Executive Board Meeting President Jerry Francis called the meeting to order at 7:33pm. Ted Goldsborough led the Pledge of Allegiance. Officers and Directors present: Jerry Francis, S. Hamill Horne, Alison Graham, Denise Francis, Jack Hagner, Ted Goldsborough, Phil Eidelson, Betty Cannon, George Broseman, Bobbie McElroy. Excused Absences: Bruce Reed, Joan Roberts, Jack Maguire, and Dennis Montagna. The minutes of November 16, 2004 were approved as presented. President's Report: Jerry Francis commented on how nice it is to be in the Academy building. Our new headquarters has made us more visible in the community, attracted more visitors, and increased donations of memorabilia to the Society. Treasurer's Report: Jack Hagner presented the Treasurer's Report as of December 31, 2004 showing total assets of $59,949, with a bank balance of $25,776. The accounts receivable of $6,450 was from the sale of the book, "The First 300". We still have 1,093 books to sell from the original printing of 4,500, and we need new marketing venues. Note # 3, page 4, shows the purchase of the new copier. Jerry thanked Jack for all his professional work on the report and noted that Pennsylvania State regulations call for a outside financial review if the Society raises over $25,000 in a year. Since we are no longer raising funds for the Academy building campaign, we will no longer need the services of Mazen & Company to do a financial review and this will save us about $2,400 to $2,500 in expenses this coming year. Education: Ted Goldsborough reported that Society members had given 42 lectures to 2,685 people in 2004. The lectures were given to such groups as the Lower Merion primary and secondary schools, The Questers, The Ardmore Rotary, The Autocar Group, and The Shipley School. Lower Merion High School will begin the use of "The First 300" as a textbook in their Pennsylvania history course. Library & Website: Mary Keim was not available to give the Library Report. In the library area, we now charge a nominal fee for some of our services. In the last 9 months we have collected $950 in fees, mostly for reproductions of archival photographs. Jerry announced that the website had more than 91,800 visitors in 2004 with more than 474,700 pages downloaded. The goal for 2005 is to have more than 100,000 visitors! Regarding our cemetery database, Hamill Horne has just completed the processing of more than 2,100 burial records from The Church of the Redeemer in Bryn Mawr. With the addition of The Church of the Redeemer records, we now have more than 15,000 burial records on our website. This project has taken a lot of time and patience and we have Hamill to thank for successfully completing this major project. We should be proud and grateful to our many dedicated volunteers. For example, Phil Eidelson continues to process the Vertical File updates, and he is also working on completing the processing and indexing 15 scrapbooks from the '30's, '40's and '50's that were donated by the township. In addition, Ann Bagley is cataloging and indexing all the materials in the Flat Files in the Archive Room. When completed, these files will also be added to our website. Membership: Denise Francis sent out 315 Membership letters on January 7, 2005. Four different letters were sent: 222 to Members not paid in 2005; 2 to Members already paid for 2005; 28 to Life Members; and 63 to Complementary Members. As of January 15, 2005 we had received 40 responses. Alison complimented Denise in the letter and new Membership cards. Program: Ann Bagley is arranging the Banquet and Annual Meeting at the 'New' Tavern Restaurant on Wednesday, April 13, 2005 from 6:00 to 9:00pm. in the upstairs room. Elections will be held and the guest speaker will be George M. Painter III, Vice President of "The Lower Merion Society for the Dedication and Protection of Horse Thieves and Recovery of Stolen Horses." Sunday, May 15, 2005 from 1:00 to 3:00pm will be a walking tour of "The Arboretum at West Laurel Hill Cemetery. June 18, 2005 from 1:00 to 3:00pm, Bruce Gill, Executive Director/Curator of Harriton House will give a slide show and tour of the Historic property. Strategic Plan: Jerry announced that our primary goal is to attract new members, and improve our relations with the Township and School District. He hopes that the Society can become a member of the Lower Merion Library System, which would give us a more official status in the Lower Merion community. Old Business: The Society was awarded a $4,000 grant for a new copier from the Merion Community Association. A plaque will be installed on the copier. New Business: According to our By-Laws, Jerry appointed the following committees: The Budget Committee of Jack Hagner and Jerry Francis; the Financial Review Committee of Phil Bagley and Ann Bagley; and finally, the Nominating Committee of Ted Goldsborough, Jerry Francis and Ross Mitchell. The full text of "The First 300" will be put on our website. Jerry has the discs used to print the book and will check with our webmaster, Rod Keller to find out the total cost of the project. The Board voted on and approved an expense of $1,000. If the cost is beyond that figure, the Board will be asked to vote again. A project using Lower Merion High School directories was discussed. Whether to list Lower Merion and Harriton graduates on the website. The Alumnae Association has given us the records up to 1948 and 1989 to date. There will be further discussion concerning this project at our June meeting. The next Executive Board meeting will be our Annual Meeting and Banquet on Wednesday, April 13, 2005 at 6:00pm at the "New" Tavern Restaurant. The meeting was adjourned at 9:15pm. Respectfully Submitted |