At the Hope Corner fire station, following a scrumptious potluck supper, President Donovan Bowley gaveled the annual meeting to order at 7:10 PM. Also present were: Bob Appleby, Joe Berry, Bradley & Lorinda Boyd, Dick & Gwen Brodis, Hope Chase, Sandy Delano, Cynthia Dellapena, Ryan Entwhistle, David & Sydney Hall, Willow Hall, Carole Hardy, Fred Hardy, Kerry Hardy (speaker), Tom Hardy, Obed Hart, Bob & Linda Hillgrove, Bill & Judith Jones, Willis Keene, Eric Kent, Ann Leadbetter, Barbara Ludwig, Elliot & Jane Mitchell, Clara L. Paris-Kempf, Nancy Pike, Sally Brown Robbins (Salisbury Cove), Jill Rose, Carla Sanders, Diane Sprowl, Lorie Ullbrecht, Tannetta van Vlissingen, Rick & Carol Whelan and Heather Wolfe and 4 more who didn't sign the guest book and are not identified. Additional chairs had to be fetched.

Secretary Bill Jones summarized the draft minutes of our October 2012 annual meeting. Full minutes had been distributed. They were approved unanimously.

Treasurer Gwen Brodis distributed the annual report. Annual income was $12,843.56, principally from the estate of Gen Perpall ($4,485.88), gifts in memory of Faith Hart ($3,450.) and Verna Dyer ($661.), food & craft sales ($1,552.), and our building-fund letter ($1,463.04). Expenses were $4,421.91, principally for heat & service ($1,983.80) and insurance ($1,266.). The checking and saving account balance was the same as one year ago ($8,735.31). The value of the CD was $33,076.01. See full report for details.

Reports

For the Website Committee, Vice President Bob Appleby reported that, over the past year, daily visits, about 200 during 2012, have risen to about 350 in 2013! He asked that everyone report errors to him. Having grown up in western Maine, Chairman Bob does not know Hope history in the detail that many members do. While there has been some reporting, in view of the size of the site, the number of unreported errors must be significant.

For the Program Committee, Ann Leadbetter reviewed the meeting programs of 2013 and announced the programs scheduled for November 19th (George Gross on the Matthews Farm Museum at Union Fairgrounds, especially on Moxie), December 10th (Christmas brunch), and for next April.

For the Building Committee, Donovan reported that we will need to convene a work party to install the handicapped' ramp donated by the William Pearse family.

For the Nominating Committee, Bill Jones reported nominations of Donovan Bowley for President, Jane Hart Mitchell for Vice President, Gwen Brodis for Treasurer and Bill Jones for Secretary.

Old Business: none

New Business:

Regarding election of officers, there being no nominations from the floor, the Nominating Committee's slate was unanimously adopted.

The business meeting adjourned at 7:22.

* * *

Donovan introduced speaker Kerry Hardy from Lincolnville. Hardy reviewed how the early Hardys left with the Mormon exodus but that some returned from Idaho, leading to today's Lincolnville and Hope Hardys. He became interested in Indians exploring abandoned path and roads, including the one leading from Lincolnville to Cushnoc (head of tide in Abenaki), now Augusta. European demand for furs, especially beaver, fed by this Plymouth Colony outpost founded in 1628, transformed the local Indians' economy.

Hardy ranged widely over the ecology of the local Indians, particularly stressing what we can learn about their life from language, especially place names. While he is not enthusiastic about people's collecting Indian artifacts, he brought some for display and explained how local stone artifacts demonstrate the extensive long-distance trade local Indians carried on. Hardy illustrated his points with examples from Vinalhaven (where he is now Steward of the Vinalhaven Land Trust) and environs, using slides he was preparing to show at his presentation at the Algonquinian conference in Ottawa the next day.

Hardy particularly challenged two bits of inherited wisdom about local Indians. One is that they spent summers along the seashore feasting on wildlife, retreating by canoe to freshwater ponds like those in Hope where they camped for the winter, hunting moose, deer and other animals. Hardy pointed out that the pattern was certainly more complicated and dependent on annual circumstances, e.g. whether there was enough snow to cause moose and deer to yard up for easy hunting. Hardy suggested that the MidCoast Indians were more coast-oriented than previously thought, particularly after birch bark canoes replaced dugouts. Hardy thinks the local Indians made canoes into catamarans to transport seals harvested from remote islands to shore villages.

The other challenged bit of tradition was that the Algonquin Indians are unrelated to the Red Paint People. Hardy marshaled local evidence to suggest that they are.

The session was ended at 8:45 to allow those who wished to to leave, but the speaker generously stayed, answered more questions and discussed points raised.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill Jones, Secretary