Greater Dover Historical Society

April 17, 2008

The regular meeting of the Greater Dover Historical Society was called to order by Vice President Kay Stitley at 7:03 p.m. at the Calvary Lutheran Church.  Members present were:  Lori Koch, Kay Stitley, Carol Leathery, Jeff Koch, Mary Geiselman, James Geiselman, Ted Zeigler, Lucia Hrinyak, Jo Ott, Doris Burger, Ron Botterbusch, Zita Smith, Gayle Heagy, Melanie Green, Constance Miller, Grace Trimmer and Norma Botterbusch.

Vice President Stitley presented the March 2008 minutes and asked for any additions or corrections to the minutes.  A motion to accept the minutes as presented was made by Ron Botterbusch and seconded by Jeff Koch.  All voted in favor and motion passed.

TREASURER’S REPORT

The treasurer’s report for March 2008 was presented by Vice President Stitley, in the absence of Joyce Law:

Balance as of March 1, 2008                        $10,179.23

Deposits for March                                              190.71

Expenses for March                                             316.10

Balance as of March 31, 2008                      $10,053.84

There was a motion by Gayle Heagy to approve the treasurer’s report as presented and seconded by Doris Burger.  All voted in favor and motion passed.

Archivist Report -- Dr. Drawbaugh was absent.  Assistant Archivist Gayle Heagy reported she received a high school certificate dated 1948 for Merle Bolton which was donated by Pete MacEwan.  Gayle stated she has not been in touch with Mr. MacEwan yet to find out where he got it or the circumstances by which he acquired it.  Gayle also has family histories for Sam and Emaline Spahr and the Quickel-Rudisill families of Dover.  Gayle has not had the opportunity to closely review them but they appear to be a very thorough biographical histories.  These documents were dropped off to Gayle by Sara Ann Boring and Gayle will get in touch with Sara to get more details. 

Gayle reported she spoke to Baughman Memorial Works and said the jailhouse marker installation will be done by the end of April.

Gayle reported she submitted the preservation award application for recognition of the blacksmith shop to Historic York but has not heard anything to date.  She is not sure when the deadline is and was not told when a decision will be made. 

Webpage Report – Brett Pfleiger was not present at the meeting.

Historian Report – Cindy Snyder was not present at the meeting. 

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Blood Root -- President Shermeyer was absent and there was no report.  

Adopt-a-Highway – see under old business.

Board of Directors’ report

Gayle Heagy reported that President Shermeyer was contacted by Brett Pfleiger concerning the GDHS webpage.   Brett has started to design the blacksmith shop webpage and discovered a change at our web host that will make ongoing work on the website more difficult.  Brett is suggesting we change to a new package but it will also affect West Manchester Historical Society since we currently split the cost.  Brett is suggesting a new package that will cost us $4.99 per month rather than the $9.99 we split with West Manchester.  Brett will also change West Manchester to a new $4.99 per month package and let them take care of their own bill.  We would basically be on two different accounts and there is really no difference in cost to either organization.  Gayle stated she did not feel that West Manchester will have any problem with this arrangement.  Brett asked how we can go forward with this and Gayle said we will have to be in touch with West Manchester.  Vice President Stitley said the contact with West Manchester is Bob Kehr.  Gayle contacted the Board of Directors and there were no negative responses from any member. Gayle asked for a show of hands from the membership and it was unanimously approved to proceed with Brett’s suggestion for the webpage host.   The secretary will send Bob Kehr a letter concerning this matter.

There was no other business before the Board and Gayle stated she is not certain a meeting will be held on May 1 unless something comes up. 

OLD BUSINESS

Lucia Hrinyak reported the society had an obligatory adopt-a-highway pickup on April 5 with 9 members participating.  It did not rain even though the weather started out rather iffy; the northbound group finished in 2 hours and the southbound group in 1.5 hours.  We collected 8 bags of trash which was significantly less than our first pickup 2 years ago.  Lucia contacted the PennDOT liaison for the program and we do not have to sign a new contract.  She informed the liaison there will be a new chairperson, but did give her the information yet until she gets permission from Melanie to do so.  Lucia will pass along the manual and all the supplies to Melanie tonight.  Lucia sincerely hopes that those members who have supported the program in the past will continue to do so.

Landscape Committee – Lucia reported the committee met on April 8 to do a winter cleanup at the garden at the storage shed in the park -- trimming, pruning and transplanting some grass.  They also laid an informal stone pathway from the shed ramp to the side door of the blacksmith shop since that area gets muddy.  There will be one last major effort to spread some new mulch in the beginning of May.  The groups spent about 2-3 hours working and Lucia drove up there today to see if some of the bulbs she and June planted had bloomed.  Lucia encouraged everyone to drop by to see how lovely the garden looks and thanked the committee for all their hard work.

Vice President Stitley reported we still need a chairman for the Dover Firemen’s Fair and asked for a volunteer.  Jeff Koch asked what the duties are of the chairman.  Vice President Stitley stated it involves getting everything ready and set up – go through the archives to decide what to include in the display cases.  Vice President Stitley stated she is unsure of what her circumstances will be at that time, and she does not want to see this opportunity fall by the wayside since we meet and talk to a lot of interesting people; therefore, she agreed to co-chair the committee with Jeff and Lori Koch. 

Blacksmith shop link on website – Vice President Stitley stated this was discussed under the Board of Directors’ report.  President Shermeyer had delivered all the information for the link to Brett Pfleiger on April 7. 

Historic York Preservation Award – Gayle Heagy reported on this under the Archivist report.

Other Old Business – Gayle Heagy reported on the timbers in the storage shed that we have been trying to find someplace new to store them.  Gayle spoke to Steve Gross who told her she needs to call his brother, Craig Gross.  Gayle said she wants to talk to him about possibly using the old feed mill to store the timbers.  He has not returned her call yet.  Gayle also spoke to Linda Spahr, head of the 4-H at the PennState Extension, who owns a small barn at Alpine but she did not have room to store the timbers.   Linda suggested Gayle contact Don Snelbecker (brother-in-law of Grace Snelbecker) who has a beautiful old barn.  Gayle has not called him yet since she wanted to bring it before the membership first.  His barn is located in Warrington Township and is quite a trek.  Gayle said we should probably wait to hear from Craig Gross first since the feed mill is more convenient before she calls Don Snelbecker.  There are 17 timbers, 20 feet long that will need to be transported. 

Ron Botterbusch brought up the subject of display cases for the fair.  Ron reported that several years ago it was discussed about someone making display cases.  A company called Merritts in Douglassville that Ron deals with has several cases about the same size as the ones we use listed in their sales catalogue at a reasonable price.  He reported there is a Mahoney finish with a glass top for $38 or a smaller size all-glass case with a lock for $38.  Ron stated he will check into it further if the membership is interested in the cases.  He will bring the catalogue to the meeting next month so the membership can make a decision regarding a purchase.

Vice President Stitley reported the blacksmith shop open hours were held this past Saturday.  Jo Ott was present to welcome the visitors and brought in several copies of the posters she printed to distribute around the area.  Vice President Stitley encouraged members to take a copy if they know of any place it can be displayed so we can get the word out about the blacksmith shop.  Jo Ott reported that approximately 8-10 visitors came to see Ted working – some soccer players and their parents; they sold 1 blacksmith shop photo; some of the trinkets and 1 replica.  Jo reported people were intrigued watching Ted work.  Ted’s son did arrive to help.  Vice President Stitley stated we as members need to spread the word more about the blacksmith shop to get more people interested in visiting during the open hours since Ted is willing to spend his time at the forge.  Vice President Stitley felt that 8-10 visitors for the first time this season was pretty good.  Mrs. Koch asked how the photo display with descriptions mounted on the board worked out; Jo Ott said she did not see anyone look at them since they were more interested in watching Ted work at the forge.  Vice President Stitley stated several items Ted made were on the table for sale (crosses, paper towel holder, rings), t-shirts, dedication programs and the guest book to sign.

Vice President Stitley reported that on May 19 at 7pm, the West Manchester Historical Society is hosting a guest speaker, Don Billet, who will give a presentation on covered bridges in Pennsylvania.   She asked that members keep this date in mind to attend and feels we should do our best to support their organization

since West Manchester does the same for our organization. 

Vice President Stitley reported the annual Historical Walk is scheduled for June 17 at 6pm.  We will meet at the blacksmith shop and she stated we will need a few snacks. 

July 17 picnic – Vice President Stitley stated we no longer have a budget for the picnic and we need to decide what we plan to do – strictly covered dish or ask for donations for the chicken.  Vice President Stitley stated we should start thinking about it so a decision can be made at next month’s meeting.  Melanie Green asked how much it cost in the past for the chicken and potatoes; Ron Botterbusch said it was about $130.  Ron suggested that when the sign-up sheet is distributed, we could ask the members to indicate how much they would be willing to donate toward the chicken.  The secretary will have the sign-up sheet ready for the May meeting.

Vice President Stitley asked if there were any other questions or comments from the membership.  Jo Ott brought up the issue of getting the blacksmith shop open hours advertised in the newspaper.   She cut out a piece that was in The Flip Side and it was mentioned that Joan Concilio is the editor of The Weekly Record which is published every Friday.  Jo stated she sent a copy of the flyer to Joan Concilio but has not heard back from her.

There being no further questions or any suggestions from the membership, a motion to adjourn was made by Lucia Hrinyak and seconded by Jeff Koch at 7:33 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Lori Koch

GDHS secretary