Friends of the Museum and History Center

Minutes of the Friends of the Museum & History Center Board Meeting

24 January 2011, Museum and History Center

 The meeting was called to order at 3:08 p.m. by Chairwoman Gerrie Colette.    Others present included board members: Geoff Ormandy, Carol McNew, Bob Saulmon, Mary Lou Nelson, and Cliff Hight.  Absent were: Randy Brady, Susan Ooton and Ann Zielinski.

 The agenda was accepted as presented.

 The minutes of the November 15, 2010 meeting were approved as submitted.  It was acknowledged that these minutes should reflect that no meeting was held in December 2010 due to scheduling conflicts.

 Cliff presented two treasurer’s reports prepared by Ann Zielinski.  One report was for the month of December 2010 and the other was an annual report for 2010.  These reports were approved as submitted, pending clarification of the cash assets total shown on the December report and the date of the closing balances shown on the annual report.  Cash assets at the end of 2010 totaled $10,756.09.

 The list of the 2011 board officers was presented by Carol: Gerrie Collette, Chairwoman; Randy Brady, Vice-chair; Bob Saulmon, Secretary; Ann Zielinski, Treasurer; Geoff Ormandy, Past chair; Carol McNew, Member-at-large; and, Mary Lou Nelson, Member-at-large.  As a point of clarification, by the board’s approval, Mary Lou was appointed to fill Randy’s unfulfilled term as member-at-large to the end of 2011, since Randy was appointed vice-chair for 2011.

 As far as a fundraising report, there has been no response from Legacy Bank.  The following attached e-mail provides a record that the Board members did approve, by e-mail, the final payment of $2,500 to Jerry Vinnola for the Buffalo restoration project.  This payment has been delivered.

 Subject: RE: Vinnola Payment Progress

Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2010 11:09:37 -0700

from: cwhight@canoncity.org

 Hi Everyone,

 Based on the various emails in the past few days, at this point Randy has made a motion and Carol has seconded.  Geoff, Gerrie, Bob, and Carol have voted in favor, and I am guessing that Ann's email was a favorable vote as well.  When I talked with Mary Lou on Saturday, she was in favor of paying them, but I have not seen an affirmative vote since the motion.

 That is the current update on the payment.

 Thanks,

Cliff

Membership Report:  Randy will take over this job.  Carol sent out 60 annual membership renewal letters in January using the existing membership list.  Cliff will e-mail a list of potential members to the members of the board.  Board members will then pick names from this list who they wish to personally contact and a comparison of the name selections will be made at the February meeting to eliminate duplications.

 Committee Reports:

Financial: Geoff wrote a letter to Nard Claar thanking him for the $10,000 donation.  Geoff will coordinate with Nard, in the near future, the preparation of a news release to publicize the gift.  It was acknowledged that a part of the donation will be used to classify the Claar photo collection given to the museum.

 Program/Education: Mary Lou will send a thank you card to Kathy Herrin for her participation in the annual business meeting last December.  The 2011 business meeting will be held in January 2012, in order to close out a full year.

 Website:  It was moved by Mary Lou and seconded by Geoff that Carol is reimbursed for her payment of the $119.50 website bill.  All approved.  Also, the $26.40 paid by Carol for membership letter postage will be considered as payment of her membership dues, in lieu of reimbursement.

 Bylaws:  Geoff presented Resolution 2011-01, a resolution adopting a procedure for filling vacancies on the Board of Trustees, which amends Article IV of the bylaws by adding a paragraph 9.  Geoff moved, with a second by Carol, to adopt this resolution.  All present voted in favor.  A bylaws committee of Geoff, Carol and Ann will meet periodically to address a full review of the Bylaws.

 Cliff:  Cliff discussed several options for record-keeping software which might be used in place of Excel.  Carol will continue this investigation.  Cliff also: 1) reported that Jerry Vinnola was very pleased to receive the recent final payment of $2,500; 2) handed out a list of items submitted to the Museum archives by the Friends Board in 2010; and, 3) mentioned a resource catalog of books of interest to board menbers.

 The newsletter was discussed again.  The latest idea is to do a one-sheet legal-size newsletter that can be folded and mailed without an envelope.

 The sale of the Carpenter Historic House cards has been slow.  Geoff has taken some cards to the Blue Spruce Art Gallery in Florence and to Words of Life in Canon City.  The consensus is that the $5.00 price per card is too high.  Carol moved, with a second by Geoff, to lower the price to $3.50 per single card and $2.00 per card for a purchase of 10 or more.  The motion was approved.  Carol will notify all existing members by post card mailing that the price has been lowered.

 Carol reported that she is attending meetings of the Fremont/Custer Historical Society, the Western Fremont Historical Society and the Wetmore/Hardscrabble History and Genealogical Society.  She will suggest that the Friends collaborate with these organizations on perhaps doing a joint newsletter.

 Under new exhibits, Cliff reported that 2011 is the 150^th anniversary of Fremont County.  The museum staff will set up a year-long display of photos, etc. for the occasion, with a preview night for members of the Friends of the Museum scheduled for 6:00 p.m., February 25^th. 

 The next regular meeting will be on February 21, 2011 at 3:00 p.m. at the Museum.

 The meeting was adjourned at 4:50 p.m.

 Respectfully submitted by Bob Saulmon. 

Minutes of the Friends of the Museum & History Center Board Meeting

27 April 2011, Museum and History Center

 The meeting was called to order at 3:00 p.m. by Chairwoman Gerrie Colette.  Others present included board members Carol McNew, Geoff Ormandy, Bob Saulmon, Mary Lou Nelson, Ann Zielinski, Susan Ooten, History Center staff and guest Joanne Nelson.  Absent was: Randy Brady.

The agenda was presented and accepted.

Carol moved, with a second by Ann, to approve the minutes of the March 31, 2011 meeting as presented.  All approved.

The treasurer’s report for the end of March 2011 was presented.   The total cash assets amount to $11,407.38, with $1,795.96 of that amount in checking, $9,451.92 in savings and $100 in the cash box.  Mary Lou moved, with a second by Carol, to accept the report as presented.  All approved.

There was no report on the potential membership list.

 Mary Lou reported on plans for the National Day of the American Cowboy observance to be held on July 23.  The committee met and has contacted Kathy Herrin who has agreed to present her program of “Women of the West.”  This will be held at 10:30 a.m. at the History Center reading room.  Those in attendance will be given discount coupons for several restaurants on Main Street so they can enjoy lunch downtown.  At 2:00 p.m., a Chautauqua performance will be held at the Library, with Mary Jane Bradbury depicting Nancy Russell, the wife of painter Charlie Russell.  Post cards will be prepared by City staff and mailed to members of the Fremont County Cattleman’s Association, among others.  Mary Lou moved, with a second by Ann, to accept the Cowboy Days agenda.  All approved.

 Geoff announced that the newsletter is again not ready.

 Geoff handed out a copy of Resolution 2011-2, “A Resolution to Amend the Bylaws approved on December 18, 2008, As Proposed in Writing and Distributed to the Board at the Regular Meeting of April 27, 2011.”   The Board was instructed to compare this version with the previous version, in order to see what changes are being made, and to contact Geoff with any comments before the May meeting.  Passage of the Resolution will be considered at the May meeting. 

 Carol reported that there were about 240 hits last month on the website.  She makes changes about every 2 weeks and welcomes any comments. 

 Carol also reported that the Fremont Historical Society is working on obtaining a grant to reconstruct the old Prospect Heights jail building.  The Society will hold a meeting on May 15 at 2:00 p.m. at the Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, with Sue Cochran speaking about the 150^th anniversary of Fremont County.

 Susan Ooton reported on the ongoing search for a new museum curator.  Ten applicants have been selected for telephone interviews.  The successful applicant must have a “hands-on” approach in matters such as exhibit displays, collection handling and archival records.  She also mentioned that the Museum and History Center staff is working hard to keep up with the increasing workload.  Sue Cochran spends much time doing presentations after hours.  Staff could use more volunteer tour guides.

 The next meeting will be Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 3:00 pm at the Museum and History Center.

 The meeting was adjourned at 3:56 p.m.

 Respectfully submitted by Bob Saulmon.