May 17, 2007
The regular meeting of the Greater Dover
Historical Society was called to order by President Madelyn Shermeyer at 7:05 p.m. Members in attendance were Lori Koch, Madelyn
Shermeyer, Carol Leathery, Grace Trimmer, Phyllis Wolgamuth, Jo Ott, June Kinsey, Judy
Worley, Randy Worley, Mel Miller, James Geiselman, Ted Ziegler, Jeffrey Koch, Zita Smith,
Kay Stitley, Gayle Heagy, Lois Slothower, Larry Law, Joyce Law, Marty Green, Melanie
Green, Ron Botterbusch, Norma Botterbusch and Doris Burger.
The meeting was held in the conference room at the Dover UCC due to a
continuing construction project underway at Calvary Lutheran Church.
President Shermeyer asked for any
changes or corrections to the April minutes but unfortunately the secretary had attached
the March meeting minutes in error. The April
minutes will be acted upon at the June meeting per Madelyn Shermeyer.
Treasurer’s Report
The treasurer’s report for April
prepared by Joyce Law was presented for approval. A
motion to approve the treasurer’s report was made by Jeff Koch and seconded by Larry
Law. All were in favor and motion passed.
March 31 balance $6,858.98
April deposits
16.57
April expenses 163.57
April 30 balance $6,720.90
Board of Directors report
– Marty Green stated the board of directors met on May 3 and discussed several
issues. 1). Security at the blacksmith shop
was brought up. It was suggested that a dusk
to dawn light be added between the buildings or at the roof top of the blacksmith shop. It was agreed that additional security measures
will be added to the archive storage building by adding a wrought iron gate on the side
door and install more secure locking mechanisms on the overhead garage door. We will talk to Ted to see if he has time to make
the gate and Harry Shermeyer will install the additional locks on the garage door. 2). It was agreed to order 300 of the blacksmith
shop replicas and boxes. Madelyn will place
the order since the final copy was approved by the committee. It should take 2 weeks for delivery and Madelyn
will pick them up. The replica will be the 4th
in the Dover Township series, sponsored by the GDHS and will be ready for sale at the June
2 dedication. 3). There was more discussion on
the website with suggestions for updates and changes.
It was decided the GDHS should have an editor for the website and any
written publication of the society. Lucia
Hrinyak has graciously agreed to serve as editor. 4).
We are still checking for an economical microphone system to use at our meetings.
Archivist Report
– Dr. Drawbaugh was not present; no report. Assistant
Archivist Gayle Heagy reported she went through the boxes of items from the Eisenhart
family and discovered several news clippings that show Dr. Drawbaugh in his years at Dover
High School as FFA advisor. There was also an
article on his cane collection. Jo Ott gave
Gayle books on the life history of Janet Myers Schwalm and Charles Fahs March.
Website report
– Brett Pfleiger reported that he and Maureen are working on completing changes to
the website as directed by the society. Regular
updates are done when received, i.e., meeting minutes and newsletters. There are 2 newsletters which need to be scanned
and posted. Brett said getting the newsletter
in text format is better than trying to scan a hard copy. As for recent updates, Brett is
awaiting instructions. All the minutes were
put back on the minutes page. June Kinsey
asked if the meeting minutes could be listed by year instead of by month. Brett has it categorized by most recent first. It was questioned about download time on certain
links and agreed that dial-up is much slower when clicking on several links. The biography site now has biographies
listed. The “our town characters”
link shows under construction. Joyce Law
offered to take photographs of Dover homes during the historical walk so they can be
posted on the kids education page on the GDHS website.
Madelyn stated she felt that once the blacksmith shop dedication ceremony is
completed, the old photo on the website should be removed.
It was suggested that all photos and related articles on the blacksmith shop
should have its own separate link on the webpage.
Historian report --
Cindy Snyder is not in attendance.
Committee report:
Blacksmith shop/Ketterman Park dedication – Kay Stitley reported
that everything is coming together. She hopes
to have all details worked out before she leaves for vacation on Saturday. We will need lots of volunteers for the dedication
and there will be a sign-up sheet available tonight. Volunteers
are needed to sell the t-shirts, replicas and items made by Ted. One hour shifts with 4 people on each shift is what
Kay suggested. We need to keep a close record
of all items to list under our fundraiser sales.
Kay also reported the following:
·
Confirmation letters were sent to the
food vendors
·
She had a message from the scoutmaster
concerning the 5 eagle scouts but has not been able to reach him yet
·
She will discuss the township fire
police coverage locations with Madelyn for the handicapped-designated parking lot on Butter
Road, Pro-Pallet and Raycom Drive. The Borough
fire police will handle Dover Elementary School and parking in the grassy area off Edgeway
Avenue.
·
Volunteers are needed to help with
set-up of the platform and other items @ 7am on Saturday, June 2.
·
Kay called the school and was able to
get the names of the 17 children from the first class of third graders. Only 2 of the 17 letter she sent out were returned. Kay has talked to Mrs. Brown
·
To date, confirmed dignitaries attending
are Congressman Platts and Senator Punt. Rep.
Mackereth is unsure at this point. No response
from county commissioners yet.
·
A flyer will be printed to distribute
around town. Lori Koch will prepare it.
·
Kay talked to Attorney John Bergdoll
about allowing GDHS to use his sign in the field at Fox Run Road near McDonalds on Rt. 74. He said ok since no one else is using it at this
time. Kay hopes to post info on the sign a
week before the dedication.
·
Kay was finally able to make contact
with the manager at CVS about putting a sign in the parking lot. The manager needs to get approval from the
landlord, Mr. Rauhauser (who is a GDHS member).
Open House for members
report: June Kinsey thanked the
members of the committee and all the volunteer crew who helped with setup and tear down
for the open house. It was a very successful
event which was enjoyed by all who attended. Everyone
heard very positive comments about the event. The
weather was a little windy but sunny with no rain. There
were a total of 73 people in attendance (19 craftsmen/donors and guests, 51 members and 3
non-members). Ted was very busy all day and he
had supportive help from his son, as well as Bob and Lisa Byerts.
Blood Root: Madelyn reported she received some of the
information from Joe Marks. She will be
getting together with Ron as we don’t have some of the original books that he typed
out of. She sent Joe an email telling him what
we need and he is still opening boxes with this stuff in and will let Maddie know when he
finds more. We will not have these ready for
sale at the carnival, but will have the replicas and t-shirts.
Adopt-A-Highway: Lucia was not available to attend tonight so Joyce
Law reported the next adopt-a-highway cleanup will be held on Saturday, June 23 @ 8am. Rain date will be June 30. Joyce reminded everyone to sign waiver release
forms when serving on any committees or volunteering for projects.
Old Business
Madelyn
reported that she just received word today that the replicas are done and ready for
pickup. She will make arrangements to pick
them up and the boxes. They do a 10 percent
overrun, for a total of 330 replicas with boxes for a total cost of $3,135. Joyce questioned the amount we already paid and
Maddie said it was only for the artwork which was an additional fee.
Madelyn talked to Don Baughman
about the jailhouse plaque. Baughmans will dig
it out and make a new one. Ted will make a
little fence to put around it. Maddie talked
to Mrs. Albreght to tell her the details of what will be done and she is ok with that.
Historical Walk
– Kay Stitley reported it will be held on June 19 starting at the blacksmith shop @ 6pm. Ted will be working in the shop at 5:30pm.
Madelyn reported that she had checked
into a wireless microphone at Radio Shack and Audio Visions off George Street. Unless we spend at least $500 for a wireless
microphone, she said the salesman at AudioVisions said most of these are crap since the
new high definition has entered into the market. Maddie
said she talked to Ron about looking into the type you plug into an amp which should be
sufficient for our purposes. Melanie Green
said she has the name of the microphone used by the garden club which was purchased a
Radio Shack for around $80. Maddie will look
into this again at Radio Shack later this week.
New Business
Refreshments
for the historical walk – Norma said we normally have people bring cookies, chips,
pretzels and beverages. We had some volunteers
to bring cookies. Melanie Green said there was
a member at the open house who said she cannot attend many of our events, but would like
to help. Mel said it was Darlene Tice and
Norma will call her.
Old Business Updates
Gayle Heagy met with Attorney Ron
Hershner today on the Stouch agreement. He is
an attorney with Stock and Leader in York and chair of board the York Heritage Trust. Gayle explained what the society is doing with the
diaries and told him about the amicable agreement with Jay Stouch. Gayle told Atty. Hershner about some of the changes
being discussed and that the society felt we needed a legal agreement between the GDHS and
Stouch. Atty. Hershner agreed that we should
have a legal document. He will draw up a
simple one and do the work pro bono. He also
mentioned that as chair of the board of the York Heritage Trust, he wants to get some
closer ties with local historical societies and all he wants in return is acknowledgement
of his help with the Stouch agreement. Gayle
told him about our problem with finding adequate space for our archives. They discussed having a “Dover Day” at
the Heritage Trust and Gayle told him about Bertha Linebaugh’s parasol and could we
borrow it for our fireman’s fair display. Gayle
asked if there are 30 diaries with 1 year missing. Joyce
Law said she talks to Jay Stouch and would be happy to contact him. She said his business is not doing well and Jay may
be taking an early retirement in May. Gayle
asked if Jay Stouch plans to donate the actual diaries to the GDHS. Joyce said he is back and forth….one day yes,
one day no. Jay said the York Heritage Trust
does not want them. We don’t want to
spend our volunteer hours deciphering and typing up the diaries if Jay does not plan to
donate them to us.
Maddie reported that Bob Stitley said
the old cookstove is repairable.
At this point in time, we will not be
planning a craft show at the blacksmith shop. Maddie
said with all the events we did so far this year and the carnival in September we have our
plates full. We can plan for next year.
Norma indicated she will not be chairing
the fireman’s fair GDHS stand this year. She
said it is time for someone else to take over, but she will be glad to help with ideas.
Kay made a suggestion to use the pictures here tonight in the cases. We will seek volunteers to chair this committee.
Jeff Koch has an old barrel he got from
the old bark bank on Pennsylvania Avenue about 20 years ago.
It was suggested we could use it as a water barrel at the blacksmith shop,
but Jeff said it doesn’t have a bottom. It
has an old wooden lid and wood bands around it. We
could use it inside the shop or just as a decorative display item for our events. June asked about having water service in the park
and will the Borough be installing it. There
is water service run to the park near the electrical panel but it is not hooked up to a
tap.
Maddie asked Kay about the sign to go
above the door at the blacksmith shop. Kay
said it will be ready after Memorial Day. Kay
asked Larry how he wanted it mounted and it will be done using screws. When the sign is ready, Kay will contact Larry to
make arrangements to have it installed.
Kay’s son is still agreeable to do
the pen and ink drawing.
Kay reported the t-shirts are done and
she will be picking them up tomorrow morning. Kay
had a sample and everyone thought it looked nice.
There was a motion to adjourn by Jeff
Koch and seconded by Gayle Heagy. Meeting was
adjourned at 8:10pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Lori Koch
GDHS Secretary