Bellefonte Historical and Cultural Association
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania
Minutes of Past Meetings
Minutes, November 13, 1998
Mark Van Horn, Acting Secretary
Present: Sue Jackson (Vice-President), Linda Hamilton, True and Rob Fisher, Rob Gannon, Melady Kehm, Colina Jordan, Helen Bechdel, Romayne Naylor (President), Bob Fenichel, Sharon McCarthy, Dave Eggler (Treasurer), Jim Dunne, Paul Plassman, Lisa Horlein (Arts Administrator), Mark Van Horn (Secretary).
Locale: Adam & Art Gallery
Call to Order: Meeting called to order by Romayne at 8:10 PM.
Minutes: The Treasurer's report should read, "...letter in November or February.” Also, Mark overlooked the presence of Colina at the October meeting. Melady moved and Bob seconded to accept the minutes. The minutes were passed as corrected.
Garver Fund: Romayne asked if anyone got back to Dick Sager about the application. Nobody did. Dave said he'd take care of it.
Treasurer: Dave distributed the financial report and stated that it was similar to last month's. He said that we're desperately in need of a fundraising letter. He added that the upcoming Victorian Christmas Arts & Crafts Show will help. Also, if we get the Garver Fund award that will help too. Colina suggested making the fundraising letter a "membership drive." Romayne said that people would rather just contribute money over participating as members. Rob G. supported Romayne's view. Jim mentioned that we should track contributors in a database and send them letters as needed. Dave said, "It's crunch time" and we need as much money as we can get now. He added that BHCA is officially tax-exempt.
Arts Administrator: Lisa is finishing the fundraising letter. The PCA grant has been turned in and Lisa thanked all who helped with the grant. BHCA Gallery at the Gamble Mill received attention in the Weekender and CDT asked Lisa for feedback concerning arts and culture coverage. Lisa reported that the borough will publish the BHCA schedule of events in the quarterly newsletter. The mail was left on a table for us to view. Romayne asked if anyone was interested in staffing phones for the upcoming WPSX fund drive. On the question of having a tree at the Festival of Trees, we decided against it.
BHCA Gallery at Gamble Mill: Dave said there's a new show and to look for it in the paper.
Old House Fair: No report.
Summer Sounds: No report.
Film Forum: Bob F. reported that 55 people were in attendance at "Paris was a Woman." The committee is working on ideas for next year. Bob mentioned thanks to Helen and Colina for working on the refreshments, to the Dunnes for the location and to the rest of the committee for their help.
Library Concerts: Jim handed out postcards for the next concert and we applied mailing labels to them.
Garden Club: No report.
Local Government Grant: Lisa reported that the CIS information has been turned in.
Building Lighting: Jim received no report from the PSU class. He said that using a consultant may be faster than getting input from the class. He added that HARB wants to make a lighting ordinance. Jim has researched this topic on the Web and discovered several concerns related to building lighting. These include privacy and trespassing issues. Lisa asked if we are still considering the PSU class. Jim said yes, but he needs an interim report soon.
Victorian Christmas: True reported that we are down from 62 paid vendors to 48 vendors this year because of less space for the event. A new location is the former C&J Consignment shop on N. Allegheny St. The theater will only have five or six vendors in the lobby; the remaining space is loaded with carpets. The Decker Building and the Diamond Deli basement were decided to be too tight. Jim asked how many vendors could fit in the north portion of Adam & Art and offered that space if needed. True enlisted helpers for setup and cleaning for the event. True also mentioned that there will be a silent auction to enhance revenue. Each vendor will be asked to donate an item to the auction table.
Old Business: Lisa suggested using $25, $75, $200 and "other" as new donation categories in the fundraising letter. Rob G. asked for statistics on the amounts donated. We decided to stay with the old categories and to use unstamped return envelopes.
Sue said the Holiday Party will be at Adam & Art on December 19. She asked for white tablecloths, tables and names of people to place on the invitation mailing list.
Rob G. asked about the by-laws and Romayne said it's on hold.
New Business: The Centre County Historical Society gave BHCA an Award for Outstanding Advocacy of County History, and Romayne read the letter from them. The award will be presented at their next meeting (December 4) at Centre Furnace Mansion.
True distributed postcards for the Palmer Museum holiday ornament exhibit and sale. Melady noticed a quote in the CDT crediting the arts in Bellefonte.
Next meeting: 1/15/99 at Helen Bechdel's home.
Adjournment: Rob F. moved and Dave seconded the motion to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at an unknown time.