Marcus Historical Society Meeting

January 23, 2007

The Marcus Historical Society met Tuesday, January 23, at the Farmers State Bank Community room.  Eight members were present:  June Dias, Jerry Meylor, Faith and Don Specht, Mary Peterson, Maxine Shea, Caryn Barry, and Rod Ogren.

President June Dias called the meeting to order at 7:00pm.

The minutes were approved as published in the Marcus News.

The treasurer reported a balance of $1,587.90.

A letter was received from Margaret Dorr with memorial donations to the Society in honor of Roger Rae and Herb Means.  Memorial cards will be sent to the families.

The Society, as a tax exempt organization, needs to file a biennial report to the State of Iowa, which is due April 1, 2007.

 No one from the public relations committee was present.  The fund raising committee spoke about their December meeting with Darrell Downs.  Darrell is an experienced community fund-raiser and was very involved in the Heartland Care Center fund drive.  The points he feels the Society needs to put forth in a drive include "What is it?" "What will it do for the community?" and "What will it cost?"  The committee concluded that a specific goal (building) might be needed before undertaking the drive.

Membership cards are ready to distribute and mail.

The MMC advanced graphic design class has begun meeting this semester and they will work on a logo for the Society.

501(c)3 status is now official.  A letter dated December 26, 2006 was received this month.  The effective date for tax deductible status goes back to July 12, 2006.  Any donor giving $250 or more must be given written substantiation.  The Society is considered a public charity and will be on probation until 2010.

A website for the Marcus Historical Society was discussed.  Jerry Meylor moved, seconded by Maxine Shea to purchase server space from WesTel and apply for a domain name at a cost of $10 per month plus the fee for the domain name.  Motion carried.  There may be some grant money available for this through the telephone company.

A site selection discussion was held.  The possibility of moving the Danish Church building to Main Street was discussed.  An architect may be available through the Main Street organization who would do drawings of two of our possible buildings prior to fund-raising efforts.

Caryn Barry reported that she has made contact with staff at the State Historical Society in regards to grant possibilities.  There are historical site preservation grants ranging from 40,000 to 100,000 dollars.  Now that 501(c)3 status is official she will be able to register with grants.gov.

Faith Specht made a motion, seconded by Rod Ogren to buy a roll of stamps.  Motion carried.

The next meeting will be February 27 at the Bank meeting room.

The general meeting adjourned.

The fund raising committee, including new committee member Mary Peterson, stayed to discuss ideas for small activity type fund-raisers.  More on this at the next meeting.

Respectfully submitted,