Cherokee County Historical Society
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

At a regular Board Meeting of the Cherokee County Historical Society, held in their administrative offices in the Historic Courthouse on November 17^th, 2002, the President in the chair, and S. Rankin acting as Secretary, the Minutes of the previous meeting were distributed to the Board, reviewed and approved as amended.

Finance: 
A copy of the approved 2002 Operating Budget, with year-to-date totals as of 3^rd quarter 2002 was routed for review and discussion (copy attached and hereby made a part of these minutes).  Preliminary operating budget for 2003 was presented (copy attached and hereby made part of these minutes).  It was generally agreed that the Board would attempt to review a formally proposed budget online by December 1 and vote electronically to approve.  A Treasurer’s Report was tendered by K. Day. 

Publicity:
The newsletter editor will be interviewing Sylvia Roberts for a special article on her memories and anecdotes on teaching in Cherokee County.  Additionally, it was discussed to request an article from Tom Brooks on the “Historic Cherokee” book project.

Programs:
The Annual Christmas party is scheduled for December 3 at the Rock Barn, with a “Country Christmas at the Rock Barn” theme and bluegrass fiddle music to be provided (for donations) by Jerry Burke, Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame honoree.  Guests/members will bring hors d’oeurves to share.  Drinks will be donated by Judson W. Roberts.  Decorations will be provided by M. Mosher, S. Rankin, E. Hubbard, and K. Day.

Membership:
The Board discussed revising annual Society membership dues accordingly:  Single $20, Family $30, Individual Life $500, Corporate $100, and Municipality $100.  Motion to increase the dues was made by J. Wilson, seconded by R. Ray.  Notice will go on the website about proposed change in dues and the issue will be brought to the membership for a vote at the Annual Meeting on February 11, 2003.  Motion approved.

Nominating:
The Committee presented the following slate of Officers for 2003:  President—Kathy Day, Vice President—Sylvia Rankin, Secretary—Marcia Mosher, Treasurer—Judson W. Roberts, and Board Members Tom Krueger, JoEllen Wilson, Skip Spears and Rebecca Ray.  Motion by Elaine to approve the nominations and present them to the membership at the Christmas Party, seconded by JoEllen Wilson.  Motion approved.

Historic Sites:
S. Rankin discussed a private project, in conjunction with the Arts Council, to research and develop a walking tour of Riverview Cemetery.  She will investigate grant funding to defray the costs of publishing a brochure with map and history that could be distributed by the Arts Council, the Chamber and the Society.  The Board discussed increasing the number of Historic Preservation awards that it gives annually, and it was generally agreed to leave the number at four.

Crescent Farm Historical Center Capital Campaign:
J. Roberts noted that the Crescent Farm Historical Center Capital Campaign is $3,000 in excess of the budget.  He has investigated several different solutions for the contributors plaques to be placed in the Rock Barn and proposed a solution by Chandler Graphics for racehorse background artwork and contributors names overlaid.  It was suggested that the Society host a reception for the official unveiling of these plaques.

The historic corn crib and cabin on the grounds of Canton City Hall would require (tentatively) $3-5,000 to relocate.  The roof on the crib needs to be fixed immediately.  It was discussed that one or both of these structures could be relocated to the site of the Rock Barn “under the oak tree”.  The Sixes Garden Club could utilize the crib as storage for their tools (for maintaining the grounds of the Rock Barn) and could possibly be a contributor to the relocation funding effort.  Members of the Board agreed to inspect the two structures.  It was noted that the new owner of the City Hall property agrees that the Society owns the two historic structures.  Motion to relocate them to Rock Barn grounds was made by Rebecca Ray, seconded by Judson Roberts. Motion approved.

The Society does not have a formal lease agreement on their facilities in the Historic Courthouse in Canton, and it was suggested that one be negotiated and executed soon.  S. Spears will investigate.

An old gasoline pump that was acquired by the Society is being stored by E. Hubbard, and she requested that the Society find a place for it.

A donation to the Society of wax sealed lottery deeds was accepted from E. B. Anderson by J. Roberts, and these items were viewed by the Board prior to being stored in the Archives.

Acquisitions:
S. Spears has viewed the Ridgeway collection of furniture, maps, plats, etc., but there is no response yet from the owners about donation to the Society.  Additionally, he brought photos from the Alexander collection for the Board’s review.  The stipulation for the Society’s acquisition of the Alexander collection is that only the Society has the right to make a profit on the sale or distribution of these photos.  It was agreed that S. Rankin would procure a specification or recommendation for storage of these photos and that some could be scanned for presentation on the website.  Photos and mementos of the Hardin family and the old Sixes school were donated to the Society by Bartow County Historical Society, and these were distributed among the Board members for review prior to being archived.

Historic Cherokee Book:
It is unclear to the Board as to the progress of the Historic Cherokee County book project.  It was discussed that there has been a change in personnel at the publisher.  J. Wilson noted that Reinhardt College was planning a significant article in the book and had requested that their picture be used on the cover.  The Board generally discussed using the historic map of the county as a cover art background.  S. Rankin has asked to produce the cover artwork as a donation to the project.  T. Krueger volunteered to manage the book project.  Motion for T. Krueger to manage the Historic Cherokee County book project was made by S. Rankin, seconded by J. Roberts.  Motion approved.

Singleton-Van Buren Exhibition:
J. Roberts reported that he has investigated having an industrial arts class at local high school build the exhibit materials.  He stated that the owners must insure the collection themselves, and that an appraisal will be required prior to securing a policy.  Veranda magazine has agreed to do a story on the exhibition.  The Board discussed an alliance with other groups in Cherokee County to make the exhibition a community event.  Rene Deering has agreed to chair the exhibition committee. 

Grants in Progress:
J. Roberts gave a review of grant applications and their status:  An NEH grant for $100,000 is pending which will require a 1:1 match of funds if approved;  $500 grant was approved from the National Trust and this was applied to Lynn Watson-Powers’ fee for the Singleton-Van Buren Exhibition research;  $2,500 Local Initiative grant has been approved for funding a strategic planning session for the Board in January;  $10,000 grant from GA Humanities – Part II is pending and this will help fund the Exhibition.

Rock Barn floor sealant proposal:
A proposal was submitted and reviewed for having the floor at the Rock Barn sealed.  It was discussed that this should have been part of the original construction contract.  K. Day agreed to assist in getting a dialog going with the contractor regarding this item, with the intent to get a specification for sealing over the painted floor.  The proposal was temporarily tabled.

Heritage Trails Initiative/Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce:
S. Rankin shared general information about the Chamber’s Trails Initiative and noted that the first trail will have a Native American (Creek and Cherokee) focus and is planned to open in October 2003.

Attending, in addition to President and Secretary:

Judson Roberts
Jo Ellen Wilson
Tom Krueger
Rebecca Ray
Elaine Hubbard
Kathy Day

Submitted by:

Sylvia Caldwell Rankin/Secretary

Approved:      Amended:

Date: November 17, 2002