Amended
Hope Historical Society Potluck Supper & Annual Meeting
October 18, 2022

The evening began with the potluck dinner at 6:00 - there were as usual many excellent offerings. In attendance were 19 people: Society president, Juanita Hunt; Vice-president, Marie Berry; treasurer, Gwen Brodis; secretary, Cindy DellaPenna; members, Jim DellaPenna, Linda Black; Bruce Linthicum; Margaret Morse; Roger Hunt; Linda Hillgrove; Judith Jones; Bill Jones; Mary Ireland; Catherine Pease; Ron Smith; and four guests: Crystal Robinson and her husband Christopher Robinson and arriving late, Lisa and Jeff Clark.

The meeting began after dinner at 6:50 PM. Gwen distributed the annual treasurer's report - there was some discussion. It was pointed out that our gross income for the year was $11,774.97, and our operating expenses were $9,613.49, leaving only a net profit of $2,161.48. We cannot rely on receiving $6,651.00 in memory and community donations every year. Our big income producers were lawn, bake, and craft sales of $2,040.10 and $1,003.38 from returnable bottles and cans. An ongoing concern is how to boost income, to pay the expected increase in utility expenses, electricity and oil, and routine maintenance. There was a motion to accept the report, the motion was seconded and approved.

The secretaries report for the September 2022 meeting had been emailed to all members. There was no discussion and no vote.

Juanita discussed the wet cellar issues. The drain from the cellar to the road was cleared from blockage, but she and her husband noted that the drainage pipe empties very low and close to the street drainage; she expressed concerns about backflow and stressed there is a need to keep the drain shoveled out near the road. The officers had approved the need for gutters on the house, which hopefully will help in reducing perimeter water seepage. We have a quote for installation this fall of $3,480.00. A vote is needed for this expenditure. There was a discussion regarding the placement of downspouts, in particular in the back where the ground is level and drainage away from the house foundation may be problematic. The quote details did not specifically elaborate on drainage. Mary Ireland made a motion we obtain some clarification on the quote and if it meets our concerns, then authorize the gutter installation. The motion was seconded and all approved.

There was a brief discussion regarding quotes for heat pump installation, which would reduce energy expenses and help protect the Historical Society's contents from humidity. This will be a grant request project and is being worked on by Cindy and Gwen.

Margaret Morse and Bunny Gleason are working on next year's programs. There was some discussion regarding zoom programs; however, there is no one technically well-versed enough nor do we have the equipment to present zoom talks. The Town Office has a zoom set-up and might be willing to allow us to use their set-up, but after some limited discussion, it was decided to remain zoom-less for the moment.

Thanks to Marie and all who participated in the successful Fall Festival at Hope Orchards - the take was $465. Before this meeting began, Marie went around the room soliciting baked goods for the next event, November 8th, voting day.

Juanita briefly covered this past year's activities, some acquisitions, and exhibits. Many have been mentioned in previous meeting minutes and can be viewed on our website, but a quick summary is as follows: the Union Fair booth won 2nd prize; a Clarion wood-burning cook stove is now on display; inside we have a "yester-year" display of ladies' items; two old Bartlett family journals were donated to the Society; two books were published for the Society, Hope Town Clerk Records 1804-1848 and John Fogler's Day Book, 1836-1853; we had a successful tour of Robbins Lumber in Searsmont; we opened our meeting season with a talk by Zackary Fowler; an excellent talk on the history of weaving; a talk on coiled needle baskets; and a talk on the photography of Kosti Ruohomaa. We also had a successful yard sale in July. Marie had the home open every Friday during the summer and Gwen and Donovan have continued their archive documentation most Fridays. Overall, a very good year.

Cindy discussed the recent visit by two specialists from The Center for Painted Wall Preservation, out of Hallowell. They were excited to view the stenciled walls in the parlor. The style resembles Moses Eaton, Jr. an itinerant wall stenciler from New Hampshire who was known to have toured this area in the early 1820's. Photographs were taken and the house will be listed along with about 430 other homes found with similar stenciling in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. This recognition should help in the grant request process. The Center's website is https://www.pwpcenter.org.

We are still promoting the basket of local goodies to be raffled next month. Catherine Pease has drawn up an advertisement for the basket to promote the raffle on voting day.

Our next membership meeting is scheduled for November 15th at HHS, our speaker is Jeff Curtis, a local historian.

We adjourned at 7:20 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Cynthia S. DellaPenna, HHS Secretary