Minutes of The Windsor-Severance Historical Society
June 26, 2023
The Windsor-Severance Historical Society met in person on Monday, June 26, at 10:00 a.m. In attendance were Kristie Melendez, Sue Buxmann, Gary Martin, Kristi Martin, Ruth Brunner, and Judy Firestien.
Call to Order – Kristie Melendez called the meeting to order at 10:08 a.m. Monthly Reports/Approvals
April Minutes – The Minutes from the previous meeting on April 24, 2023 were reviewed and approved as presented.
Treasurer’s Report – Kristie reported from the May bank statement that the balance in checking was $6,732.22 which included a deposit of $1,397.21. Part of this was from Marge Straube’s Memorial in addition to the donation from Town of Severance of $500. The donations in memory of Marge plus the earlier $5,000 donation she had made in 2022 were being set aside for a future time and place when the Town will have a place for display of the Legends and Lessons honorees.
The balance in savings was $14,504.57. The CD has a balance of $20,151.23. A check from PDC for royalties in the amount of around $210 had also been received.
Membership Update and Status – The May Membership Drive had been completed with 641 letters sent out which included the current 30-40 members plus previous members and names from the Windsor Chamber membership list. The mailing company arranged for every letter to be personalized and a return envelope was included. The amount spent was above the previously agreed to amount of $700. The included envelope should help people to easily return their membership. Three people have joined online. The Society also now has non-profit mailing status. To have the mailing list certified and personalized letters mailed out with return envelopes included came to $991.11. Ruth moved and Sue seconded this expenditure be approved. Motion carried. It will be interesting to see if there is a better response with the use of the return envelopes. Sue is having problems with the Pay Pal account and cannot get the funds transferred out. Kristie will work with Sue to get this fixed.
Old Business
Town and WSHS MOU – Per the Society Charter, the Executive Board met with Laura about the MOU. The length of the contract needs further discussion as the term suggested was five years. WSHS would like a forever home for materials at the Collections Storage Facility with access at any time and use free of charge plus meeting space in exchange for the sliver of land next to the creamery. It is hoped language could be worked out to take the agreement into perpetuity.
2024 WSHS Calendars – Kristie had gotten the thumb drive from Laura that had old photos on it. She hoped to pull together something for the calendar.
Updating Bylaws – Kristie will make some changes to update the bylaws to how we are currently operating and will present this at the next Board meeting.
Farm Tours 2023 – In order to get information to Laura for an ad in the Fall activity guide, there was a decision made by the Executive Board to go ahead with the Family Farm Tour on Sunday, October 8th from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. It was suggested the tour be kept the same as last year (the history booklet that was created last year could be used again) with the possibility of adding another tour for dairies this fall or next year; maybe Wolf Creek and Dyecrest. Kristi Martin offered (husband Gary volunteered her) to sew small cloth bags for kids to use during the tour; cloth pattern might be barnyard animals or flowers. Businesses might also be asked to sponsor or donate SWAG to be included in the bags. The logo might also be included on the cloth bag. The ad could be similar to last year with the Town helping with registration. Families with kids could learn about the tour through the Town information and through Facebook and the rack card.
Windsor News – Laura was not able to attend the meeting.
Severance News – Dan was not able to attend the meeting.
New Business
Severance Days and Harvest Fest partnering with American Legacy Academy – American Legacy Academy, the new Charter School in Windsor (Water Valley) opening August 21, is having a campaign to raise $250,000 for the playground and will be participating in both the Severance Days parade and the Harvest Festival parade. Kristie suggested donating $100 per student to the Academy to have them walk in the parade, along the American Legacy float, and hand out the WSHS rack card to advertise the Family Farm Tour and Legends and Lessons event, along with the Academy information. The Society does not have the capacity to volunteer at these events, but the Society should have a presence there, and the students could be an agent of the Society to perform marketing by passing out information. It would be nice to develop a relationship with the Academy and with home schools. This donation would also give back to the community and might help to get kids involved in the future or encourage membership. After discussion, Sue moved and Gary seconded to spend $100 per student as a donation to the American Legacy Academy, in support of their playground project, to have kids pass out a rack card (approx. 3,000 to 5,000 cards) at both Severance Days and Harvest Festival parades this year; donation to be about $1,250 per parade for a total of $2,500 dependent on how many kids participate. To be done this year and not necessarily next year. Ruth expressed some concerns about where funds that were received by donors to the Society were being spent and was opposed to the motion. Motion carried.
Joint Meeting with Preservation Commission – A joint meeting could still be held sometime with the Preservation Commission. Ruth acts as liaison and could arrange a meeting. She suggested October 11th for possible attendance at a Commission meeting. Other partnerships might be formed with Loveland or Commerce City Historical Societies.
Next Meeting – The next meeting will be July 24th, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. The meeting was adjourned at 11:40 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Firestien, Secretary