NEWTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Minutes of October 7, 2013
Merrimac Savings Bank
Members present: |
Bill Landry |
Mary Riordan |
Karen O’Malley |
Marilyn Landry |
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Diane Morin |
John Meserve |
Kathy Meserve |
Barb DiBartolomeo |
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Ron Saunders |
Mike Hughes |
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Bill Landry called the meeting to order at 7:01 PM.
Secretary’s Report – Mary Riordan
Diane Morin made a motion to accept the minutes of August 12, 2013. Marilyn Landry seconded the motion. The motion passed 2 yeas, 2 abstentions.
Treasurer’s Report – Bill Landry
The Checking income was from the grant from NHHC for the Lizzie Borden presentation and donations. Expenses were for the electric bill, Festival expenses, donation to the Food Pantry matching the donations from the presentation and shelving for the Primary Schoolhouse. The Money Market income was from interest and Festival sponsors. Expenses were for the Lizzie Borden presentation and archiving supplies. Marilyn Landry made a motion to accept the September 30, 2013 Treasurers’ Reports. Mike Hughes seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Old Business:
Fall Festival – Sat. October 19th 4:30 – 6:30 PM: Kathy Meserve reported the articles will be in the newspaper and posters are up. Bill Landry will give Kathy some more posters. They have purchased the soda and paper goods and ordered the glasses. They will be buying the wine this week. John Meserve will contact Chief Streeter to remind him about the event. Marilyn Landry, Mary Riordan and John & Kathy Meserve will bring tables to the Bank on Saturday, Oct. 19th at 1PM. Food for the event was discussed. Cheryl will bring a cheese & cracker plate. Diane & Sally will bring the same puffs they brought last year. Marilyn will bring the pinwheels she brought last year. Bill will bring oatmeal raison
cookies. John Meserve reported he received $2,500 from sponsors for the event. He expects $400-$500 more in sponsors. We’ve got $225 in ticket sales. Trish McCarthy donated a $50 Home Depot gift certificate. Bill Landry reported Jim Doggett asked to donate a necklace as a Grand Prize. There was discussion on whether we wanted to have a “Grand Prize”. The consensus was not to have a “Grand Prize”. Bill will let Jim know. Newton Greenhouse is donating 4 mum plants. Bill will get 4 gift certificates at local restaurants. John Meserve will talk to the Lobster Boat. Rhythm Café donated a $25.00 Gift Certificate. Jim Doggett was notified of the decision not to have a Grand Prize. Jim will donate a pendant and two pairs of earrings from his jewelry store.
Marshall House Barn repair: Bill Landry sent a letter to the Board of Selectman explaining the condition of the Barn and that we’ve removed our items. He has not heard back from them. Diane Morin suggested that Bill contact Mary Winglass to get it on the Selectman’s agenda.
Newton Town Day – Museum Open House review: Ron Saunders reported 4 people came to the Schoolhouse. Karen O’Malley said 3 people came to the Marshall House. Karen O’Malley suggested we change the displays so there is something new for people to see. She said we’re not ready for that yet. There was discussion on opening them in March, depending on the weather and what new items we have to display like the Grebinstein items.
New Business:
Unidentified artifact donation: Bill Landry showed the unidentified item. Nobody knew what it was. Some guesses were an iron holder, a shoe mold and a part from a horse trough. We will put it out during the Fall Festival and ask people to guess what it is. Ron will take it to see if he can find out what it is.
“Seven to Save” Seminary Building Grant request support: Bill Landry received a request from Jan Bennet asking the Society to support a Grant request for monies to save the Seminary Building in Kingston. Due to the short notice, Bill emailed the Executive Committee for their opinion. The Committee was in favor of giving support to the effort. Bill sent an email of support for their efforts for the grant to Jan which included a statement that this should not be construed as an endorsement of any Warrant article that may appear on the School District ballot.
Trees trimmed around power lines at Schoolhouse: Bill Landry reported the power company trimmed tree branches from the power lines to the Schoolhouse.
M. Riordan volunteer program: Mary Riordan explained that the company she works for, ITW, has a volunteer support program where they pay qualified 501c organization $10 per hour for hours donated by its employees. Mary submitted 16 hours for her work this year. The Society will be receiving $160 for her hours from ITW.
Other:
Reports of Curators & Committee Chairpersons:
Curators:
New shelving in schoolhouse office area: Bill Landry reported the new shelving is in.
Carriage repair / blocking: Ron Saunders suggested we do not put the carriages on blocks while they are stored at the police station. There are other items stored in the area of the carriages and the Police may need to move the carriages to get at their items. John Meserve will check with Chief Streeter on whether they will need to move the carriages.
Historian: No report.
Archivist: Karen O’Malley reported she and Barb DiBartolomeo have put all the accessioned items on the shelving. She would like Courtney to look at them to see if they should be stored differently. The items beside the desk and on the floor still need to be accessioned. Karen took the remaining Myrtle Rogers’ items home to work on. She asked the members to organize the clippings by date and return them to her. Barbara and Mary Riordan have volunteered to help Karen accession these items. Ron asked about the items labeled “Do not accessioned”. He noted they are duplicates of things we already have. Ron will take the duplicate items. Karen will take the copier/scanner over the winter. She will make up an informational cover sheet for each book and
accession the book as one item.
Programs: Bill Landry reported 36 people attended the Lizzie Borden presentation. Fifty-three percent were from Newton. Most people heard about it through the Carriage Town News.
Correspondence: None
Next Meeting: Monday November 11, 2013, 7:00 PM at the Merrimac Savings Bank.
Bill Landry adjourned the meeting at 7:48 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Riordan, Secretary
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