Meeting Minutes: 11/2/13

LAKE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Board Meeting, November 2, 2013 10am

Lower Lake Schoolhouse Museum

Present:  Kevin Ness, John Parker, Vi Smoley, Phil Smoley, Voris Brumfield, Patricia Wilson, Jackie Ridgel, Bonnie Skee, Ruby Glebe, Linda Lake, Greg Dills, Cheyenne Parker, Lee Cook, Kevin Engle & Vonn Fuqua.

The meeting was called to order at 10am by President, Phil Smoley.

Minutes of the September 14, 2013 board meeting were opened for discussion, Voris moved to approve as written, Trish Wilson 2nd and was approved.

Gibson Museum:  The agreement between the LCHS and the Gibson Museum was approved with a few adjustments.  Jeff Rein indicated to Voris that the County will pay the utility bills until Gibson Museum is open to the public.

The board agreed that the Gibson Museum will be opening their own bank account with the following signers:

Voris Brumfield – Gibson President

Linda Lake – LCHS Treasurer

Nina Bouska – Gibson Secretary

Judy Kauffman – Gibson Treasurer

Treasurers Report:  Linda provided each of us with a Profit & Loss statement for September & October.  Our expenses are still more than our income with our largest income coming from wholesale book sales.  We will try to increase those by contacting other businesses.  Our money market account balance is $74,474.85 and our checking account balance is $7,128.35. Our gross receipts for 2012 were $17,795.

We discussed Ely Stage Stop having a separate bank account and what that would involve.  Linda would like to get the opinion of bookkeeper Jonathan Meyer.  He has stated he will charge $15per hour.  John moved to allow Linda to work with Jonathan up to 50 hours, not to exceed $750 to make financial recommendations regarding the proper financial set up for Ely, Gibson and the LCHS. Voris 2nd and the motion was approved.

Linda, Voris, Jonathan and a representative from Ely will meet to discuss the separate accounts.

The MOU between the County of Lake and the LCHS was approved with one correction related to policies and procedures already established by the Lake County Museum when collecting, cataloging, preserving or disposing of items.  The board of the LCHS feels we should adopt our own policies and procedures.

Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum:  Greg reported that he has purchased the plywood for the back of the barn.  Greg also purchased 3 fire extinguishers for $160 and may need 2 more.  He says he is down to 3 volunteers and would like to find a few more to help out on Saturdays.  Lee Cook volunteered to help.    Colleen Blakey is now the finance manager for Ely.

Ely will host the Old Time Fiddlers Association for a fiddlers jam the first Sunday of each month from 1-3pm beginning November 3rd.

The Cable Car has been moved to Ely at the County’s expense and they are working on a cover for it.  Linda reported that she received $100 donation in Randy Ridgel’s name for the Cable Car.

Patricia is looking for a doormat for Ely which she believes is necessary to prevent the interior floors from being damaged.  A 4’ by 6’ mat is $96.  The board agreed and approved the purchase.

Nominating Committee:   The following have been nominated and will be placed on a ballot to be voted on at our upcoming Thanksgiving dinner.

President:  Voris Brumfield & Lee Cook

District 1:    Bob Kauffman

District 3:    Patricia Wilson

District 4:    Lee Cook & Phil Smoley

President Phil Smoley appointed Nina Bouska to be our publicity chair.  Vonn may be working with her but Vonn has not committed yet.

Books:  Phil will be handling the books with the help of an employee of his.   Her name is Fay but we didn’t get her last name.  All were in agreement for Phil to move the books from the Nice Clubhouse to his office where they will be easier to handle.

Pomo Update:  Lee Cook reported for his wife Jan that 360 copies of the Pomo Bulletin were mailed on October 24th.  The February issue will focus on Pomo history and culture.  Contributing writers have submitted two articles already and the “Book Shelf” column will feature K C Patrick’s book on the Pomo of Lake County.

Voris started a Facebook page for the California LCHS and reminded everyone to friend us.

General Membership Meeting:  Our Thanksgiving meeting will be held this year at the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center.  Our speaker will be Don McCloud.

Ruby was contacted by the California Conference of Historical Societies asking about the LCHS.  They were concerned since we have not been sending anyone to their conferences any more.    All agreed that we need to be more involved.

Digitization:  Kevin Engle is trying to get Mauldin’s notes digitized.  Kevin also spoke about newspapers on micro-fiche.  Linda will give Kevin some grant information.

Kevin also talked about the tree “El Roble Grande” and thought maybe we could ask our members to find the largest tree in Lake County.   It could generate some interest in the Historical Society and may be fun.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:35pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Bonnie Skee

Secretary