OCONOMOWOC AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND MUSEUM BOARD MINUTES
Board Members Present: Fran Durkin, Barbara Elwood-Goetsch, Shirley Hinds, Duane Hoffman, Diane Johnson, Ed Johnson, Melissa Krahn, Margie Krauski, Terry Ladwig, Nancy Lins, Lois Luebke, Ray Mauer, Hilton Neal, Kevin Passon, Don Wiemer
Absent Excused: Betty Hancock, Barb Hirsch, Mac Dorn, Bill Marris, Ann Zimmerman
Absent: Sue
Bickler, Bob Ludwig
Other Attendees: Marjorie Day, Dorothy St. Thomas
President Don Wiemer called the meeting to order at
Secretary’s Report: Hilton Neal moved and Terry Ladwig seconded to accept the
minutes of the
Treasurer’s Report: Ed Johnson and Neal reviewed the monthly financial reports that had been emailed previously to the board. It was noted that a $10,000 donation was received in July from the Roehl Foundation to be used to support operating expenses. With that donation and monies to be raised from the upcoming ice cream social, the Society should have a balanced budget by fiscal year’s end. Monthly expenditures totaled $4,523.51; revenue was $464.23; and expenses exceeded revenue by $4,059.28. Since merchandise sales are down, Diane Johnson suggested we sell our products at the August ice cream social. Also, there are 63 delinquent memberships. Duane Hoffman offered to contact past-due members to encourage dues payments. Nancy Lins moved and Terry Ladwig seconded to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Motion carried.
Administrator’s
Report/Museum Operations:
Lins pre-distributed a copy of her complete report. She stressed, however, that the need for docents so that the museum does not have to curtail operating hours is still strong. The board was asked to assist in soliciting volunteers who can serve in that capacity
Committee Reports:
Executive Committee: 1)
Wiemer reported that the society’s mission statement has been reworked
to make it grammatically correct and more accurate. Ladwig presented the statement to the board,
further explaining it contains all the key elements necessary for a mission
statement:
It is the mission of the
Oconomowoc Area Historical Society and Museum to serve our many constituencies
as a community resource and learning center, committed to Oconomowoc Area
historic preservation and research; and to inspire and encourage curiosity and
passion for our historic treasures.
Ed Johnson moved and Fran Durkin seconded to accept the revised mission statement. Motion carried. 2) Exterior building signage is being looked at by the Branding Committee and decisions will be made in the near future. 3) Wiemer again asked for a replacement for Ruth Behling to edit our quarterly newsletter. A new ice cream social chairperson will also be needed for 2009. He reminded all board members that they need to be active board participants on committees and asked for volunteers for these two positions.
Audit: No report until August.
Collections: Marjorie
Day reported that many artifacts were recently received such as: a 1938 wedding
dress, a hat circa 1927, an old piano accordion made in Milwaukee, a complete
WWI midshipman’s uniform, a soda bottle from Conrad Beverages of Oconomowoc (a
prohibition era bottler), and 5 old books about Oconomowoc, some of which are
out of print and are needed in our resource center. Additionally, Gert
Wilkinson is working on collecting memorabilia and a brick from Oconomowoc
Memorial Hospital’s original building, which is about to be torn down due to
expansion. Summer intern Mai Vang has
been working on our photograph collection.
It has been determined we have over 3,200 photos that have been sorted
and will be scanned in-house
Education: Barb Elwood-Goetsch explained that their
primary focus in the summer months is to continue working on an
immigration-themed “discovery box” or trunk show for fourth grade Oconomowoc
area students.
Exhibits: Shirley Hinds reported that her committee will
meet tomorrow. The Draper Hall exhibit
will be completed before the August 8th museum fundraiser. They will then move on to other subjects.
.
Local History: The
committee is on summer hiatus; however, Dorothy St. Thomas reported that she
and Shirley Hinds set up a lobby window “Ice Cream Social” exhibit at the
Oconomowoc Public Library, featuring artifacts from our collection – with a
plug for our upcoming August 10 annual event.
It was also reported that the Exhibits Committee will take
responsibility for all such off-site exhibits in the future.
Membership: Barb
Elwood-Goetsch reported the following: 149 single memberships, 112 (224)
couples’ memberships, and 1 student membership for a total of 374 individual
memberships. There are also 14 organization/business/municipality memberships,
40 free memberships and 63 delinquent memberships. There are two new members: Fern Meyer and
Nominating
Committee: No report.
However, Ladwig mentioned that Don Christiansen has resigned from the
board as the appointed representative of the Golden Kiwanis.
Property and Maintenance: Neal
reported that water has seeped into the shooting gallery twice in the past
month and that, despite having installed a covering to the window-well, the
problem persists and needs to be addressed. Jeff Lins continues to work on miscellaneous
items such as re-wiring light switches, fixing the front door so it doesn’t
bang and mounting a bulleting board in the lobby. The Neals continue to work on
landscape upkeep. Nancy Lins has also been doing painting. Neal has recently applied for a grant from the
Oconomowoc Area Foundation for monies to blacktop the museum’s small driveway
so that the dumpster can be moved out-of-sight and that the drive can be more
easily plowed in the winter. The anticipated cost is around $3,500. Ray Mauer said that perhaps it could be paved
in conjunction with some paving work done by the City of
Special Events (Quarterly
Meetings): The following schedule
for speakers was reported:
July 2008: Local Architecture by John
Eastberg (confirmed)
October 2008: Olympic Ice Skating in
Oconomowoc (tentative)
January 2009: to be determined
April 2009: Mapleton – “The Busiest
Little City in the World” (confirmed)
Old Business:
Branding Committee: Ladwig reported that the committee continues
with its assignments and will be finalizing the color background of the new
stylized “O” design shortly. Exterior
signage is also being addressed. As part
of the branding process, the newsletter also needs to be revised to bring it in
line with the current brand. Ladwig
presented 11 possible names for the newsletter that were developed by the
committee or submitted by board members.
The list was whittled down to three: Coo•No•Mo•Wauk (the current name),
The “O” Chronicles (using the new stylized “O”), and the Four Corners
Chronicles– although none were heartily endorsed. It was suggested by Mauer (and subsequently endorsed
by the board) to invite the community to submit additional names for
consideration. Kevin Passon agreed to
write an article for the Oconomowoc Enterprise.
It will also explain the Society’s recent branding process and to
introduce our new mission statement. Any submitted names will be examined by
the committee who will make the final recommendation to the board.
Night at the Museum: Ladwig
announced that her emailed report is current and explains everything to
date. Invitations were mailed
recently. Positive comments about the
invitations were expressed by board members.
Their next meeting will be Tuesday, July 29 at the museum at
New Business:
A. Ice Cream Social: Diane Johnson reported that this year’s
sale will not feature cones or candy. It
will be held at
C. Raffle: The annual donation of a Trek bicycle to raffle at the ice cream social has been secured, as has our annual raffle license. Tickets are in the process of being printed and will be mailed to members shortly.
D. Deli Dollars: Scharnell’s Deli will again offer a 10% rebate of their day’s sales to the museum for purchases made with the “Deli Dollars” coupons. The next date is Thursday, August 21 from breakfast through the dinner hour – excluding catering contracts.
E. Fireworks Donations: Mauer asked members to consider donating to the community’s fireworks fund. The Festival Week display is short on funds and may need to be cut back.
F. Next meeting: The next board meeting will be Monday, August
11 at
Adjournment: Ed Johnson moved and Passon seconded a motion
to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at
Submitted by Margie Krauski, Secretary