Hope Historical Society Minutes
May 17, 2022

The meeting was called to order by President Juanita Hunt, at 6:35 pm. There were 14 members present: Catherine Pease; Judith Jones; Bill Jones; Nancy Ford; Linda Hillgrove; Ron Smith; Jim DellaPenna; Cindy DellaPenna; Margaret Morse; Juanita Hunt; Marie Berry; Gwen Brodis; Linda Black; Bruce Linthicum; and our speaker for the night, Jane Liedtke.

Since the minutes for our April 19th meeting had already been sent out to all members, we dispensed with the reading. Secretary, Cindy DellaPenna, asked if there were any corrections to be made since none were voiced, there was a motion to accept the minutes, the motion was seconded and approved.

Treasurer Gwen Brodis distributed an accounting of income and expenses for April 2022 - there was a total of $106.48 in receipts and $126.86 in disbursements. At the end of April, there was $975.74 in the checking account and $24,787.21 in the savings account. There was a motion to accept the report, the motion was seconded and approved.

Old business: Juanita thanked all who participated in cleaning the Historical Society's home - walls and floors in the meeting room; kitchen organization; vacuuming; and upstairs organization all done in May.

Ron Smith, who had been asked to attend the April 25th HHS officer meeting and be the contact person in pursuit of internet hookup for HHS, informed us the application was placed with Tidewater for their fiber optic service. There is a waiting list; he does not know when the site evaluation engineer will be out to view the house, which is the first step, so it appears it may be several months before hookup can be expected.

We discussed further the placement of an evergreen in the old stump out front. Judith Jones suggested a dwarf spruce tree would be an appropriate replacement. She will obtain a quote for the purchase of the tree.

Marie Berry discussed the raffle basket. Tickets are $1.00 or 6 for $5.00. The basket, which contains many local goodies from businesses and individuals will be raffled off on November 8th, election day. Marie discussed the upcoming June 14th election day, craft table - soliciting volunteers to man the table(s) in 4-hour increments. She and Ann Leadbetter will be soliciting baked goods and Marie asked for craft items. Another June activity, on June 25th, the last Saturday of the month, we will have a yard sale - Marie is asking for "clean" items, no clothes, limited bake sale items, and some potted plants.

Bill Jones gave an update on the problems encountered over the winter with Coastal Redemption. It appears they have rectified their staffing problems, but he emphasized that bundles of recyclables must be clearly marked HHS and left outside their building on the left side. It wouldn't hurt to inform someone inside of a drop-off.

Juanita asked for volunteers to sign up for refreshments for upcoming meetings. A signup sheet was circulated.

New Business: Bill Jones stated that the Town Office had recently copied a couple of maps reflecting the original lot lines for Hope, which include that portion of Hope set off to Appleton in 1843. He discussed how they reflect those lots that Charles Barrett acquired from the Twenty Associates. Interestingly, Cindy DellaPenna, has been recently working on updating the list of original lot owners, utilizing the 1799 map of Original Lots drawn by John Harkness, which was obtained from the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston, and the deed list found in Anna Hardy's History of Hope. She is correcting some errors and notating acreage and price. The 1799 map reflects the individual 20 Associate who was granted ownership of every third lot, so that is being included on the spreadsheet.

Cindy was asked to describe two books now available in hardcover. The transcription of Hope, Maine Town Clerk Records 1804 - 1848 can now be perused in hardcover. The hardbound book includes three appendixes - a list of Town Officers during the period of the book; Town roads that were laid out and/or discontinued abstracted from the minutes and crossed referenced with the records for more detail; and a list of all taxpayers in the Town of Hope in 1821 with the amount assessed. The Town Office has been given a copy of this book and we have a copy at the Society home. The other book entitled John Fogler's Day Book 1836 - 1853, provides a glimpse of life in a bartering society tied in with the water-powered mills of South Hope. The book includes a biography of John Fogler and his family and six other partial biographies of people named in the book. The book also includes an index. These books may be special ordered through HHS.

Gwen was asked to discuss a recent acquisition - the writings of Robert "Bobby" Jacobs. It is a collection of stories "Bobby" wrote throughout his life about local people. Gwen and the donor, Wilber Jacobs, need to organize the writings before they will be available to the public.

Our speaker and activity organizer, Margaret Morse has formalized next month's June 21st speaker, local college student, photography award recipient, and filmmaker of The Musicbox, Emma Jordan. Margaret has also arranged a walking tour of Robbins Lumber in Searsmont for July 19th, more details to follow, but this will be a morning walk with no evening meeting.

We discussed HHS open house summer hours - more details to follow.

There was a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:05 - seconded and approved.

Margaret introduced our speaker for the evening, Jane Liedtke.

Retired Professor of Industrial Technology, Jane Liedtke, gave a summary of her personal and professional life. She graduated from the University of Southern Maine in 1978; was one of the first females to obtain a Ph.D. in Industrial Arts and to teach with a hands-on approach. Among other places, she lived and taught in China for 10 years. She is retired, has been running Bailey's Cottages on Route 1 in Lincolnville for a number of years and is ready to retire again to pursue her hobby of art & crafts on the road. She is an advocate for Road Scholar, formerly known as Elderhostel, and learned the hobby of coiled pine needle basket making from twice attending programs sponsored by Road Scholar at Chincoteague, Virginia.

Jane demonstrated the coiling process. The best pine needles come from Florida, they are nearly a foot-long, shorter needles are often obtained from North Carolina and other southern states along the Atlantic seaboard. The tradition of coiled needle basket construction dates back to pre-Columbian Native Americans who would have used the baskets for grain storage. During the Civil War, hats were made using this technique. Today, the baskets are made as a hobby for decorative purposes. Because the needles are so expensive, little baskets sell for $50, $60, or more. Jane stated she can make a basket within a few hours and finds the hobby relaxing.

The talk was interesting and we had a nice time socializing with refreshments at its' conclusion.

Respectfully submitted,
Cynthia S. DellaPenna, Secretary