DOUGLAS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

September 28, 2004-Minutes

The meeting of the Douglas County Historical Society Board was called to order at 5:00 p.m. at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas. Chairman Jerry Niebaum presided. Attending were Dennis Dailey, Phil Godwin, Clenece Hills, Phil Humphrey, Patty Johnston, Jim Martin, Bob Piller, Lew Phillips, Pennie Von Achen, and Director, Rebecca Phipps. Board members Martha Harris, Stan Hernly, Ralph King, David Longhurst, John Simmons, and Barbara Waggoner were unable to attend.

The minutes of the June 22 Board meeting were approved as written.

CORRESPONDENCE

Niebaum read a letter from Hilda Enoch thanking the museum for presenting the Will Rogers program, and a letter from Mary Ann Baker praising the Viet Nam era exhibit (with special thanks to Helen Dee Krische).

FINANCIAL

Piller distributed the year-to-date summary of the financial report of the Museum. It was noted that the most significant figure in the report was that the year-to-date total had exceeded expenses. The County Commission allocated $100,559 to the museum; the allocation does not include funds to renew Dick Martin’s position, so that position will be terminated in March 2005.

Since the County Commissioners would like a formal proposal for the planned bathroom remodeling and expansion, Niebaum will ask Hernly to either give suggestions for a coordinator or proceed with it himself. Someone will be needed to help coordinate the bathroom remodeling with the kitchen addition.

STAFF REPORTS

Niebaum offered praise to Phipps and the museum staff on their excellent work on the new exhibit Prairie Gold.

Phipps stated that the curator Allison Miller had resigned her position a month ago. Temporary part-time assistants have been hired until the end of the year. The position will be filled permanently in January 2005.

Applications have been sent to several grants including ones with the Rice Foundation, Pearson Education, Wal-Mart, Hallmark and several others.

The 2005 calendar of events for the Museum is progressing with two concerts scheduled.

There were 7,042 visitors to the museum as of August 31, 2004 as compared to 7715 for the entire 2004-year.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Events

Niebaum distributed flyers for the Carnival of Souls movie to be shown on Halloween night, October 31 at Liberty Hall. There will be two showings, one at 7:30 p.m. and another at 11:00 p.m. Tickets for Board members to sell were distributed.

Von Achen had earlier sent an e-mail to Board members regarding the New Year’s Eve event. She distributed a list of responsibilities on which Board members could sign-up to assist with the event.

Nomination Committee

Niebaum reported that he, Hills, Godwin, and King had met yesterday and went through a list of 30-35 people suggested by Board members. They narrowed the list to a possible fifteen nominees. This list includes present board members King, Humphrey and Martin. He distributed an advice sheet about the Society to prospective board members, which each nominee will be asked to sign before his/her name is submitted on a ballot. Mail-in ballots will be included in the next newsletter in addition to the voting at the annual meeting. A place for write-in names will also be included on the ballots.

The Committee decided to approach Dolph Simons about having a member of the Simons family fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Andrew Debecki.

Business Membership

Phillip reviewed phrase one of the corporate solicitation efforts. They had contacted about 65 companies and received $50,000. Phrase two will be implemented on Wednesday, Sept. 29. Eight team leaders have been recruited and each of these team leaders will recruit five volunteers to make corporate calls in October. There are about 175 companies and individuals to be contacted. The target date for completion is about six weeks after the start. They would like to raise an additional $30,000. Praise and thanks were given to Phillip for his work with the solicitation effort. Phillip has spent a tremendous amount of time with this project.

Governance & Policies

This report was tabled until the next meeting.

OTHER ITEMS

Annual Meeting

Niebaum asked for suggestions for a speaker for the annual meeting to be held November 9. He suggested Tom Alexander, Director of the American Music Academy in Lawrence. He will bring entertainment in the form of his students, and history in the form of music that he collects. This will also build a relationship with the Academy

Meeting was adjourned at 6:00 p.m. so members could enjoy a reception and tour given by the staff of the Spencer Research Library.

Respectfully submitted,

Patty Johnston

Secretary