Hope Historical Society Minutes
April 19, 2022

The meeting was called to order by President, Juanita Hunt, at 6:35 pm. There were 35 attendees not counting the guest speaker and his guest. Of the attendees, there were 16 members of HHS; they were as follows: Linda Hillgrove, Gwen Brodis, Margaret Morse, Marie S. Berry, Juanita Hunt, Ann Leadbetter, Nancy Ford, Bill Jones, Judith Jones, Ron Smith, Jim DellaPenna, Cindy DellaPenna, Grace Wright, Linda Black, Bruce Linthicum and Jarvis Johnson.

The Secretary's minutes, from our last meeting on November 16, 2021, had been emailed to all members both back in November and again this month, plus placed on our website, www.hopehist.com so the reading was dispensed with. There was a motion to except the minutes, the motion was seconded and approved.

Treasurer, Gwen Brodis, summarized the Historical Society's checking and savings account balance - as of March 31, 2022 we had $996.12 in checking and $24,786.58 in savings. It was motioned to accept her report, seconded and passed.

We had a brief discussion of the need to get the Society home up to date with access to the internet. We discussed Tidewater's fiber optics. Ron Smith volunteered to contact Tidewater for additional information and pricing for hookup. A router could be placed in a central location downstairs causing no damage to the walls of the home. 

As had been discussed at the November meeting, the large stump of the tree that was removed last year, is hollow in the middle. It is a perfect spot to house a new tree or bush. Since no one was prepared to discuss further this evening, it was moved to pass over until next month. The motion was seconded and passed.

Marie Berry discussed the raffle basket she is filling with products from Hope. So far, the value of contributions total $250. Raffle tickets will be available at meetings, open house and election day table – the drawing will be November 8th , Election Day. It will be on view at various functions before that date and was on view this evening.

June 14th is an Election Day and we will have a food sale table at the Town Office - we are looking for crafts persons to fill the void left by Florence Merrifield, to help stock an adjoining crafts table.

We will have an Open House June 25th (last Saturday of the month) which will include a yard sale, bake sale, cookbooks, and plants. Donations and volunteers appreciated.

We are in need of affordable lawn care during the summer at HHS. If anyone has a suggestion, please contact us. Since we were not prepared to discuss further, it was moved to pass over until next month, seconded and passed. We are in need of volunteers for HHS home cleanup and hosting of refreshments on meeting nights. A signup sheet was distributed, but more volunteers are needed. Please contact us.

Bill Jones discussed bottle collection. We receive $0.06/bottle from Coastal Redemption. This is a large money maker for HHS. He described the recent disorganization at the redemption center and suggested we not only attach the paper information tag to each bundle, but also attach an orange or red surveyors’ plastic ribbon, marked HHS, to each bundle to help the redemption center workers identify and give HHS proper credit. If people do not wish to drop off their bottles at the redemption center in Camden, then he has been and continues to be willing to carry them to the center himself. Bottles can be left with him or dropped off at HHS and he will pick up.

There was a motion to adjourn at 7 pm - seconded, and approved.

Our speaker for the evening, Zackary Fowler, was introduced by Margaret Morse.

Zackary entertained us with a description of how he became a contestant and winner on the History Channel's "Alone" series and how he survived the harsh winter climate of Argentina's Patagonia for 87 days. He is awaiting a call to participate again, in a winner's against winner's episode season. In the meantime, Zachery is creating entertaining outdoor Youtube videos and has a website that includes some outdoor goods. His website is: https://www.fowlersmakeryandmischief.com/ . We wish him success in his survival endeavors.

Respectfully submitted,
Cynthia S. DellaPenna, Secretary 

Post script-
Year 2022 Meeting schedule:

May 17th - General Meeting 6:30 pm - The speaker will be Jane Lidkey who was postponed from last year
June 14th is Election Day; we have a food, craft and Hope Historical books sale at the Town Office
June 21st - General meeting 6:30 pm with tentative speaker, Emma Jordan, discussing mystery box at Hope General Store and her photography
June 25th (last Saturday of the month) HHS Open House - yard sale, bake sale, plants, cookbooks
July 19th - general meeting 6:30, speaker not yet determined
Aug 16th - general meeting 6:30, speaker not yet determined
Sept 20th - ditto
Oct 18th - pot luck dinner
Nov 8th is Election Day; another table at Town Office
Nov 15th - general meeting 6:30
Dec 13th - Christmas brunch