Marcus Historical Society Meeting

September 26, 2006

The Marcus Historical Society met Tuesday, September 26, 2006 in the Farmers State Bank Community Room.  Fifteen members were present:  Margaret Dorr, Thelma Gravenish, Faith Specht, June Dias, Sherree Ogren, Bonnie Husman, Joann Johnson, Jim Nielsen, Jim Wiese, Jerry Meylor, Rita Delperdang, Galen Ducommun, Gerald Pallesen, Fran Zembsch, and Maxine Shea.

First on the agenda was a report from Thelma Gravenish and Margaret Dorr who were in charge of counting the ballots to elect an executive board.  Forty-six envelopes containing ballots were mailed and 37 ballots returned.  There were seven nominees for the board and the five persons receiving the most votes were elected.  They are as follows:  June Dias, Gerald Meylor, Jim Wiese, Jim Nielsen, and Maxine Shea.  This executive board then chose their officers.  June Dias was unanimously elected president.  Also serving are Jim Nielsen, vice-president; Maxine Shea, secretary; Gerald Meylor, treasurer; and Jim Wiese, member-at-large.  Terms for the executive board need to be staggered so that in the future not all board members are elected at the same time.  June Dias moved that her term and those of Jim Nielsen and Maxine Shea be one year and the terms for Jim Wiese and Gerald Meylor be two years.  After discussion, June amended her motion to make the terms of the newly elected president, vice-president, and secretary two years and the other two terms one year.  Motion was seconded and carried.

Copies of the Marcus Historical Society Constitution and Bylaws were passed to the fifteen members in attendance and reviewed.  The president asked for a motion to accept these documents.  Jim Nielsen moved with a second by Gerald Meylor to accept.  Motion carried.  It was noted that these documents were officially adopted September 26, 2006.

The Marcus Historical Society is currently recognized as a non-profit organization by the State of Iowa.  Steps need to be taken to have the Society recognized as a non-profit by the federal government.  The Marcus Historical Society needs to apply for 501(c)3 status with the assistance of a CPA or an attorney, hopefully with services donated.  Jim Nielsen volunteered to head a committee to seek this kind of help.  Sherree Ogren will also serve.

A re-occurring topic throughout the evening was finding a suitable building for the Society and raising the money to purchase and renovate it.

Thelma Gravenish volunteered to contact her niece, Patty Erickson-Puttman who has experiece writing grants for Woodbury County.  She will invite Patty to speak at the next meeting.  Jim Nielsen suggested having a contractor(s) look at prospective buildings in order to get a better idea of the costs and feasibility of use of individual sites.  He will attempt to have some of this information for the next meeting which will be held on the fourth Tuesday of October (Oct. 24) at 7:00pm in the Farmers State Community Room.

Respectfully submitted,