Bellefonte Historical and Cultural Association
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania
Minutes of Past Meetings

 

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Talleyrand Park Committee

Minutes of January 16, 1980, Meeting

 

     The meeting was called to order by Steve Deutsch at 8:05 p.m. at the home of Molly Bliss.

 

The committee members in attendance were: S. Deutsch, D. Shetlar, Becky and Jerry Olson, M. Poister, T. Fisher, L. Schneeman, M. Porter, J. Segalstad, M. Chadwick, T. and Karen Conklin, D. Peters, M. Bliss, Elizabeth Yeager, G. Dunne, K. Uhler, M. and R. Cutietta, and J. Shields. Matt Chadwick is attending in the capacity of chairman of the Borough Talleyrand Park Committee.

 

The minutes of the December meeting were approved as read.

 

Treasurer's Report - presented by Joan Blasko

 

     Checking account balance - 12/16/79                        $280.57

     Contributions & Sale of coloring books                      100.00

                                                                 380.57

     Expenses                                                    -27.27

     Checking account balance - 1/16/80                          353.30

     Savings account balance                                      98.11

     Total assets                                                451.41

 

 

Committee Reports

 

Status reports on all fund-raising projects in the offing were presented by respective committees.

 

1. "VIP Auction" committee

 

     A letter had been drafted that briefly described the TPC's endeavors and requested donation of a personal item to be auctioned. The letter also requested that any item donated be accompanied by a statement from the donor confirming ownership.      The letter was presented to the committee by the Shetlars for approval and was duly approved, contingent upon some editing by Peter Schneeman.  It will then be presented to Bellefonte Borough Council on January 21st for its information. The letter will be mailed to approximately 500 luminaries on or about February 1st and may voice a request for the donation of specific items from certain celebrities.     It was decided that the letter should be printed on George Gray Barnard letterhead if another batch could be printed at a reasonable cost by Grove Printing Company. After some debate on which supporting materials to include in the mailing, the decision was made to enclose a collage of news articles covering past TPC fundraisers and photographic examples of architecture. Molly Poister agreed to compose the collage with Joan Blasko's assistance.

 

May 17 was arbitrarily chosen as the date for the auction, but availability of the Armory as the place and of Harold Leightley as the auctioneer assumed priority as planning took shape, so the date is not firm. There might be a wider choice of auctioneers if the auction were held in the evening, as most auctions that would be paying jobs are daytime affairs, especially on Saturday. The auction committee will work out a suitable mid-May date based on these considerations.

 

Work for this project was organized in the form of publicity and refresh­ments committees and sign-up sheets were circulated.  It was suggested that baked goods provided by TPC members and/or pizza and sandwiches donated by Benner Pike Pizza be sold at the auction, but the refreshments committee would discuss this later.

 

2. "$20 per section" committee

 

     This committee lacks a chairperson following Rob Fisher's resignation.  A new chairperson will be appointed by the time of the February meeting. The committee title is now a misnomer, according to Steve Deutsch, who circulated an itemized sheet displaying clear-cut evidence of the escalating cost of a fence section and post. The current cost of a fence section is 526.46 and of a post, $10.79. Don Peters suggested that future promotional efforts of this sub committee solicit $25/section and $12.50/post.

 

3. A report on the Embassy party plans was given by True Fisher and a discussion of the affair ensued. Casting was complete for the production of "Call Me Madam." Publicity for the musical as well as for the party would be handled by Rachel Favuzza of the PPA. The date -- February 22, the time -- immediately following that evening's performance, the place -- the Dunnes' home. A draft of the flier to be mailed to about 300 former patrons announcing the production and party and supplying a ticket request form was circulated for comments. A committee to plan details of the party was created and consisted of Leona Schneeman, Judy Shields, Karen Conklin, Marian Flood, Lynn Peters, and the Dunnes. True Fisher will select several members of the cast to attend the party, in costume, to circulate among guests and exude the spirit of the affair. Other PPA representatives in attendance will be the play directors, producer, and publicity and program chairmen.

 

 

New Business

 

1. Economic aspects of purchasing a bulk mailing permit were presented by True Fisher.    It was deemed unlikely that our annual volume of mailing would justify the expense, so the idea was vetoed.

 

2. A young cherry tree that disappeared from Talleyrand Park during construc­tion work in the area will be replaced by the Boro, according to Matt Chadwick.

 

3. Two new potential funding sources were announced.

 

A. Molly Poister reported the presence of a community fund provided by the Bellefonte B.P.O.E. lodge for deserving community projects. This may be a source of monies for completion of the Barnard site fence. Steve Deutsch and True Fisher agreed to collaborate on compiling a cost estimate for com­pletion of the fence and background information for the B.P.O.E.'s perusal.

 

B. True Fisher stated that HUD also offers grants for community projects meeting these criteria: the project must originate from a rural area of population less than 10,000 and must be a neighborhood project. Our-' Barnard site construction does meet these qualifications. Grants are available for $50,000 to $125,000. A letter of intent must be submitted to the regional HUD office by January 24; a completed application accompanied by a statement of approval from the head of the municipal government must be submitted by February 24.   It was agreed that immediate action should be taken to make application and a committee headed by Don Peters and composed of Steve Deutsch and True Fisher was designated. The expertise of the County Information Officer will be sought by the committee in preparing the application. Kerry Uhler moved that Don Peters be authorized to send the letter of intent. The motion was seconded and carried.

 

4. Steve Deutsch raised the possibility of hosting an American crafts exhibit that will be touring and would be available for several two to three week periods next fall and winter. The exhibit, entitled "Art and Modern Handcrafts” is available only to communities not usually exposed to this art form. Although there is no rental fee, two attendants must be stationed on the exhibit site at all times during viewing hours for security and transportation of the exhibit from its previous site would be our responsibility. About 100 linear feet of space would be needed to accommodate the exhibit. Most items could be displayed in their packing crates, which apparently convert to a suitable display case.   Items could be purchased or ordered from the exhibit, and the sponsoring group (TPC) would receive 50% of the profit.  It was felt that the idea had some merit, but the lack of a suitable location in Bellefonte seemed to be a drawback at first glance. This matter will be discussed at a later meeting.

 

5. The Hi Los of the Penn State Glee Club offered to do a benefit concert of political songs for the TPC. The group had obliged the committee in the past. This fund-raising idea will also be examined at a later meeting.

 

The meeting adjourned at 10:40 p.m.

 

                                          Gay D. Dunne