Lyme Historians
Lyme Center Academy Building
Meeting Minutes
July 11, 2010 * 4:00 p.m.
Present: Simon Carr, Jane Fant, Elizabeth Kilmarx, Adair Mulligan, Bill Murphy, Sallie
Ramsden, and Laurie Wadsworth.
Congratulations: Jane congratulated Adair on her new job with the Hanover Conservation Council. Adair will not be available Tuesday mornings to collect information for the newsletter.
Minutes: The Board approved the minutes of the June 20, 2010 meeting, contingent upon the removal of a couple of extraneous lines in the Treasurer’s Report.
Treasurer’s Report: Simon submitted a written report (which he had previously emailed to the Board). Finances are in good shape, and funds from ticket sales for the Rufus Porter Tour have been added to the bottom line.
President’s Report: (Jane)
Utility Club: The Utility Club meeting for which the Historians have been asked to put together a presentation is on October 26 of this year. The Academy Building has been reserved, and a slide show and narrative are being planned.
Mason Family Vault: The Historians now have the permission of Lyme’s Cemetery Commission to look into the restoration of the burial vault of the Jonathan Mason family. However, the Commission will not contribute financially to the restoration project. Jane will contact the restorer recommended by Ray Clark, and will ask the restorer to provide us with information on what exactly he thinks should be done, along with an estimate on the expected cost of the work. The results will be presented at a
future meeting.
Sallie has unearthed information on the Orford cemetery to which bodies once held in the Mason Vault have been moved. Six bodies were moved, and these reside in marked graves in Orford. The early Mason and Mann families intermarried, and together were the original founders of the Town of Orford.
Adair would like to do a piece on the Mason Vault for the Fall newsletter.
Rufus Porter Mural Tour: The brochures for the Tour have been mailed out and responses have been coming in. Simon and Laurie report that 37 tickets have been sold to date.
For publicity: Linda Lefko has put a mention of the tour in her own publications. Jane will get notifications in the Valley News, Journal Opinion, The Voice, and (if still in existence) the North Country News Independent, as well as getting a message run in the next Lyme Church newsletter. Jane will also post a message on the Lyme List Serve and Laurie and Jane will look into getting messages posted on the List Serves of other Upper Valley towns. Sallie says that Orford has already agreed to put a message on their List Serve. There was some discussion of the Valley Net online calendar; but none of us is a subscriber, so the subject was dropped.
Jane will contact Jim Hobbs and Duane Baxter from the Haverhill Heritage Commission to find out how to best inform their members of the Tour. [These two gentlemen served as our guests at our January 10, 2010 meeting.] Brochures were already mailed to the historical societies of Hanover, Norwich, and other towns. Laurie put brochures in Chapman’s store in Fairlee. Jane distributed them to Lyme’s Converse Library; and Sallie to Long River Studio. Jane will have brochures available at the Horsesheds when they are open on Wednesday, July 14th for a Church Supper. Bill will make a brief announcement about the Tour at the Supper. If unsold tickets still remain closer to the date of the Tour, a sign might be made to put up
on the Lyme Common.
Sallie reported that Orford has six volunteer guides lined up for helping out at the Tour house there. Bill signed up to be an afternoon guide at Sallie’s house. Four more guides are needed. Also, the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance will get us booties for Tour participants to wear when visiting the Haverhill house. Sallie also showed us the ticket /maps, which Steve printed out at no cost to the Historians.
Museum and Horsesheds:
The horsesheds will be not opened for the next Flea Market, on July 31 unless someone is found who is willing to host them.
Simon asked for a discussion of the Historians’ policy on retaining or disposing of donated items, and proposed that any disposal of items should be decided by a quorum of the Historians Board. Some discussion ensued as to whether this would entail a need to change the gift agreement that donors sign upon donating to the Museum, and it was agreed that the gift agreement would not be affected one way or another. Also discussed was the “ownership” of items that are donated and immediately passed on to other towns if deemed more appropriate for their collections. Adair moved that the de-acquisition of any historical artifact in the official possession of the Lyme Historians should not be carried out without the approval of a quorum of the
Board. The Board approved this motion. Elizabeth asked for clarification of the number of Board members required to make a quorum. After consulting the Bylaws (which lack specificity), those present generally agreed that a quorum is the equivalent of more than 50% of the members of the Board at any one time. Jane noted that meetings are not held at times when fewer than half the Board members are available.
Simon then asked for a ruling on whether we should keep old passbooks used by the Historians. The Board members present (= a quorum) agreed to keep the passbooks.
Sallie showed us a recent Museum acquisition of old golf clubs and a golf bag that are being added to the 1920s clothing exhibit. The clubs have wooden shafts and one is marked 1925. Jane noted that E. Ketay will be donating a corn chopper and a hand-crank knife grinder for the horsesheds. Simon has asked the Town Selectboard about the possibility of having a permanent outdoor display of farm implements at the Academy Building, and was told that this would not be allowed. A temporary display for a specific event would be fine.
Publications: It was generally agreed that we would like to have the summer newsletter out before the Rufus Porter Tour. Sallie agreed to get Mason Vault information to Adair. Jane will provide information and photos for an article about the renovation work being done on the Pike houses, along with historic information on the Pike family. Laurie is compiling her notes on Jere Daniell’s talk at the Annual Meeting, and will pass on to Adair a short summary (a paragraph or two) to include in the
newsletter. Laurie will also provide information on when the horsesheds will be open. The “Highway to the Past” segment will be on Pushee Falls Lane. A Mystery Photo is needed. Bill suggested looking in the Dorcas file. Laurie suggested reprinting a few of the newsletters that have the Cooks’ house article to have available at the Rufus Porter Tour.
Membership: Simon reported that current membership is at 280 people. Steve will be sending out a reminder letter for those who have yet to renew.
250th Celebration: Laurie, as a member of the Town’s Anniversary Events Committee, discussed some of the ideas from the list that she initially presented during the June meeting on what role the Historians might play in this year-long event.
A. Commemorative Newsletter: There was as-yet-inconclusive discussion as to
whether this should be in regular newsletter format, or in the form of a booklet.
B. Timeline: There was some as-yet-inconclusive discussion as to whether there should be two timelines: one permanent timeline and one that people can add things to. Also undecided was whether the timeline should be just since 1961 (the date of the 200th Anniversary Celebration).
C. Dates on historic buildings: Not discussed.
D. Updated Map of Lyme: It was generally agreed that this was a good idea only if the information could be readily obtained. It was suggested that a detailed map with who-lives-where would be too much work, might be considered an invasion of privacy, and would not be particularly relevant, given the high rate of turnover in today’s population. A simpler map, similar to those in the Goldthwait book, showing existing and abandoned roads and houses, might be more feasible.
E. Celebration Weekend Tour(s) (Aug. 5 – 7, 2011): Discussed were possible tours of historic sites of Lyme. The Board considered the pros and cons of self-guided tours (simpler to arrange) versus more organized, guided tours by bus (less chaotic).
F. Cut-outs (for fun photos): Laurie will look into who might be commissioned to make painted panels of people in old-fashioned clothes with cut-outs for faces.
Bill added the following ideas:
- A questionnaire (as was done for the 100th Anniversary and tragically lost) for local residents to fill out about life in Lyme.
- Day-in-the-life-of-Lyme photos of people doing things around town. Also to consider would be asking Andy Lumley to shoot a set of aerial photos.
- A tethered balloon available during the Celebration Weekend, for people to pay to go up and view the town from above.
- Interviews of town elders as was done for the “We Had Each Other” book.
- A fashion show of historic clothing through the ages.
Sallie showed the Board the “Lyme Reunion” registration book used for the 200th Anniversary. It was suggested that we have something similar, and be sure to include having people who visit tell where they live now.
Cellar Holes: It was agreed to put off discussion of cellar holes until the Fall, when conditions are better for exploration, and those involved will have more time.
Next Meeting: The next meeting will be September 12, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. at the Academy Building.
Adjournment
Respectfully Submitted,
Elizabeth Kilmarx, Secretary
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