The April 2 meeting of the Greenwood County Historical Society board was called to order by President Mike Pitko.
Those present were: Dusty Booth, Taylor Hunt, Becky Lindamood, Treasurer Kent Olson, Pitko, Gib Rhodes, Rise Russin, Stan Skaer, Jan Stephens, secretary Sheryl Moody and Museum Director Robin Himes.
The minutes of the February 6 board meeting were read. There were no changes or corrections. Stephens moved to accept the minutes, Skaer seconded the motion. The motion passed.
Board Treasurer Olson handed out balance and profit-and-loss sheets for January and February.
Regarding John Bills’s question about balances on the November profit-andloss sheet at the February board meeting, Olson had checked with Colangelo and Taber, PA. They told him there were errors in reporting. They are currently in the process of reconciling reports for the IRS for 2023. Olson reported that 2024 looks to be off to a good start. There may be some numbers changed on the balance sheet based on the final numbers for 2023.
Board President Pitko shared that investments have gone down a bit. All cash has been taken out and put into CD’s. An anonymous donor has given donations totaling $9,000 to date. The donor would like these funds to be used for signage for the exhibits at the museum.
In regards to the court settlement, those who lost money in this were given approximately $729. That may be all the museum will receive from the initial investment. Rhodes moved to accept the treasurer’s report and Booth seconded the motion. The motion passed.
There were 21 visitors in February, all from Kansas.
There were 21 visitors in March from Kansas, Illinois, Oklahoma and Missouri.
There were no committee reports, no bills were presented and there were no communications.
Old business included the following:
•The sign for the Centerflow blade has been placed in the lot and the sign for the Double Dude is being made. There will be a QR code on that sign as well as on the Centerflow blade. The following will be added to the Double Dude: Guinness Book of World Records largest earth mover blade.
•Pitko shared the certificates made for Volunteer of the Year and Volunteer of the Quarter. He shared that Kelsey Hughes, daughter of Himes, had designed the certificates. Himes shared that the images on the certificates were photos taken by Hunt and digitally altered by Hughes. Janet Williams later came into the meeting and was given the award for Volunteer of the Year for 2023. Pitko voiced appreciation t o her for the hours she has donated to the museum. An article and photo were sent to the newspaper and posted on Facebook and the museum website.
•Joyce Bills will be given her certificate for Volunteer of the Quarter at a later time as she wasn’t able to be at the meeting.
•Himes shared information from the SEK Museum Alliance meeting she attended in Fort Scott on Feb. 12. The museum has applied and been accepted to be a part of the Sunflower Summer Program that is set up by the State of Kansas. Families who participate are able to attend attractions in Kansas for free for the months of May – August. Those attractions that are a part of the program will be paid $5 for each adult and child that comes to their location during that time span, regardless of whether admission is charged for their venue. Training will be required before this begins. This will be online training and Moody and Himes will both be required to be trained. Board members who are interested can also be a part of the training.
Kansas Travel and Tourism puts out a Travel Guide that highlights tourist attractions in the state. An ad to be put in this publication costs $100. These are put in all of the Kansas welcome centers. This was shared as something to consider for their next publication.
The signage for the implements on the museum lot has cost approximately $460. This has come out of the funds from the anonymous donor. Hunt spoke about QR codes being added to existing signs. These could be done in vinyl that could then be applied by members.
Rhodes reported that he, Linda Sobieski and John Bills have been working on a Family Tree of schools. They have completed this project for Madison and are currently working on Hamilton. They are running into a lack of information and photographs for District 43 also known as the Ott School. There is confusion and conflicting information about its exact location. They will be putting on a program at the Hamilton Public Library on April 19, at 2 p.m., presenting the information they have compiled so far. They will be asking community members to provide any additional information they may have to help them move forward on this project. Hamilton Librarian Beth Inwood and community member Barbie Schlotterback will be giving additional support for this presentation. They will also present this information again on June 1 at the Hamilton Elementary Gymnasium for an alumni meeting. When they have completed research on the Hamilton School Family Tree they will begin work on Eureka Schools. Edwin Tucker and his part in education in Greenwood County will be included in this.
Olson shared information from the state that missing newspapers on newspapers.com have been updated.
Scholarship applications are due April 15. Pitko asked for volunteers to help go over these and make a selection for the scholarship winner. Dana Mills and Russin will work together on this.
Pitko asked for opinions on doing more signage for the horse-drawn farm equipment that is displayed in the covered shed behind the museum. He thought it would cost approximately $200 per sign from Coffelt, out of Emporia. These would give the name of the implement and explain what their use was. Hunt mentioned another type of sign that he had seen at an attraction recently and wondered if it might be something to look into. No action was taken on this.
Pitko shared that a John Deere implement in the lot across the street might benefit from being painted. He asked the board for opinions on whether to paint it or leave it the way it is. The cost of the paint for John Deere green and yellow would be approximately $115. Hunt and Stephens both commented that it looks more authentic to leave it the way it is now, but they could see that paint would help to preserve it. There was no further discussion or decisions made on this.
Eureka Days is June 1. The museum will be open for a few hours that day. Pitko will contact board members about setting times and being in the museum that day to help with visitors.
Olson asked if the museum had been contacted by anyone from the state about Symphony in the Flint Hills. Moody shared the information she got from a phone call that came in recently. There was discussion about people in the county who would be able to provide information specifically about Teter Rock.
Olson will be working with the organizers, sharing information about the Norwegian settlers in the county at a reception around Holverson School.
Olson has been in contact with the Humanities Council and has registered the Historical Society. At the February meeting he had passed around a sheet of possible presenters and subjects of talks. Lindamood and Mills had selected four possibilities. Olson will reach out to schedule something. This could be a 5th Friday presentation or done on a different day and time depending on the presenters’ schedule. The historical society can apply for a grant to cover any costs involved with this such as mileage and refreshments.
Olson has the digital grant ready to go and will submit it when the open date in May is announced.
Booth made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
The next meeting of the Greenwood County Historical Society will be June 2 at 10 a.m. at the museum.
