Minutes of The Windsor-Severance Historical Society
February 28, 2022
The Windsor-Severance Historical Society met in person on Monday, February 28 at 10:00 a.m. In attendance were Kristie Melendez, Dan Meyers, Elaine Schlotthauer (via telephone), Marcela Johnson, and Judy Firestien.
Call to Order – Kristie Melendez called the meeting to order at 10:10 a.m. Monthly Reports/Approvals
January Minutes – The Minutes from the previous meeting on January 24, 2022 were reviewed and approved as presented.
Treasurer’s Report – Elaine reported the balance in checking was $14,820.74 and the balance in savings was $23,521.15. Elaine would send a check to the Town of Windsor for the $5,000 donation to the Museum from Marge Straube.
Membership Status – Kristie reported there was one new membership. Vickie Swanson from Fort Collins had joined in January.
Old Business
March 21 Meeting with Commerce City – Kristie reminded the Board the next meeting would be the third Monday of the month on March 21st. The regular meeting of the Society would be held at 10:00 a.m. and then members from the Commerce City Historical Society would join the meeting at 11:00 a.m. The group could then go to lunch and possibly tour the Museum. The Commerce City Historical Society has similar activities and it might be good to get together and try to learn from each other and/or coordinate on an activity in the future.
Family Farm Tour Idea Summer 2022 – Kristie thought everyone liked the idea of the Family Farm Tour for this upcoming Summer. Dan added he had given an update presentation to the Severance Town Council and told them about the Farm Tour, recent activities and endeavors, and mentioned the Society is a member of the Severance Chamber. The council was very
attentive. He also asked for a grant request of $500 as seed money to help with expenses associated with the van Farm Tour. Dan followed up with the Town Manager who would get an answer on the grant funds for him at the next meeting. Dan suggested a few farms in the Severance area who might be approached to participate. Kristie suggested setting a date and times for the tour at the next meeting so that it could be included on the Windsor activity guide. There was additional discussion on possibly starting or ending at Von Trotha-Firestien farm and also including the Poudre Learning Center in the day. There was additional discussion on number of tours and dates (August or September), tour guide or someone at the location to share the story, farmers to participate, topics to cover to include dairies, sheep, cattle, sugar beets, coordinating with Severance Day activities, number of farms to include (maybe 3 or 4 with 45 mins at each stop), providing lunch, working farms, historic farms, irrigation demonstration, visiting Tigges Farm to include receiving a pumpkin, vans available from Town of Windsor, and participation from Severance.
Dan would look into Severance dairy farms and Judy would contact Tigges Farm and Poudre
Learning Center to see if they might be interested in participating. Kristie would check into vans available from Town of Windsor.
Windsor Update – Kristie mentioned the Windsor Museum would be hosting an open house event that would occur on April 23rd from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Museum where people can bring old family photos, especially related to Windsor, that could be scanned. They will be scanned and indexed and returned to the owner. The Society would help to spread the word through posting on the website and Facebook.
New Business
2022 Legends and Lessons Event – Kristie suggested getting a date on the calendar/reserved for the Legends and Lessons event again this year, possibly Sunday, November 6th to be held again at the Windsor Art and Heritage Center.
2022 Video Projects – Kristie mentioned there is a Windsor High School Class of 1972 50th anniversary reunion planned over Labor Day weekend and that would be a great opportunity for video taping for oral histories to capture what life was like 50 years ago. It is also the 100th Anniversary of the Windsor Harvest Festival; we should stay in tune on the plans. Kristie would contact Festival Chair, Casey Johnson, to see if there is an opportunity for WSHS to participate. The Society might want to video tape participants or have a booth at the park on Sunday and Monday (cost is about $100).
Name Tags and Business Cards – Kristie shared a proposed design for the business cards that would include space on the back of the cards for a person to write their contact information when handing out the card; cards would not have a specific person’s name on them. She also shared a design for the name badges. Kristie would circulate these designs via email. There would be a set-up fee of $80 and name badges with magnetic bar would be $15 each. Kristie suggested ordering 100-250 business cards and a few name badges for volunteers to wear at events.
Tails of Tailholt 2 – Kristie had not been able to talk to the Lindblad sisters yet about continuing the book. Dan had mentioned this to the Town Council also and that the family was interested in publishing the original book themselves, and the Society had offered their support to them.
Membership Drive – The membership drive should occur again in April/May. Last year, the mailing company was used and 514 letters were sent out to previous members and prospective members at a cost of about $550. The cost might be a bit more this year, but a decision should be made by the March meeting. This is a good use of our funds as the mailing company has the capability to get it done quickly and the Society can direct volunteer time to other activities.
Next Meeting – The next meeting will be March 21st, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. The meeting was adjourned at 10:57 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Firestien, Secretary