Gatesburg Historical Society

Minutes– February 9, 2009

 

 

1.               Attendees

 

Ernie Harpster, Diane Snyder, Jeannie Siphron, Maria Rhodes, Jenny Barto, Anna Margaret Peters, Carl and Buck Gates, Jim Harpster, Ken Vasko, Jerilynn Schumacher, Dave and Shari Heubner, Tony Warren, and Kirsten Jepp were attendance..

 

2.               Minutes

 

Minutes were reviewed from the meeting held on January 29, 2009.  No comments or corrections were offered.

 

3.               Old Business

 

a.      Military Memorial

 

Ernie reported, after seeing several monuments in the area and speaking with Steve Miska, that ¼” letters may be too small.  He again passed around a sample of a plague wherein 3/8” cap letters were used.  After a careful review, the committee unanimously agreed to have the memorial plague engraved using 3/8” capital letters, if $2,000.00 in additional funding becomes available. He again asked the committee to continue to review the names submitted for this plague and is asking those residents who have family ties to the western end of Ferguson Township contact any committee member with additions or corrections for this memorial.

 

The original estimate for this memorial has been reduced from of $8-10,000.00 to approximately $5,000.00.  The major cost of the memorial is going to be the actual plague.  A majority of the brick will be donated as well as a portion of the labor for the structure.

 

A decision still needs to be made on the location of the monument.  An in- depth discussion was held by the committee as to placing this monument on private versus public land.  The majority of the committee members do not want the monument to be placed on private land unless some sort of legal agreement can be entered into with the land owner.  Ernie was going to continue working with the Gatesburg Lutheran Church council and also will be contacting Clyde Siphron on the possibility of using a portion of the land he has earmarked as “the park” in Gatesburg.  Maria will try to obtain some legal counsel regarding this issue and report back to the committee at the next meeting.

 

b.     Report from Booklet &Photo Committee

 

Photo committee continues working on this project.  Jerilynn reported that due to the requirement of the printing company needing the pictures to be scanned at a minimum of 300 dpi, any and all photos reproduced to this point will have to be scanned instead of photo copied.

 

It was also reported by Amanda (Gates) Doty who owns and operates Maple Hill Photography, has offered to take professional pictures of anyone who would like to have a photo submitted to the committee for inclusion in the booklet.  In order to do so, they need to contact her at (814) 571-9817 or at maplehillphoto@hotmail.com.  She will set up an appointment for the photo session to be held on March 15, 2009 at the Gatesburg Lutheran Church house.  She will donate the photos for the booklet.  Anyone can pay a nominal fee to obtain their proofs and order additional photos at their cost.

 

Jerilynn suggested that the photo and booklet committee be pulled together going forward.

 

There still remains a great deal of work, both with the photos, captioning and layout of the book. The next meeting of the booklet/photo committee has been set for January 23, 2009 at 9:00 a.m.  Anyone interested in helping with this project are encouraged to attend.

 

c.      Guest Book

 

Diane is still searching for a guest book with an “old” style flair to it.  Anyone who comes across a book that may suit the event is to get in touch with Diane.

 

d.     Township

 

Maria reported that Srgt. Henricks, Community Relations Supervisor with Ferguson Township police department had emailed Danny and advised him that a special permit will need to be completed to close the road.  The permit will outline our plan which will be reviewed by several people at the Township for the opinions.  We will also need to obtain trained, fire police personnel to handle the road closures.  Without them, the permit will be denied.

 

Anna Margaret suggested contacting Kenny Peters (692-4331) who works closely with the Alpha Fire Company.  Maria also reported Danny had mentioned to her he could contact Lee Pressler with the Port Matilda Fire Company.

 

e.      Parade

 

Ernie reported on behalf of Denny Moore that he was still soliciting parade entries.  Also Denny has begun making parking signs to be used during the event.

 

No additional information was provided on this item since Denny Moore and Danny Rhodes were absent from the meeting.

 

f.       Picnic

 

Ernie reviewed for the new attendees (Mr. and Mrs. Huebner , Tony Warren and Kirsten Jepp) what plans have been made to date on the picnic.  Mr. Huebner.

 

Mr. Huebner expressed his desire to help with this project.  Maria notified the committee that Judy Hackman had also told her she would be willing to serve on the picnic subcommittee. 

 

A short discussion was held as to when the picnic committee should begin plans.  An April, 2009 meeting should be set up for further discussion on the picnic.

 

g.      Military Reenactment Camp

 

There was nothing new to report other than Ernie confirmed that the re-enactors are still scheduled to set up camp on the property owned by Mike Houseknect.  Mr. Huebner suggested we provide meals for the participants.  It was the consensus of the committee to do so.

 

h.      Black Smith

 

Nothing new to report.

 

i.       Cook Book

 

Dorothy Johnson is still collecting recipes from the community.  The cost will be $15.00 a book. An order form will be made available through the web site .

 

j.       Pottery

 

Pottery orders can now be made thru our web site or by contacting any committee member.  The cost for shipping and handling of these items has yet to be determined.  Diane is still working on setting up those rates.

 

k.      Charcoal Making

 

Nothing new to report.

 

l.       Fire Works

 

Nothing new to report.

 

m.    Insurance

 

Nothing new to report.

 

n.      Grant Application

 

Nothing new to report.

 

o.     Advertising

 

Ernie reported he has been in contact with Town & Gown and is confident they will be doing an article on this project.

 

4.               New Business

 

a.      Entertainment

 

A discussion was held on what entertainment would be held for this event.  Mr. Warren suggested that children events be held.  Ernie reported that several local bands (blue grass, country, etc.) have tentatively been scheduled.  It was also reported that two clowns have been retained who will stroll through the crowds working with balloons.  Maria suggested that Judy Hackman be asked to help with this event as she has worked with children projects in the past.

 

Maria also suggested having a radio station do a live broadcast during the Saturday activities.  The committee suggested she get any information on this and report back with her findings at the next meeting.

 

5.               Financial Report

 

In Denny Moore’s absence, Ernie reported that, to date, a total of $3,500.00 has been raised which has all been earmarked towards the memorial.  Mr. Huebner suggested we do a raffle during the event.

 

6.               Scheduling of Next Meeting and Adjournment

 

The next meeting of the committee has been schedule for Monday, January 23, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.

 

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m.