Greater Dover Historical Society

September 16, 2010

 

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 the following:  Lori Koch, Jeff Koch, Lois Slothower, Bill & Chris Coleman, Kay Stitley, Madelyn & Harry Shermeyer, Jo Ott, Lucia Hrinyak, Carol Leathery, Randy Worley, Norma Botterbusch, Grace Trimmer, Larry Law, Gayle Heagy, Mel Miller, Melanie Green, Ted Ziegler, Zita Smith, Don & Donna Gross and Cindy Snyder.  The members stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

President Shermeyer presented the August 2010 minutes and asked for any additions or corrections to the minutes.  A motion to accept the minutes as presented was made by Jeff Koch and seconded by Lois Slothower.  All voted in favor and motion passed.

 

TREASURER’S REPORT

 

The treasurer’s report for August 2010 was presented by Bill Coleman.  There was a motion by Harry Shermeyer to approve the treasurer’s report as presented and seconded by Jo Ott.  All voted in favor and motion passed. 

 

Assistant Archivist report – Gayle Heagy reported we have received 263 donations to date.  Gayle reported she spoke to Mr. Addlesberger at 18 or 20 S. Main Street (former Wire property) about the open fireplace with a kettle in his home.  He said it still exists in the home.  Gayle stated he invited her to visit his home to see the fireplace; Gayle and Jo Ott will schedule a time to stop by to get photos.  Gayle reported she was contacted by an individual asking what a squirrel-tale oven is and Gayle did some research.  There is one at the Dill Tavern in Dillsburg and Gayle showed a drawing of the oven while giving a brief description of it. 

 

Gayle reported that Zita Smith did research at the Courthouse to find out her home was built circa 1896.  It was originally built in York by Peter Wiest of Wiest Department Stores and moved to Dover to its current location of 102 N. Main Street. 

 

Gayle reported she received an invitation to attend the unveiling of the York County Heritage Trust (YCHT) 2010 Journal of York County Heritage on September 22 at 6:00 p.m.    The YCHT is also holding a museum shop sale.    Gayle reported she received correspondence from Joan Mummert from the YCHT about the 150th Civil War anniversary meeting which will be held the last Monday of September.  Jo Ott stated she received the same information and plans to attend this meeting.  Jo stated the breakfast meeting with local legislators was not held due to several scheduling conflicts but there are still plans to hold it at some point.  Jo said information on the traveling RV tour for the Civil War celebration will be provided at the September meeting.

 

Historian report – no report

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS

 

Bloodroot – no report

 

Adopt-a-Highway – Melanie Green reported the September 11 pickup date yielded 12 bags of trash collected by 6 volunteers, including an RV awning and 2 large pieces of plywood.  The next pickup date will be October 16, with a rain date of October 30.   Melanie received an email from Thomas Fallon, roadways program technician for PennDOT, who thanked the GDHS for their participation in the program and help to make the program a success. 

 

Landscaping Committee – Lucia Hrinyak reported the 5 committee members met at the shed on August 20 to tidy up the garden.   They will meet in October to do the final winter prep work.   

      

Board of Directors’ report – no report

 

Dover Fair – Vice President Stitley reported the Dover carnival was a successful, busy week. Many visitors stopped by and shared comments.  Volunteers worked a total of 246 hours and Vice President Stitley thanked everyone for their hard work.  Volunteers sold many items – the big sellers were the Brookside book and Ted’s crosses.  Lois Slothower suggested the GDHS have a membership drive and update our membership list.  Randy Worley stated that Dr. Drawbaugh gave our display an A+.  Our thanks to Donnie & Donna Gross and Dave & Sharon Guise for volunteering this year at the stand.

 

OLD BUSINESS

 

President Shermeyer reminded members to submit their volunteer hours to Treasurer Bill Coleman.  Volunteer hour forms are available on the table.  We must have a record of all volunteer hours in order to file the Form 990. 

 

Blacksmith Shop open house – Jo Ott reported there were approximately 15-20 visitors and they sold $127 worth of items, including picture frames and a fence.  Jo stated that Randy Worley cleaned the BSS from top to bottom and it looked great.   President Shermeyer stated we need to set a date to close-up the Blacksmith Shop after the October open house.  It was agreed to do the clean-up on October 9, after 2 p.m.  Randy Worley stated the large doors in the front should have a rubber weather strip or such at the bottom before winter.  Randy also asked about getting more furring strips for some of the open spaces on the walls to help winterize and insulate the shop.  President Shermeyer stated she will check at home to see if she has more strips leftover.  Randy Worley also mentioned the new handicapped parking lot in Ketterman Park near the BSS and said vehicles were driving through the lot and onto the grass beside the ball field.  Jo Ott said she spoke to Joe Sabold of the Borough at the open house who told her the project is not complete yet. 

 

Fall Fest – President Shermeyer reported the volunteers have been given their assignments.  The hot dogs (336) and hamburgers (180) have been ordered; rolls have been ordered; the soda will be provided by the Dover Township Recreation Dept and the GDHS will pay for the product we sell.  A discussion about the condiments resulted in an agreement to post signs on the table stating the condiments were for patrons of the GDHS stand only.  Chris Coleman also suggested that the food servers, who wear latex gloves for sanitary purposes, refrain from handling money; it was agreed the patrons would be instructed to pay the cashiers directly. 

 

NEW BUSINESS

 

Dover Fair 2011 – President Shermeyer stated we should have a chairperson in place no later than May of next year for the carnival.  Lois Slothower and Vice President Kay Stitley volunteered at the last minute this year and did a good job.  Members gave them a round of applause. 

 

Nominating committee – President Shermeyer appointed 3 members to the nominating committee – Lucia Hrinyak, Chris Coleman and Zita Smith.  Job descriptions for the open positions are on the table and members are asked to call a committee member if they want to run for a position.

 

President Shermeyer reminded committee chairpersons to submit their budget requests to Bill Coleman at the October meeting since the budget meeting is held in early November.  President Shermeyer will check with the township about using the log cabin and make sure the heating system is working properly. 

 

President Shermeyer explained there are 3 open seats for the Board of Directors this year, which is in accordance with our By-laws -- Harry Shermeyer, Lois Slothower and Ron Botterbusch, 2nd two-year terms and 3rd two-year term, respectively.   Board members may only serve 3 terms pursuant to our By-laws.   President Shermeyer also explained Article IV, Section 5 of our Articles of Incorporation relating to declaring a vacancy due to failure of a board member to attend meetings. 

 

Executive staff – President Shermeyer reappointed the following members:  Gayle Heagy as assistant archivist, Lucia Hrinyak as editor, and Jo Ott as photographer. 

 

President Shermeyer reported an email contact was sent on September 1 through the GDHS website.  An elementary school teacher, Mary Clark, sent an email concerning a genealogy family tree project she plans to conduct with her students.  Ms. Clark found very helpful information on the GDHS website and wanted to share another website resource with us, which will be posted to our webpage.

 

President Shermeyer reported another email was received from Mrs. Woosley concerning the Kunkle’s Mill property, which she owns and is in the process of researching its history.  President Shermeyer sent her a copy of the photo and description from the Dover Township history book relating to Kunkle’s Mill.  The history book stated the Kunkle’s Mill Bridge was washed out in the Johnstown flood of 1889 and ended up 3 miles downstream; the bridge was rebuilt.

 

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS

 

Randy Worley asked about getting name badges for members, especially officers and board members.  It was noted that Mr. Botterbusch had acquired these several years ago at Morningstar Market. 

 

Harry Shermeyer stated we still have red bricks available, approximately 100, and about 15 cement blocks.  Prices are 10 cents for rough bricks and 20 cents for red bricks.

 

Jeff Koch stated several people asked him about the Bloodroot books.  President Shermeyer reported she continues to work on it.  Book #1 and book #2 will be printed together using the cover from book #2.    She is hoping to utilize the copier at the Township building. 

 

Randy Worley stated he felt more items should be brought out of the archives next year to display at the carnival instead of Vice President Stitley and Norma Botterbusch providing everything.  President Shermeyer explained that about 95% of items in our archives are paper.  It was pointed out that not all the items on display this year were provided by Kay and Norma.  We did display items from our archives.

 

Jo Ott stated a woman named Tommi Mayo visited the Blacksmith Shop open house and she was very interested in the GDHS.   She mentioned her father’s horse farm just sold.  Vice President Stitley reported that Mel Miller arranged for the WMHS to tour the farm on Log Cabin Road and it was very interesting.  The homestead dates to circa 1792. 

 

There being no further questions or suggestions from the membership, the meeting was adjourned at 8:15 pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Lori Koch

GDHS secretary