Greater Dover Historical Society

September 18, 2008

 

 

The regular meeting of the Greater Dover Historical Society was called to order by President Madelyn Shermeyer at 7:08 p.m. at the Calvary Lutheran Church.  Members present were:  Lori Koch, Joyce Law, Larry Law, Madelyn Shermeyer, Kay Stitley, Lois Slothower, Grace Trimmer, Melanie Green, Judy Worley, Randy Worley, Norma Botterbusch, Ron Botterbusch, Jo Ott, Ted Ziegler, Lucia Hrinyak, Jo Ann Ruppert, Cindy Snyder, Gayle Heagy and Jeff Koch.

 

President Shermeyer presented the August 2008 minutes and asked for any additions or corrections to the minutes.  Gayle Heagy reported that Mrs. Reisinger’s first name is Maryllyn.  Also on page 2, second paragraph, line 17 should read “Mr. Reisinger stated copies of these books (3 on cemeteries and 2 on church registers) have been distributed....”  A motion to accept the minutes as presented corrected was made by Gayle Heagy and seconded by Joyce Law.   All voted in favor and motion passed. 

 

TREASURER’S REPORT

 

The treasurer’s report for August 2008 was presented by Joyce Law:

 

Balance as of August 1, 2008                          $9,453.53

Deposits for August                                                 60.37

Expenses for August                                             365.00

1 outstanding check                                              120.00

Balance as of August 31, 2008                        $9,268.90

 

There was a motion by Judy Worley to approve the treasurer’s report as presented and seconded by Lucia Hrinyak.  All voted in favor and motion passed.

 

Archivist Report -- Dr. Drawbaugh was absent.  Assistant Archivist Gayle Heagy reported that in addition to the books donated by the Reisingers, she also received the genealogy of the Quickel-Spahr-Rudisill-Boring families donated by Sarah Ann Boring, a 1948 high school diploma of Merle Bolton donated by Pete MacEwan who found it in an antique shop in South Carolina, a metal magazine stand donated by Lois Shermeyer, Smitties soft pretzel items donated by Todd Smith, a 24”x36” going out of business sale poster for Darron’s of Dover donated by Glenn Lefever, a photo from Fern Collins of Davey Brillhart (owner of sewing factory) walking his sheep in the area which is currently the fire company parking lot, pigeon holes from the Admire Post Office donated by Glenn Shellenberger, 4 boxes of items (scrapbooks, school photos, family photos) from Donna Senft and a 25th anniversary dedication of the ordination for the Reverend Roy Limbert of the Salem Church, Shiloh Church and then Reform Church in Dover (1928-1953).

 

Gayle reported that Randy Worley brought in photos of an old stove currently stored at his brother-in-law’s barn in Glen Rock. It came from a 1917 farmhouse and he asked if the society would like to have it.  After a brief discussion by the membership, it was suggested that Randy contact a local historical society in Glen Rock or Terry Koller with the Codorus Valley Area Historical Society.  Judy Worley said they will contact someone in the Glen Rock area.  

 

Gayle stated she had sent a letter to Attorney Ron Herschner, chair of the Board at York Heritage Trust, requesting permission to borrow Bertha Linebaugh’s parasol for the Dover Fair.   A very nice response letter was received by Gayle, but her request was denied due to security reasons and the need for the parasol to be in a climate controlled area. 

 

Webpage Report – Brett Pfleiger was not present at the meeting.  President Shermeyer reported that Brett has begun work on the blacksmith link for the website.  There will be a homepage showing the years 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.  President Shermeyer stated that Lucia has edited the years 2003, 2004 and 2005.

 

Historian Report – Cindy Snyder did not have a report.

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS

 

Blood Root – no report

 

Joyce Law reminded members to complete and submit a budget request sheet for any items they will need for 2009.  The budget meeting will be held on November 6.

 

Dover Firemen’s Fair – Jeff Koch was not present to report on the fair.  Joyce Law stated there were total sales of $162, and it cost us $120 to rent the spaces and tables.  President Shermeyer said we should rethink renting 2 spaces next year.  The old school photos Gayle Heagy provided to display were a big hit with everyone who stopped by the display.  Vice President Stitley reported that attendance was down this year.

 

Adopt-a-Highway – Melanie Green reported the next pickup date will be October 18 at 8:00 a.m. at the same meeting location. A sign-up sheet for members is available on the table.

 

 

Board of Directors’ report

 

Gayle Heagy reported the Board met briefly on September 11.  Gayle reported the July meeting minutes were approved, a minor change to the donor reporting form was approved, the Board held further discussion on requirements to amend the by-laws if necessary and the next Board meeting was scheduled for November 6. 

 

OLD BUSINESS

 

Sam’s Club issue – President Shermeyer stated as a follow-up to last month’s meeting, she will check at BJ’s Club to verify that we can use our tax exempt certificate for purchases.   Jo Ott stated she forgot to check at Sam’s Club to find out if a member can transfer their membership to the GDHS and will do so before our next meeting.  Lucia Hrinyak stated her BJ’s card is a business primary membership, listing her name and EBHPS. 

 

Elections in November – President Shermeyer stated the job descriptions for each officer and Board of Director are on the table for members.  President Shermeyer stated there are 3 positions open for the Board of Directors.  Mr. Botterbusch will run again, Lois Slothower has committed to run and there is 1 opening remaining. 

 

Joyce Law stated she will not be running for the Treasurer/Bookkeeper position.  Members were reminded that all forms for our 501(c)(3) status must be filed online; therefore, anyone who is interested in the position of Treasurer must have a computer with access to the internet.  Judy Worley asked if the Dover Library has a computer which can be used by the public.   Joyce stated the treasurer should have a personal computer at home in order to keep all the financial records.  Both Gayle Heagy and Ron Botterbusch stated they will share their home computer with any member who needs to use one. 

 

Webpage (blacksmith shop link) – A report was presented by President Shermeyer under the Webpage report given earlier in the meeting.

 

Randy Worley reported that the Class of 1958 held their reunion on September 6 at Lehr Park and afterwards went to the blacksmith shop to see a demonstration by Ted and Larry.  Everyone enjoyed it. 

 

NEW BUSINESS

 

Nominating Committee – President Shermeyer stated that members should contact Gayle, Lucia or Lori if they are interested in running for a position. 

 

Family Fall Fest – President Shermeyer reported the GDHS will serve the concessions at the October 4 Fall Fest at Lehr Park.  She contacted the Board of Directors and the volunteers from last year via email to ask if everyone felt it was a good idea to participate again this year.  Everyone agreed and all items to be provided by the volunteers were arranged.  The menu will be the same as last year.  The prices will be determined later so Gayle can make up the sign and Jo Ott has a photo of last year’s sign we can use as a template.

 

October guest speaker – President Shermeyer reported that June Lloyd will be our guest speaker in October.  She will present a slideshow on Frakturs at 7:00 p.m. and our regular meeting will begin after her presentation, which last approximately 45 minutes.

 

Lois Slothower mentioned that Jim Dietz passed away.  He lived in Alda’s house and owned a Dover landscaping business.  His old homestead on Greenbriar Road was purchased by the owner of Keystruct Construction and the log cabin on the property is being restored to become his office.  The restoration is being done by Historic Homes of York. 

 

Randy Worley mentioned there is an old log house for sale on the way to Siddonsburg.

 

Cindy Snyder reported that Chuck Benton, a Dover graduate and chair of the Practical Arts Department at Dover HS (he replaced Curt LaCoe) contacted her about old local maps.  Chuck asked Cindy if the GDHS had any old maps of Dover Borough or Dover Township for his GIS class.  His class is partnering with Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland.  Chuck acquired maps from the Borough office and the Township office, but he asked if the GDHS had any other maps he could use in teaching the GIS2 class.   He will send the old maps to Washington College where they will be scanned and sent back, so the students can use them digitally to overlay over current data maps in the GIS2 class to see how our community has changed.  DHS is working with Washington College to develop the curriculum for GIS4.  Eventually they plan to develop a curriculum where students will be able to digitally recreate a building from the ground up using specific dimensions and Cindy said that in the future the students could possibly work with the GDHS on a project.  By allowing the DHS to use these maps, we can use the project on our education link on the website. 

 

Cindy Snyder also presented a suggestion for a guest speaker.  Cindy mentioned the newspaper article which was printed about a month ago about the junior curator program at the York Heritage Trust.  One of the student participants, Ben Otterbein, is a graduate from Dover and she suggested we contact him to speak to the GDHS about the junior curator program.  Cindy will be happy to contact Ben.  Cindy also suggested David Kline of Heirloom Weavers in Red Lion to speak about coverlets.  President Shermeyer will add her suggestions to our list of guest speakers. 

 

Jo Ott reported that at the blacksmith shop open hours there were 21 visitors to see Ted and his son work. Most of the visitors came by 10:30 a.m. and stayed to watch. $32 in donations were collected, and a lot of people asked questions.

 

President Shermeyer stated that the society had discussed having a blacksmith shop craft show in the summertime.  She said we need to start planning this event in January.  President Shermeyer said she wants to talk to Mel Miller to find out about all the artisans they had in West Manchester. 

 

Vice President Stitley reported that Doris Burger asked if any member would be interested in taking trip to Hartslog’s Day in Doris’ hometown on the 2nd Saturday in October.  Vice President Stitley said this does fall on the same day our last open house for the blacksmith shop.  If anyone is interested in going to this event, please call Doris Burger.

 

Jo Ott stated with all our efforts to advertise the blacksmith shop open house, Jo said most of the visitors say they see the signs on Main Street and Butter Road and they stop in.   Joan Concilio has been very helpful by putting the open house information in the Weekly Record.  In addition, Jo said she has donated her signed copy of the one-room schoolhouse book to the GDHS by Joan Concilio and Jim McClure.

 

Gayle Heagy suggested that we display the blacksmith shop historic preservation award at the jewelry store, the bank, etc., instead of keeping it in the archives where no one sees it.  Cindy Snyder suggested having a description of the award, history of the GDHS and perhaps membership forms to accompany the award.  Jo Ott said we should include a photo of the blacksmith shop.  

 

Gayle Heagy read an article which could be included on our website for our historic hystericals link.  

 

There being no further questions or any suggestions from the membership, the meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Lori Koch

GDHS secretary