Present:
Bill Humphrey, Chris Osborne, John Mordes, Paul Roberts, Emily Gelfand, Karen Osborne, Vaunita Schnell, MJ Osborne, Loumona Petroff, Rena Getz, Don Ross, Robin Dexter, Nina Foch, Tim O’Connor, Betsy Hewitt, Ben Kahn, Amy Kahn, Richard Dorr, Jack Bousa
This is a combined meeting of election of officers and year end party. It is the last meeting for 2023.
Treasury Report:
Robin gave the end of the year treasury report. The treasury balance is close to $6,900 with few expenses for the year. Donations can be made online through the website. Reminder: Posters are still available to send to donors. Evan brought several to the meeting to show available design options.
Election of the Officers for 2024:
| President | John Mordes |
| Vice-president | Evan Weststrate |
| Treasureer | Robin Dexter |
| Secretary | Amy Kahn |
| Webmaster | Ben Kahn |
Election of Board for 2024:
Paul Roberts, Chris Osborne, Bill Humphrey, Rena Getz as well as the above officers.
Changes: Vaunita Schnell will continue serving as Emeritus.
Change of Meeting Date:
There had been discussion of changing the meeting date going forward. A number of people had scheduling conflicts. It was decided to leave this discussion until the January meeting which will be held on January 7th due to the holiday schedule.
It was pointed out the Zoom meetings can be recorded as a method for keeping a record of the proceedings.
DCR Meeting Report:
Several Friends attended the 1.5 hour DCR meeting on the preservation of the Stone Building held virtually on November 28th. The building has been traced back to 1807 and is the oldest building on DCR properties. There is some evidence that it could even be older. Plans have been made to rehabilitate the building including the crumbling foundation, windows, and 2nd story. The building’s security measures have been approved for the windows and building access. DCR plans to use it primarily for storage. Artifacts removed from the building in the earlier rehab have not been located and are still in storage somewhere within DCR.
Scout Report:
Paul reported that the Scouts are arranging to have banners made so they can be used for cleanups and visibility events. The Troops will pay for them and make arrangements to have them designed and manufactured.
Volunteers:
Ben said that he could use a few “tech savvy” volunteers to help with the ongoing project of updating the website and its voluminous archives.
Other Matters:
Members discussed various methods of advertising meeting and making outreach efforts to the community. John distributed the year-end letter to members summarizing the work of the Friends for 2023. There were a number of significant accomplishments as well as new projects started for continuation in 2024. The letter was enthusiastically approved by the members.
The meeting was adjourned, and the party began.
Wishing everyone a very happy 2024!
Respectfully Submitted,
Sheila Purdy
