From christopher_queen at harvard.edu Mon Aug 8 21:43:22 2011 From: christopher_queen at harvard.edu (Chris Queen) Date: Mon, 08 Aug 2011 21:43:22 -0400 Subject: [wendell-meetinghouse] Hoping to see you on Wednesday night Message-ID: Dear Meetinghouse friends and supporters, I hope you can join us Wednesday night, 7:30, at the Senior Center, for our third meeting of 2011. Attendence at three meetings will make you a voting member of the Friends. In the fall we will hold an election for president and treasurer of the Friends. There is a lot to discuss on Wednesday. AGENDA 1. Introductions of old/new members. 2. Approval of the minutes from our July 12 meeting (appended below). Melinda Godfrey, our clerk, will call the vote. 3. fresentation by Michele Barker, Western Mass circuit rider for Preservation Massachusetts. Michele will Walk us through the steps to planning, funding, and construction of historic buildings, and answer questions about our project. Jean Derdarian will introduce Michele. Q & A. 4. Discussion of the process in terms of the Wendell Meetinghouse. Jerry Eide will lead the discussion. 4. Update on the Double-Match Fundraiser. Nan Riebschlaeger will present the totals and review the terms of fundraiser -- guidelines for the match and purpose of the funds. 5. Planning for Old Home Day ? bring your ideas, ice tea and munchies, and volunteer to help out at the booth. Marianne Sundell will lead this part of the meeting. 6. Choosing a Monday night for our regular meetings in the coming year: Proposal: First or Second Monday of each month. Please check your calendars. We will need monthly meetings to keep the project rolling. FUNDRAISER: Generous gifts have been coming in since the fundraiser was announced on July 17. Please add your gift before next Wednesday?s meeting so that we can announce the good news. Don?t forget, all gifts for cleaning and prep work on the Meetinghouse this fall are tax deductible and will be *Double Matched* until Old Home Day. After that, they will be matched one-for-one until October 1. Please make out your check to Friends of the Wendell Meetinghouse and send to Friends of the Wendell Meetinghouse P.O. Box 1003 Wendell, MA 01379 _____________________________________________________________ FRIENDS OF THE WENDELL MEETING HOUSE: MINUTES, JULY 12, 2011 Present: Charles Smith, President Sally Alley Muffin Stuffin Melinda Godfrey, Clerk Mariana Sundell Chris Queen, Convener Jeff Bauman Jean Derderian Karen Copeland Jerry Eide Rosie Heidcamp Pam Richardson Nancy Riebschlaeger Katie Nolan Jerry Barilla Chris welcomed neighbors to the meeting, introducing the officers in attendance, President Charles Smith and Clerk Melinda Godfrey, and himself as unofficial convener. He explained that the bylaws of the Friends of the Wendell Meetinghouse define ?friends? as voting members who have attended three meetings. This is the second meeting of 2011, following the June 21 meeting. Attendance will be taken at each meeting so that we can rebuild the organization by the fall. The next meeting will be at 7:30 on Wednesday, August 10, in the Wendell Senior Center. We will meet at a regular monthly time beginning in the fall. Chris expressed a hope to resume construction in the spring with Jerry Eide at the helm. Jean said we will need a preservation architect to do a Historic Structure Report, with drawings and cost analysis, which will require money. Jerry explained that historical preservation money depends on keeping the character of the old building. Too many changes are not good, but some are possible. The building has had three ceilings ? wood, plaster, and tin ? and all three could be made visible, for example. There could be a small addition for a kitchen and handicapped accessible bathroom, and the Town septic and water system was designed to serve the Meetinghouse in the future. Handicapped access to the building must be by the main entrance, not a side door. Jean said that there are grants for job creation and project sustainability, requiring a Chapter 34 analysis of what permits would be needed for particular uses. A structural report will have to be ordered in order to qualify for a wide range of grants. Such a report will cost between $10,000 and $20,000 and will serve as guideline for restoration activities in the future. A special fundraiser will need to be needed pay for this report. Stabilizing the building before winter: Jerry said we could put Plexiglas sheets on the windows. Home Depot has been known to donate such things. The roofing needs some minor corrections. Jerry wants to remove his staging from the front of the building and put it up around the steeple frame to stabilize it and work on it. He has some boards that need to be hand-planed, and he could raise money by showing people how to do it. Ideas for using the building included: Drum and dance classes Tai Chi classes Town camp-out/pajama party Cottage industries that would pack up easily and create a salable product, possibly involving The Wendell works Committee Hostel services Fund-raising meals Quilting bees Multi-denominational spiritual activities/spiritual focus Display of historic items Health services such as massage or counseling Jean said that we can indeed charge for use of the building, rather than depend on ?suggested? donations. Insurance will be needed. Would the Town want to cover it, since the Community Preservation Act is on the Open Space Committee agenda? Chris will try to see if the Selectboard is interested. Old Home Day is August 20. Karen knows where to borrow a canopy. Marianne offered to chair a committee to prepare for Old Home Day. July 21 was chosen for the first committee meeting. Jerry pointed out that industry is not in the mission statement, the floor is not strong enough to support too much vigorous dancing, and hostelry would become very complicated. Marianne mentioned that her daughter Lily is studying historical archiving, and also that her mother is interested in our project. The Treasurer?s position: by October we will have enough voting members to hold an election. In the meantime, Jerry offered to be acting treasurer and to bring past financial materials to the next meeting, August 10, 2011. Respectfully submitted, Melinda M. Godfrey, Clerk _____________________________________________________________________ I you can't make the meeting Wednesday night but want to stay involved, please let me know via email or phone: 978-544-0216. Chris Queen, Convener -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From christopher_queen at harvard.edu Tue Aug 16 23:04:21 2011 From: christopher_queen at harvard.edu (Chris Queen) Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2011 23:04:21 -0400 Subject: [wendell-meetinghouse] Meetinghouse Booth -- Old Home Day Message-ID: Dear Meetinghouse Friends, Our Old Home Day Booth subcommittee is meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) at 7:30 in the Senior Center to make final plans for our annual gig at Old Home Day. Saturday is our day to shine, alongside the library book sale, the mushroom museum, the music, and all the great food and craft stalls. Here are some of the tasks that you might help with on Saturday: Bringing items for the booth: table cloths, trash barrel and bags, folding chairs, fresh flowers in vase, etc. (List will be at the meeting.) Putting the booth together at 8 am on Saturday with Chris, Jerry, Melinda, etc. Picking up the lemonade at the Village Co-op. Spending some time at the booth to greet neighbors and sell raffle tickets, post cards, tee-shirts, etc. (Fundraising at the booth has brought in as much as $587 -- our total in 2006 -- so the effort is worth it!) Help clean-up at the end of the day. Come to the meeting to show your support. If you can't make the meeting but want to help or donate on Saturday, please post your gift of time or items to this list. Or call or write me directly. Many thanks. Chris 544-0216 Chris -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From christopher_queen at harvard.edu Mon Aug 22 12:52:13 2011 From: christopher_queen at harvard.edu (Chris Queen) Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 12:52:13 -0400 Subject: [wendell-meetinghouse] Wendell Meetinghouse News Message-ID: Dear Friends of the Wendell Meetinghouse, OLD HOME DAY Thanks to all who dropped by the Meetinghouse booth at Old Home Day to say hello. We saw many old friends and met a lot of new ones. Lemonade was flowing, tee-shirts and postcards were selling, and the raffle was a huge success. A special thanks to Marianne Sundell for organizing and running the raffle, and to Melinda Godfrey, Paul Godfrey, Charles Smith, and Jerry Eide for helping to construct our booth. And thanks to the twenty community members and businesses who contributed products and services to the raffle. We made $728.50 on the raffle! In addition, $935 in donations were received, for a total of $1,663.50 for the day. FUNDRASER COMPLETED EARLY Since the two matching grants were announced on July 17 ? a double match by the end of Old Home Day, and a one-for-one match by October 1 ? we had raised $1,400 before Old Home Day. With Saturday?s proceeds, we exceeded the $2,500 necessary for both matches ? six weeks early ? qualifying for the $4,000 pledged by our anonymous donor. Grand total for one month and three days of fundraising: $7,063.50. FALL WORK DAYS These funds will enable the Friends to work with Jerry Eide to clear all the refuse from the building and to cover exterior surfaces with a fresh coat of paint before the snow flies. We will announce work days in the fall for all who would like to practice their dumpster-tossing and paint-brushing skills. Stay tuned. MONTHLY MEETINGS We have permission to use the Wendell Senior Center on the Third Monday for our monthly meetings. We will begin this schedule on September 19. Please mark your calendars for that and the following meetings: October 17, November 21, and December 19. Next year?s meetings (third Thursdays) will be confirmed in a later newsletter. All meetings will be at 7:30 pm. ANNUAL MEETING ? ELECTION OF OFFICERS October 17 is our Annual Meeting, according to the Friends of the Wendell Meetinghouse By-laws. All voting members are urged to cast their votes for officers at that time. While the by-laws recommend staggered terms for the three officers, we will have to elect all three this year. Charles Smith?s latest three-year term as president will expire after nearly a decade of leadership; Nancy Reibschleager?s interim appointment as treasurer will expire; and Melinda Godfrey will retire as clerk after years of devoted service. Self-nominees are welcome for all three positions. Nancy and I plan to run for treasurer and president, respectively, and we are hoping that an enthusiastic Friend or Friends will run for clerk. Recordkeeping, and, we hope, assisting with grant-writing, will become increasingly important in the coming months. FRIENDS E-MAIL LIST As a member of the Friends of the Wendell Meetinghouse e-mail list, you can view past messages from the last (the archive), view the list of other subscribers, or unsubscribe. Simply go to http://mailman.deepsoft.com/mailman/listinfo/wendell-meetinghouse to perform any of these functions. Please invite others to join the list, if you think they would like to be part of the Meetinghouse community. All they need to do is send a message to or [ mailto:wendell-meetinghouse-subscribe at deepsoft.com ]wendell-meetinghouse-subscribe at deepsoft.com. Sincerely, Chris Queen, convener -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From commonfarm at crocker.com Tue Aug 23 06:46:41 2011 From: commonfarm at crocker.com (Jonathan von Ranson) Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 06:46:41 -0400 Subject: [wendell-meetinghouse] Wendell Meetinghouse News In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Congratulations to Chris Queen and the meeting house stalwarts for the new wave of energy for that project, and the amazing fundraising effort: over $7,000 in a few short weeks!! When is/was the raffle drawing? Asking since we were pretty keen to win some of those prizes? On Aug 22, 2011, at 12:52 PM, Chris Queen wrote: > Dear Friends of the Wendell Meetinghouse, > > OLD HOME DAY > > Thanks to all who dropped by the Meetinghouse booth at Old Home Day > to say hello. We saw many old friends and met a lot of new ones. > Lemonade was flowing, tee-shirts and postcards were selling, and > the raffle was a huge success. > > A special thanks to Marianne Sundell for organizing and running the > raffle, and to Melinda Godfrey, Paul Godfrey, Charles Smith, and > Jerry Eide for helping to construct our booth. And thanks to the > twenty community members and businesses who contributed products > and services to the raffle. > > We made $728.50 on the raffle! In addition, $935 in donations were > received, for a total of $1,663.50 for the day. > > FUNDRASER COMPLETED EARLY > > Since the two matching grants were announced on July 17 ? a double > match by the end of Old Home Day, and a one-for-one match by > October 1 ? we had raised $1,400 before Old Home Day. > > With Saturday?s proceeds, we exceeded the $2,500 necessary for both > matches ? six weeks early ? qualifying for the $4,000 pledged by > our anonymous donor. > > Grand total for one month and three days of fundraising: $7,063.50. > > FALL WORK DAYS > > These funds will enable the Friends to work with Jerry Eide to > clear all the refuse from the building and to cover exterior > surfaces with a fresh coat of paint before the snow flies. > > We will announce work days in the fall for all who would like to > practice their dumpster-tossing and paint-brushing skills. Stay > tuned. > > MONTHLY MEETINGS > > We have permission to use the Wendell Senior Center on the Third > Monday for our monthly meetings. We will begin this schedule on > September 19. Please mark your calendars for that and the > following meetings: October 17, November 21, and December 19. Next > year?s meetings (third Thursdays) will be confirmed in a later > newsletter. All meetings will be at 7:30 pm. > > ANNUAL MEETING ? ELECTION OF OFFICERS > > October 17 is our Annual Meeting, according to the Friends of the > Wendell Meetinghouse By-laws. All voting members are urged to cast > their votes for officers at that time. While the by-laws recommend > staggered terms for the three officers, we will have to elect all > three this year. > > Charles Smith?s latest three-year term as president will expire > after nearly a decade of leadership; Nancy Reibschleager?s interim > appointment as treasurer will expire; and Melinda Godfrey will > retire as clerk after years of devoted service. Self-nominees are > welcome for all three positions. > > Nancy and I plan to run for treasurer and president, respectively, > and we are hoping that an enthusiastic Friend or Friends will run > for clerk. Recordkeeping, and, we hope, assisting with grant- > writing, will become increasingly important in the coming months. > > FRIENDS E-MAIL LIST > > As a member of the Friends of the Wendell Meetinghouse e-mail list, > you can view past messages from the last (the archive), view the > list of other subscribers, or unsubscribe. > > Simply go to http://mailman.deepsoft.com/mailman/listinfo/wendell- > meetinghouse to perform any of these functions. > > Please invite others to join the list, if you think they would like > to be part of the Meetinghouse community. All they need to do is > send a message to > or wendell-meetinghouse-subscribe at deepsoft.com. > > > > Sincerely, > > Chris Queen, convener > > > _______________________________________________ > wendell-meetinghouse mailing list > wendell-meetinghouse at mail.deepsoft.com > http://mailman.deepsoft.com/mailman/listinfo/wendell-meetinghouse -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From christopher_queen at harvard.edu Tue Aug 23 07:37:56 2011 From: christopher_queen at harvard.edu (Chris Queen) Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 07:37:56 -0400 Subject: [wendell-meetinghouse] Meetinghouse News addenda In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: RAFFLE WINNERS To Jonathan's question, the results of the raffle were announced from the stage on Old Home Day at around 5:30 pm. Many winners came to the booth to collect winnings. We are calling the others to arrange for pick-up. If you didn't win this year, sorry! Hope you will try again next year! MONTHLY MEETINGS NEXT YEAR A correction on the monthly meeting schedule for next year (2012): it will remain on the third Monday of each month, not move to Thursdays. MEETINGHOUSE WEBSITE Great news: Christine Texiera, IT guru at UMass and computer consultant in Wendell, has offered to build us a new Wendell Meetinghouse website! But we must first tell her what we want. If you would like to serve on a small subcommittee to design the FWM site, or if you have some ideas about the look and features of the site, please let us know via this list. Think of the photos and YouTube footage we can post as the work gets underway! Remember the von Ranson's barn raising movie -- banjo soundtrack and all! CSQ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: