Minutes of The Windsor-Severance Historical Society
May 23, 2022
The Windsor-Severance Historical Society met in person on Monday, May 23rd at 10:00 a.m. In attendance were Kristie Melendez, Dan Meyers, Laura Browarny, Elaine Schlotthauer (via telephone), Ruth Brunner, and Judy Firestien.
Call to Order – Kristie Melendez called the meeting to order at 10:07 a.m. Monthly Reports/Approvals
April Minutes – The Minutes from the previous meeting on April 25, 2022 were reviewed and approved as presented.
Treasurer’s Report – Elaine gave the Treasurer’s report stating the balance in checking was $10,951.63 and the balance in savings was $23,522.89. A deposit had been made on Friday for membership renewals in the amount of $1,240.
Membership Status – 21 people have renewed; some are new people or hadn’t renewed in a while. Kristie will bring the full list next meeting. The amount spent on the mailing was $636.13 and 569 letters were sent out. Kristie will double check that Dan Meyers was on the list. There were two business memberships; Renaissance Insurance and Brett Holland Mortgage Lender. There will most likely be more to come in.
Old Business
Family Farm Tour Event Summer 2022 Updates – Kristie reported she should be seeing something soon from her designer for the 9” x 4” rack card, Facebook ad, and other ads for the activity guide. Dan added the first Severance event is June 10 with an outdoor concert
and he hopes to be able to attend and hand out information. Kristie may be there also to pass out information for the restaurant and could help to hand out for WSHS also. Dan and Judy will be meeting on Wednesday to take a look at Judy’s farm and to meet with Kathy Rickart of Tigges Farm and confirm they are on board. Laura will present at Halfway Homestead at Jacoby Farm and will plan on about 45 minutes to talk about history, do a site tour, and show future plans. The mini-buses are reserved with a 24 person capacity for the tour. Cost will be $10 per child, $20 per adult. Laura will provide a link for registering through the Town of Windsor recreation website. Lindsey at Town of Severance will also put information on the Severance website. Food will be booked closer to the event. The Society might even do a test drive at a future meeting and figure out things to point out along the drive; landmarks, ag info, fun Windsor facts, etc. The group is in good shape right now for getting the tour organized.
Membership Drive Mailing Status – Discussed above. This has been successful in getting people reengaged and letting them know we are out there. People have been looking at the picture at Kristie’s restaurant and picking up information.
2022 Video Projects – Ruth had been in contact with Bruce Florquist and will be setting up an interview. There is also the Windsor Class of 1972 50th Reunion and the Windsor Class of 1977 Reunion happening; both taking place Labor Day weekend. These might be good
opportunities for Ruth to do some interviews. Kristie had made contact with family of Mildred Schnell, who is in her 80s, who might be a good person to interview also. Ruth also shared she video-taped Ed Starck as he gave his presentation at the recent Historic Preservation Commission event on buildings lost in Windsor.
Tails of Tailholt 2 – Ruth mentioned Gary Lindblad has copies of the book and might be cooperative. There is also a History Club at Severance High School who might be interested in helping with the second book; there is a display of the book at the school. The Society needs to find a graduate student or someone who would like a project and would take this on.
Windsor News – Debbie Bates will help with oral history transcripts and there will be four interns who will be required to do at least one. There could be a whole new set to use at the Legend and Lessons event. The History Museum opens this weekend.
Legends and Lessons Event – November 6, 2022 – Kristie has added this event to the rack card. Kristie also asked the group to think about a “hall of fame” type inductee which could occur each year; inductees might be called “Windsor Legends”. Maybe three people could be inducted, receive a certificate, have their picture taken, share their story, have their family attend and their video could be featured on the television. Every year two or three people could be recognized. Suggestions could be made to Laura for the coming event so their videos are transcribed. Laura would send a list of completed videos.
Severance News – Dan will put together a list of other events happening in Severance this summer.
Easel and picture WSHS promotion in a business – The picture has been located at Kristie’s restaurant for a while. Kristie will also start selling books there. Judy might pick up the easel for display at the Germans from Russia picnic on June 11th.
Next Meeting – The next meeting will be June 27, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Firestien, Secretary