OCONOMOWOC HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Board Minutes/August 13, 2007

Museum

OHS Members Present: Marjorie Day, Pam Thomas, Duane Hoffmann, Terry Ladwig, Tony Thorsen, Hilton Neal, Nancy Lins, Ed Johnson, Don Wiemer, Margie Krauski, Fran Durkin, Barbara Elwood-Goetsch, Diane Johnson, Ray Maurer, Mac Dorn, Barb Hirsch and Bill Marris.

President Hilton Neal opened the meeting at 4:08pm.

Secretary’s Report: Ed Johnson moved to accept the minutes of the July 9, 2007 Board meeting and Nancy Lins seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report:

• Ed Johnson explained The P & L Budget vs. Actual for November 2006 through July 2007.

• P & L for July 2007, showed total income of $3,632.93 (the Elk income of $1,050 and $500 of the donation money are in the restricted category). Expenses were $6,607.46 for a net income of -$2,974.53. Checking account balance as of 7/31/07 was $4,456.09, Savings Account $43,075.87; Certificate of Deposit as of 7/31/07 was $63,826.65 and the Vanguard Total Index Fund was at $7,788.50 for total cash assets as of 7/31/07 of $101,753.21.
• Don Wiemer moved to accept the July 2007 financial statement. Tony Thorsen seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Administrator’s Report/Museum Operations:

• Visitors: 307 people visited the museum since the last board meeting. The museum is getting more interest and we need to meet that interest. With the additional publicity we have to be here to keep it open when the community visits. On July 20 there were no docents so the museum was closed and on July 21 it closed at 2pm as we only had one docent and we need two. Nancy suggested a greeter be paired with a docent in order to spread the docents farther.
• Budgets: Nancy has requested budgets from each committee for next year. Many of the committees are new and not sure what to put in a budget, but may know where they are headed next year and Nancy can evaluate their estimate. Deadline is October 1^st for submitting your committee’s budget.
• Correspondence: We were not selected for the $700 matching grant from the WI Historical Society. We will need a volunteer at the museum all day during the Art Festival as we think we are a bus stop now.
• Exhibits: Museum was opened 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: John Radtke put rail lighting for the mural in on short notice so it would be ready for the Quarterly meeting on July 21^st and plans to put the proper switch in for the docents soon.
• Misc.: The fire alarm has gone off several times this month. A technician from another company is coming to check the motion detectors.

Air conditioning has been set at 68 degrees in the past, but after some research, Nancy has been setting the thermostat at 74 degrees as we have a mixed collection. The board agreed the thermostat did not need to be set at 68 degrees.

The Chamber of Commerce has invited us to the first Breakfast series on September 13^th, 7:30am at Olympia. Cost is $12 per person and will feature Mayor Maury Sullivan on the state of the City and Dennis Waite on the state of the Chamber. You must RSVP to the Chamber for this event. Also the Business After Hours in September will be at the Red Circle Inn at 5pm on September 11, RSVPs needed for this event also.

• Hope everyone that was not here when the deer was installed on its pedestal enjoyed the pictures Nancy had forwarded by email.

Membership:

• Barbara Elwood-Goetsch reported receiving four new members at the Quarterly meeting plus an additional three in the mail for a total of 379 members, 13 organizations and 33 delinquent.

Artifacts:

• Dr. Henry Peters donated a model sailboat similar to the Lac La Belle boats at the turn of the century. He was a friend of William Wagner and his family was very excited to see the Wagner exhibit.
• An album of old Oconomowoc photos from the Monastery and the Redempterest Fathers was donated.
• Robert Carsten who was a radio operator during the war donated twenty-eight WW2 items that we don’t currently have.

Local History Committee:

• Bill Marris is set to sell our books and posters at 415 Oakwood Ave during Festival of the Arts. He would appreciate someone from the Society stopping by and giving him a break during the two-day event. He also requested a tent cover or umbrella and Historical Society signage.
• We currently have ten locations selling our books and posters.
• Bill read a letter he sent to Hilton requesting sharing the sale of our books and poster as a joint fundraiser for the Library. The Board liked the idea but would like a letter sent to the door owners asking for permission to use the poster as a joint fundraising effort with the Library. Don Wiemer made a motion that after proper investigation the Executive Committee make the final decision. Bill Marris seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Education Committee:

• The committee is trying to be pro-active. They are focusing on 4^th graders as they study the history and geography of Wisconsin.
• At their last meeting they decided to invite all 4^th grade teachers from public, private and home schools to hear what they as teachers want from the historical society for their children. Another group possibility is inviting members of the Blue Herron Girl Scout Council (possible 216 troups). But to accomplish this we need more knowledgeable docents. The committee will offer training to docents that would be able to handle groups of children (retired teachers?).

Exhibit Committee:

• Shirley Hinds reported at the August 8, 2007 meeting the committee made a motion to table the Tony Rajer idea of murals on the outside windows of the museum. The committee will see if other ideas would be more in keeping with the historic beauty of the outside. Besides being worried about how they would look to the neighbors and community the moisture seeping into the gaps of the synthetic stucco and fading were also considered. We currently have three donors who have donated money to the window murals as well as $1,000 from the Schomer Licthner Foundation for landscaping. Hilton is willing to send a letter to the mural donors asking if they would allow us to use the money for other projects like the landscaping. The board felt that if they just wanted to enhance the building they might allow the money to be used for other needed items for the building. Don Wiemer made a motion to abide by the recommendation of the Exhibit Committee and to deposit the funds already collected to allow the committee to continue researching their recommendations of the funds. Shirley Hinds seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Ed Johnson made a motion to direct President Hilton Neal to contact the mural donors and advise them of the Exhibit Committee/Board’s action and give them an option of alternative needs for the museum. Terry Ladwig seconded the motion. Motion carried.

• Shirley also reported that the committee discussed the outside museum sign. Nancy was asked to contact Oconomowoc Sign Company for pricing and samples of signage.
• Question as to what our official logo and typeface for the museum is. We need to be consistent and now is the time to do it. Duane Hoffmann offered to contact Paul Goetzke to look into it. All agreed he was the one to contact as he has done work for the museum in the past.

Elk Project:

• Duane reported that Robb Memmel has asked the Historical Society for $4,000 for his hours of work on the elk project. Even though this is above what he had originally asked for, Duane felt he deserved this amount because he went above and beyond what he had originally thought needed to be done to make the elk ready to be displayed. Ed Johnson made a motion to pay Robb Memmel the $4,000 and added that an additional $500 be added to that amount to pay for outstanding remaining construction costs. Margie Krauski seconded the motion, motion carried. In the future it was suggested getting an invoice from the person providing the service. Duane will get an invoice and social security number from Robb for the museum. The board thanked Duane for all the hours he put into this project, not only helping Robb but also raising money for the project as well as getting new memberships. Jeff Lins was also singled out for thanks for all his hours spent at the museum on several projects.
• Dedication will hopefully be in a couple weeks. Duane is looking at possibly a bronze sign to put on the elk. Marjorie will come up with the appropriate language for it.

Ice Cream Social/Raffle:

• Diane reported on a successful event and thanked several people for coming to her aid after the Saturday night storm broke the tent poles on the tent we usually use and she had to find alternative tents on very short notice.
• The raffle brought in around $1,000 and the social should bring in about $1,200. This year we will have to pay $200 to Lorlebergs for rental of the new tents. Hilton thanked Diane for all she did to make this event such a success. Diane said she would chair the event again next year for us.

2008 Incentive Plan and Status:

• Margie Krauski presented the 2008 incentive to donors donating $100 and up to the Historical Society. She would like to put together a songbook with a glossy front cover and graphics that opens up to a description and background of five songs that have a tie in to Oconomowoc and/or Wisconsin. It will include the sheet music and a CD of the five songs. The songs include: I went for a walk in Oconomowoc; Draper Hall March; Cooney Waltz; After the Ball and On Wisconsin. Four of the five are ready to go but the rendition of After the Ball that we have is piano only and she would like to have the vocal rendition for the CD as the words are very beautiful and make the song more meaningful. Margie has located an unheard version for $187 from the Library of Congress or a version from LA for $200. She is requesting $2,000 to cover the cost of purchasing the vocal version and production of 300 CDs and books. Don Wiemer made a motion to allot $2,500 for the project and Margie was instructed to order whatever amount of CD’s etc. that this amount will cover. Bill Marris seconded the motion. Motion carried.
• Suggestion was made to up the amount of the donor donation from $100 to at least $150 or $200 in order to receive the incentives in 2008.

Committee Responsibility Report:

• Nancy Lins and Terry Ladwig met and made recommendations and suggestions from their Focus Groups report. It is important to do something with the information soon and not let it lie. We definitely need to form a PR and Marketing Committee. Terry suggested the board members look at the committees they are currently on and have the chairs of those committees lead a discussion on their recommendations.
• Committees need to report in a couple months. Pam will send out electronic copies of the 2007 Focus Group research project to those with email. Please read carefully and report your ideas at the September meeting.

OLD BUSINESS:

• Voting on the proposed Mission Statement: The mission of the Oconomowoc Historical Society and the Oconomowoc and Lake Country Museum is to serve, preserve and educate the public on the area’s rich history and the Vision Statement: The vision of the Oconomowoc and Lake Country Museum is to serve as a community resource and learning center, committed to preserving the area’s rich history and through what is left in its care, to inspire and deepen the understanding of past choices, present circumstances and future possibilities were presented. Ed Johnson moved to accept the statements as submitted. Bill Marris seconded the motion. Motion carried.

NEW BUSINESS:

• Board and spouse/guest social: It has been suggested that a get together of board members and their significant others was in order so they get to know each other better. It would help us work better as a board in the future if we were able to connect with each other. Everyone agreed to wait until after November when the new board members start. Diane Johnson, Terry Ladwig and Nancy Lins will come up with an idea for this get together by the next board meeting.

Motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 5:51pm.

Next meeting will be Monday, September 10, 2007 at 4pm at the museum.

Respectfully submitted,

Pam Thomas/Secretary