DGP Minutes – June 30th 2010
Posted on | July 1, 2010 | No Comments
The Drinking Gourd Project
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Minutes
Present: Maria Madison, President; Lorell Gifford; Polly Attwood. DGP Volunteer: Ronni Olitsky; John Butman was unavailable to meet tonight. The agenda was approved unanimously. {Ronni Olitsky is considering becoming a member of the DGP and has kindly volunteered her assistance with various activities. Maria described the process: There will be a general membership of people who are interested in supporting or working on the various sub-committees. At the DGP Annual meeting, the Board will consider adding new members to the Board, and will review all those who have been working on the sub-committees, and a Nomination committee will forward names for consideration.}The DGP Board voted unanimously to schedule the first Annual Meeting for the first meeting in January 2011, the anniversary of the Project’s official ‘birth’.The 6 Subcommittee Updates: Governance (Chair TBN): there was a brief discussion of the Facilitation process and the outcome of those sessions.*we need to focus on clarity of DGP mission, as well as clarity in process and in orientation of any new members;*our mission statement should be one sentence, with our goals and strategies as a description of how we plan to achieve our mission;* the strategies/goals conform to the sub-committees that we set up:>>Governance>>Robbins House Educational Center>>Commemoration of individuals (early African residents honored) in Concord>>Programming>>Media/Publicity>>Fundraising [The order by which the groups reviews these subcommittee updates will change each week so that no group gets routinely ‘cut-off’ at the end of the two hour time limit..]? We are in the process of recruiting interested people to work on the sub-committee tasks, under the leadership of a Board member.? Current Board members were asked to review the By-Laws, and we will prepare packets that include the mission and goals of the Group, the By-Laws, Articles of Incorporation. This would then be available to prospective new members.? Budget: Liz Clayton is the Acting Treasurer, with some help from Dave Asadoorian. Tax filing is due for the fiscal year that just ended in June, 2010, on November 15th. There are two streams of payment – any expenses incurred in the process of moving the Robbins House will be invoiced to the Town Manager. Other DGP expenses will be paid from our Bank account. The DGP is looking into whether Larry Sorli, the Preservation Architect, can submit bills directly to the CPC, through Lara Kritzer.? Polly informed the DGP that they owe the HRC $873.93 for printing and copying expenses that were paid by the HRC on behalf of the DGP.? Insurance: Polly is in touch with Nancy James Insurance Agency to investigate the costs of a) liability insurance for the Corporation, and b) for insurance for the Robins House to be in place as soon as it handed over to us formally. She is also checking with the McWalter Insurance Agency to make sure that no commitment was made to the about our insurance requirements. Need to check with Larry about what kind/extent of insurance we will need for the house. The Board voted unanimously their preference for using a women or minority-owned business where possible.? We now have a Post Office Box – #506 – it is included on our new maps and on the website.Media (Chair – Lorell Gifford) ? We discussed the issue of a documentary to capture the process of preserving/restoring, moving and adapting the Robbins House into an Educational Center (including documentation of the archeological work at the new site). John Butman is interested in heading up that effort, and several names have surfaced of people who would like to be involved in that effort – Kelly Goode, Ronni Olitsky, Sara Smith, Linda Ziemba. Members will meet with John, and then see where volunteers can assist. We need videography as well as still photos, and the photography needs to start very soon, as the archeologist will be starting the exploration of the future site very soon. Larry is already going through the house with potential contractors, and is preparing a Scope of Work document for our review.? Our official documents are posted on the website. We will keep binders for them, as well as for the Treasurer, to include financial statements, contracts, invoices, etc.? We have received the new batch of maps, dated 6/10.? We have also received an impressive list of the CPC requirements on the use of the funds they have voted for us.? The Board voted not to pursue the July Bookstore window display, as there is too little time to arrange a suitable display. The DGP will have a presence at the July 4th Picnic in the Park.? The Boyntons are making a sign advertising their part of the Robbins House project – it will be placed at the current house site. The Board voted to design a sign for the DGP to be placed at the future house site.Fundraising (Chair – Polly Attwood) ? A letter will go out to our supporters in early September, updating our accomplishments to date, and clarifying continuing need for funds and support. We are asking Senator John Kerry for a Letter of Support that we can use to accompany any grants we are applying for. It was suggested that we request the same from other individuals, i.e., Scott Brown, Michelle Obama, Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, and Henry Louis Gates.? The CPC grant application is due in early September. Ann Forbes is pursuing our eligibility potential for the National Register of Historic Houses, which would make us more eligible for many other grants. This investigation will cost us $500.00, and if successful another $1300.00 to $1500.00 to apply for inclusion. She is checking on provenance and history from Primary Sources.? We will publish a newsletter for our supporters, but not until January. It will include updates on all our activities, not just the Robbins House.Programming (Chair: TBN) …? Polly has found many wonderful groups requesting DGP Tours. In June these tours included The Metco Directors and Belmont Day Educators. Liz is linking up with Sue Merlino of Concord Bike Tours to establish the DGP Bike Tour. Lorell has linked the Bike Tours officially to the DGP Web site.Commemoration (Chair: Liz)? Walter Brain says he knows where the original site of the Robbins House is – we are planning to mark it with a granite Boulder and inscription. We have been approved by the Toni Morrison group for a bench to be placed outside the Robbins House, it will cost between $3,500.00 – $4,500.00, and we are prospecting for likely donors. We are planning to place benches or boulders marking many of the sites of early African residents’ homes, as well as to place a marker on Peter Hutchinson’s grave.Robbins House Educational Center (Chair: Maria)? The Robbins House: Larry is working on the floorplan and eventual house footprint to select what will be removed, and what will be preserves and moved. Stamsky and McNary (sp ?) would be able to construct the foundation plus other portions of the work. We are waiting for bids to come in for each part of the project, which will be overseen carefully by Larry. The CPC will see the statements and Scopes of Work.? Marty Dudek, the archeologist is liaising with Shirley Blancke about her discoveries around the home site. There will be a Memorandum of Agreement between Marcia Rasmussen and Chris Whelan before the move can take place.? Ronnie is investigating the potential to auction fixtures from the newer part of the Robbins House.Submitted by:Polly Attwood7/5.2010