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ALLIANCE AREA PRESERVATION SOCIETY

Minutes of the Meeting - October 23, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. at the Haines House

In attendance - Martha McClaugherty, Pat Lewis, Mike Aeling, Maryjo Hepler, Beth Daniel, Michelle Collins-Sibley, Gordon Harrison, Carolyn Miller, Patricia Sacha, Robb Hyde and Ginny Daniel.

Excused: Beth Gray, Kay Brown, Maxine Haupt and Frank Barrett

Treasurer's Report - Gordon reported that the fundraising letter costs were approximately $485.00 and, that with 30 letters returned so far, $1,745.00 has come in.

Presidents' Report - Martha reported that 1) the URR Summit Tour was cancelled; 2) she has ordered a sign for the parking lot indicating no skateboarding, etc. at the suggestion of Bob Hunter.

Renovation - Maryjo reported that 1) the weeding has been done; 2) the furnace filter needs to be changed (Mike will do it); 3) she is meeting Friday at 11:00 with the kitchen designer at Lowe's who will help us develop a design and write a grant for Lowe's - anyone interested in attending with her is welcome; 4) outside painting will be done in the spring; 5) she would like to sell the donated rope bed, the dry sink in the kitchen, the settee in the library and the bathtub - it was decided to hold off on the bathtub and the settee, but Maryjo will check with the antique store downtown to see if they would want the dry sink and rope bed to sell - Martha moved and Michele seconded, all approved; 6) Gordon and Mike moved the shed closer to the edge of the parking lot; and 7) Boyd and Hawkins have checked the gutters and they are fine.

Education - Kay was absent.  1) Michele reported that the URR Exhibit Subcommittee had met and is planning to do a display in the Community Room which would include, among other things, a time line of important people and activities regarding slavery and the URR and a display of quilt blocks showing the designs of the quilt code with explanations of their meanings; the committee will be meeting again Oct. 30; 2) Michele mentioned that MUC will be having a seminar on teaching diversity on Feb. 9 and 10 - she suggested at least one of our members attend the Saturday afternoon session; 3) Martha is working on a children's day program; 4) Michele is interested in hearth cooking and is hoping to attend a program at Gunston Plantation in Virginia on the topic - she would like to see us have a program on it to be held outside; 5) Deborah Lotsoff of MUC is willing to research and design some costumes for our use but will not have time to construct them;  6) Patricia would like to ask Rayna Shilling who is a librarian with an interest in history to develop a more thorough and concise history of slavery and the URR in this area than we now have for use by our docents - board members approved, Patricia will discuss the idea with her; 7) Martha indicated that the harpists who Beth Gray had mentioned at last month's meeting would be willing to come and give a concert but are not available for our Lamplight Tour - she suggested we might use them for a fund-raising effort and hold it at a local church

Fund-raising and Publicity - 1) Robb did a very nice job with the fundraising letter (as always) with a great response so far; 2) Robb will look into getting a bulk mailing rate since we will be sending out newsletters several times a year as well as the fundraising letter and possibly other things - he feels the cost of the permit is $75.00 per year with each letter costing $.18 to mail; 3) it was suggested we see if Tom Harper would put our Open Houses in his "Let's Go" page once a month, and also to see if we could list them in the Canton Repository to encourage a wider number of people to attend; 4) it was suggested that we put some of our flyers at the Senior Center and Chamber office; 5) the next newsletter will come out in late November - please give any information to Beth D. that you would like to have included.

Community Involvement and Membership - 1) Martha suggested that we should attempt to have some of the elderly African Americans in town recount stories of their childhood and what they know of their family histories so that the information can be kept for posterity; 2) it was suggested we invite other local area historical societies to have one of their meetings at the house to encourage more people from a wider area to visit; 3) Martha will be meeting Thursday with MUC theater students regarding a re-enactment to be held at the Nature Center in the spring - she would like to have a "walk-through" soon with the students so they could plan over the next few months;

Archives and Collection Care - Carolyn will continue to work on listing and photographing items in the house - she and Joanne Dagenhardt have begun the process.

Alliance Historical Society Liaison - The committee met recently and brainstormed ways to involve the community - their first project will be to have a program on the "Theaters of Alliance" to be held Jan. 30 at the Neighborhood Center.  Other topics may include the schools, the railroad's affect on Alliance, and the history of downtown Alliance.  Audience members will be encouraged to share their memories with the group.

Old Business - None

New Business - 1) Michele mentioned that she will be teaching a course entitled "Imagining Slavery" spring semester and invited anyone who would like to attend to do so; 2) Robb suggested that he would like to have a special recognition of some type for Evan and Suzanne Morris who have strongly supported our endeavors with financial backing.  He will talk to them about it to see what they are comfortable having us do, but suggested that we might name the Community Room the Morris Room or at the least have a plaque in the building recognizing their contribution; he had considered recognizing them at the time we burn the mortgage.

Next meeting - November 27, 2006 at 7:00 p.m.

Work day: Sat., Nov. 4 from 9-12 as a regular work day to clean the attic, take down cobwebs, etc.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Ginny Daniel, Secretary

© 2006 - Alliance Area Preservation Society. For additional information contact the webmaster at rhyde@neo.rr.com. All rights reserved. Substantial penalty for early withdrawal. Subject to availability. Your mileage may vary.

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