MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING

 OF THE BARNES AREA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

SEPTEMBER 18, 2008

 

 

The meeting was called to order at 9:05am by President Dave Pease. The meeting was held at the VFW Hall on Lake Road. The members enjoyed a continental breakfast hosted by Carol Pease and Lu Peet.

 

Members present: Dave Pease, Carol Pease, George Martin, Helen Ruprecht, Quentin Ruprecht, Bob Oberstar, Linda Oberstar, Kurt Kuhlman, Jon Harkness, Mike Bowes and Lu Peet. A quorum was established.

 

Secretary Lu Peet presented the Annual Report for 2007-2008 as follows:

ANNUAL REPORT

BARNES AREA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

2007-2008

September 18, 2008

BAHA-Looking back on the year 2007-2008:

This year was the third year of operation for the Barnes Area Historical Association.  The Annual Meeting was held on September 20, 2007. New officers were elected. These were Dave Pease-President; Bob Oberstar -Vice President; Lu Peet- Secretary and Linda Oberstar-Treasurer. New board members elected for a three-year term were: Helen Ruprecht and Mike Bowes. In early fall of 2007, to fulfill the Amended 2007 By-Laws requirement that there be a nine-member board (five [5] board members at large plus the four officers), Jon Harkness was voted on by the members to be that fifth board member. Harkness will serve a 3-year term expiring in September of 2010. The next Annual Meeting will be held on September 18, 2008.

 

Association’s Focus:

Our main focus is again on starting a museum in Barnes. We still have hopes that in the future the Silver Beach Elk will be returned to Barnes as a center piece for our museum and that we will have a museum capable of housing and displaying the elk. We have centered our attention more on the site for the future museum and for raising funds for this museum. Land acquisition for the museum is in progress at this time. The Barnes VFW has offered BAHA six acres of land adjacent to the VFW parking lot on Lake Road for $12,500.00. The members of BAHA voted to accept this proposal in August 2008. BAHA has made the initial down payment of $10,000.00, with the remainder of the balance due at the end of September 2008. We will continue to work on the property development for any zoning issues, town issues or easement /resale rights that may be involved. As education is one of the main focus areas of BAHA, we continue to promote the history of the Barnes Area.

 

501 (c) (3) Status:

We are now a legal 501 (c) (3) organization. We received our letter of confirmation from the Internal Revenue Department in February of 2008. With this status, contributions to our organization can now be tax deductible.

 

State of Wisconsin Status:

We have received our own raffle license number from the state and are in the process of completing papers for our status as a Charitable Organization recognized by the State of Wisconsin. We have completed most of the paper work, but a few issues still have to be addressed. Janet Seymour of the Wisconsin Historical Society has been working with BAHA to get this accomplished.

 

Wisconsin State Historical Society Status:

In June of 2008, the Barnes Area Historical Association was officially recognized as a member of the Wisconsin Historical Society. We are also affiliated with the Bayfield County Historical Society.

 

Association By-Laws:

The By-Laws continue to be a work in progress as we grow as an organization.

 

Fund Raisers:

Several fund raisers were held during the year for the museum fund and for the general fund. The Pie and Ice Cream Social that was held in conjunction with the Flea Market in July did very well. The note cards, Centennial Books and Centennial memorabilia continue to sell well.  We were fortunate to be the recipient of two household donations this past year. This included many of contents of the Don Hartman estate and the contents of the airport observation building on East Shore Road [donated by the Ertel family]. Over the summer months several other flea market sales were held, all with donated items from the community. All of these were successful ventures.

 

BAHA’s other major fund raiser held in February 2008, BAHA BIG CA$H-WINTERFEST, was a very big success. Nearly all of the raffle tickets were sold and we raised approximately $4,600.00 at the event. We will again hold the event the first week in February 2009, at the VFW Hall.  We will have the raffle again to go along with the event. Food, door prize drawings, bingo and a silent auction are some of the highlights scheduled for the 2009 WinterFest. Tickets at $20.00 per ticket will be available from any member of BAHA or from various local establishments. We try to avoid overlapping other organizations with our fund raiser and have given members tickets to sell, but are delaying offering the tickets to the local establishments until after the VFW raffle is completed at the end of September. All members are encouraged to sell the BAHA tickets and support this effort.

 

Community Education:

In June of 2008, BAHA worked along with many other local community groups to present the St. Croix Riverfest. This was a two day event involving the towns in the St. Croix Watershed area (Solon Springs, Gordon, Wascott and Barnes). Various informational activities were held throughout these areas. In Barnes, there were several events including a Pontoon Classroom on Bony Lake and the Eurasian Water Milfoil project at Tomahawk Lake. BAHA was involved with the “Authors and Artists” where local artists and authors were invited to come and show their creations and writings. This was held at the Barnes Town Hall. Dave Pease presented an historical account of the early logging days in Barnes. This was held by the locks on the Middle Eau Claire. Many people found these events very interesting. Another program is being proposed by the St. Croix Riverfest for 2009 and BAHA may choose to be represented again.

 

Mission Statement:

Mission Statement of the Barnes Area Historical Association

Our purpose is sharing the history of the Barnes area through preservation and education.

This statement, or an abbreviated version of it, is being used throughout our organization. We have included it on our letterhead paper as well as on other items such as tee-shirts, mugs, pamphlets and advertising, etc. 

 

Membership:

Our membership now totals 38 memberships with a total of 57 individuals for 2007-2008. This includes all memberships-individual, family and life memberships and those members who took advantage of our early new membership sign up for 2008 in 2007. We are looking at having a strong membership drive again this fall.         

 

Goals:

Our ultimate goal is to establish a museum in the Town of Barnes for the purpose of preserving the history of the Barnes Area and having a facility in which to educate people of all ages. We have many talented and energetic people who can and will make this happen. One of our goals for the coming year is to secure help from more of our members and from the community. BAHA appreciates all of the time and effort that many of our members, as well many others outside of our organization, have contributed.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Lu Peet

Barnes Area Historical Association Secretary

September 18, 2008

 

Motion (Helen Ruprecht / Mike Bowes) to approve the Annual Report. Call for discussion. Motion carried.

 

Treasurer Linda Oberstar gave the Annual Treasurer’s Report as follows:

Checkbook Balance at September 20, 2007                                 $        5,263.68

Income

            Book Sales                                                                    $          930.70

            Memberships (29)                                                         $          575.00

            Flea Markets                                                                 $        2,820.81

            Donations (In)                                                               $          700.00

            Pie Social                                                                      $          512.25

            Big Ca$h Winterfest                                                      $      10,095.25

            Raffle Tickets for 2009 Winterfest to date                      $          100.00

            Note Cards                                                                   $            18.00 

            Mugs                                                                            $            44.00

            T Shirts                                                                         $          210.50

            Interest Income                                                             $        1,205.51

                                                                                                                                      $  17,212.02

Sub Total                                                                                                                        $  22,475.70                                                   

Expenses                                                                                                                                                                      Town of Barnes (Calendar of Events Fee)                      ($            50.00)

            VFW Post 8329-Janitor Services & Land Purchase         ($      10, 075.00)

            State Farm Insurance-Treasurer’s Bond                         ($            90.00)

            Advanced Printing-Donation Receipt forms                     ($            108.00)

            Winners of Big Ca$h Winterfest Raffle                          ($         5,000.00)    

            Northshore Promotional Group-T Shirts                          ($         1,608.12)

            Lu Peet-Winterfest Expenses & Pie Social                     ($          256.18)

            Upper Lakes Food-Beef for Winterfest                          ($          226.84)

            Northwoods Shopper-Advertising                                   ($          175.00)

            Licensing-State of Wisconsin                                         ($            40.00)

            Bayfield County Historical Society-Membership Dues     ($             65.50)

            Silver Tonsberg-Raffle Ticket Printing                            ($             68.00)

            Petty Cash                                                                    ($             30.00)

            Postage                                                                                    ($           103.98)

            Donations (Out)                                                                        ($           115.00)

            CD No. 3 Increased & Purchased                                  ($         1,942.25)

            Miscellaneous                                                               ($             55.71)

                                                                                                                             ($  20,009.58)

Checkbook Balance as of August 31, 2008 minus Interest Income                              $    1,260.61

Certificates of Deposit

            CD One at 4.5% maturing February 2, 2009 (HCCU)                                    $   11,035.09

            CD Two at 4.75% maturing January 6, 2009 (HCCU)                                   $   10,035.09

            CD Three at 4.75% maturing December 27, 2008 (HCCU)                           $    3,367.77

            CD Four at 5.25% maturing September 28, 2008 (SBD)                                $    8,124.91

Land Purchase as of 8/25/2008                                                                               ($   10,000.00)

Total net worth as of August 31, 2008                                                                                             $ 44,617.90

 

Total net worth as of September 2007                                                                                              $ 36,326.40

A difference of plus $8,291.50!!!!!

Linda said that we continue to grow. A round of applause was given to Linda for her past years as Treasurer. Motion (Jon Harkness / Quentin Ruprecht) to approve the Treasurer’s Annual Report as given. Call for discussion. Motion carried.

 

The ballots were counted. A total of 36 ballots were cast. The results are as follows:

Officers

President: Dave Pease - 35 Bob Oberstar -1 Dave Pease will be the President for 2008-2009.

Vice President: Bob Oberstar - 35 Dave Pease - 1 Bob Oberstar will be the Vice President for 2008-2009.

Secretary: Lu Peet - 36 Lu Peet will be the Secretary for 2008-2009.

Treasurer: Quentin Ruprecht - 36 Quentin Ruprecht will be the Treasurer for 2008-2009.

Board Members At Large (3-year term) Two to be elected

Kurt Kuhlman-16

George Martin-28

Carol Pease-24

George Martin and Carol Pease will be the new Board Members at Large each serving a 3- year term 2008-2011.

These new officers will take over at the regular September BAHA meeting that follows this Annual Meeting.

 

There was discussion on having an Alternate Treasurer, as our newly elected Treasurer Quentin Ruprecht will be out of the area during the Winterfest event. Motion (Jon Harkness / Helen Ruprecht) that the Barnes Area Historical Association at the Annual Meeting of the Members held on September 18, 2008; HEREBY approves the following Amendment to the By-Laws to allow for a position of Alternate Treasurer. In the absence of the elected Treasurer, the Alternate Treasurer would then take over the duties of the Treasurer. The Alternate Treasurer would be appointed by the Board of Directors and would serve in that capacity for one (1) year. Both the Elected Treasurer and the Appointed Treasurer would be bonded. The Alternate Treasurer would be allowed to sign checks in the absence of the Elected Treasurer. The Alternate Treasurer would not be a voting member of the Board of Director. Call for discussion. There was a question that if one of the Board Members At Large would be appointed Alternate Treasurer, that person should still have the right to vote. Only one of the treasures could sign on a given check however. The wording on the motion should read “The Alternate Treasurer would not automatically be disqualified as a voting member.” This would allow for a Board Member At Large to fill the position. This is necessary at this time as our group is so small. Motion carried with the wording change. Linda Oberstar said that she would be able to fill the Alternate Treasurer Position if the Board Members would like her to serve. Motion (Jon Harkness / Mike Bowes) to appoint Linda Oberstar as Alternate Treasurer for a term of one (1) year. Call for discussion. Motion carried.

 

There was discussion on the terms of the Board Members At Large. Kurt Kuhlman was never on the board. There was also discussion on the ending date of our financial reporting. This will be August 31st of each year to comply with the State’s request that the date must fall at the end day of a month.

 

Motion (Quentin Ruprecht / Jon Harkness) to adjourn the Annual Meeting. Call for discussion. Motion carried. The next Annual Meeting will be held on September 17, 2009. The meeting was adjourned at 9:50am.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Lu Peet

Barnes Area Historical Association Secretary

Dated this 22nd day of September 2008