karen O’Malley |
Mary Marshall |
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Marilyn Landry |
Courtney Jason |
Sally Woodman |
Diane Morin |
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Cheryl Saunders |
Ron Saunders |
Lisa Fortin |
Barbara DiBartolomeo |
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Irene Nally |
Pat Wonson |
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Bill Landry called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM.
Secretary’s Report – Mary Riordan
Cheryl Saunders made a motion to accept the minutes of May 9, 2011. Marilyn Landry seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Sally Woodman made a motion to accept the minutes of May 25, 2011. Barbara DiBartolomeo seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Treasurer’s Report – Bill Landry
The Checking income was from dues and a donation. Expenses were for the electric bill and materials for the Primary Schoolhouse and the fee for Eleanor Stang. The Money Market income was from interest. Expenses were for materials for the Primary Schoolhouse. Lisa Fortin made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report. Karen O’Malley seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Old Business:
Primary Schoolhouse Renovation Update
Renovation Status – Bill Landry reported the inside of the building is basically complete. Bill reported that Nick Giorgi has glazed and primed the windows. He has scrapped and sanded the exterior of the building. Nick posted a lead paint warning sign and roped off the area. This is all that is required because the building does not have any bedrooms. Neighbor Barbara Gallant was concerned about the dust from the work affecting her animals. Bill and Nick assured her there was no issue. Barbara Gallant accepted their explanation and offered Nick the use of her garden hose to wet the building and keep the dust down.
Display set up status –Ron Saunders asked about the baseball pictures. Mary Marshall said she is meeting with Eddie Foy Wednesday at 2 PM to put names on the baseball pictures we have. She indicated he may have other pictures. Ron asked if he needed to remove anything from the display cases. Bill Landry will meet them at the Primary Schoolhouse.
Bill Landry reported Connie Rowe donated a box of memorabilia. She decided to donate this now because she has heard we are doing good things. Some of the items are on display at the Primary Schoolhouse.
Bill noted there is a picture of Thomas Merrill Carter in the Schoolhouse. Bill had read an article about Carter who was born in Newton in 1841 and he wrote one of the most famous marches there is, The Boston Commandery March. Arthur Fiedler played this march in his performances. Bill suggested putting the Carterville Drum and this information on display.
Mary Marshall requested that Bill identify the items Connie Rowe donated so they can be accessioned. Bill Landry will get the completed Deed of Gift form from Connie.
Ron asked Bill about the plaque acknowledging the people donated time to renovate the Schoolhouse. Bill said he has a 2 X 2 ½ foot plaque almost ready to display.
Preliminary Plans for “Grand Opening” – Bill asked if we were going to open the Marshall House the same day as the Primary Schoolhouse. Mary Marshall answered we had discussed opening both. Cheryl Saunders asked if we were going to allow people on the second floor of the Marshall House. There was discussion on the state of the stairs. Bill Landry suggested having someone from the Building Inspectors office take a look and give us their opinion.
Ron Saunders asked when the people were going to clean the Marshall House. Bill reply it will be done on June 17th. Ron Saunders suggested we open the Cobbler’s Shop too. There was discussion on whether to open the barn. Bill suggested we put Forrest’s carriage on the lawn and the signs will be displayed so there isn’t anything in the barn to look at. The barn will not be open.
The Grand Opening will be on Sunday July 31st from 12 noon to 3 PM. There will be at least two people at each location for a 1 1/2 hour shifts. We will need 8 people to cover the time. Karen O’Malley suggested sending an email to every member of the Society asking for volunteers. Bill will contact the Carriage Town News and the Lawrence Eagle Tribune.
Mary Riordan asked if we have information on the buildings and displays that we can review before the event so we can answer questions. Bill and Ron indicated we need to gather this information.
Mary Marshall will contact Fran Frappier to see is he has any information.
Refreshments will be served outside the Primary Schoolhouse. Cheryl volunteered their tent for the refreshments. We will have cookies, lemonade, soda and water. No food or beverages will be allowed in the buildings.
There was discussion on having a drawing. It was decided not to have a drawing.
Bill suggested putting the stock on display at the Marshall House along with the carriage.
Ron volunteered a table, trash barrels, and bags.
Courtney asked about the parking situation. Cheryl Saunders will ask Ralph Estabrook about parking on his property. Bill Landry will ask John Meserve about parking at the bank.
There will be a donation box at each location.
Bill asked the member to email him if they think of anything else.
Curators (Ron / Cheryl Saunders) – Nothing else to report. Bill Landry reported Jan Bennet had given him a rug. He put the rug in the Schoolhouse by the door. He gave Lisa Fortin pictures of the rug and asked if she could repair the run. Lisa showed the colors she was using for a small rug to be put in front of the chair in the Schoolhouse.
Historian (Courtney Jason) – She was looking through the small diaries at the Schoolhouse. She thought she’d type some of them up so people could see the contents without flipping through the diaries. Lisa Fortin added that the M.M Club was mentioned in one of the diaries. She asked if anyone knew what M.M. stood for. Irene Nally recalled that the brown house in the middle of town that use to be a stopping place for wagon travellers was owned by Sam. His wife Ethel was the last living member of the M.M. Club. Ethel went to her grave with the secret of what the M.M stood for.
Archivist (Lisa Fortin) – Irene Nally reported Terry Caswell gave her a Dewey Decimal Category code book. Lisa asked for keys so she can go into the buildings to look at items.
Scanning (Karen O’Malley) – Karen reported they have taken pictures of items in the two bedrooms. She worked with Mary Riordan to see how we can print completed accession forms. Karen would like to meet with Lisa, Irene, Ron & Cheryl after our meeting to discuss the accession form. There is information on the form which is not on the computer form and vice versa. Cheryl said she doesn’t know what they are doing with the accessions. There was discussion on where the contact information for donors should be kept. The hallways and the living room still need to be accessioned. Mary Marshall explained the database can be searched to respond to information requests. There was discussion on the computers and where they would be kept.
Programs (Sally Woodman) – Ann Miles gave her a name of a man who is knowledgeable on coaches. He indicated Newton was too far for him to travel. The JG Whittier Association indicated they could not do anything during the summer and that Sally should contact her in the fall. Sally read an article about Michael Clossen who gives presentations on a Civil War assistant surgeon who wrote a journal of his experiences. There was discussion on what days we could have presentations and where. Diane Morin said that we can broadcast live on the local channel from the Town Hall but not the schools. Sally asked the members to send her any ideas they may have. There was discussion on the large turnout for the Underground Railroad presentation.
New Business:
Mary Marshall suggested we decide what items people can handle at the Grand Opening and that we should have cotton gloves available for people to wear to protect the items from the acid from their hands. Lisa Fortin said we could probable find them in an archiving catalogue.
Other:
E-mail sign up offer – Bill Landry reported he sent an email to the members and resident for whom he had email addresses. He did not get any replies from non-members.
Myrtle Rogers Documents – Barbara DiBartolomeo reported she had spoken to Rebecca, Myrtle’s daughter. Rebecca said she had not gone through all Myrtle’s things yet but when she does she’ll keep us in mind if she comes across items she thinks we could use. Bill said he had put the box of scrapbooks to the right of Myrtle’s front door as you walk in.
Correspondence:
Bill Landry received a letter from DeWolfe & Woods Antiquarians on the Green. They are a bookseller. They purchase books and paper items from all periods and subjects. He did not know if we had any of these items that were duplicates. Courtney noted we had some duplicate postcards.
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 8:25 PM.
Next meeting is Monday July 11, 2011, 7:00 PM at the Merrimack Savings Bank.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Riordan, Secretary
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