- Present: President Barbara Kerr, Treasurer Louis Rodge, Secretary Joanne Shipley, RaeAnn Nelson, Mel Moss, and President Emeritus Elma Hewitt. Absent: Shilah Bauer and Christine Cranmore. Shilah reports that she is full time National Guard now, doesn’t expect to be deployed to Iraq at this time.
- Meeting was called to order. A letter from Don Rivara was read, letting us know he has recently moved to Texas to be closer to his daughter.
- Minutes of the Reunion Meeting were approved.
- Treasurer reported a balance of $5134.20 as of 9/24/2008. The accountant has finished his work, and has been paid in full. Our tax-exempt status has been re-established under our current association name. We will now need to file a form 990 annually to maintain our status. Our Federal Tax ID number is 93-6034592. We paid a total of $446 for the service. Other recent expenses: newsletter printing and mailing -$395. Books printed – $187.
Discussion was held regarding how we might provide tax-deductible receipts for future donations for the silent auction, the oral auction, and for the donation cans at the reunion. No decision was reached at this time.
Council voted unanimously to send our $100 contribution to Yamhill County Museum again this year.
- Newsletter: Available soon on the website. More details to follow. Printed copies will also be mailed, unless members indicate that having them on the website is good enough.
Elma has family genealogy forms that can be mailed out in the newsletter, for people to fill out and return. That will allow us to update the albums more accurately.
- Website: Please let Barbara Kerr know if you have any trouble getting into the website.
- Reunion Review: Mixer: the goal is to acquaint people with others at the Reunion, but most people don’t take sheets to fill out. We conclude that most attendees either aren’t comfortable, or don’t share our goal.
Songs: suggested simple song sheets for the 90th Reunion – maybe two or three songs from 1919.
Storytelling: need to make more people aware of the activity and the area
Dramatic readings: thanks to reader, Dorothy Coombs, and thanks for costume accessories.
Signs: signs were great, need a schedule posted where it is easy to see, “clean up” signs seemed to produce good effect – lots of folks helped clean up this year.
Audio system: still haven’t solved the feedback problem. Tables need to be arranged so people can hear better.
Original location is better because of shelter, even though farther from restrooms.
Scheduling/reserving the shelter space – we need a long term solution. Maybe conversation with the Parks Department.
Set up and clean up: we need to continue to offer more help for Mike, who does the majority of the work.
Name tags – need examples of how to make them, and a simple family tree so people can see who their “original family ancestor” is.
Historical ancestor albums – Mel said no one filled out any update forms this year. We need to be sure update forms are readily available again next year.
Muffins – thanks to whomever brought them!
Oral auction – needs separate auctioneer and cashier/recorder in order to keep everything straight, make sure everyone pays for items and receives their items. Need cards with info about each item so the auctioneer will have some relevant things to say about them. See if Brian Hewitt will be auctioneer.
Raffle – Thanks to everyone who brought donations! It’s a great help. For future reunions, it helps if everyone brings something. We should keep doing the raffle, don’t try silent auction again. Raffle is much simpler to handle.
Business meeting – ran a bit long. Will try to rein it in a bit for next year.
Hewitt Challenge – video tape it next year, and post the video on the website. Have categories for ages of jumpers.
- 2009 Reunion: Suggestions were made about a photo timeline, map displays, an interpretive sign at the shelter at the park, publicity, etc. We will need people to begin on these right away.Park Ranger Bonnie is willing to talk about Park history at the next Reunion if we wish.
Elma shared copies of the Metzger map of Donation Land Claims in the Hopewell area, which will appear in a future newsletter.
Stories: Please bring or mail your stories about current family members, older family members, so that we will have lots of them in the books for people to read next year at the Reunion. See the most recent newsletter for examples.
Activities: Arnie and Sue Young (Charlotte Cooper) want to donate a pinata for 2009.
See review of 2008 Reunion for addition information.
- Next meeting: Nov. 15, 11:30 AM to 2 PM at Barbara’s. Elma will bring a hot dish, Joanne will bring a salad, Barbara will take care of the rest.
- Discussion will be about publications. Privacy issues, Family Association Goals, Concerns, Next Steps. Barbara will send us information to read ahead regarding these issues.
Respectfully submitted, Joanne Shipley