OCONOMOWOC HISTORICAL SOCIETY

OCONOMOWOC AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND MUSEUM BOARD MINUTES

February 9, 2= 009

At Aurora Sports Conference Center

Board Members Present: Sue Bickler, Mary Blaska, John Eas= ton, Barbara Elwood-Goetsch, Shirley Hinds, Barb Hirsch, Duane Hoffman, Ed Johnson, Meli= ssa Krahn, Margie Krauski, Nancy Lins, Bob Ludwig, Lois Luebke, Ray Mauer, Hilt= on Neal, Don Wiemer

Absent Excuse= d: Fran Durkin, Ralph Garcia, Bill Marris, Ann Zimmerman

Absent: K= evin Passon, Donna Schlender=

Other Attende= es: Marjorie Day, Dorothy St. Thomas

Call to Order:&nbs= p; President Don Wiemer called the meeting to order at 4:01= pm.

Secretary’s Report: Ed Johnson moved and Mary Blaska seconded to accept the minu= tes of the January 1= 2, 2009 board meeting. Motion carried= .

Treasurer’s Report: Hilton Neal reported that January was a good month “financially”. Net cash assets are $101,793.69. The Annual Campaign is going very = well and has almost reached its goal. January expenditures totaled $2,696.39; revenue was $5,763.93= ; and revenue exceeded expenses by $3,067.54. Nancy Lins moved and Ray Mauer seco= nded to approve the Treasurer’s Report.&n= bsp; Motion carried. =

Administrator= ’s Report/Museum Operations: Lins pre-distributed a copy of her complete report. She also reported that a new manne= quin was recently purchased but is not the quality that was hoped for. She will “make it work”= ;. Newsletter submissions for the April edition are due by March 6 or absolutely no later than the March 9 board meeting.

Committee Reports:

Executive Committee: 1) The Endowment Policy document continues to be finalized and= may be ready for board review at the March meeting. 2) Bylaws review has begun and will continue in the months’ ahead. 3) Printing and mailing expenses for the quarterly newsletter are becoming increasingly high. W= iemer proposed emailing it to those members willing to receive it in that manner. It will be brought up= for further discussion at a later date. The last newsletter exceeded expectatio= ns by $200, however Leitzke Printing thinks it may have made a pricing mistake= and may reduce the bill.

Collections: Marjorie Day reported that new accessions continue to be received including Millie Babitch’s “Gateway to Okauchee” book materials, Nashotah memorabilia from Lins, a recent T-shirt commemorating t= he era of the mothballed Oco= nomowoc Middle School (and = former High School). Wiemer reported that many tools of historic significance are about to be received from the display cases at Lorleberg’s True Value= .

Education: Barb Hirsch reported that their signage effort has begun for the Streets of Oconomowoc. The committee visited the <= st1:place w:st=3D"on">Hoard Museum in Fort <= st1:PlaceName w:st=3D"on">Atkinson to borrow signage ideas.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> They are working with the Exhibit Committee to coordinate efforts.

Exhibits: Shirley Hinds reported that her= committee is continuing work on all projects previously reported on. Bill Batlinger, a volunteer carpen= ter, has agreed to construct cabinets along the west wall. All projects are scheduled to be completed and installed prior to the spring opening of the = museum.

Local History: = ;Dorothy St. Thomas reported that the display case in the lobby of the new Performing Arts Center at Oconomowoc High School was completed but suff= ered from the effects of heat build-up in the case and needs to be refurbished. A next project may be tied to recognizing the 75^th Anniversary of = the Wizard of Oz’s Oconomowoc premier. The next committee meeting is Febr= uary 19 at 10:45 at t= he Village of Oconomowoc Lake hall.

Membership: Barb Elwood-Goetsch reported the following: 145 single memberships, = 105 (210) couples’ memberships, and 2 student membership for a total of 3= 57 individual memberships. Tom Weede and Joseph and Dorothy Becker are the new= est members. There are 11 Organization/Business/Municipality memberships, 28 Fr= ee Memberships and 94 Delinquent Memberships (who will all be sent renewal postcards this week).

Property and Maintenance= : = Neal reported that the new exterior signage for the museum has been installed and looks great. The balcony sign= has been removed. The society has received an updated bill from Russ Eppler, a contractor, regarding de-molding, scraping, priming, painting and structural repairs to the umbrella stand at the railroad depot. The bid’s original quote was $4,000 but has been reduced to $2,940 due to donation of the primer and pai= nt by Sherwin Williams. Duane Ho= ffman reminded the board that he has also received an offer of free primer and painting from a firm and that Roberts Painting bid the job at a lower price than Eppler. Hoffmann was ask= ed to get that bid in writing so that the board can decide upon a contractor at t= he March meeting.

Special Events (Quarterly Meetings): The following sche= dule for speakers was reported:

            = April 25, 2009: Mapleton – “The Busiest Little City in the World” (co= nfirmed)

      &= nbsp;     July 25, 2009:<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Bowling history? (to be determined= )

      &= nbsp;     Oct. 31, 2009:= Oconomowoc Olympic Time Trials/Speed Skating (confirmed)

Old Business: None =

New Business:

Meeting Attendance: = Wiemer mentioned that in going through the bylaws he was reminded that attendance = at board meetings is required and that several absences should result in resignations and replacements. Hinds questioned why committee chairpersons = are not automatically board members. Wiemer said that idea will be considered as part of the review proce= ss.

Docents: Krahn mentioned that in working wi= th Milt Babinec on scheduling docents, it has been determined that an “on call” list is necessary to cover unanticipated absences. She was advi= sed to add this need to the newsletter. Additionally, she is coordinating a huge Forensics Tournament for the school district on Saturday, March 28 and is looking for items to add to the “Community Service” table, and asked if perhaps the museum coul= d be open to participants and their families during downtime. Lins will consider it if docents a= re available.

Next meeting:= The next board meeting will be Mon= day, March 9 at the Wilkinson Sports Conference Center at 4:00 pm.

      = ;

Adjournment:<= /b> Johnson moved and Hinds seconded a = motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 4:44 pm.

Submitted by Margie Krauski, Secretary