Minutes of The Windsor-Severance Historical Society
August 25, 2025
The Windsor-Severance Historical Society met in person on Monday, August 25th, at 10:00 a.m. at the Dickey Farmhouse at the Halfway Homestead. In attendance were Kristie Melendez, Sue Buxmann, Gary Martin, Tammy Boehler, Sam Sedoryk, and Judy Firestien.
Call to Order – Kristie called the meeting to order at 10:10 a.m.
Monthly Reports/Approvals
July Minutes – The Minutes from the previous meeting on July 28th, 2025 were reviewed and approved as presented.
Treasurer’s Report – Tammy presented a brief Treasurer’s report showing total account balances were about $42,000 with a few items to still be updated. She had deposited membership dues, a royalty check, and would update interest and add expenses ($97.50 for website update). Kristie added there would be additional expenses of $12.20 for postcard stamps, $192 for post office box rental, and cost of refreshments for the Ribbon Cutting of $78.06.
Membership Update – Kristie reported there had been two more memberships received in the last month which brought the total received for memberships to $2,189. A book had also been sold at the Ribbon Cutting (in addition to a membership). There was some discussion about future meeting location. There will be renovations on the Depot from September through May, so meetings could be held at the Dickey Farmhouse or Eaton House. The group might also think about having an evening meeting to see if more people might be interested in attending. Sam mentioned another group that meets at a public place for some social time first before having the meeting. We will keep promoting our goal to have 50 members by the 50th anniversary. Membership info could be available at the Farm Tour with a donation box stating how funds would be used, QR codes to join via the website, and promotion on Facebook with a monthly post to encourage people to join.
Old Business
2026 Memorabilia Item Update – Kristie has ordered stickers which were available at the Ribbon Cutting; they could be given away or sold at events and included in the Farm Tour bags. She also had some T-shirts to show, but they would need to be modified according to her original request. This gives us a place to start. Kristie’s contact could print t-shirts for $8.00 each. Shirts could be displayed at events and orders taken for shirts with a pre-pay at a price of $20 to $25 each. Shirts could be available for the Legends and Lessons event once the design is clarified. The blue, gray, and green T-shirts looked the best. Kristie would ask her contact to print a few hats also. She would also get a quote for 200 to 250 totebags. Kristie will still have a sticker for the Farm Tour to look at and maybe a start of a calendar by the September meeting.
2025 Family Farm Tour – Organization of the Farm Tour is moving along. Judy had shared a partner list, created by Heidi, that lists participants so far which includes West Greeley Conservation District, Davis Family Livestock (sheep for petting zoo), Central Colorado Water Conservancy District, Poudre Learning Center, Greeley Museums, Clearview Library, and CAM’s Ag Academy on the Road (CSU Ag). New partners are CCWCD who will bring a stream table, Greeley Museums, Clearview Library and Cam’s Ag Academy. A petting zoo might be fun to include. Things seem to be coming together. Greeley Museums have a washing station demonstration and Sam’s roommate will talk about beekeeping. Set up starts around 8:30/9:00 a.m. Last year WSHS provided cookies and Windsor Museum provided lemonade. Some tents/canopies might be set up to provide additional shade; last year was a hot day. Judy mentioned areas around the farmhouse could be used where there is
shade. The WSHS timeline banner and photo cutout could be displayed also. The Museum will bring tables and Judy has tables and chairs to seat 75 people. Judy will update the historical booklet which could be available at the WSHS/welcome table. There are still seed packets available to give away. We could also reach out to people to invite them to include SWAG for the tote bags. West Greeley Conservation will provide educational materials again for the tote bags like they did last year. There could be a date set the week before for stuffing totebags. A sign up sheet might be available at the check in table for keeping in contact with people. A couple of large foam core boards could be made for membership information to be displayed with QR code, etc. The easel could be used also. QR codes could take visitors to the membership page or Facebook page to keep in touch.
2025 Legends and Lessons – The event will be held at Dickey House/Halfway Homestead. The program will be held in the main rooms of the house, snacks could be in the kitchen area, displays could be in the bedroom. Sam mentioned he and Laura are running the Second Sunday programs
and the November one will coordinate with the Legends and Lessons event. Laura is working on the liquor license for the event and food will be the same as done previously with trays from Sam’s Club.
Severance Ribbon Cutting Chamber Party – The Ribbon Cutting Party scheduled for August 1, was postponed to August 8th due to a Tornado Watch; the Severance Chamber was concerned about the weather. This original date may have been better; there were not as many people who came out for the postponed date. There were maybe 12 people in attendance. The WSHS is now an official member and the Severance Chamber will promote things for the Society. It was a nice gathering.
New Business
Historic Preservation Commission Meet and Greet – September 10, 5:45 to 7:00 p.m. – Laura has set up a meeting between the WSHS and the Windsor Historic Preservation Commission at the Arts and Heritage Center. This is a chance to meet, connect, and chat about the events next year to commemorate the anniversaries and possibly partner and help.
Windsor History Publication – Kristie had shared a publication done by Jefferson County Historical Commission and maybe the WSHS and HPC could collaborate to create something similar on history in Windsor. Maybe there would be a department at CSU or UNC that would want to help. There would be need to involve writers, editors, proofing, and fact checkers for the publication. Kristie would get quotes for printing. Laura had also shared information on grant opportunities.
Legends and Lessons Memorial – Creation of the memorial might be the next big project; especially since the landscaping might be redone in Boardwalk Park. Kristie would check with Austin Weishel to see if he might have any ideas in order to continue the same tradition as what Austin did with the statues. Tammy would confirm funds available for use on this project.
Windsor News – Sam reported the Evening at Eaton event had been successful with over 100 attendees. The Depot is shutting down at the end of September to start renovations. There will also be a Night at the Museum at the end of September. There will be Cemetery Tours in October again this year.
Severance News – Severance Days was a great success with lots of people coming out for the activities. There were a lot of good comments on the event.
Next Meeting – The meeting was adjourned at 11:07 a.m. The next meeting will be on September 22nd, 2025 at the Dickey House.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Firestien, Secretary