MINUTES OF THE BARNES AREA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION REGULAR MEETING

OF SEPTEMBER 20, 2007

 

 

President Dave Pease called the meeting to order at 9:54am. Members present were Dave Pease, Carol Pease, Jon Harkness, Mike Bowes, George Martin, Helen Ruprecht, Quentin Ruprecht, Bob Oberstar, Linda Oberstar, Kurt Kuhlman and Lu Peet. A quorum was present.

 

The newly elected officers will take over at the end of this meeting.

 

Lu Peet distributed the Minutes of the August meeting. Motion (Jon Harkness / Dave Pease) to approve the Minutes as presented. Call for discussion. Motion carried.

 

Linda Oberstar gave the Treasurer’s Report as follows:

Checkbook Balance as of 7/19/2007                                   $ 8,074.79

Centennial Book Sales (9)                                                  $    225.00

Note Cards (2)                                                                             $      12.00

Flea Market5                                                                    $    449.89

Donations                                                                         $      50.00

Memberships                                                                    $      75.00

Raffle Ticket                                                                     $      20.00

Lu Peet-Expenses for Pie Social                                        $   (111.00)

Northwoods Shopper                                                         $     (80.00)

Department of the Treasury                                               $   (450.00)

Fee for money order                                                          $       (2.00)

State Bank of Drummond for CD                                       $(3,000.00)

Checkbook Balance as of 9/20/2007                                   $ 5,263.68

 

 

CD One for $10,431.82 matures on January 2, 2008, at 5.30%

CD Two for $10,426.81 matures on December 6, 2007, at 5.15%

CD Three for $1,345.00 matures on November 18, 2007, at 5.5%

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

 

 

Motion (Mike Bowes / Bob Oberstar) to approve the Treasurer’s Report as presented. Call for discussion. Motion carried.

 

Old Business was discussed.

  1. Fund Raisers
    1. Flea Market results for this year were discussed. Linda said that the flea markets brought in a total of $1,877.10. There was discussion on how many flea markets we should participate in. Lu Peet said that it was a lot of work to do the flea markets, especially for a handful of the people such as Dave and Carol and Helen and Quentin. Lu suggested that we only do the flea market at the Town Hall in July. Motion (Lu Peet / Mike Bowes) to participate in the one flea market at the Town Hall in July. Call for discussion. It was stated that the flea markets have brought in quite a bit of money in the past years. What is needed is more help from the members instead of just a few doing all of the work. We have to be more selective in what is accepted for the flea markets and we should have the right to refuse items. The big furniture items are hard to get rid of and are hard to move and store if they don’t sell. There should be no electronic items accepted either, as they are most likely obsolete anyway and don’t sell well. We are left with the disposal and costs of the disposal, if there are any. Bob Oberstar thought that we should participate in all of the flea markets as they are good money makers. Storage is a problem. Most of the items have been stored at the Pease’s garage and cabin. We could have a small charge for the vendors at the Town Hall flea market such as $10.00 to help defray our costs. There was discussion on having better signs on the highway. It would be good to have T-shirts made up for the workers so that people could identify who our people are. Lu Peet said that she had contacted Hidden Bay Graphics in Hayward on some prices, etc. She had a book of items from Hidden Bay. The cost would be determined by what we wanted printed on them and the quantity that we would like to order. It was suggested that we have the worker’s shirts done in a distinctive color and then have other shirts made up to sell to tourists, etc. Bob Oberstar said we have to keep things going all year. Quentin Ruprecht said that we need a lot more help. Lu Peet will make up a letter to send to all members when she sends out the membership renewal forms asking what the members would like to participate in such as working the flea markets; doing special events such as the Pie Social or Winterfest; selling raffle tickets; etc. Lu will have a draft of the letter for the October meeting. Lu Peet rescinded her motion to only have one flea market. A new motion was presented. Motion (Dave Pease / Jon Harkness) to table the issue of the flea markets until the next meeting. Call for discussion. Motion carried.

 

    1. Raffle Tickets-Carol Pease had a question on the legality of sending raffle tickets through the mail. She had heard up at the County meeting that this was illegal. Lu Peet will check on this and report at the next meeting. Lu will be getting the tickets out to the local establishments once the VFW raffle is done at the end of September. We don’t want to overlap on their raffle.

 

      2.  The site of the museum was discussed next. There was a meeting of the New Town Complex

           Committee on Wednesday night the 19th of September. There was an issue that there was a

            statement on the minutes of the committee that said BAHA was NOT interested in being a part of

            the complex. This is not correct. We do want to be a part of the complex, but retain our own

            identity as BAHA. We need the Town’s help with the museum until we are able to get one on our

            own. Lu will see to it that this statement is corrected.

 

  1. The Non Profit status was discussed at the Annual Meeting. We are waiting for the IRS’s response to our last application. Our name has to be corrected on the application also. It should be Barnes Area Historical Association, not Society. Linda has sent in a correction form on this.
  2. The insurance company has sent us a copy of our Treasurer’s Bond policy. Lu will keep that with our records.
  3. The Airport Observation Building was discussed. It was moved from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin to the Middle Eau Claire Lake in Barnes in the early 1950’s by the Stafford’s. Mr. Stafford has passed on and the family has sold the property. The new owners want to remove the building and donate it to BAHA. The owner would also help with the cost of moving the building if BAHA should decide to accept his offer. Some of the BAHA members have seen the structure. It will need work, but it would be a nice building for storage and work areas. It would cost approximately $5,000.00 to move the structure. Carol Pease said that the owner has to know before the end of December whether or not we will take the building as he wants to deduct it from his taxes. We do have a problem in that we don’t know if we will have our 501 (c) (3) number by then. It would not have to be moved off the site until next spring. There was discussion on what significance this building was to Barnes, as it was originally from Chippewa Falls. There actually is none. All of the furnishings come with the building. We would have to decide where we would want to put the building and also find out the costs involved with everything. At the next meeting all members should bring a list of Pro’s and Con’s on this issue. We would have to have a Special Meeting of the Members if we have to make a decision on this issue.

 

 

New business was discussed next.

  1. The Dissolution Clause- The clause that we have in our By-Laws is OK according to Jan Dykema. She said that if it follows the County Historical Society’s format it is good.
  2. Appointment to the Bayfield County Historical Society- Carol Pease said we need two permanent members and alternates for the coming year. The Bayfield County Historical Society meets the first Monday of the month year round except when it interferes with a holiday such as Labor Day and Christmas and New Years. Mike Bowes asked how we benefit from being a member of the society. Carol said we get a lot of historical information from them and it keeps our name out there. Carol Pease and Dave Pease said that they would continue to be the permanent members, but that we should have a slate of alternates in case they could not attend the meetings. Dave Thorson, Lu Peet, Mike Bowes and Bob Oberstar agreed to be the alternate members. Carol will give the names to the County Historical Society.
  3. Membership Drive-Lu Peet will get out the renewal forms to all the members. All members should help recruit new members as well. There was discussion on having a membership card made up. Lu will make a prototype of one for the October meeting. Lu will send the letter for members to indicate how they would like to help our organization, along with the membership form. She will add a statement concerning the possible change of meeting times on the letter.
  4. Calendar of Events-We have to decide on what events we will have for the coming year. We have to have it in by the last of October, so at our next meeting everyone should be ready to discuss this. The cost is $50.00 payable to the Town of Barnes.
  5. Information from Jan Dykema-Jan sent information on the upcoming Wisconsin Historical Society’s workshop to be held in Eau Claire. If anyone is interested in attending, contact Lu Peet.

 

There was discussion as to sending thank you notes to the VFW and Downtown Barnes. Lu will do this.

 

Bob Oberstar suggested that we should seriously look at the town land that has been offered to us so that we can start working on the museum or putting a building up.

 

Motion (Linda Oberstar / Mike Bowes) to adjourn the meeting. Call for discussion. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 11:25am.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Lu Peet

 

Secretary Barnes Area Historical Association: Dated October 8, 2007