Newton Historical Society
Minutes of May 14, 2012
Merrimac Savings Bank
Members present: |
Bill Landry |
Mary Riordan |
Karen O’Malley |
Marilyn Landry |
|
John Meserve |
Diane Morin |
Sally Woodman |
Joyce King |
|
Cheryl Saunders |
Ron Saunders |
Ann Miles |
Mike Hughes |
|
Phil Lang |
Kathy Meserve |
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Bill Landry called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
Secretary’s Report – Mary Riordan
Karen O’Malley asked to amend the minutes of April 6, 2012 to add “no further” to the first sentence of the Archivist section of Reports of Curators & Committee Chairpersons. The sentence should read ‘Karen O’Malley reported she and Barb DiBartolomeo have done no further work on the items in the cases at the Schoolhouse’.
Karen O’Malley made a motion to accept the minutes of April 6, 2012 as amended. Marilyn Landry
seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Treasurer’s Report – Bill Landry
The Checking income was dues, donations and a grant from New Hampshire Humanities Council for the Old Man in the Mountain presentation. Expenses were for the electric bill, the Old Man in the Mountain presentation and the fruit basket sent to Lisa Fortin. The Money Market income was from interest. Sally Woodman made a motion to accept the Treasurers’ Reports. Cheryl Saunders seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Old Business:
2011 annual Financial report filed -- Bill Landry reported he submitted the Dept. of Justice Annual Report.
New Business:
Executive Board opening – Bill Landry reported Mary Marshall informed him she is stepping down from the Executive Board. Bill made a motion to select a replacement from the membership since there is no Active Past President. Diane Morin seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote. Diane Morin volunteered to fill the opening on the Executive Board. Bill Landry made a motion to accept Diane Morin to fill the Executive Board opening. Ann Miles seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Grange museum donation – Bill Landry met Jim Doggett at the Grange Hall. Jim gave Bill several items and has several other things he is working on.
Request for display of Hayford Carriage – Ann Miles passed around posters of the Amesbury Carriage Company. She requested we display the Hayford Democrat Carriage at the Amesbury Carriage Festival at Bob-Lynn Stables, 91 Monroe St. The carriage would be in the indoor arena in a roped off area. We will have to transport the carriage to and from the Stables. The carriage must be in the arena at 11:00AM Saturday. We should put together whatever documentation we have on the carriage. The fixed carriages will be judged early Saturday afternoon and prizes will be given Saturday evening. Sunday the moving carriages will be judges. The carriage would be removed Sunday. Ron Saunders suggested Forest’s niece or Mary Marshall might have information on the carriage.
Bill Landry recapped we would have to clean up the carriage, get it over there and put some documentation together. He asked for volunteers. Diane Morin volunteered her 5 X 8 trailer to transport the carriage. Karen O’Malley offered to help her. Bill has the picture of Forest and David Hayford riding in the carriage a couple of years ago. There was discussion on where the Hayford house was. The consensus of the members was we would participate. Ann Miles will get Bill information on how to clean the carriage. She suggested vacuuming it and not to use cleaners. Bill Landry, Ron Saunders and possibly Diane Morin will meet on Wednesday May 16th at 5:30PM at the Schoolhouse to look for pictures and the salesmen cards.
Curtains Without Borders – Bill Landry met with Chris Hadsell from Curtains without Boarders to look at the curtains in the Town Hall. She told Bill there are grants for restoring curtains. The grants are issued in March. She offered to help us to apply for a grant. They also went with Jim Doggett to look at the Grange curtain. Jim told Bill the Grange was thinking of selling their curtain. There was discussion about talks with the Grange last year on them donating the curtain to the Historical Society. Bill Landry offered to go before the Selectman in the early Fall to explain the restoration possibility. He will propose two options, option one the Town gives the curtains to the Society and we will pursue the restoration, option two is the Society will pursue the
restoration without taking ownership of the curtains. Karen O’Malley suggested we take pictures of the Grange building.
Memorial Day Veteran’s Flags – Bill Landry spoke with George Marshall about placing the flags on the veteran’s graves in town. Marilyn Landry, Sally Woodman and Mike Hughes volunteered. Bill Landry will find out the day and time and let them know.
Other:
Reports of Curators & Committee Chairpersons:
Curators: Bill Landry reported the Marshall House will be cleaned Tuesday. Cheryl Saunders asked for volunteers for the Open House on June 3rd from 1PM to 3PM. The volunteer schedule is:
Name |
Time |
Location |
Cheryl Saunders |
1-2 PM |
Marshall House |
Mike Hughes |
1-3 PM |
Marshall House |
Bill Landry |
1-3 PM |
Primary Schoolhouse |
Marilyn Landry |
2-3 PM |
Marshall House |
Ron Saunders |
1-2 PM |
Primary Schoolhouse |
Phil Lang |
1-3 PM |
Primary Schoolhouse |
Mary Riordan |
2-3 PM |
Marshall House |
Historian: No report.
Archivist: Karen O’Malley reported she has labeled the items in the first small case in the Primary Schoolhouse. She gave Bill Landry the label receipt for reimbursement. Labels need to be put on the previously accessioned items. She indicated this project will be going on for a while. Karen asked if the 2nd PC has the archiving software. Mary Riordan will get together with Karen to load the software.
Programs: Sally Woodman reported we had about 40 people and the feedback was good on the Old Man in the Mountain presentation. She noted we need to pass out the evaluation forms at the next event. John Meserve offered to make copies of the form.
The next presentation, The New England Town, is Wednesday July 18th at 7PM. Sally will give Bill the information toward the end of June so he can make flyers. The presentation will be about small towns in our area and then focus on Newton.
The fall presentation has not been finalized yet. Bill suggested putting out a survey for a couple of weeks asking the public what presentation they are interested in. The four choices are Lizzie Borden, NH Cover Bridges, Banjos, Bones and Ballards and NH Story Teller. The survey would be on Channel 20, at the Merrimac bank, the Town Hall and the Library. John Meserve suggested having the survey at the Open House. Sally will send Bill a short description of the events.
Society Information for Sargent Woods residents (Joyce K.) Bill Landry gave Joyce King some 250th Anniversary Booklets and membership forms. He said we would not display items there due to the small number of residents at this time. He also noted moving items in and out of the Primary School would complicate the accessioning project.
Correspondence:
Thank you note from Lisa Fortin -- Bill Landry received a Thank You note from Lisa Fortin for the Fruit Basket.
Next Meeting: Monday June 11, 2012. Bill Landry will book the Town Hall if nobody is available to open the bank.
Karen O’Malley made a motion to adjourn. Cheryl Saunders seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote. Bill Landry adjourned the meeting at 8:25 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Riordan, Secretary
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