The October 3, 2023 meeting of the Greenwood County Historical Society (GWCHS) was called to order by President Mike Pitko. Those in attendance were: John Bills, Dusty Booth, Kevin Hough, Becky Lindamood, Kent Olson, Pitko, Gib Rhodes, Jan Stephens, Dana Mills, Rise Russin, Museum Director Robin Himes and Secretary Sheryl Moody.
Minutes from the August 1 board meeting were read by Himes. These were approved as written.
The treasurer’s report was presented by Olson who handed out profit and loss reports and balance sheets for the months of July and August.
Pitko talked about the Smith Trust, donations given annually. GWCHS receives 2% of the interest from this every year.
It was reported that reimbursement is anticipated for overpayment to the IRS.
After the above discussions, board members approved to accept the Treasurer’s report.
Visitors for the month of August were: 16 from California, Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Georgia and Kansas. Visitors for the month of September included 21 from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, California, Kansas and Canada, as well as 41 6th graders from Marshall Elementary and 2 teachers.
No committee reports were given and there were no bills to present for payment.
In old business, the Open House for the GWCHS’s 50th Anniversary celebration will be held on October 30 starting at 5:30 p.m. Bills will show a video about the WPA Project and the construction of the lake. The total presentation is anticipated to be 15 -20 minutes in length.
Cookies and bottled water will be served for refreshments. Imprinted napkins, donated by Carma Wilson, will be utilized. The event is anticipated to conclude by 8 p.m. Patrick Zollner is anticipated to be present, likely the afternoon of October 30. Olson was slated to contact him to verify this. An invitation will be extended to Greenwood County Commissioners.
The Museum will be open on November 4 from 9 a.m-1 p.m. for Cattlemen’s Day.
John Himes donated time and material to modify display cases in the Ditty room.
Wilson has been working on display cases in the Ditty room to showcase benefactors, board members and volunteers.
Eight high school students and two sponsors worked at the museum on the morning of September 27 for community service. Five individuals worked inside the museum to dust display cabinets and artifacts, and to catalog and box up current displays in the Ditty room to create space for the decades displays for GWCHS’s anniversary celebration.
Five individuals worked with Pitko to do landscaping and clean up outside the museum. Old rose bushes were removed and leaves were cleaned out of the farm equipment display. Time was spent cleaning up the new lot as well.
Pitko handed out updated Board rosters to the board members.
Election of officers will be held at the December meeting. The executive board terms and director terms for Booth, Stan Skaer and Russin will be voted on. Booth has agreed to continue serving on the board. Skaer and Russin were to be contacted to see if they have continued interest.
Two positions on the Executive Board need to be filled: Historian, duties include clipping articles relating to county history and downloading The Eureka Herald and articles relating to the museum and Secretary, duties include taking notes at board meetings and getting those to the newspaper. Volunteers for these positions are needed for addition to the ballots.
Pitko has looked into getting a sign for the hay press behind the Museum. Layout for this has not been received yet.
Mark Russell has been contacted about getting information on the dozer blades. Signage for these will be put on the new lot. The donation from Dick Rucker will cover the cost.
Moody has spent a lot of time sorting through photographs from Dale Baysinger and getting them filed.
Bills passed around maps that came from the National Archives. These are items that Greg Rawlings has found and shared with the historical society. These are maps of original land surveys in Greenwood County from about 1855 to approximately 1866. These were done by the Department of the Interior. They show streams and trails at the time and the names of early settlers when the survey was completed around the Virgil area.
There were also applications for post offices passed around. These list the postmaster and general location of and miles from: streams, nearest post office, map of location, section, creeks, rivers, roads, cities and post office routes.
Hough shared information about benchmarks that were put out by the US Department of Interior. These are cement posts with brass plates with legal descriptions from which land is divided. They show section, township, and range. Surveys are started from these.
Bills shared that one is located by the Pike water tower on State Street. Hough shared that there is one on the Hawthorne lease. Hough thinks this might be an interesting project to research.
There being no further business, Hough moved that the meeting be adjourned.
