Marlow
Historical Society Minutes & Reports
September 2007
"Annual Meeting"
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Marlow Historical Society / Annual Meeting / September 20, 2007
Guest
Speaker: Michelle Stahl The Annual meeting began at 7:00 PM with a welcome by Mary Blank. Since Mary’s speech plays a major role in what followed, we feel it is appropriate to include it verbatim:
Annual
Meeting Speech Welcome to Marlow Historical Society’s 32nd Annual Meeting. Since we have a guest speaker we wish keep our business meeting as short as possible. Following my report as President, will be the Secretary’s report, the Treasurer’s report and then our Annual Elections. We ask that any questions that you have concerning these reports be kept until our guest speaker concludes her talk. Founded in 1976, the Society has sponsored many events and fulfilled our mission to the best of our ability. Two years ago at our annual meeting I included in my presentation, the following…. (Mary read a segment from 2005 iterating that too much of our time is, of necessity, spent in fundraising, far-removed from our central mission of research and preservation.) That statement is more relevant today than it was two years ago. Why, you might ask? Well, I will tell you….. We are tired….. and we are not ashamed to tell you so. We really, really, are. I go about the house mumbling “I can’t do this anymore” It is not disinterest, as we feel our mission to be as exciting as ever; it is the result of frustration; it is the necessity to put such a great deal of time and energy into fundraising. Fundraisers such as the Monadnock Music Dinner and the Lunch at Town Meeting require a great deal of time and energy. Monadnock Music Dinner is our greatest moneymaker, but is the most labor intensive. Recently, one of the members, not directly involved with the dinner, has suggested that she would be willing to take on the Dinner. If she does, we would be extremely grateful. Events that give us exposure, that tell the town and the area “We’re here, we’re here!” are very valuable. Events such as the Monadnock Music Concert, the Art Exhibition and our participation in the Harvest Festival and Christmas on the Pond serve this purpose. Yet they are not without a degree of planning and work. The Christmas Program is just plain fun…. For me it is a joy. On September 4th at our monthly board meeting, we discussed this very issue. We considered the possibility of a category of membership that would be called “a sustaining membership”. I have one with WOOL- LP 100.1FM in Bellows Falls. A sustaining membership in the Marlow Historical Society would be $100 per year. At that board meeting three of the board members agreed that they would indeed become sustaining members. If we had 12 sustaining memberships, we could pay for our insurance and our rent, easing the pressure for us to expend so much of our energy on fund raising. If we adopt this membership category, we hope that you would consider becoming a sustaining member. If you are a lifetime member please consider a yearly pledge. With such members and community support, some of the pressure to fundraise would be relieved. Instead, efforts could be put into programs; creating a walking brochure, an item that has been on the to-do list for what seems like decades; continuing to scan our photographs; listing our books, papers and museum items on a database; updating our history with added information; collecting oral histories, and upgrading the storage of items in our archives. The list goes on and on. Before we continue with tonight’s agenda which includes the election of officers and the board, I want you to know how grateful I am for the work done by the officers and directors. Loisanne Foster serves as our Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, Web Forum Administrator, and does all our genealogy research as well as specialty research. She has created booklets that cover Marlow Academy, the 1876 Quilt, the Huntleys and the Giffins. She is a Godsend. Adam Plumb is our youngest director. Although he is busy with school and scouts, Adam attends our meetings when he can and shares with us his extensive knowledge of Marlow History. Candy Wiggum is also a Director and chairs our Liberty Elm Project. She is always ready and willing to lend a hand, and does. Art Schmid, new to the board last year, is a wealth of information, experience, and keeps us laughing. Art was elected treasurer at last year’s meeting, but he and I were never able to get together to transfer that responsibility and I served as acting Treasurer and will be giving the 2006-2007 treasurer’s report. Tonight, Art is running for Director for 3 years. And then there is “little ole me.” I preferred not to run for President this year as there is so much that I want to accomplish that furthers our mission. The nominating committee chairman has asked me to run again as no one jumped on the bandwagon to do so. “If I am elected” I will depend on the board to continue their work and hope that others will take upon themselves the responsibility and glory of membership chairman, publicity chairman, and fund raising chairman. These are important positions that keep the Society alive and well. Thank you for your time and patience. At this time I will ask our Secretary Loisanne Foster to read the minutes of the 2006 Annual Meeting. She will also share with you the number of events and accomplishments that have taken place since September of last year. Before Loisanne read the Secretary’s report, she read the following letter: Sept. 19, 2007 Dear Al and Mary, We of the Marlow Historical Society Executive Board are grateful for your devotion to the Society and its purposes. Al, you have given generously of your time, your knowledge and culinary gifts, hard work, and wondrous resources. Mary, while you deal with the details, you have your eye on the larger mission. You are more than the cream in the coffee. You are the gas in the engine. You notice so many things that need doing and just do them - from procuring floor protectors for the benches at Jones Hall to cleaning and painting the unmentionable behind Murray Hall. You generate ideas, make the contacts for programs and projects, produce posters and publicity, and organize, organize, organize. All events and projects find you in the middle - cleaning, lifting, carrying, perspiring, and piloting. We know our events and projects have not happened by magic - unless the magic is you. We would like to acknowledge the incredible amount of thought, time, and energy you both give to Marlow Historical Society. In recognition of your dedication and service, we present this token of our gratitude.
Sincerely, (On personal behalf of the MHS Board, Loisanne presented a gift certificate for dinner for two at Luca’s in Keene.) Loisanne passed out a list of our MHS activities and accomplishments for the year of Oct. 2006 to Sept. 2007. (See addendum below.) Loisanne read the Secretary’s report, minutes of the Annual Meeting of Sept. 21, 2006. The minutes were accepted as read. Mary Blank read the Treasurer’s report which included a grand total of $1,280.23 with nearly all of it tagged for specific purposes such as insurance, rental of museum space, fuel, Elm Tree Project, Bride’s Album Quilt Conservation, and Murray Hall Fund. The Treasurer’s Report was accepted as read. Maria Baril of the Nominating Committee volunteered to take over Chairmanship of the Monadnock Music Dinner for next year. This offer was gratefully accepted. Maria also volunteered to be Membership Chairperson. This was also gratefully accepted. Further, Maria pledged to become a sustaining member. We thank Maria for her generous involvement. Elections:
For
these positions, candidates had accepted nomination:
(We
presently have two other directors:
Unfilled
nominations: Maria Baril presented the slate of nominations which was unanimously approved. Mary renewed our request from last year to Gen Ells to consider the position of Vice President with the understanding that the position carries with it a role in arranging programs. Gen responded by nominating Pam Little to the position, and Pam accepted. Pam was unanimously elected as Vice President. Gen Ells volunteered to co-chair the Program Committee. Although we have no one in the position of Fundraising Chairperson, several have pledged to become sustaining members at $100.00, and we hope to have a minimum of a dozen sustaining members. This would allow us to concentrate on our true mission of conserving and sharing Marlow’s history. On request, Loisanne briefly described the MHS Forum and its contents which include West Yard Cemetery inscriptions; genealogy of our first settlers, 1790 taxpayers, and soldiers from the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812; stories, and Marlow traditions. Mary made our traditional 50% - 50% Harvest festival raffle tickets available.
The
official part of the meeting was adjourned at 7:35. "Before I introduce Michelle Stahl, Executive Director of the Peterborough Historical Society… I want to recognize someone who has and is bringing Marlow’s History to life. Tracy Messer is here tonight . He is the historian and producer of “Four Days of Fury” the great Marlow-Stoddard Fire. In addition, he will briefly share with us what he believes a most important activity for any Historical Society …. 'The Gathering of Oral Histories'." Tracy thanked us for our support of “Four Days of Fury.” He noted, “We are still reviewing and revising. It’s a labor of love.” He hopes the final version will be complete to show to The Association of N.H. Fire Chiefs at their convention at Crotched Mountain this December. Summary of Tracy Messer’s Message: In preserving history, you are doing valuable work. People as yet unborn will be grateful for what you do today. What is the most important thing you can do? It is to capture and preserve the history that is alive today in the people who have lived it. If their experience is not preserved, it is lost. History is not just events and dates. Those are already in the books. Real history lies in the fabric of the lives of those who have lived it. There is now a window of opportunity to capture the experiences of local people who remember World War II, but the window is closing fast. The most important thing you can do is to preserve their stories and those from the Korean War and other wars. The audience reflected that veterans of Vietnam are already in their sixties. Yes, Tracy responded. History books are all written with a point of view, an agenda, if you will, and this is the opportunity to capture the real scoop on the fading period from many points of view. We have our mission. Mary then introduced Michelle Stahl, Executive Director of the Peterborough Historical Society and member of the Board of Directors of the New England Museum Association, who spoke on the topic, “Does History Matter?” Here is a brief summary of her remarks: Peterborough Historical Society, though much larger than MHS and having a salaried staff, has the same problems. “Insurance kills us. Electricity is expensive. Fundraising eats us.” She also suggested that, with so much competition from readily available media, people are less likely to show interest in local history and come out for events and museum visits. She said that, nationwide, museum visits have fallen 20% since 2002. There is a crisis brewing. We are all in the same boat. Why does it matter? History and museums are not just “nice” to have; they are necessities. Knowledge of our history helps unite a diverse people in this great [democratic] experiment. It gives perspective that cannot be gained in other ways. It inspires. Michelle gave an inspiring historical example of a Peterborough woman who persevered through enormous difficulties. Like Tracy, Michelle emphasizes the importance of the histories of individuals. What programs in Peterborough have been particularly successful? Michelle suggested that those that involve people physically, experience-based programs, capture the most interest. She cited the cemetery programs with living actors representing town characters and village walking tours. How can a historical society get noticed? We need to “toot our horns,” she said. “People don’t hear us over the din. They don’t know what we do.” She said that marketers know that a commodity must be marketed six times to a person before there is action. We need to keep ourselves in the media, and press releases to the Sentinel would be one low-cost way to accomplish this. Preserving community history is costly and time-consuming, but often lost on the current generation. How do we get and keep a young audience, the young who will carry on the mission after us? Michelle praised our interactive Forum and suggested that we “embrace technology.” Coming from a Peterborough perspective, she suggested that we “build money in the budget for expert computer advice.” [We use our home computers.] That fifth grader, she said, can best be reached through the computer. “We have worked from the inside out,” Michelle said. “We would put on programs and see who came. We need to let the community tell us what they want. It’s hard to do. Get a start. Strike an interest, and the community will bring history to you. Try for a ripple effect.” She gave an example of a small Peterborough exhibit of artifacts and letters from World War II which sparked an outpouring of community interest and support with new materials emerging from attics all over town. The small exhibit became an impressive one because it was meaningful to the community. Michelle pointed out that, with the Vietnam War, the counterculture came into our area with communes and suggested that as a possible topic of interest. Individual lives of local people are important, central to the fabric of history. She ended quoting Margaret Mead. “Don’t worry about making history. You already have.” Addendum: Marlow Historical Society Regular Activities, August 2006 - Sept. 2007
Special
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