Attendees: Amy Kahn, Rena Getz, Don Ross, John Mordes, Paul Roberts, Evan Weststrate, Julie Irish, Greg Schwartz, Ben Kahn

Agenda

1. Financial Update
   1. We had some income come in from The Makers of the Mold
   2. Thank you Jerry Reilly for creating the paperback book and selling them around Newton Upper Falls, Copyright goes to Friends of Hemlock Gorge, all proceeds go to us.
   3. You can access a digital copy on our website: https://hemlockgorge.org/the-makers-of-the-mold/
   4. Would be great to sell copies at the next Village Day. John will reach out to Jerry and thank him and see about making more copies. Julie sees him as well.
   5. Spent $508 on summer picnic
   6. Spent $120 on fall cleanup
   7. Balance: $6681, before dues/usual fundraising.
2. Holiday Party
   1. We were able to get the Waban Library Center for Thursday, December 10 at 6:00 PM
   2. Chris will be providing the catering
   3. Amy will be providing the music
   4. Amy/Ben will send out invitation, put on website
   5. Start the meeting at 7
3. Need to schedule the December business meeting: either for the 10^th at the party or Zoom earlier in the month
   1. Important, as we need to elect officers and Dr. John does not plan to run for President again.
4. Need to schedule the January meeting, cadence for online v. in person meetings
   1. In-person meetings must be hybrid. Consider quarterly. Maybe March or April for our next in-person meeting
   2. January meeting will be Google Meet only, January 5, at 7:15pm
   3. Note the Waban Area Council now meets on the second Tuesday.
5. Fall Clean-up Report
   1. Very successful. Many Cub Scouts. Good weather. Nice luncheon.
6. Stone Building
   1. John has spoken with Rep. Schwartz and written to Erica.
   2. We still need additional keys so board members can check on it and to open it for events. Hard to get it duplicated.
   3. John wrote to Erica but has not heard back.
   4. Greg did a deep dive into earmarks for the stone building and spoke to the DCR preservationist. Takeaway: they’d focused on the water infiltration and had a setback with the original contractor. They got another contractor and redid the work. They believe they succeeded in it being significantly drier than before. In their opinion the building is structurally stable and will continue to stand. They are confident that the foundation issue was addressed, and that the money should not determine if the work should be done or not. It’s deprioritized for now. There are still a couple of outstanding phases to be done in the plan, but it’s not a high enough priority to the DCR for now.
      1. Acc. to the preservationist there was never a plan for the building to be used as a visitor’s center or a site for people to go in and out of the building because of ADA and additional requirements – grading access to the door, etc.
   5. What about the rubble that materialized in the building? What happened to the lumber that was set aside for the 2nd floor?
   6. The new roof is already giving way.
   7. There is still value in fixing the outside door, windows, but it might not happen soon.
7. Boy Scout troop becoming a family troop so girls can join! Now called “Scouting USA”. New to the Scouts: The Auchincloss family! The scout troops are huge! Our sponsorship has helped them stay viable. There will be the same paperwork to be signed for sponsorship. Paul will take care of it.
   1. Eagle Scout Projects
      1. Project: Stairs on the hill – repair and deal with erosion
      2. Project: Benches (and a place to put them)
      3. Project: Vaunita Schnell Glen: Picnic location in the back of the barn was lovely. Quiet and flat. Maybe the Scouts could create an event space there. Include a ramp, ADA accessible space. Rep. Schwartz and Erica have been apprised of our hopes, but nothing yet.
      4. Greg will reach out to Erica at DCR, but no promises that she will respond. He will also call our legislative liason. (We don’t want to do something that will be undone by DCR)
8. Vaunita memorial
   1. Still hoping we can put a plaque on a bench in the new picnic area behind the barn and to name the new picnic area after her. “The Vaunita Schnell Glen”
   2. We could use Lara Preble’s bench design
9. Review 2026 annual letter
10. Matters arising
    1. We should start thinking about Spring Cleanup, usually the Saturday before Newton Serves. Potential date: May 1