Moore's Pond Beach Committee Minutes
October 15, 2012 @ 6:30 PM
Present:  Gloria Varno, Kathy Connelly, Dave Shepardson, Jim McRae
(arrived 6:36)
Meeting called to order at 6:35 PM
Minutes of August 13, 2012 meeting approved as written.
Old Home Day Event
Good turnout and very positive comments from all those attending even
though no pond ice was available for the churning.
The Hollerans went to Wagon Wheel and got ice after the ice shed was
opened and the ice had melted.  Shepardson's had some in the freezer
also.
This was an 'experiment' before the event for the 250th.  
Kathy asked Dave if he had any suggestions for making it work for next year.
Dave said we need to have a colder winter and be able to get the blocks
thicker than 8".
Howard Hastings suggested that Styrofoam insulation be put around the
shed and that he has some and would donate.
Dave said we used about 2/3rds of the sawdust and he is hoping that it
can be reused next year.
The target date for cutting next year is scheduled for Saturday February
9th at 10 AM.
We raised $83 at Old Home Day for the raffle and donations towards the
water testing.
We made 3 batches of ice cream (about 5 qts).  Ran out of wooden spoons
which we had a count of 75.  Next year we will need to get more spoons.
Dave said the ice chipper that was loaned by Bob Hubbard works better on
blocks of ice so Gloria suggested getting blocks next year if our ice
melts and we have to purchase ice.  It was also suggested that we store
a couple of the cut blocks in a freezer locally as a backup but trying
to find a location will be tough.  Suggestions made were Wagon Wheel,
Kulicks, Town Hall but not sure people would be willing to run a freezer
just for storing pond ice.
Water Testing
We have not received a bill yet but we have enough money to cover it
with a balance of $661.17.
Kathy received a 2nd letter from Berkshire Labs saying that they will be
conducting the water testing next year if we want.  They said originally
they would not and would try to provide us a list of others to contact
but now that they are willing to do the testing, we will continue to use
them.
Kathy was able to track down the Lycott survey which was done 21 years
ago.  It covers the quality of water and fish.  The town had a grant for
the study after the Title 5 Septic rules went into play.  Kathy is going
to talk to Matt Hinkler whether he thinks it needs to be done again or
we can use the original to try and get the water testing down to once a
month.  Maybe another grant would be possible.  But as Jim said, maybe
it would not be cost effective to do the study when the water testing
costs a little over $600 per year.  We will need to weigh the cost of
having the survey done or just do the testing weekly.
Kiosk
The Lexan glass that is on the kiosk is starting to bulge so Kathy asked
Jim what could be done about it.  Jim said the glass is very difficult
to cut and is trying to think of something else to use.   Kathy
suggested stapling notices to the wood because we don't want tacks or
push pins because if they dropped on the ground, someone could step on
them.  Gloria suggested plastic sleeves for the rules and regulations
and staple those and any notices can be stapled directly since they
don't stay up there that long.  Kathy is going to try the stapling and
if it works, Jim will remove the Lexan glass.
Next Year's Events
The committee wants to continue being a dinner sponsor with a function
of Wooden Fender.  Jim is having a meeting this week and will bring up
our involvement.  If all goes well, we would like to do a dinner in
April.
The beach cleanup weekend will be in the spring, possibly in May.  
Dave and Bev Shepardson were talking to Kay Magi about the old days at
the pond and Kay said that women from town use to walk from the center
of town down North Holden Road, by the cemetery to South Holden Road and
sit and knit or crochet on benches while the children swam.  Gloria
suggested re-creating this event this summer in conjunction with the
250th.  Everyone could meet in the center or at the cemetery and do the
walk to Moore's  Pond  and the committee would host a reception at the
beach.  We would like to plan this sometime in June after school is out.
 Maybe folks would like to try to wear old bathing suits or old style
outfits.  Dave said that Charlie Brown also had some information about
this "walk" so we will continue to gather information from Kay and
Charlie and try to get this organized for June.
All the events need to work in conjunction with the 250th committee events.  


Next meeting is scheduled for January 14, 2013 at 6:30 PM.  

Agenda will be plans for Feb ice cutting; water testing results; dinner
in April; cleanup in May;
walk in June.  

Meeting adjourned at 7:46 PM