Minutes of The Windsor-Severance Historical Society
October 24, 2022
The Windsor-Severance Historical Society met in person on Monday, October 24th at 10:00 a.m. In attendance were Kristie Melendez, Laura Browarny, Marcella Johnson, Gary Martin, Ruth Brunner, and Judy Firestien.
Call to Order – Kristie Melendez called the meeting to order at 10:07 a.m. Monthly Reports/Approvals
September Minutes – The Minutes from the previous meeting on September 26, 2022 were reviewed and approved as presented with one correction to the spelling of Marcella’s name.
Treasurer’s Report – Kristie reported on bank balances from the September 2022 bank statement stating the balance in checking was $11,463.02. The balance in savings was $23,524.96. Expenditures were $166 to renew the post office box. The pizza for the Farm Tour was $64.08. There will be an additional $49.98 for salad and pop and cookies for the Farm Tour.
Membership Update and Status – Nothing new to report on Membership. Old Business
Family Farm Tour Recap – Dan and Judy
The total brought in from the Farm Tour was 16 adults (x $20) and four kids (x $10) for a total of $360. The bill for the busses will be $16 per hour for the driver x 4 hours = $64.00. For possible future tours, we would not host something on Saturday because there are so many other activities going on. Sunday afternoons seem to work better, especially if the Broncos are not playing at that time. Laura will send the total less the bus drivers fee to the Society. Three books were also sold for a total of $60. Kristie mentioned it cost the Society about $178.06, but there was also the $500 received from Town of Severance to kick the event off. The Town donated the ad in the activity guide. There was also $190 spent twice for rack cards for advertising. Some of the participants were new to the area, so they were taking the tour to learn about the history. The families who came seemed to have fun and hopefully they will tell their friends. At a minimum, the Society broke even with the donation from the Town of Severance and the use of the buses donated by the Town of Windsor. Ruth suggested another group to focus on might be parents who home school who like to do a special activity on Friday. Laura mentioned they have a pretty large home school network.
Kristie thanked Dan for bringing the idea to the group and spreading the word and for he and Judy spending time putting the tour together, adding historic points along the way and for Judy putting together the keepsake booklet. Thanks to Dan and Judy and partners Town of Windsor and Town of Severance for a successful tour, even though the numbers were small. This is something that can be built on in the future.
Legends and Lessons Event – November 6, 2022 – 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Windsor Art and Heritage Center – About 100 postcards had been printed and 90 mailed out to members and those who had participated in the video series. It has been posted on the
Facebook page and home page of the website. Kristie will go to Costco to get some premade plates of appetizers, beer, wine, soda and water. The videos will be available for viewing on the old tv and on the interactive big screen. The induction ceremony will be at 3:00 p.m. The Community Arts Exhibit will be on display featuring local artists. Set up will start around 1:30 p.m. Certificates will be presented to inductees. Names might be included on a rock or art piece at a future location around the buildings or park area at Boardwalk Park. This is something to explore further.
2022 Video Project Update – Ruth reported Casey was a no show for an interview to talk about the Harvest Festival; he got busy at work. Kristie suggested Ruth contact Dick Ochsner who is a veteran, farmer, and has an interesting story about being one of the first people hired at Kodak and how that came about. The Board agreed and Kristie would send contact information to Ruth.
Windsor News – Laura talked about upcoming events which included the Halloween Carnival. The Cemetery Tours have been well attended and a Night at the Museum is planned for November 12th to include a murder mystery with characters from Windsor’s past. The Number 2 Ditch Trail is now complete from Great Western Trail to River Bluffs and includes QR codes along the trail with information on history and nature. Open Space and Trails has created a history scavenger hunt.
Severance News – Dan was out of town but had mentioned he would put together a report with some information and pictures from the Farm Tour.
New Business
Arcadia Past and Present Book – Kristie reported the editor of Colorado projects at Arcadia, who published the Windsor book, reached out saying due to the success of the book, they are creating another series and wondered if the Society would be interested in working with them again. The series would begin where the other book left off and bring it to the present covering probably 20 years. Kristie would follow up to see what the project would involve and let them know there was interest. Rachel Kline had also moved back to Windsor.
WSHS Partnership with Town – Laura asked about the Lot on Ash Street which still belongs to the WSHS. The Town is wondering if that was meant to be part of the donation with the Creamery and how it could get transferred to the Town. Kristie mentioned the Board had talked about it and had an appraiser look at it. Kristie will forward information to Laura.
Kristie also mentioned the Society has a very nice working relationship with the Town and it would be nice to formalize the partnership with the Town with regard to items that were passed on to the town (artifacts, photos, etc.). Perhaps a Memorandum of Understanding could be put in place to preserve that entitlement right and access to those things in the long term, especially for when there are new people in place. Laura would draft a MOU for review by the Board.
Next Meeting – The next and final meeting for 2022 will be November 28, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. The meeting was adjourned at 11:10 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Firestien, Secretary