MINUTES OF THE BARNES AREA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION MEETING

OF JANUARY 19, 2006

Members present: Dave Pease, Carol Pease, Nori Newago, Bob Oberstar, Linda Oberstar and Lu Peet.

Vice President Dave Pease called the meeting to order at 9:20am.

Lu Peet read the minutes from the last regular BAHA meeting. Nori Newago asked that her name’s spelling be corrected in the minutes. This was so noted. Motion (Carol Pease / Bob Oberstar) to accept the minutes as read with the correction. Call for discussion. Motion carried.

The Minutes of the Special Town Board Meeting with BAHA were handed out by Secretary Peet. Motion (Carol Pease / Linda Oberstar) to dispense with the reading of those minutes and to accept them as presented. Call for discussion. Motion carried.

Bob Oberstar spoke on the museum building. He said it should be centrally located. Dave Pease said that Drummond is all in one, library and museum, but our building will have to be different. Nori Newago felt that we had enough resources available to us. Bob Oberstar said that there would be a need for computers if there was a library with the museum. There was discussion on this. The town would take on the library if there would be one, not the BAHA. There was discussion on various features that could be used by the museum such as automated shutters, etc. to keep light out. The "complex" idea was discussed. There is a possibility that the town site could be developed into a town buildings/library/museum/park site complex. There is a lot to think about when looking for the site and then for the building itself. Motion (Bob Oberstar / Carol Pease) that we work with the Town Board of Barnes in regards to the project, but keep BAHA as a separate entity and not part of the Town and to have our own separate buildings. Call for discussion. Motion carried.

There was discussion on a former Girl Scout camp that is now abandoned on the island on the Upper according to Dave Pease. The state now owns the island and the buildings were removed.

Linda Oberstar gave the Treasurer’s Report as follows:

Checkbook balance as of 12/15/2005 $ 20,018.35

Centennial Book Sales $ 536.00

BAHA Membership Dues $ 200.00

Donations $ 314.00

Town of Barnes $ (50.00)

Patricia Finstad-Book Refund $ (32.00)

Checks Printed $ (9.06)

Checkbook balance as of 1/19/2006 $ 20,977.29

Linda Oberstar said that the book sales were going well. We still have about 85 good books (at $25.00) left and several bad ones (at $20.00 each). Oberstar reported on the party that was held at Sage’s in January. It was a re-gifting party with the proceeds going to BAHA. About $239.00 was made. Lu Peet will send a thank you letter to Sage’s for their help in this effort. There was discussion on putting more money into another CD. The one we have now for $10,000.00 was taken out on November 29, 2005 and is for a term of 1 year at 4.25%. Motion (Carol Pease / Bob Oberstar) to put another $10,000.00 into a CD for 1 year at 4.5%. Call for discussion. Motion carried. There was discussion on what name was on the first CD. We want to have it under BAHA’s name now not the other historical society’s name. Linda will talk to Donna Porter at the bank to see what can be done about this. Linda will do the transfer this week. It was discussed that a new account would have to be made for the CD and Dave Pease would sign for Judi Scholz if a third name was needed on the account. Otherwise Linda Oberstar and Lu Peet would do the signing. Linda also asked to have a petty cash reserve as it would make it easier for her to get money to do mailings and pay for other minor expenditures. She would keep a record of these expenditures and will also show them on the Treasurer’s Report each month. It was also noted that the members would like to see the amounts of the CD’s on the report as well. Linda said she would do this. Motion (Carol Pease / Bob Oberstar) to approve the Treasurer’s Report as given. Call for discussion. Motion carried.

Carol Pease said that she would like to make a personal donation of a ream of paper to BAHA for the secretary to use. This would be appreciated by the secretary. There was discussion on getting a letterhead also. Lu Peet said she had worked with Judi Scholz earlier on doing this. She will bring what she has done to the next meeting. Perhaps there will be other suggestions. Bobbi Shemwell, the person who designed the Centennial Logo, could also be contacted to see if she could come up with something using the old logo. She could use this as free advertising if she would do it for free.

Lu Peet spoke on the Wisconsin Public Radio program that was broadcast on January 11, 2006. It dealt with elk and bison in Wisconsin. Our "elk" was part of the discussion and Peet was asked to speak on our elk project. A rebroadcast of the show can be found on the web site of Wisconsin Public Radio. The program is 1-11F.Peet said that she has had several responses from various people who were interested in our elk project.

Carol Pease spoke on a grant for Wisconsin Humanities. This grant is for $2,000.00 and is up every other month. The grant application has to do with people, but it could be as a museum display perhaps. This is a matching type grant where you can use man hours as part of the grant repayment.

There was discussion on permanent and temporary displays in the museum.

There was discussion on getting members to join. Ron and Bobbi Pearson and Edie Berg were several people that had expressed interest in becoming members, but haven’t done so as yet. We need to work on them. Judi Scholz also has the names of some new members that are not in our records. Lu Peet will email Scholz to see if we can get the information from her so that Lu can update the files. A copy of the labels has to go to the Bayfield County Historical Society. Dave Pease will take them up when he goes to the next meeting. There was discussion about emailing the minutes and other important information to all of the members with email. We need to get our purpose out there to the public.

There was discussion on fund raisers. Note cards with historical pictures on them could be one fund raiser. Quentin Ruprecht has many good pictures. Lu Peet will check with Advanced Printing of Hayward to see how much it would cost to make these cards with envelopes. She will also check to see what is available in this line. They could be on antique white or parchment type paper or have a burnished look. This may be more expensive though. It was discussed that there could be several different types. Another fund raiser could be a raffle. This was discussed. There is an opening in February, now that the Eau Claire Lake Business Association has stopped doing the Big Bucks Festival. This would be a good time for the BAHA to hold its own raffle and fun event. This is the first Saturday in February and doesn’t interfere with other local events. The VFW has hosted the Big Bucks in the past. The VFW gets the bar receipts and the rest is for the organization. There could be hot beef sandwiches sold like the Big Bucks had. BAHA already has the raffle paperwork done since the Centennial Committee had to do it, Nori Newago said. There could be a silent auction and drawings on the hour to encourage people to come and spend the afternoon. The main drawing would be at the end. There would also be Bingo. BAHA members would collect the prizes for the Bingo. Callers and other help would be needed. The group thought that this would be a good idea to pursue. We need to set a date and get working on it. This would be in February 2007.

Dave Pease said that we have to make an outline of what BAHA needs to do and what our goals are. The long term goal is to sell the building of a museum to the people.

Nori Newago spoke on the 501-3(c) paperwork. She asked Linda Oberstar for the budgets for the past three years. Linda said she would have to get that from looking back at the past records of the Centennial Committee. The address will be the Town Hall address for now 3360 County Highway N Barnes, WI 54873. All of the BAHA items are at the hall now. Nori also needs to know the number of members we have. Lu will email this to Nori. Two copies of the labels will be needed as well as the results of the Centennial raffle. We will need a state ID number also. Nori asked if $500.00 of her fee could be given to her. Motion (Carol Pease / Bob Oberstar) to give Nori $500.00 of the $1,000.00 owed to Nori for her work on the 501 3(c) paperwork. Call for discussion. Motion carried. Linda said that she would give Nori a check today. There was discussion if Nori would be paid for attending our meetings as she is a member. Nori said she was not charging for the meetings. Nori said we need to close out the old account and start a new one under BAHA’s name. There was discussion on the tax ID number. Linda will talk to Donna Porter at the bank and also to Mike Bowes, the former Treasurer.

Dave and Carol Pease gave a report and demonstrations on their Douglas County Historical Society’s workshop that took place on Saturday January 7, 2006. Carol said it was a very fascinating workshop and that she really learned a lot. Carol demonstrated some of the techniques used to keep artifacts from harm. She showed how padded hangers were made using padding and unbleached muslin to keep the seams from being harmed. She also showed how a cap could be displayed. There was discussion on using the appropriate type of glass, acid- free paper, etc. to prevent light and other damage to the artifacts. Both Carol and Dave Pease said we gain a lot from being members of the Bayfield County Historical Society. Dave said that brainstorming is a very useful and important tool in developing ideas. Our members need to visit other museums to see what is out there.

There was discussion on getting the map of the Town Hall site from the town that was brought up at the meeting with the Town Board last week. Lu Peet will get a copy of the map when she goes to work at the town this next week. She will also ask what the Town has done, if anything, about inquiring into the land behind the Town site, now owned by the paper company. Dave Pease said that the parcel identification is T45N R9W NE of the SW of Section 28. Bob Oberstar will look into other land sites for the next meeting as well. Linda will write to the paper company about the land.

Nori said she would get the name from Judi Scholz of the person from the Wisconsin Historical Society that was to come up here this spring to look over what we have.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday February 16, 2006 at 9:00am at Downtown Barnes.

Motion (Linda Oberstar / Carol Pease) to adjourn the meeting. Call for discussion. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 11:46am.

Respectfully submitted,

Lu Peet

Barnes Area Historical Association (BAHA) Secretary

Dated this 24^th day of January 2006