OCONOMOWOC HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Board Minutes/May 14, 2007

Museum

OHS Members Present: Marjorie Day, John Fishleigh, Pam Thomas, Barbara Elwood-Goetsch, Duane Hoffmann, Terry Ladwig, Tony Thorsen, Hilton Neal, Nancy Lins, Fran Durkin, Betty Hancock, Ed Johnson, Don Wiemer, Bob Ludwig, Barb Hirsch, Bill Marris, Valerie Davis, Ruth Behling and guest Howard Thomas.

President Hilton Neal opened the meeting at 4:07pm with the introduction of Jeanie Burchardt from the Oconomowoc Women’s Club who presented the Historical Society with a check for $750. The Enterprise was there to take a picture of the presentation with President Hilton Neal and Jeanie.

Valerie Davis reported that her college experience in Nebraska was worthwhile, but she was glad to be back in Oconomowoc.

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

Treasurer’s Report:

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

• P & L for April 2007, showed total income of $420.98 and expenses of $4,127.85 for a net income of -$3,706.87. Checking account balance as of 4/30/07 was $462.43, Savings account $48,861.12, Certificate of Deposit as of 4/30/07 was $63,040.80 and the Vanguard Total Index Fund was at $7,877.38 for total cash assets as of 4/30/07 was $120,704.16. Question was asked about establishing an Endowment in the future with the CD money. Currently the Vanguard Total Index Fund has been figured in that category, but it is something the board will have to consider in the future.
• Don Wiemer moved to accept the April 2007 financial statement. Terry Ladwig seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Board Interest Survey:

• Terry Ladwig has heard from most of the board, but is willing to stay after today’s meeting if the remaining members who haven’t filled out the survey yet have time today to fill it out.
• Marilyn Hennes is making solicitation calls for the two proposed focus groups. OHS members not currently involved on the board or committees are being contacted. Terry would like approximately 12 members per group. One group will consist of OHS members 30-60 years old and the second would be members 60+, meetings to take place next week.

Administrator’s Report/Museum Operations:

• Visitors: 180 people visited the museum since the last board meeting.
• Correspondence: DSL contract increased from $39 to $44.99 per month.
• Programs: Open house at museum on Saturday, May 20^th from 1-5pm. Questers will be reading to children, refreshments will be served and additional volunteers are needed. Board members were asked to attend and help that day if possible.

Tony Rajer is preparing to arrive and work on murals, will need carpentry work done.

Quarterly meeting on Saturday, April 28 was excellent. The speaker hasn’t been sent money for speaking as yet. Don Wiemer made a motion to send a check for $125 to Carol. Terry Ladwig seconded the motion. Motion carried. Marjorie Day will write a thank you letter to send with the check.

• Volunteer/Committee Meetings:

Exhibit committee: Nancy is currently forming this committee and would like members to commit to a 3-year term.

Hospitality: Ann White assisted at the quarterly meeting and will continue on hospitality. Nancy has another member who is willing to start soon on this committee.

Operations/Maintenance: met on April 21^st cleaning for the museum opening. They will be off for the summer

Construction committee: is off for the summer

Docents: met on May 5^th, should have enough docents this year.

• Exhibits: Munger & Padlocks & Keys are all in place. Placards for Questers still needs to be added as well as the Munger Studio sign needs to be placed.

• Repairs/Maintenance: Light switch repaired and gallery lamp fixture repaired; Elk fencing unwrapped and moved to storage in basement; city is mowing the lawn and Neals will do the trimming and landscape plantings; collected the hazardous materials from the Grinrod display for disposal; drain pipes on south side of building need repair/replacement.
• Miscellaneous: applied for State of Wisconsin matching grant of $700 for storage of oversized maps and photos; Marci has finished more than 260 pages of the fire book. After a meeting with Don Wiemer, the possibility of dividing the book into more than one volume was discussed and deemed possible.
• P/R needed for open house on May 20^th celebrating the new exhibits and Wisconsin Museum Week as well as the upcoming Tony Rajer events.

Membership:

• Barbara Elwood-Goetsch reported the Historical Society now has 365 members, 15 organizations and municipalities, 39 free memberships and 48 delinquent members down from 72. Barbara also added a column with estimated ages of members.

Artifacts:

• Marjorie asked about getting the Japanese mortar shells and hand grenades out of the museum. She suggested that the donor be called to see if he wants them back. Don Wiemer made a motion to deaccession the items and Nancy Lins seconded the motion. Motion carried.
• The society received a Nagawicka Yacht Club book and collection of Delany family papers dating to 1864.

Local History Committee:

• Dorothy St. Thomas has agreed to take over the Local History committee in the fall.
• The committee would like to reduce the sale price of Lavinia’s letters to $5 ($3 to retailers). Bill Marris has offered to take over the sales and accounting of them.
• The committee would also like to invest in a reprint of “When Midwest Millionaires Lived Like Kings”. Don Wiemer and Mike Schutz offered to work on editing the book and it will have a disclaimer like “Illustrious Oconomowoc” did. Ed Johnson made a motion that the committee proceed checking on the cost and feasibility of such an effort and come back to the board next month with an estimate. John Fishleigh seconded the motion. Motion carried.
• Betty Hancock contacted the Festival of the Arts to see if we could have a table at the entrance of Fowler Park to show what we have for sale at the museum, but even if we could we can’t sell there. Bill suggested having a table across the street with other vendors so we would be able to sell our books. Bill will contact Betty regarding this proposal.

Education Committee:

• Terry Ladwig reported that the Education Committee reviewed an initial draft of its 2007-08 plan at its April meeting. It finalized its mission statement as follows:

The mission of the Oconomowoc Historical Society’s Education Committee is to research, develop and implement outreach programming to instill a passion for             learning more about the Oconomowoc and Lake Country area’s rich history and to preserve this history for future generations. In pursuit of its mission, the committee also identified a number of goals that remain in draft form.

• Barbara Elwood-Goetch will research a grant through Target for field trips.
• Committee meets again tonight at 7pm.

Docent Meeting/Breakfast/Status:

• Volunteer breakfast a big success as far as program…not as far as food. May have to look for another place next year.

Report on Lichtner Mural Restoration:

• Fran Durkin reported that Tony Rajer would be starting on June 6 with his students. The head of the Art Department at the Oconomowoc High School should be contacted to see if their students would be interested in this. Barbara Elwood-Goetch will check the high school to see who the contact would be.
• Tony is willing to come speak on Schomer Lichtner, his work and the mural. Terry Kaldusdahl offered to video the presentation, an interview with him and the reconstruction of the murals. We may be able to use this video to show other area service groups when we talk about the museum in the future.

Speakers:

• July 21, 2007— Tony Rajer is available to spead at a quarterly meeting.
• October, 2007—Chuck Herro “The Gilded Age-Extended”

OLD BUSINESS:

Elk Project:

• Duane Hoffmann reported Robb Memmel continues to work on the elk. The feet are going in the base now but he can’t lift some of the pieces and needs help. Ed Johnson offered to go help Robb. A mover was brought in to see the elk and wants it in one piece when it is moved. It will be moved in mid-June.
• Duane also offered a name of someone interested in being on the board. He will be invited to the June meeting.
• Letter read from Mead Hunt on concerns of historical buildings between Concord Road and the bypass.
• Thank yous read from Darlene Shumway with $100 donation and Jackie Morgan with $40 donation.

NEW BUSINESS:

• Hilton read an email received from Nancy Lins asking if a policy on groups using/renting the museum for meetings was in place, specifically a request from an exercise/diet group in town with a request to use the museum for their meetings. The Executive Committee felt this request was not a proper use of the building but requests from most non-profits could be a legitimate use. Don Wiemer drafted a policy for the board to look at regarding rental information and an application. He did not include a paragraph for non-profits but will revise and send to Pam to email and mail to the directors for approval. Don Wiemer moved and Bill Marris seconded a motion to deny the request of the diet club’s use of the museum for its upcoming meetings, as it is not a historical use of the building.
• Question asked regarding legal serving of wine at the museum for special events. Nancy and Don will look at a policy regarding wine on the premise.

Ed Johnson moved and John Fishleigh seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 5:31pm.

Next meeting will be Monday, June 11, 2007 at 4pm at the museum.

Respectfully submitted,

Pam Thomas/Secretary