Meeting Minutes

September 27, 2007

Starksboro Historical Society Meeting
September 27, 2007
Starksboro Town Office
7:05-8:45 pm

Starksboro Historical Society
Meeting Minutes

Members Present: Emma Lou Craig, Kevin Hanson, Sarah Adams, Jim Lockridge, Olive Phillips, Cynthia Kling, Ruth Beecher

1. Minutes from June 13 and July 21 were approved.

2. Treasurer’s report: we have $906.59 in our account with $230 gained since Jan. 1 through membership donations – includes renewals and 4 new members. Sarah will send thank you notes to new members. We now have 22 members total.

3. Starksboro Gazette: Cynthia agreed to submit monthly SHS announcements. For the next one, she will include a plea for renewing SHS membership. Emma Lou agreed to make mailing labels for members who live out of town.

4. Jim Rowe, speaker for November, is scheduled for Nov. 23rd, the Friday after Thanksgiving. Emma Lou will contact him to try and change the date to November 16th or 30th.

5. Kevin Graffagnino, slated for October 12, will speak at 7 pm at the Town Hall/Public Library. His program, Shaping of Vermont, will include Vermont history through maps. We will begin with a potluck dinner at the Baptist Church at 6 pm with music from a local group called Mayfly. Jim will contact Lisa Daudon for the key to the Town Hall/Library. He will also bring a screen for the slide projector. We need to set up chairs and tables in the vestry at the church AND in the Town Hall/Library on Friday afternoon before both events.

6. Starksboro Cemeteries: Olive and Emma Lou inventoried 3 cemeteries recently: 2 on Ireland Road and 1 on Hillsboro Road. Gerald Heffernan edited the inventories. Results can be seen on our website. Kevin photographed half of the stones in the village cemetery and hopes to do the other half before winter.

7. Carroll Stokes’s June 13th talk on Farming in Starksboro has been transcribed by Emma Lou and sent to him for review, corrections and updates.

8. Starksboro Village Meeting House “Raise the Bellfry” Ham Dinner is on Sept. 29. Raffle tickets being sold, with prizes to include a Jim Geier rocking chair.

9. Starksboro Country Store is holding its Grand Opening on October 20 from 11:00-5:00 with a local harvest theme. Tables are available to sell local products. There will be live music and a rummage sale with proceeds to benefit the food shelf.

10. Village Center Designation: Jim wondered if SHS wants to have input/coordination with the Historic District? It was suggested to designate north of Jim’s music archive building (former Gordon Store) to south of Robinson School. Bristol has this Historic District designation and they get grant monies because of it.

11. Interpretive Signage of Lewis Creek Corridor: one of the long-term projects Jim mentioned in relation to the archive building is to get interpretive signage of the Lewis Creek Corridor AND the Historic Village. He wondered if SHS would be interested in helping to write this publication. He mentioned the possibility of having space in front of the building as public space for SHS and the Lewis Creek Association as well as a trail head and parking area at the building. Neighbor Hank Bissell of Lewis Creek Farm is supportive of the trail head. Jim suggested doing a fundraiser with historical signs used as a campaign for membership.

12. 400th Anniversary of Samuel de Champlain is coming up in 2009: 1609-2009 Vermont Celebrates Champlain: The Lake, The Land, The People. See Jim if interested.

13. Jim also mentioned that Tonya West is interviewing people who have a history or connection with the archive building (former Gordon Store) or other nearby buildings. Olive agreed to be interviewed. Other contacts were suggested: Dorothy Orvis, Porky Wedge, Norma Wedge.

14. Ideas were discussed for upcoming speakers/gatherings: host a few informal gatherings to discuss where we live, genealogies, and remembrances in South Starksboro AND the Village; invite the Historic Preservation folks from UVM and/or Elsa Gilbertson to join us for a discussion of people’s homes with inclusion of architectural vocabulary; have a Kitchen Tunk or Junket with music and history (Deb Flanders, Michelle Choiniere, Karen and Pete Sutherland were mentioned as possible connections); solicit someone from the Vermont Council on the Humanities join us – Emma Lou shared a packet of opportunities available through this council. We also talked about coordinating with Linda Barnard of the Jerusalem Schoolhouse Lecture Series in South Starksboro.

15. NEXT MEETING: October 12 will be our next meeting: Potluck at 6 (Starksboro Baptist Church) followed by Kevin G. at 7 (across road at Town Hall/Public Library). Hope to see you there!

16. Future meetings: November ___ with speaker Jim Rowe (exact date to be rescheduled), and February 7th, 2008 (Annual Meeting). This February meeting is in place of the January meeting.

Respectfully submitted,
Ruth Beecher