Marcus Historical Society Meeting

August 3, 2006

The Marcus Historical Society met on Thursday, August 3 at 7:00 pm in the Main Street Marcus offices of City Hall.  Present: Rita Delperdang, June Dias, Margaret Dorr, Galen Ducommun, Thelma Gravenish, Bonnie Husman, Joann Johnson, Jerry Meylor, Brian Nelson, Jim Nielsen, Rod Ogren, Sherree Ogren, Gerald Pallesen, and Jim Wiese.

Confirmation has been received from the Iowa Secretary of State indicating that the Articles of Incorporation of the Marcus Historical Society were accepted and are officially on record.  Our Society is now a legally recognized nonprofit organization in the State of Iowa.

The identity of our "anonymous donor" was revealed to be Bob and Maxine Reed.  They have submitted a written offer for purchase for the Danish Lutheran Church building.  The status of that property is currently in the hands of the City Council in a separate rezoning issue.  In the event that that particular property can not be acquired by the Reeds, they will continue to pledge $10,000 toward the purchase of some other property for the History Center.

A Curator from the State Historical Society of Iowa is planning a visit to Marcus on August 16 for the purpose of assisting us in the selection of a building.  His name is Jerome Thompson.  He will meet with as many of our current members as possible and walk through the potential sites for the History Center.  The Society will follow his expert recommendation on which property to acquire.  Current members will be notified by phone once his itinerary for that day is confirmed.

We discussed and approved allowing for membership upgrades until October 1, 2007.  If a member joins now with a yearly membership, but later decides to upgrade to the lifetime membership, the amount they have already paid will be applied toward the lifetime membership dues as long as the total lifetime dues are paid prior to October 1, 2007.  In the event that the balance is not paid by that date, the amount they have paid will be applied toward an equivalent number of yearly memberships instead.

Plans for the booth at the Fair were finalized.  There is still a lot of open space on the volunteer worker sheet.  Members are encouraged to sign up for at least one 2-hour shift.  We especially need help Friday evening, Saturday afternoon, and Sunday early afternoon.

A few changes were made to the membership application forms.  Rod Ogren has volunteered to make copies of those forms and of our Constitution & Bylaws for use at the Fair.  It is important to fill out the membership forms completely.  An instruction sheet will be provided for the volunteer workers at the booth.  Membership cards will be mailed out in the future.

We will be running a "Fair Special" for Founder Members.  Paid lifetime members who sign up during the Fair will be able to select one free photo reprint from a variety offered by Jim Wiese.

It was agreed that we need to start a file to keep track of all our volunteer hours.  When applying for grants in the future, we will be able to show local contributions, both in time and money, as proof of interest and intent.  It will be much easier to start keeping track right from the beginning, rather than wait until we need it and try to recollect the information from the past.  A simple file box with an index card for each volunteer to record their hours will serve the purpose.

Two vinyl banners, reading "Marcus Historical Society," have been donated by Gerald Pallesen and Bob Reed.  Each banner is 6' long.  These will be used at our Fair booth and possibly on a vehicle as a parade entry.  We will of course be able to use these for future events as well.

A post office box has been rented for the Historical Society.  Mail items and membership dues may be sent to PO Box 321, Marcus.  The first year’s box rent was paid by June Dias.  It is possible that we may not have to pay box rent in the future, after we acquire a building.

An Employer Identification Number has been obtained from the IRS.  This was needed in order to open a bank account.  A basic checking account has been opened at Farmers State Bank.  Checks have not been ordered yet because we don’t anticipate spending any funds until we have an Executive Board in place to authorize expenditures.

Members are encouraged to brainstorm ideas for souvenir type items that can be sold at our History Center in the future.  

A date for the next meeting, aside from the State Curator visit, has not been set.  We will evaluate the success of the Fair booth and plan to meet sometime in September.

Respectfully Submitted,