OCONOMOWOC HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Board Minutes/July 9, 2007

Museum

OHS Members Present: Marjorie Day, John Fishleigh, Pam Thomas, Duane Hoffmann, Terry Ladwig, Tony Thorsen, Hilton Neal, Nancy Lins, Ed Johnson, Don Wiemer, Margie Krauski, Chuck Herro, Fran Durkin, Barbara Elwood-Goetsch, Ann Zimmerman, Valerie Davis, Ruth Behling and guests Tony Rajer and Donell Schommer.

President Hilton Neal opened the meeting at 4:06pm.

Secretary’s Report: Don Wiemer moved to accept the minutes of the June 11, 2007 Board meeting and Marjorie Day seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report:

• The P & L Budget vs. Actual for November 2006 through June 2007 was distributed.

• P & L for June 2007, showed total income of $5,393.34 and expenses of $6,832.86 for a net income of -$1,439.52. Checking account balance as of 6/30/07 was $454.00, Savings Account $47,004.80; Certificate of Deposit as of 6/30/07 was $63,040.80 and the Vanguard Total Index Fund was at $8,002.84 for total cash assets as of 6/30/07 was $129,219.72.
• Don Wiemer moved to accept the June 2007 financial statement. Nancy Lins seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Administrator’s Report/Museum Operations:

• Visitors: 423 people visited the museum since the last board meeting.
• Programs: June 30^th Tony Rajer open house and “A Night at the Museum” movie.
• Exhibits: Museum open every day from 9am-5pm in the month of June. Docents and several board members were available for visitors. Nancy filled in hours that were not covered.

• Repairs/Maintenance: New thermostat was put on the furnace upstairs along with drain tubing. The outdoor museum sign was removed for balcony for repairs.
• Misc.: two boys vandalized the brick pile on the west side; raffle tickets are ready and 6 tickets per OHS member will be mailed soon; Terry Kaldusdahl is working on the second DVD doing research and copy work at the museum; inventory has started upstairs, many items repacked in archival boxes and labeled, more boxes have been ordered.
• Museum sign: need a new sign or have the present sign painted. City Planner has given Nancy guidelines for the sign placement on the property. Exhibit Committee will consider placement of the sign.

Membership:

• Barbara Elwood-Goetsch and Duane Hoffmann were thanked for the increase in membership. We now have 372 members, 13 organizations and 37 remain delinquent. Barb asked if she could drop those members who haven’t paid membership since 2004. Duane offered to call all the delinquent members and see if they wanted to renew their membership.

Artifacts:

• Large Oconomowoc Canning and Stokely collection received from Esther Neumann.
• Vintage hats received from Marilyn Clark
• Betty Hancock received a call regarding artifacts from dismantling of the North Lake bridge. Should we retrieve something and possibly incorporate with our sign? Board suggested it be left up to the Artifacts committee to pick something if they feel it is worth it. Chuck Herro said he would ask the Department of Public Works to bring the chosen pillars to the museum.

Local History Committee:

• Cost of printing still not firm from Leitzke Printing for “When Midwest Millionaires Lived Like Kings”. Board suggested it be tabled until September when the committee meets again.
• Margie Krauski reported that Bill Marris now has eight locations with three additional ones pending approval to sell our printed materials. Books & Company have sold out of posters and books and are requesting more. Festival of the Arts sales location confirmed and it will not cost us anything, we will use our signage from the Ice Cream Social for our table. Thank you to Bill for all his efforts, they are certainly paying off!

Education Committee:

• For the 2007-2008 school year the committee will focus on a specific topic that fits into the teacher’s curriculum for the next 4^th graders tour. No stations will be offered for this school year as there is not enough time for docents to present all the information.

Exhibit Committee:

• The committee met last Thursday with Tony Rajer to decide where the murals should be placed. Artifacts from the Canning Company and Stokely will be able to be displayed in the cabinets below the murals. Several Stokely/Oconomowoc Canning Company employees will be invited to the meeting along with other dignitaries.
• The old museum sign on the balcony was taken down and the railing will be redone. Consensus of the board is it should be lit and displayed in front of the museum by the flagpole.

Report on Lichtner Mural Restoration:

• The murals will be hung at 3pm on Wednesday. The wall that the murals will be placed on needs to be painted before they can be hung. Tony is donating a CD of photos taken during the restoration as well as the photo panels of the restoration that are currently on display. Tony is also placing on permanent loan to the museum a fragment of the original murals that went over the doorway at the Canning Company. It is a picture of an airplane and was given to Tony by Joe Weix when he originally took the murals down.
• The dedication will be at the Quarterly meeting of the Historical Society on Saturday, July 21, 2007 at the museum. Students and interns that helped with the restoration will be recognized with a certificate of appreciation at this time also.
• Relatives, retired Oconomowoc Canning and Stokely employees, mural donors and people involved in Schomer’s life are being invited to the unveiling.
• A booklet will be available as documentation of the project and will be kept in the office.
• The event will give us good PR in the local newspapers and will be taped.

Elk Project:

• Elk is standing on all four legs now. The gold paint has been removed and it will be repainted this week. It should be finished by July 16. The Enterprise will interview Duane regarding all that has gone into the restoration of the elk.
• Board decided to place the elk on its pedestal after the Quarterly meeting on July 21 and have a dedication at the August board meeting. The new sign and lighting should be ready at that time too.
• Thank you to Duane for all his efforts in the community regarding this project.

Ice Cream Social/Raffle:

• No report. Volunteers will be asked to sign up at the Quarterly meeting on July 21. Raffle tickets are going out soon to members.

Progress on new DVD:

• Terry is working on the new DVD. This will be available for the 2009 campaign, sheet music will be used for the 2008 campaign.

Speakers:

• July 21, 2007— Tony Rajer
• October, 2007—Chuck Herro “The Gilded Age-Extended”

OLD BUSINESS:

• Because of moving things out for the murals, we no longer have a flag in the meeting room. Board suggested getting a flag stand and pole of the appropriate height when the murals are in place and put a current flag on it.

NEW BUSINESS:

• Approval of Mural and Signage locations: Margie Krauski moved and Don Wiemer seconded a motion to approve the location of the murals and to put the new museum signage by the outside flagpole. An open sign with hours should also be placed on the east side of the front door. More lighting is also needed for the murals.

Don Wiemer moved and Margie Krauski seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 5:33pm.

Next meeting will be Monday, August 13, 2007 at 4pm at the museum.

Respectfully submitted,

Pam Thomas/Secretary