OCONOMOWOC HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Board Minutes/October 8, 2007

Museum

 

OHS Members Present:  Pam Thomas, Duane Hoffmann, Terry Ladwig, Hilton Neal, Nancy Lins, Don Wiemer, Margie Krauski, John Fishleigh, Betty Hancock, Chuck Herro, Fran Durkin, Barb Hirsch, Dorothy St. Thomas, Duane Thorsen, Ann Zimmerman, Barbara Elwood-Goetsch, Ray Maurer, Ruth Behling, Bill Marris, Sue Bickler, Marjorie Day and Shirley Hinds.

 

President Hilton Neal opened the meeting at 4:05pm.

 

Secretary’s Report: Don Wiemer moved to accept the minutes of the September 10, 2007 Board meeting and John Fishleigh seconded the motion. Motion carried. One spelling correction was noted in the Artifacts report, it should be Wegener not Wegner. Correction will be made.

 

Treasurer’s Report:

  • Don Wiemer moved to accept the September 2007 financial statement. Margie Krauski seconded the motion. Motion carried.

 

Administrator’s Report/Museum Operations:

  • Visitors: 281 people visited the museum due to two meetings that were also scheduled during the month, Greener Oconomowoc and Betty Hancock’s PEO Club met in the museum and toured after their meetings. The Golden Kiwanis also visited the museum. Barb Hirsch and Barb Elwood-Goetsch presented a power point program on the elk. The Kiwanians gave the Museum a check for $150.
  • Volunteers: Jill from Heritage Trails Questers has offered to join the Education Committee and John and Marilyn Susek have offered to join the Exhibit Committee. John and Marilyn also helped with the St. Matthew’s class visits. John has offered to try and make mannequins from the parts we have stored. Paul Fobian will let us assess the remaining mannequins at his business after Thanksgiving. We still have OAF money remaining that was given specifically for mannequins.
  • Inquiries: Heritage Trails Questors will host their state president on October 4th. Rockwell Questers will host the State Conference at the Oconomowoc Lake Club on October 10th and may visit the museum afterwards. Also on October 10th seven visitors from Germany plan to visit the museum for a short reception as part of a Sister City effort led by Mayor Maury Sullivan.
  • Correspondence: Notice of Oconomowoc events received from the Chamber: Trick or Treat on October 27th; Gallery Night on Friday, November 2nd and the Christmas Parade on December 1st. Discussion was held on developing a mobile display so that we could be more visible in future parades, this was one of the suggestions from the Focus group. Terry Ladwig and Nancy Lins will form a committee to firm up a display that could be used in future opportunities. We also want to participate in the Trick or Treat event on October 27th as we have in the past.
  • Exhibits: Exhibit Committee will meet tomorrow but plan to change their meeting date in the future to better accommodate a current report at the board meetings. One thing they will address is the outside sign. The proposed sign was not well received, so they will have to go back to the drawing board. The board felt it was best not to hurry, as we are not ready with our new branding or font yet. We could use a temporary sign for the winter months or possibly the sign that was on the balcony. Duane Hoffmann offered to help fund raise for the new sign. We may possibly have a donor for the sign so Duane will hold off until we hear for sure.

Shirley thanked Nancy Lins for her help with the Questers 15th anniversary celebration.

  • Repairs/Maintenance: New paper towel dispensers were installed.

 

Membership:

  • Barbara Elwood-Goetch reported 145 single memberships; 110/220 couples and one student membership for a total individual membership of 366. Organizations number 14 and free memberships are at 40. Duane Hoffman called all the members on the delinquent membership list. Some wanted a form resent and others said they chose not to rejoin. Barbara took off members from 2004 that she hadn’t heard from. New members are Kurt and Fonda Amidzich.

 

Artifacts:

  • Marjorie Day reported that as of the end of September over 100 new items have been donated. LHO Service League of Volunteers donated old children’s books received at their shop; two 1919 Fire Department posters were received but were not in good condition. Marjorie would like to take one to the gallery to have framed. Bob Leaf donated seven folders of information on the Leaf Family and a ledger from the Ford agency they owned in Oconomowoc.

 

Local History Committee:

  • Dorothy St. Thomas reported that at their first meeting after the summer break they reviewed projects they have undertaken. Local yacht clubs continue to be researched with a view to future programming and/or an exhibit.
  • Projects considered include: reprinting Jean Johnson’s book When Midwest Millionaires Lived Like Kings”; another historical DVD by Terry Kaldusdahl and a potential book on Oconomowoc’s historic fires by Marci Skerpka.
  • The committee wants to thank Betty Hancock for the years she led the group and to Bill Marris for developing all the retail sites that have been selling our books, posters, etc.

 

Education Committee:

  • Barb Hirsch reported that the Education Committee is meeting tomorrow at 4:15pm and will be hosting the 4th grade teachers from the Oconomowoc area.
  • November 20th, seventy 4th graders from Meadowview will visit…need an additional docent for the stations. Fran Durkin offered to help.
  • Developed a 25-minute power point presentation on the elk project. It took over 10 hours to put together and stated that this is the first program the society has available to pull out and use. The addition of the fence and the elk dedication will be added to the presentation in the future. This should be shown to the board and membership. The committee’s goal is to develop more programs but Barb said the society should invest in a laptop and other computer equipment needed to implement this.
  • The committee will also be touring the preschool class from Impact School and have been asked to do an offsite program for seniors at the Rec Center.
  • Nancy Lins wanted the board to know that Barb Hirsch and Barbara Elwood-Goetch have put in many hours on the elk program and deserve to be commended for all their hard work. She also mentioned that the 3 & 4 year-old program they developed was a wonderful addition for the society.

 

 

Exhibit Committee:

  • The committee will pursue a new design for the outside sign as the first one was vetoed by the Executive Board.
  • The concept of decorating the museum’s outside windows will be tabled permanently.
  • An exhibit using the theme of a progression of war memorabilia from the Civil War through the Viet Nam War will be displayed in and by the cabinets on the back wall across from the new Oconomowoc Public Library’s children’s room.
  • A small sign of wood with a glass door will be placed on the building beside the front door. This sign will display the days and times the museum is open and announce various coming events.
  • The committee will also continue to analyze many other suggested exhibit ideas.

 

Elk Dedication Status:

  • If the plaque is ready and the Christiansen’s are in town we can dedicate the elk after the Quarterly meeting on October 27th.
  • Duane reported that a neighbor and his son were seen climbing the fence and sitting on the elk.  We need to get the word out that the elk is fragile and not to be sat on. We are looking at security cameras and need to get the bushes up ASAP.  Police were notified and will be more vigilant.

 

2008 Incentive Plan and Status:

  • Margie Krauski reported she is on target with the donor incentive plan. She has received the version of After the Ball from the Library of Congress and now has a master of all five songs. Thank you to Nancy Lins for the extra time she has devoted to helping Margie. The original tiles from Draper Hall will be used as the artwork for the CD cover. The songbook is ready to go to print.

 

Landscaping Report:

  • Of the three $500 donations that were received for the windows, Royer’s would like theirs returned choosing not to use the money for landscaping.
  • Jean Neal is pricing boxwoods but the board suggested looking into the low growing barberry bush instead as it may be more of a deterrent to people wanting to scale the fence.

 

Speakers:

  • October 2007—Chuck Herro “The Gilded Age-Extended”
  • January 2008—Don Wiemer

 

OLD BUSINESS:

  • None

 

NEW BUSINESS:

  • Annual meeting is October 27th at the museum.

 

Margie Krauski moved and Don Wiemer seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried.

 

Next meeting will be Monday, November 12, 2007 at 4pm at the museum.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Pam Thomas/Secretary