Hope Historical Society Executive Meeting

May 3, 2021

The meeting was called to order at 10:30 AM with attendees Juanita Hunt, Gwen Brodis, Marie Berry, Mary Ireland, Cindy DellaPenna, Donovan Bowley and Jim DellaPenna as a presenter.

It was learned that Florance Merrifield, long time member and contributor of sewed gifts, passed away one day ago, May 2nd. Robert (Bob) Appleby, past Historical Society website creator and webmaster for many years, passed away about a month ago. Long time member, Betsy True, passed away during the winter. The Historical Society owes much to these individuals; they will be missed. Condolences to all family members.

The first item of discussion were the quotes from two electricians to update circuit breakers and receptacles. The quotes were $2,100.00 from Tom Hedstrom and $850.00 from Justin Electric. Jim DellaPenna and Juanita Hunt had met with these electricians during the winter. Jim gave his presentation describing more specifically the work to be done. There was discussion regarding an upstairs wire that may be pinched if and when the Society chooses to correct the sagging floor of the upstairs office. Both electricians felt at this time, there was no problem with the location of the wire. Mary Ireland stated she has used Justin Electric in the past and that she is very satisfied with his work. It was decided Juanita will contact Justin Electric for an itemization of his quote and if received in adequate format, she can email results to the Executive members for their recommendation for contract.


Linda Hillgrove, who has been our Secretary for several years, resigned last year. Her service as Secretary has been very much appreciated. It was agreed and voted on that Cindy DellaPenna, who has held the position of Vice President, will take over as Secretary and Marie Berry will take over as Vice President until the next election.

It was unanimously voted that there be no regular monthly meetings until at least September to allow for the hopeful waning of the current pandemic. Also, no Monday openings for the general public. We will advertise via this meeting summary, a notice on the Historical Society building and on our website that we will open by appointment only - the contacts are Juanita Hunt, Gwen Brodis and Marie Berry.
We discussed the invite to participate in the joint rental of a table at this year's Union Fair by local Historical Societies. We decided to table any action at this time until further clarification can be obtained by Juanita, as to which societies plan to participate and if the Fair is even a go. Donovan stated Appleton Historical will not participate.

We discussed the invite to participate in the joint rental of a table at this year's Union Fair by local Historical Societies. We decided to table any action at this time until further clarification can be obtained by Juanita, as to which societies plan to participate and if the Fair is even a go. Donovan stated Appleton Historical will not participate.

Gwen presented the Treasurer's Report. Thus far this fiscal year (runs from Oct. 1st to Sept. 30th), the Society has taken in $10,062.60 and expended $1,601.77. There is an upcoming Historical Society house insurance bill of $1,290.00. Ordinary expenses such as fuel, electricity and website expenses are ongoing. As of April 5, 2021 there was $20,157.53 in savings and $696.42 in checking. Part of the income this fiscal year was $5,000.00 from the Barbara Carver Estate.

Gwen is to file this year's Secretary of State non-profit organization statement; the directors are Anne Leadbetter, Marie Berry, Donovan Bowley, Mary Ireland, and Gwen Brodis.

We currently have 12 remaining cookbooks. It was voted that the most cost-effective purchase would be for 120 more at about $564.00. This would give us plenty over the summer and books for the Union Fair if it is a go.

Marie Berry will run a lawn and bake sale on June 26th from 8 to 12. She is soliciting volunteers for baked goods and pies, help in setup and teardown. She is also soliciting lawn sale items, but no clothing. She may be reached at mariesprowl@icloud.com .

We will ask Susan McIntyre, our webmaster, to honor the recent loss of the three members, named previously.

Donovan will provide a sample of the Appleton Historical Society's newsletter so we may peruse and discuss at our next Executive meeting. It is agreed we need to get a newsletter out to our members.

The traveling trunk that had been put together for the Hope Elementary School has travelled back to the Historical Society. The school decided it did not wish to keep it. They could not fit it into their curriculum.

Donovan is to inquire about the cost to rent a PO box in Hope. Cindy is to create an email account for the Society.

There was a discussion regarding correspondence from a descendant of the Bartlett's of Hope. The descendant, Kate Gilbert, has 4 ledgers that belonged to Nathan Bartlett, who was born in Barrettstown in 1799. Nathan followed his father Daniel in the blacksmith business; he opened a shop in North Appleton, while his father remained at Hope Corner. Kate has scanned a few pages of the first ledger - the date begins in 1826. Kate stated she is not ready to give up her ledgers, but is willing to continue the slow process of scanning. The discussion was which Historical Society would be interested? Donovan quickly said both, as the section of Appleton, that Nathan had his shop, was part of Hope at that time. Cindy will communicate the Society's interest with Kate.

The transcribed Town of Hope Town Clerk Records, 1804 - 1843 have been uploaded to Yale Law School's digital commons. The following is the URL: https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/amlaw/29/. The same transcription is on our own Hope Historical Society website. There is a wealth of information on our website which is a tribute to Bob Appleby.

The meeting adjourned at 12:30 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Cynthia S. DellaPenna