Hinesburg Historical Society

Minutes for June 25th, 2009

Present: Marshall Delaire, George Dameron, Maggie Gordon, Kitty LaClair, Jean Miner, Melody Miner, John Roberts, Sue Roberts, Ann Thomas

Members carpooled to the Barker Cemetery on the Richmond Road, where Jean talked about the people buried there and John mastered the shaving cream technique so we could read the stones.

Back at the Town Hall, we reviewed information that Gill had left for us. He confirmed that the IRS requires a name and social security number in order to obtain a Federal ID number. Maggie said that she had spoken with the Merchants Bank manager, and that she would be unable to open an account under the name of the Historical Society or even cash a check made out to the Society without a Federal ID number. The bank manager said that it was a simple task to apply for one and that they had done it many times for clients in the past over the phone. Maggie again offered to use her name so that the HHS could get the ID number and proceed with the 501(c)(3) application. Gill and Maggie together will apply for the number before the next meeting.

Gill also pointed out that having trustees would make the application process simpler, and he brought in a paragraph pilfered from another historical society that we could simply add to our bylaws. Maggie read the paragraph and members voted to include it in the bylaws. The change stipulates that the trustees number five: the three officers in addition to two other members. Members present voted in two additional trustees: Marshall Delaire and Aaron Kimball. Members also approved one other small change to the bylaws recommended by Gill – to change the word “corporation” to “society”. The bylaws with those two changes were approved by members and will be distributed to members by the secretary. 

Maggie then read four emails that had been forwarded to her by Aaron. All had been sent to the Society web site www.hinesburghistoricalsociety.org. The first three will be forwarded to various members for further action. The third was from a publisher looking for someone to write a photographic book on Hinesburg. John and Sue recognized the name, and said that other titles from the publisher were simply unedited collections of photographs rather than written histories. Ann though that the HHS could do a better job of putting together a book of photographs, and that it could be used as a fundraiser for the Society. It was agreed that Maggie would send a brief acknowledgement to the publisher and forward the email to members for further research. Maggie asked how best to handle emails in the future, because Aaron will have them automatically forwarded from the web site to her. It was suggested that she send a brief acknowledgement in response, then forward the email to appropriate members for further action.

Jean brought in information she had received about the quadricentennial of Samuel de Champlain’s expedition to be celebrated in August. The organizer of the “History Mystery” part of the celebration contacted Jean about including Hinesburg in the event, and Jean responded by sending information about the old inn (now Lantman’s). For people who take part in the event, the necessary paperwork will be available in the Town Clerk’s office and in the library. Information is also available on the quadricentennial web site: www.champlain400.com. 

The secretary, who was beginning to nod off because it was past her bedtime, asked if there were any suggestions for topics for the July meeting. George suggested establishing a procedure for conducting oral interviews with people, including identifying residents that we’d like to interview and coming up with questions to ask them. His suggestion followed up on one of the emails, in which the writer proposed a series of interviews with Marion Davis. Everyone agreed that recording interviews with Hinesburg’s oldest residents (and some of its younger ones, too!) is one of the most valuable tasks that the Society could accomplish, and that setting up a protocol for conducting interviews would be a good first step.

The next meeting of the Historical Society will be held on Thursday, July 23^rd from 7-9pm downstairs in the Town Hall.

- Maggie Gordon, Secretary