Warwick Historical Society Minutes - September 18, 2013 Present: Larry Carey, Martha Morse, Ed Lemon, Arline Lincoln, Rod and Helen Whipple, Freddie and Calvin Fellows, Charlie Brown, Michael Carey, Carol Foote, Alana and Joe Mankowsky, Barbara Walker, Diana and Dana Tandy, Ann Miner, Mel Kitchen, Bev and Dave Shepardson, Clare Green, Susan Wright, and Colleen Paul. The meeting began at 7:00 p.m. with the presentation of a plaque and T-shirt to Ed Lemon as a "person of honor." Colleen Paul and Larry Carey, representing the Old Home Day committee, spoke of Ed's many contributions of time and talent to the Town of Warwick. Secretary's Report: The minutes of the June 19 meeting were accepted with one correction: in the first paragraph change "1963 Bicentennial play" to "1976 Bicentennial play." Treasurer's Report: Arline Lincoln gave the treasurer's report, which was accepted as read. Figures provided to the secretary for the Minutes are as follows: CD balance: $10,217.58 Savings: $5,230.60 Checking: $ 1,211.14 TOTAL: $16,659.32 Proceeds included two separate gifts of $250 each ($500 total) and $675.58 from sales and contributions at Old Home Day. New Business Larry asked if anyone would like to sell WHS items at the Sept. 28 Old 78 Farm Fall Festival. There were no volunteers. Larry said he would like to have the hallway to the cellar paneled over the plaster in order to hang framed pictures. Mel moved that Larry be empowered to hire someone, motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Photos of the 1929 Reo Speedwagon originally owned by Constantine Dubovik were passed around. Northfield resident John Black, who obtained and restored the truck, drove the truck in the Old Home Day parade and provided photos as well. Larry asked the secretary to write a thank you note to John Black. Rod Whipple reported that he had audited the books and found them in order. Charlie Brown gave some historial information on Alexander Cooper, who before 1850 lived in Richmond, NH and married a young woman from Warwick, more than 10 years before the Civil War. Dave Shepardson reported that the Old Home Day ice-cream making was a success, despite the fact that the Moores Pond ice blocks stored in the shed melted. Ice stored in the freezer was enough to make 9 & 1/2 quarts of ice cream. Dave noted again that this event was planned for the 250th celebration and will not be repeated next year. Martha reviewed the WHS assignments for the Sept. 22 American Harmony concert in the Unitarian Meeting House, and thanked everyone for enthusiastically supporting this event. Members paid dues to Arline Lincoln. There was a discussion regarding Museum security, and the need to further protect our most valuable items. It was noted that the contents of the Museum are insured for only 10% of their value. Mel noted that printing of the booklet "A History of Warwick in 15 Objects" cost $500 and was paid for by a grant from the Warwick Cultural Council. Ed Lemon gave the Curator's Report and it is attached. The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m. The next meeting will be December 18, 2013. Respectfully submitted, Martha Morse, secretary Curator's Report Sept. 18, 2013 Museum attendance We had a good season, with over 100 visitors, most of them during Old Home Days, as usual, but quite a few at other times as well. A big thank you to all who came in on Sundays and on Old Home Day to host the museum opening. Inventory and Cataloguing Project The inventory and online catalog continued with stalwarts Bev, Freddie, Cal, Liz and Martha Morse. We worked on indexing and archiving the many photograph albums in our collection. The inventory now contains well over 1600 items. Freddie has continued to make labels for various exhibits and we are still rearranging them according to themes. It is clear that our space is not being used as efficiently as it could be, and we'll be working on ways to improve that situation. One sore spot is the Howard collection, which has little connection to Warwick other than the fact that Mr. Howard lived here and was a benefactor. It contains some items of great value, however, and thus most of it does not appear in the publicly visible catalogue on the internet. It will also of necessity loom large in our discussions about insuring the contents of the museum! The large case currently housing most of the items takes up a lot of room, so a more efficient and secure display case is one of our projects for the coming year. Donations We have received $500 in personal donations (that I know of) this year, and some documents and photos from various sources for the museum. I encourage everyone to actively seek donations both of money and of items related to Warwick history. Donations and sales from films, slideshows and potentially Sunday's concert have been up as well. I am asking our treasurer to give us a breakdown of our income in December, so that we can see how we're doing in these areas. 250th Anniversary Events I want to mention this coming Sunday's concert with Nym Cooke and the American Harmony singers. Here's a chance to hear some of the songs and harmonies that our ancestors enjoyed around the time when Warwick became a town. I hope to see you all there. Our little book "A History of Warwick in 15 Objects" has been published and made its debut at Old Home Days. Quite a few copies of the 100 we ordered have already been sold at $5.00 each. As the production of the book was funded by the Cultural Council, every copy sold means $5.00 for our treasury. Copies are on sale now at the Library and will also be available at the November Holiday Fair. I would like to thank all who contributed to the content, design and production of the book. It has been suggested that we do another booklet with pictures and stories about some of the historic houses in town. If we can get another grant from the Cultural Council to cover printing expenses I see no reason why we couldn't do this. I have already photographed all of the houses in the MHC Register plus some that are of historical interest that are not on the Register. Here I'd like to thank Cal Fellows for driving me around to virtually every single house I've photographed and explaining to me who lived there and much more. Security Finally a word about the value of our collection. We have discovered a number of valuable items during the course of our inventory, and I continue to worry about just how safe things are. I believe we have no insurance on the building and its contents, and although we have installed cameras to guard against break-ins, we have not implemented any procedures to discourage people from pocketing small items, photographs, documents and the like. I'd like to see more locked cabinets, and visitors wishing to examine things inside would ask for the key from the duty person. Perhaps we could ask visitors to leave their bags behind before going upstairs. I would love to hear ideas from you all. Other Once again may I remind you that we need helpers to get oral and video interviews with long-term residents. We have digital recorders that are very easy to use. Some of you, I am sure, have interesting tales to tell and I'll be happy to record them. Just let me know! Respectfully submitted, Ed Lemon, Curator