Greater Dover Historical Society

January 15, 2009

The regular meeting of the Greater Dover Historical Society was called to order by President Madelyn Shermeyer at 7:05 p.m. at the Calvary Lutheran Church.  Members present were:   Lori Koch, Jeff Koch, Larry Law, Joyce Law, Gayle Heagy, Carol Leathery, Dorothy Winters, Jo Ott, Madelyn Shermeyer, Harry Shermeyer, Lois Slothower, Mel Miller, Lucia Hrinyak, Kay Stitley, Doris Burger, Connie Miller, Ron Botterbusch, Norma Botterbusch, Melanie Green, Zita Smith, Grace Trimmer, Cindy Snyder, Jim Avery and Ted Ziegler.

President Shermeyer was sworn-in prior to the start of the meeting by Lori Koch.  President Shermeyer proceeded to swear-in the officers and Board of Director members.  President Shermeyer made the following appointments:  Assistant Archivist – Gayle Heagy and Assistant Webmaster – Maureen App. 

The November 2008 minutes were presented, and President Shermeyer asked for any additions or corrections to the minutes.   A motion to accept the minutes as presented was made by Lois Slothower and seconded by Larry Law.  All voted in favor and motion passed.

TREASURER’S REPORT

The treasurer’s report for November/December 2008 was presented by Joyce Law.  There was a motion by Mel Miller to approve the treasurer’s report as presented and seconded by Lucia Hrinyak.  All voted in favor and motion passed.

Ron Botterbusch was recognized to read correspondence received from the Jacob Joner Council No. 60 of Dover, PA.  Mr. Botterbusch reported that the Council will be disbanding at the end of 2008 and was pleased to provide a monetary gift to the GDHS.  A check in the amount of $1,000 was donated by the Council.   The secretary will send a thank you letter to Carl Gross, secretary of the Jacob Joner Council No. 60. 

Archivist Report – Dr. Drawbaugh was absent.  Assistant Archivist Gayle Heagy reported she received a quilt frame and a quilt from Doris Burger.   Gayle stated the archives also acquired additional shelf space at the Dover Township building. 

Webpage Report – Brett Pfleiger was absent.  President Shermeyer asked Brett to remove several old items from the website.  Other items related to the blacksmith shop have been moved to the new blacksmith shop link which is very easy to navigate.  Joyce Law mentioned that Brett’s mother is very ill so he may not be able to help with the website at this time.  President Shermeyer stated she has been in touch with Brett recently, and he has posted all current information on the website.  President Shermeyer stated an option to pay someone to manage our website has been put on hold.  The young man who works for the township was approached concerning his interest in assisting the webmaster, but President Shermeyer stated she has not pursued it since Brett and Maureen have been able to update the website. 

Historian Report – Cindy Snyder did not have a report.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Blood Root – no report

Landscaping Committee – Lucia Hrinyak did not have a report.

Board of Directors – no report

Adopt-a-Highway – Melanie Green reported the last clean-up for the year was held in October.   The next clean-up will be scheduled in April 2009. 

OLD BUSINESS

Borough Christmas Tree Lighting – Vice President Stitley reported it was a very successful evening.  She reported it was not very cold, a lot of people turned out, a lot of kids came to see Santa, and the refreshments were delicious.  We ran out of cookies and hot chocolate, but everyone enjoyed the event.  

Annual craft day – President Shermeyer asked the membership if the craft day event should be pursued for this year since planning should begin now.  Some suggestions for the crafters were broom maker, candle maker, soap maker, atatl demonstration (weapon used to kill game), etc.  Food vendors would also be invited to participate.  The event would have to be coordinated with the baseball and soccer team schedules.  Parking is also an issue.  Lucia Hrinyak stated she felt that it is too late to plan this event for June or even September of this year.  President Shermeyer suggested the society use 2009 to plan and coordinate the craft day to be held next year.   All the members present agreed.  Members will bring ideas and suggestions for the event to the February meeting.  Norma Botterbusch suggested the society hold the craft day event on a Saturday during the blacksmith shop open hours. 

NEW BUSINESS

President Shermeyer stated the blacksmith shop open hours will be from April through October.  We need volunteers to work the stand in the blacksmith shop to sell items during the Saturday open hours.  President Shermeyer asked Jo Ott if 2 volunteers are necessary, and Jo said only 2 volunteers are needed during baseball season – April and May.  A sign-up sheet will be available for volunteers to sign up to help during open hours.

President Shermeyer stated there is a sign-up sheet for refreshments for our regular meetings instead of having a committee for refreshments.  President Shermeyer said she will bring the coffee in February. 

President Shermeyer stated we still need a volunteer to be chairperson for the Dover Fair.  A decision has to be made whether the GDHS will use 1 or 2 spaces this year.  The Board of Directors should discuss the matter at their next meeting. 

Speaker for March meeting – President Shermeyer reported that we would like to have speakers at our meetings at least 3 times a year.  In October 2008 our guest speaker was June Lloyd who gave a presentation on Frakturs.  Several suggestions from members for speakers include:  David Klein from Heirloom Weavers on coverlets (Cindy Snyder); the Junior Curator Program from the YCHT, Ben Otterbein (Cindy Snyder); John Billet, pow-wows and covered bridges for a fee of $100; John Bucher, green renovations of historic homes presentation (Gayle Heagy); and Scott Mangus, author/writer who does a powerpoint presentation on the civil war and Jeb Stuart in Dover.    President Shermeyer asked the membership if the society would like to invite Mr. Mangus to be our first speaker for this year.  The membership agreed, and President Shermeyer will contact Mr. Mangus to make arrangements for him to be our speaker in March. 

Penny postcards -- President Shermeyer reported she received an email regarding penny postcards and visited the website referenced in the email.  She viewed several postcards on the website from the local area (Hanover).  The 3 postcards we have in the archives showing Dover (view from the south, view from the north and one of the hotel on the square) will be scanned to the website by Jo Ott at the request of President Shermeyer. 

President Shermeyer reported that the GDHS will be allowed to do the concession stand at the Fall Fest in October this year.   She spoke to the township manager and the new recreation director who gave her the OK.  President Shermeyer stated it was suggested that we do hamburgers this year instead of BBQ sandwiches.  President Shermeyer said Norma Botterbusch will be in charge of the hamburgers since she made the suggestion.   The cost from Weaver’s Meats is $2.99 per lb. for a 5 lb. box of hamburgers (6 patties per lb.).  Details will be discussed at a later date.

President Shermeyer reminded members to submit their volunteer hours to Lori Koch.  Joyce Law reported the IRS changed guidelines last year, and there is no income limit requirement for reporting on the 990 form. 

Ron Botterbusch reported that the Dover Borough Recreation Board had a meeting this past Monday, January 12.  There was a discussion about the Christmas tree lighting, and concern was expressed about the safety of people who attend, especially children, when trying to cross traffic.  A member of the Dover Fire Company who attended the meeting suggested that in the future perhaps all 4 corners of the square could be utilized for the tree lighting; then visits with Santa and refreshments could be served inside the fire hall.  President Shermeyer asked if this was discussed with the auxiliary since is sounds like a very good idea.  Mr. Botterbusch stated it is only an idea at this point, and nothing has been finalized for the 2009 event.   Mr. Botterbusch reported that the Dover Fire Company sponsors the annual Halloween parade and at this point there is only 1 vendor (Bricker’s French Fries) that sells food at the parade.   If the GDHS would be interested in selling food at the parade, Mr. Botterbusch suggested we contact the fire company to let them know we are interested in sponsoring a food stand.  The fire company will give us permission and will control what foods are sold.  Mr. Botterbusch said the Society could use his front porch since there is water and electric available.  Another item discussed by the Recreation Board was working with the Society to coordinate events during the blacksmith shop’s open hours.  The Recreation Board would like to hold an Easter egg hunt on April 11 in conjunction with the first open hours at the blacksmith shop this year. 

President Shermeyer stated we now have 3 events to plan for this year:  Fall Fest in October, the Dover Halloween parade and Christmas tree lighting. 

QUESTIONS/SUGGESTIONS

Gayle Heagy stated she has a book culminating 2 years of work recording the historic homes in Dover.  Joyce Law spent a lot of time compiling the information.  Unfortunately there are 23 homes which are missing sheets with their information; Gayle stated she has contacted the YCPC asking to check their records for the missing sheets. 

President Shermeyer asked if a photo was taken of the log house at 45 North Main Street (across from the Dover Garage) that she saw a couple of weeks ago, and told Gayle about it.  Jo Ott did stop down to take a photograph, but said it was not a log house.

Gayle Heagy reported that at her daughter’s house (33 N. Main Street), they found some hidden pocket doors in an interior wall while they were performing renovations. 

Gayle Heagy stated she would like the Landmark Committee together to decide 5 homes in Dover to get the historic bronze plaques.  The plaques need to be purchased this year since the grant funding expires in June.  President Shermeyer asked if the budgeted price of $75 per plaque will be adequate, and Gayle said the cost may have gone up since she was given the quote.   President Shermeyer stated we have purchased the majority of items we budgeted using the grant funding, and there are funds remaining.  We can send an addendum to DCED requesting a change in the project narrative for our grant to include additional historic bronze plaques and other items.  There was a discussion about purchasing a laptop computer for the sole purpose of treasurer/bookkeeping records using the grant funding.  This suggestion will need the approval of the Board of Directors and the DCED. 

Joyce Law asked if the pen and ink drawing is ready to print on notepads.  The project needs to be discussed further by the Board of Directors, and prices obtained for printing and packaging; therefore, it is on hold for now.

Jo Ott asked about getting the new brochure printed for the blacksmith shop.  She will check prices for color copies and report back at next month’s meeting.

Harry Shermeyer asked if the stove has been moved yet.  Gayle Heagy said she has been in touch with the individuals who will move it for us and was told they will get around to it.

President Shermeyer stated a decision regarding moving the timbers must be made.  We need volunteers to help move the timbers out of the storage shed.  Gayle cannot send out the bid packets until we have a date set to move the timbers outside.  Ron Botterbusch asked if we can get people doing community service to help like we did on the first workday at the blacksmith shop.  A suggestion was made to contact Judge Shoemaker for information on individuals who are required to complete community service.  President Shermeyer was given permission to make the arrangements to set a date to move the timbers.  Once the date is set, Gayle will send out the bid package.   The line shaft will be moved into the shed after the timbers are gone. 

Larry Law reported that the vapor light above the door at the blacksmith shop is out.  He contacted Bob Snelbecker about it since the blacksmith shop does not have electric because the ballast kicks the breaker off.  Larry said Bob Snelbecker is looking for a replacement light, but he is very busy right now. 

There being no further questions or suggestions from the membership, the meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Lori Koch

GDHS secretary