Board Members Present:    
    Scott Perry, JoAnne Bennett, Marijke Dollois, Bill McGroarty, Sue Wilson.

Scott Perry called the Meeting to order at 5:37 PM.

Scott reported that Sally Newton has agreed to rejoin the Board. He had also asked Bob Winders, but he declined at this time. Jay Heaton has not yet responded.

1.    Minutes:
Bill made a Motion, seconded by Sue to approve the Minutes of March 9th as written; the Motion was approved with one abstention.
Sue made a Motion, seconded by JoAnne to approve the Minutes of March 28th as written; the Motion was approved with one abstention.

2.    Treasurer’s Report:
    Sue reported as follows:
        Checking Account    $    113.46
        Hays Scholarship CD    6,251.28
        Capital Improvement Acct.    1,034.73
                        $  7,399.47

        Mortgage balance due    $ 27,823.00
           
Marijke made a Motion, seconded by Bill to approve the Treasurer’s Report; the Motion was unanimously approved.
   
3.    Membership Update:
    The membership drive is underway. Scott reported that 4 approaches were used:
    a.    Quarterly newsletter was e-mailed to all current e-mail members along with a link to the contribution card.
    b.    Quarterly newsletter with Domina postcard, contribution card, and return envelope was mailed to all non-e-mail members.
    c.    Letter with contribution card, and return envelope was mailed to all previous members (any who contributed prior to 2005). The letters were mailmerged to personalize by name, last year contributed and amount received.
    d.    Letter with contribution card, and return envelope was mailed to all non-members.

It was agreed that if the response to all e-mailed members was limited, a direct mailing would be sent out mid-May.

Marijke reported the following contributions received to-date:
17 contributions for a total of $890.00.
This includes 2 new members and 2 old, renewing members.

 
4.    Old Business –

A.    Ongoing Projects/Events:
    1)    Community History Program – DVD not yet ready; no further information
    2)    Covered Bridges Mailboxes Project
        Sarita Khan, owner of the Coach House in Montgomery Center, has become a sponsor.
        Parma has still not received a response from The Belfry and Snowshoe Lodge.
    3)    Concerts – 4 concerts have been scheduled. Steve Hays will be here next week. Scott will meet with him to discuss budget, sponsors and publicity.
    4)    None
    5)    Speakers – Geof Hewitt “Who Was Robert Frost and Who are We?” May 17 @ 7:00 PM at Pratt Hall.
    6)    Memorial Day – Sue suggested one of the returning National Guard soldiers from Iraq as speaker.
    7)    Annual Meeting – Tosca reported that the cost for a “tapas” presentation at Pratt Hall would be the same as for a dinner at the Grange ($20); Sue will follow-up with her and also with Wetherbee Catering and Mike & Jeff to obtain a lower cost in the range of $10-$15 pp.
    8)    Art Show – nothing to report.
    9)    Scholarships – Marijke has sent out letters to 10 graduating students along with application forms and scholarship description. Copies of the letter were also sent to the respective high school guidance counselors. Lois Lumbra mentioned the availability of the scholarship to all students, including homeschooled students, in her column in the County Courier. The deadline for application is May 15th. The scholarship committee consists of Bill McGroarty, Sabra Massey, Michelle Legault and Sue Zeineth-Collins (to be confirmed). The scholarship amount will be $300-500 depending on number of students applying and cash flow.

B.    Pratt Hall – James Ouellette has been contracted to repaint/repair the building as per March 28th Minutes.

C.    Heaton House – Repairs have been deferred. Hull Insurance will not be able to provide insurance if the house is rented in its current condition. It was discussed to provide at least bathroom (toilet and sink) facilities. Scott to follow-up with Mark Larivee.

D.    Brochure – nothing to report.

E.    Short notice request(s) to use Pratt Hall – Scott made a Motion, seconded by Bill to charge $50 for the use without heat and $100 without heat; the motion was unanimously approved.

5.    New Business:

    A.    Property yard care – Scott reported that Joel Magnusson has offered to take care of the grounds for free in lieu of membership. Bill will inform McLawn and Scott will inform Rocky.

    B.    Tony Whedon Gig – Tony approached Scott about doing a performance with his group at Pratt Hall. Scott will check with Steve to fit it into the summer program. The Board strongly recommended the performance as this is a local band.
   
    C.    Other –
        1)    The Montgomery Library approached Scott to sponsor a showing of Jay Craven’s movie “Disappearances”. The showing would be sometime in October. It was decided to hold off on a commitment until a later date.
        2)    Rolf Anderson reported that Hazen’s Notch Association has cancelled the concert at Pratt Hall on May 5th.
        3)    MHS Workday – May 13th @ 9:00 AM was set as an MHS workday to clean in and around the Heaton House and organize the Pratt Hall basement.

6.    Adjourn: Scott made a Motion, seconded by Sue to adjourn at 6:40 PM; the Motion passed unanimously.


Respectfully submitted,

Marijke Dollois