MINUTES OF THE BARNES AREA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION MEETING

OF APRIL 19, 2008

 

 

President Dave Pease called the meeting to order at 9:08am. The breakfast meeting was held at Maki’s Restaurant in Barnes.

 

Members present: Dave Pease, Carol Pease, Jon Harkness, Quentin Ruprecht, Helen Ruprecht, Mike Bowes, Dean Peet, Bob Oberstar, Linda Oberstar, Ariel Amend, John Amend, George Martin and Lu Peet. Janet Seymour from the Wisconsin Historical Society was the special guest speaker. It was established that a quorum was present. (If anyone was omitted, it was inadvertent.)

 

[Prior to the meeting, Mr. Ertel met with us and gave us information on the Airport Building contents for our sale in May. We will try to work around their schedule for marking. The sale is set for the end of May.]

 

Secretary Lu Peet handed out the Minutes of the March meeting. Motion (Helen Ruprecht / Quentin Ruprecht) to approve the Minutes as presented. Call for discussion.  Motion carried.

 

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

Checkbook Balance as of 3/20/2008                                                    $          7,577.33

Memberships (1)                                                                                  $               25.00

Centennial Books (3)                                                                            $               78.50

Donations                                                                                             $               10.00

Bayfield County Historical Society

            17 Individual memberships

            16 Family memberships                                                            $             (65.50)

Petty Cash                                                                                            $              (15.00)

Checkbook Balance as of 4/19/2008                                                    $          7,610.33

 

 

CD One for $11,035.09 matures on February 2, 2009, at 4.50%

CD Two for $10,829.52 matures on January 6, 2009, at 4.75%

CD Three for $3,367.77 matures on December 27, 2008, at 4.75%

CD Four for $8,124.91 matures on September 28, 2008, at 5.25%

 

 

Prior to the meeting, Carol Pease had gone over the checkbook and all was found to be good.  Motion (Lu Peet / Jon Harkness) to approve the Treasurer’s Report as given. Call for discussion. Motion carried.

 

Old Business:

  1. Dave Pease went over the offer of land from the VFW.  The VFW is still waiting for the surveyor to get back from Arizona to do the surveying of the property.
  2. There was discussion on the Airport Observation Building that the Ertel’s would like to donate to BAHA and what we want to do with it. It has been on the East Shore Road property since the early 50’s and had been moved from the Chippewa Falls Airport. We have to make sure it is a sound building for one thing. There was discussion on what BAHA would use the building for. There was discussion on whether or not it would be wiser to build or erect a new structure, one that would meet our needs. There was discussion on having a pole building for storage. The inside could be portioned off for offices, etc. if needed. Motion (Bob Oberstar / Mike Bowes) to get an expert’s opinion on the condition of the Airport Observation Building and also to see if the building is sound enough to move, if we decide to go that route. Call for discussion. Motion carried. Mike Bowes and Bob Oberstar will look into this.  There was discussion on what a new building might cost. This could be a pole building. Motion (Quentin Ruprecht / Bob Oberstar) to look into the cost of a new pole building and get some ball park figures on the cost of such a building (approximately 32’x48’ on a slab). Call for discussion. There was a discussion on getting prices for a range of sizes and types of buildings. Motion carried. The sale of the items on the Ertel property will be held on Friday May 23, 2008 from 4:00pm until 8:00pm and then on Saturday May 24, 2008 from 8:00am to 5:00pm. We will set some dates for marking. This will probably be in the middle of May.

 

New Business:

  1. The next Breakfast Meeting will be held on Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 9:00am at the VFW Hall. The members will get together and plan the menu for the meeting.
  2. Lu Peet said that she was sending out all of the notices for the people who usually had spaces at the Flea Market at the Town Hall. Lu also had a list of those people who have committed to being at the Authors and Artists event that will be held June 14, 2008 at the Barnes Town Hall in conjunction with the St. Croix Riverfest. There are approximately 12 people who will participate in the Authors and Artists. Lu will send a letter out to each of these people to let them know when we will set up and the times.

 

The guest speaker Jan Seymour spoke next. Jan explained what paperwork our organization needed to complete to be in compliance with everything. We have to get the paperwork done for the Wisconsin Historical Society. Jan will send all of the paperwork to Lu Peet. Jan will help with filling out the reports. We have to file Articles of Incorporation. Jan will present the completed paperwork to the Wisconsin Historical Society in June for their approval of our organization. We will a get a form every January 1st to fill out and return. Bob Oberstar asked if Jan felt we needed an expert, like a CPA, to help us with this kind of thing. There was also a question from Jon Harkness on the need for an audit. It was discussed that we do have an internal review of the checkbook each month by one of our members (Carol Pease). Jan said that as members of the Wisconsin Historical Society, we would get mailing and publications that will help us. There will be a meeting in Hurley of the Northwest Region on August 27, 2008 if anyone is interested in attending. Jan handed out a flyer for the 2008 Annual Local History Convention and Historic Preservation Conference that will be held in Madison, Wisconsin on Friday September 26th and Saturday September 27, 2008.

 

Jan said that PBS and the Wisconsin Historical Society partner on various history issues. In 2010, PBS will do a piece on Wisconsin Vietnam War stories. Jan would like our local group to get involved in this. She said that it looked like we have a good relationship with the VFW and that would be a good place to start. There will be several workshops on how to conduct interviews, etc. This will be in the fall.

 

Carol Pease asked Jan about preserving newspaper articles. Jan will get us information on this topic.

 

There was discussion on what we could do to get more people in our group to work and also how do we get more members. Jan will give us brochures on these topics too. There will be one on fundraisers also. There was discussion on having annual fundraisers and also approaching members on giving over and above the membership fee. Some of the ideas were planned giving; estate; memorials. There could be a capital fund drive in the community. There was discussion on having a thermometer type of display to show how the drive was going. Helen Ruprecht asked if the Wisconsin Historical Association had a list of corporate sponsors, etc. Jan said that most money, 90%, is gotten by individual efforts; 5% is corporate money and 5% is from foundations. Helen also asked if there were groups who could help us with the preservation of the elk bones and how do we find the people? Jan said that this was an example of what we could do for a fund raiser-Build an Elk. Quentin Ruprecht said that Dr. Jean Hudson does a class on this and would love to do one in this area. Jan said that a newsletter is a good way of getting information out. Alumni from the local area schools could be contacted. Bob Oberstar said that the schools could possibly provide volunteers. Bob asked if having professional fund raisers was something feasible. Jan thought this might be a good option. They would know who and what to ask. The name of a local person was brought up. His name is Gordon Lund and this is what he does. Jon Harkness will try to contact Mr. Lund possibly for the next meeting. Jan said she would get us a power point presentation on this also. Usually the fee charged is based on what is brought in. These professionals help find foundations and funding. We thanked Jan for coming and for all of the help that she has given to our organization.

 

Ariel Amend said that the BAHA should invest in a copy of the “Wisconsin Foundations Guide”. This will be helpful to our organization when we want to look for money. It isn’t very expensive and would be well worth it she said.  It was decided that Ariel should get a copy for us. We will reimburse her for the book.

 

Motion (Jon Harkness / Lu Peet) to adjourn the meeting. Call for discussion. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 11:25am. The next meeting will be a breakfast meeting and it will be held at 9:00am on May 17, 2008 at the VFW Hall on Lake Road.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Lu Peet

Barnes Area Historical Association Secretary

Dated this 9th day of May 2008

 

 

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