NEWTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Minutes of June 10, 2013
Merrimac Savings Bank
Members present: |
Bill Landry |
Mary Riordan |
Karen O’Malley |
Marilyn Landry |
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Diane Morin |
John Meserve |
Sally Woodman |
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Bill Landry called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM.
Secretary’s Report – Mary Riordan
Diane Morin made a motion to accept the minutes of May 13, 2013. Marilyn Landry seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Treasurer’s Report – Bill Landry
The May 31, 2013 account balances were:
The Checking income was from Barn content yard sale and dues. Expense was for the electric bill. The Money Market income was from interest. Diane Morin made a motion to accept the May 31, 2013 Treasurers’ Reports. Marilyn Landry seconded the motion. John Meserve asked how this balance compares to last year. Bill replied it is pretty close to last year’s amount. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Old Business:
Removal of tree at Schoolhouse: Bill Landry received a call from Bruce Anderson asking if we had decided to remove the tree between the Schoolhouse and the Gallant property. Bill explained that the tree was dead and could fall on the Schoolhouse. He recalled it would cost about $1500 to remove it. There was discussion on the potential damage to the building and artifacts and who is liable for the damage. John Meserve and Marilyn Landry will get bids from tree removal people. Bill Landry will inform Bruce that we are getting bids on the removal.
Historical Society Web Site: Bill Landry reported he, Diane Morin and Mary Riordan met with Bob Dezmelyk about creating our own web site. Diane reported we registered the domain name newtonhistoricalsociety.org and have a hosting site. Bill showed printouts of potential web pages.
There was discussion on templates from Wordpress and other free sites. Bob Dezmelyk donated the payment for the domain name to the Society. Bill Landry requested we extend a life membership to Bob for his help and donation. Sally Woodman made a motion to extend a life membership to Bob Dezmelyk. Karen O’Malley seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote. Bill Landry will send Bob a letter thanking him and informing him of his life membership.
Create Historical presentation for Middle School: Bill Landry reported we will need to create at team to work on the presentation. There was discussion on what topics for the presentation. Bill Landry will ask Becky about what topics the kids would be interested.
Using School Facilities for presentations: Mary Riordan reported she contacted Carol Coppola at the SAU office. There is a link on the school district on what is required to use school facilities. There are requirements for an indemnity agreement, event insurance and fees for space and personnel to run school district equipment. The events cannot be scheduled for future school years. There was discussion on what we need to do to use the Town Hall. Karen O’Malley suggested approaching one of the churches in town.
New Business: None
Other:
Visit by Jim Peck of the Plaistow Historical Society: Bill Landry gave Jim a tour of the school house and discussed what we’re doing.
Reports of Curators & Committee Chairpersons:
Curators:
Barn repair: Bill Landry and Ron Saunders looked at the barn walls. They met with Rob Hayes to get a preliminary estimate for the repairs. They think we should replace the bottom one foot of the wall boards with horizontal board. The sill on the left side needs to be replaced. There is rot on the sill on the 2nd floor window. The overhang on the doors should be replaced. Rob recommended using a 6 X 8 beam across the 2nd floor that could be jacked up to level it and steel braces installed to hold it. This would eliminate the need for a column in the carriage storage area. Bill will meet with Rob again to get more information to present to the Town. Bill spoke to Nick Giorgio about sealing the walls.
Removal of carriages to 8 Merrimac: John Meserve reported he spoke to Chief Streeter and got the OK to put the carriages in 8 Merrimac. Bill suggested doing it on a weekend Ron’s truck/trailer is available. John Meserve will let Chief Streeter know we will be moving them soon.
New shelving in schoolhouse: No report
Historian: None
Archivist: Karen O’Malley reported she has started to accession the railroad items. She has added a category to the list for railroad. When she completes these items, she’ll let Bill know so the large display case can be closed up. Karen asked that new items be not be placed on the tables so she’ll know what needs to be accessioned. The new items should be put on the counter between the rooms. Bill will put a table in the Schoolhouse for Karen to put the accessioned items so the Curators know what can be move to a display. Bill Landry has pictures in the Schoolhouse that he will accession. Karen O’Malley asked Mary Riordan where the pictures are stored in the software. Mary will look at the old laptop to find the folder they are stored in.
Programs:
Review presentation list for 2014:
Sally Woodman reported she received a call from Emery Hutchins of Two Old Friends asking if we want them back next year. The consensus was since we only have 3 a year we would not repeat a presentation in consecutive years. Sally will let Emery know of our decision. There was discussion on the list of presentations Sally sent out prior to the meeting.
Sally will pursue the presentations in the following order:
- Old Time Rules Will Prevail: The Fiddle Contest in New Hampshire and New England
- Abraham and Mary Lincoln: The Long and the Short of It
- Winning the War, Shaping the Peace: Industry, Civil War and the Birth of Consumerism
- Songs of Old New Hampshire
- All Aboard the Titanic
- New Hampshire’s One-Room Rural Schools: The Romance and the Reality
Remaining 2013 presentations:
July 10th – “That Reminds Me of a Story”
Sept. 18th – “Lizzie Borden Took an Axe, or did she?
Correspondence:
Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum – Warner, NH Bill Landry received an email from Lynn Clark asking if we had any Indian baskets. Bill responded to them that we do not have any.
Don Woodworth – Indiana U. of Penn. Bill Landry received an email from Don about his paper on Abigail and Hannah Chase. Bill told Don he could use the Society as a source of information. Don will send Bill more of his papers when he completes them.
Next Meeting: Monday July 8, 2013, 7:00 PM at the Merrimac Savings Bank.
Bill Landry adjourned the meeting at 8:06 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Riordan, Secretary
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