HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-17-2007White River Valley Historical Society
Board Meeting Minutes
October 17, 2007, 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Board Members Present: Pat Bailey, Jan Cavanaugh, Mike Gerber, Doug Hedger, Warren
Kinggeorge, Michelle Marshman, Gordy Nishimoto, Judi Roland, Mae Yamada
Board Members Absent: Nancy Colson, Jennifer Traufler,
Board Members Excused: Ronnie Beyersdorf, Terry Davis, Mike Harbin Jr., JB Rupert,
Staff Present: Kristen Bruhahn, Patricia Cosgrove, Tara McCauley
1. Call to Order and Approval of Minutes
A. President Nishimoto called the meeting to order and asked for the approval of the minutes.
MOTION CARRIED
II. Chair Report
A. President Nishimoto reported on the success of the first Appletini Tuesday held at the Mary
Olson Farm. Despite bad weather, the sky's cleared for the event, about 50 people attended, and
$1,200 was donated.
III. Treasury and Committee Report
A. Treasurer Hedger reviewed finances, noting that we are ahead of where we were at this time
last year, but that the financial success for failure of the operating budget often hinges on the number of
guests we have at the Harvest Costume Ball. At the next Finance Committee meeting the 2008 budget
will be drafted.
B. Patricia Cosgrove filled in for Ronnie Beyersdorf to report on the Capital Campaign. To date
roughly $1.4 million dollars has been committed of the $1.6 million needed. The museum is cash poor
right now, pending the arrival of a signed contract from the State for the $245,000 Heritage Capital
Project.
C. Warren Kinggeorge, chair of the Collections Committee delighted the board by showing some
of the artifacts that the committee agreed to take into the museum collection.
D. Tara McCauley reported on Educational programs. She described the first two field trips at
the Mary Olson Farm, helped out by new Farm Tour Guide Jan Cavanaugh. Piloting this curriculum is a
monumental step forward and with proper support should provide a full fledged program for school year
2008/9.
E. Co-Chairs Roland and Hedger reported on the upcoming Harvest Costume Ball. About 10
more bottles of wine are needed to full the wine rack, auction items need to be delivered, and a few more
tickets sold. We estimate attendance of 230 persons.
F. Due to connections made by Ronnie Beyersdorf, we received a $500 Free Wednesday
sponsorship from Davis Property and Investment.
IV. Staff Report
A. Patricia Cosgrove shared with the board the City of Auburn budget prognosis for 2008. Due
to the way in which the City is developing their biennial budget and the quarterly adjustments, only
Capital expenses were reviewed for 2008. Our needs for the Farm are programmatic, not capital, and
will not be reviewed until March 2008. This places the Museum in a shortfall of about $17,000 if we
continue to develop programs as planned. Board members discussed this at length, developing a
consensus that careful use of existing capital campaign funds may cover those costs (though adding to
the capital budget goal.) They proposed to write the city council and Mayor Lewis in early 2008 to clarify
the need for staffing and contract labor to ready the Mary Olson Farm for public use.
V. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 2:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by: Patricia Cosgrove, acting for absent Secretary Ronnie Beyersdorf
Date: 10/17/07