Board Meeting “Old Stones”
Date- 17 February 2020
Time meeting started – 1 p.m.
In attendance –
Chair Bill Curry
Vice-Chair
Maintenance & Restoration Chair Alex Blooi
Vice chair of Maintenance and Restorations John Alan
Treasurer Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary Norma Curry
Corresponding & Membership Secretary Marilyn Ellis
Corresponding & Membership Vice-Secretary Diane Rose
Fund Raising Chair Susan Moores
Fund Raising Vice-Chair
Finance Committee Chair Llewellyn Outhouse
Outreach Chair Bill Curry
Archivists Nancy Curry & Linda Campbell
Past Chair vacant
Agenda accepted
Regrets from Marilyn Ellis, John Alan
Minutes
Minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes:
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Bev Outhouse
Maintenance and Restoration
1. Feb. 18 2020
MAINTENANCE CHAIR REPORT.
There has been little activity in our cemeteries.
The tree that was blown over in the Free Will has been removed thanks to Don Deveau and Albert Hall for their assistance. Another tree is slated for removal in the same area. It is in danger of falling on one our grave markers. Looking forward to another mowing season.
Alex Blooi
Maintenance and Restoration Chair
Membership
Membership dues are now due.
Correspondence
A get well card was sent to Carole Frost.
Marilyn Ellis and Diane Rose
Fund Raising
No report this time.
Archives
No report this time.
Finance Committee
President and Outreach
Bill read his report which was circulated
New Business:
1. Alex moved that money will be transferred into an investment fund. Linda seconded and the motion was unanimously passed.
There will be a finance committee meeting to address this.
2. Organization details of fund raising were discussed. John will take the lead for the music event. Susan will lead the Heritage Day event and the yard sale. Committees will be formed to support the leads.
3. There was further discussion regarding a new treasurer.
4. New members are welcome to join this society and attend the annual general meeting on April 27th, 2020 at 7 p.m. at the Port Maitland Fire Hall.
New members can join on line through the Old stones website.
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Board Meeting Old Stones
Date- January 6, 2020
Time meeting started – 1 p.m.
Number in attendance –
Chair Bill Curry
Vice-Chair
Maintenance & Restoration Chair Alex Blooi
Vice chair of Maintenance and Restorations John Alan
Treasurer Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary Norma Curry
Corresponding & Membership Secretary Marilyn Ellis
Corresponding & Membership Vice-Secretary Diane Rose
Fund Raising Chair Susan Moores
Fund Raising Vice-Chairs
Finance Committee Chair Llewellyn Outhouse
Outreach Chair Bill Curry
Archivists Nancy Curry & Linda Campbell
Past Chair vacant
Agenda
Regrets from Marilyn Ellis, Linda Campbell
Minutes
Minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes:
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Bev Outhouse
January 6 2020
Maintenance and Restoration Report
The mowing season has come to an end. The clearing of the south- west corner of the Calvinist cemetery was completed .The brush and alders were piled up and will be ready for shredding in the spring.
The church sign in Free Will needs to be replaced. The posts are rotted and in danger of snapping off during the winter. The necessary materials will be ordered in April and work will begin weather permitting. The flag poles, panels and guest boxes will need a coat of paint. Hopefully the winter weather will be kind to our properties and cause little or no damage.
Brian Doan will be hired again this year to help with mowing etc.
Alex Blooi
Maintenance and Restoration Chair
Membership Report
For Old Stones
Board Meeting
January 6, 2020
From our September 23rd membership report we had 55 members including our 4 Honorary Members and one Life Member.
We are sorry to report the passing of one of our Honorary members, Hazel Trask, on October 26, 2019.
To date we have 54 members including 3 Honorary members and one Life Member
Respectfully Submitted,
Marilyn Ellis ~ Membership Secretary
Diane Rose ~ Membership Vice Secretary
Correspondence Report
For
Board Meeting
January 6, 2020
Oct 29th. 2019 – Thank you cards were sent to our musicians (Frank Reeves and Graham Benvie) for entertaining us with music on Heritage Day.
Oct 29th, 2019 – sympathy card sent to Doug Trask – passing of his wife, Hazel Trask, one of our Honorary members.
-sympathy card sent to Brian Trask and Family on the passing of his mother, Hazel Trask.
Nov 12th, 2019 – “Thinking of you” card was sent to Bev Outhouse.
If there are any of our members or volunteers who need a card (sickness, sympathy, thank you, etc) please let us know…by calling Marilyn at 902-649-2793 or Diane at 902-649-3143. Thank you.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis ~ Correspondent secretary
Diane Rose ~ Correspondent Vice Secretary
–
Old Stones – Fundraising Report
Meeting January 6, 2020
The Wednesday morning group has met twice since the last board meeting and we have been discussing our fund raising efforts for next season. As you know, we will not be offering an auction on Heritage Days. We have reviewed the annual expenses for Old Stones and are proposing events that will raise money to cover those expenses. We are suggesting that we participate in the community yard sale in June, we organize a concert during the month of July and continue with Heritage Days in a slightly different form. We will discuss these options as a matter of new business.
We have reduced our fundraising budget to $800.00 and think that will cover our expenses for this season.
These events require a great amount of effort and we are encouraging each board member to help in these endeavours. We are always interested in hearing your concerns and suggestions that will help improve our fundraising events.
Respectfully submitted
Susan Moores
Outreach Chair and Chair’s Report
January 6, 2020
The key activities for the Outreach chair have been debriefing after pour successful Heritage Days and looking ahead to what we can do without an auction, and working on the website as well as looking for Board members who can help us carry in our efforts.
The 3 cemeteries are in very good shape. Many visitors and residents of Port Maitland and area have commented on how good all three cemeteries look.
The website still is proving very popular, and I continue working on it and the issues we’ve had with Register.com. We are now up to over 257,000 hits from almost 150,000 people! The plan is to keep working on the residents section and perhaps have a sign in the Calvinist cemetery near the “open removal” where we could explain about removals and also list the residents who are now in the “new” cemetery..
Our challenge now is to find people to carry this on so that we don’t go backwards. We need more people or we need to think about spending. We’ll chat about both things tonight.
Sincerely,
Bill Curry – Outreach chair and Chair, Old Stones Society
New Business:
1.Budget by Susan Moores was submitted.
Alex Blooi moved to pass the motion and Lew Outhouse seconded to accept the budget and it was passed unanimously.
2. A general discussion regarding fundraising ideas followed and it was agreed to continue this discussion in February.
New Business:
1. Susan Moores submitted a budget for operating costs for the year 2020. Alex Blooi moved and and Lew Outhouse seconded to accept the budget. It was passed unanimously.
2. A general discussion about fundraising ideas followed with the agreement to continue with this discussion at the February meeting.
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General Meeting “Old Stones”
Date- September 23, 2019 Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
Attendance –
Chair Bill Curry
Vice-Chair
Maintenance & Restoration Chair Alex Blooi
Vice chair of Maintenance and Restorations John Alan
Treasurer Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary Norma Curry
Corresponding & Membership Secretary Marilyn Ellis
Corresponding & Membership Vice-Secretary Diane Rose
Fund Raising Chair Susan Moores
Fund Raising Vice-Chairs
Finance Committee Chair Llewellyn Outhouse
Outreach Chair Bill Curry
Archivists Nancy Curry & Linda Campbell
Past Chair vacant
Agenda
Regrets from Susan Moores, Marilyn Ellis, Linda Campbell
Minutes
Minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes:
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Bev Outhouse
RESTORATION AND MAINTENANCE CHAIR REPORT
M&R Chair
September 23 2019
Maintenance and Restoration Report
We started mowing in early May and will most likely finish within the next couple of weeks. A lot has been accomplished this season. The flag poles, information panels and guest boxes were put up in early May. The flagpole in Founders was replaced with an aluminum 20-Foot pole generously donated by Bev and Lew Outhouse. When the other wooden poles need to be replaced we should consider replacing them with aluminum. They are much easier to maintain as they do not require painting and are much easier to handle.
The pathway between Founders and Freewill was raked and cleared of winter debris. The Marker that was vandalized 2 years ago was unfortunately knocked over by the winds of winter. This has been addressed and is now more secure. The Elizabeth Raymond Haley marker was leveled off as it was in danger of toppling over.
The Calvinist cemetery had the most activity this season. Part of the Southwest corner has been cleared and we will continue with that effort this fall. Hurricane Dorian knocked over a large Hawthorne tree on the north boundary. This has been removed and the wood will be taken away.
The Heritage Day sign was erected and taken down.
Some QR codes need to be replaced. Bill has the list.
The Church sign in Freewill will need to be addressed in the spring. Both of the posts are rotted and the sign may not make it through the winter. The posts will be replaced with pressure treated 4×4 and cemented in the ground.
A parking area in the Calvinist cemetery was discussed at our last meeting. Rose Valley gave an estimate of just under $3000.00 for a 60 foot by 16-foot turn around. The Calvinist has had 2 entries in the guest book each year for the past 3 years. The question is whether or not these numbers warrant this kind of expenditure?
The Freewill guest book had 8 entries and the Founders 21.
The restoration and maintenance of our cemeteries is on going. It seems every year something new comes up. Thanks to Brian Doan for his great work. He has made this job much easier.
Alex Blooi
Maintenance and Restoration Chair
Membership Report
For Old Stones
Board Meeting
September 23rd, 2019
From our May 27th membership report we had 16 renewed members, 4 Honorary Members, and one Life Member for a total of 21 members.
During the yard sale on June 8th we obtained 9 new members and 5 renewals, making 14 more members.
Then at the Musical on the 25th of July we had another new member and 2 renewed members, so added another 3 members to our group.
At the Heritage Day fund raiser on August 10th, we had 14 renewals and 3 new memberships, making 17 members.
To date we are pleased to announce that we have 55 members including our 4 Honorary members and one Life member.
Respectfully Submitted,
Marilyn Ellis ~ Membership Secretary
Diane Rose ~ Membership Vice Secretary
Correspondence Report
For
Board Meeting
September 23rd, 2019
May 30th, 2019 – “Thinking of you” cards were sent to our Honorary Members (George Snow, Ann
Sorensen, Hazel Trask, and Wilfred Allan).
June 4th, 2019 – Brochures with letters were sent out to 48 people (5 of them went to the States).
June 10th, 2019 – Membership card was sent to Debbie Mader.
– “Thank you” cards were sent to Port Maitland Fire Hall to thank them for the loan of tables for Yard Sale and to Pattie Durkee for the use of her barn to store the tables over night.
June 12th, 2019 – Membership card was sent to Carole Frost.
July 26th, 2019 – Membership cards were sent to Marshall Moses and to Beth Weltner.
August 2019 – Bev Outhouse sent a receipt with ‘thank you’ to Melvin Perry for his donation on
Heritage Day.
September 2nd, 2019 – “Thank you” cards were sent to Susan Moores and Alex Blooi.
If there are any of our members or volunteers who need a card (sickness, sympathy, thank you, etc) please let us know…by calling Marilyn at 902-649-2793 or Diane at 902-649-3143. Thank you.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis ~ Correspondent secretary
Diane Rose ~ Correspondent Vice Secretary
Archivist Committee Report
Nancy Curry
No new business to report at this time.
Submitted by Nancy Curry
No changes from before.
OLD STONES – FUNDRAISING REPORT
MEETING SEPTEMBER 23, 2019
VILLAGE YARD SALE – June 8 – the yard sale was held in front of the empty lot belonging to Patti and Tom Durkee near the corner in Port Maitland. We had five tables of yard sale items, lots of helpers, and perfect weather. We set up an hour earlier than the announced time and had lots of “early bird” shoppers. We donated the leftover items to the Salmon River Fire Hall who were having a yard sale the next week and they collected these items at noontime. Marilyn Ellis was on hand to sell memberships and both she and Bill Curry answered questions and gave information about our project. We took in $301.95.
LET THERE BE MUSIC – JULY 25 – this was a first time event for Old Stones and was organized by a committee from the board. The performance was held at Bayview Baptist Church which is a wonderful venue with great acoustics. The evening was filled with local musical talent, as well as a recitation of The Cremation of Sam McGee. We thank all those who gave so freely of their time and talent. Our audience was about 125 persons and admission was by donation. We paid to have the church piano tuned. The total amount received at the door was $901.00
HERITAGE DAYS – AUGUST 10-11 – Again, this year, we had perfect weather for hosting our major fundraiser of the season. We advertized through radio CJLS, the Vanguard Community Bulletin Board, an ad in the Clare Shopper which was cost shared by local businesses and nearly 500 handouts were distributed through local churches, door to door and posted in local businesses as well as all those who attended Let There Be Music received a handout.
The grills were busy with burgers, sausages and hot dogs and we had a near sell-out of meat with only fewer than 5 leftover. The dessert cafe sold well…..by the serving and also a few by the half and whole. A whole cake for $20.00 and the half at $10.00. When the afternoon was over there were only a few single servings left. Nancy Curry took the lead on the dessert cafe and a job well done.
Alex Blooi organized and ran a very successful auction and prices were about on par from other years. A huge project that went without a hitch!
Membership table and donation table was staffed by Marilyn Ellis and Diane Rose. A job that is always well done.
We had a good crew to help with the set-up on Friday afternoon and with the tear-down on Saturday afternoon. We hired John Grant for a few hours to help with the set-up.
Music was provided outside by Frank Reeves and Graham Benvie.
On Sunday, August 11 Bill Curry led a tour of the Free Will Cemetary. He reported that about a dozen people attended.
An event like this does not happen without help and hard work from many people. On the actual day we had seventeen individuals helping and numerous volunteers who helped before and after the event. A successful event, indeed.
The amount raised was $4725.00.
As we move into planning for next year, it looks as if there will be some changes. Alex Blooi says he is unable to organize and carry out an auction. He says it takes the full year to plan and prepare for the auction event which is a tremendous amount of work. The committee that meets on a regular basis are in the early stages of rethinking a plan for next season and ask the question “how much money do we need to raise?” We welcome thoughts from the Old Stones Board as we go forward.
A shoutout to Alex for the huge effort he has put into gathering, preparing, organizing and being “auctioneer extraordinaire”……..well done, Alex!
Respectfully submitted
Susan Moores
Fundraising
Board Meeting
Monday, 23 September, 2019
Outreach Chair and Chair’s Report
The key activities for the Outreach chair have been preparing for the Heritage Day(s) and working on the website as well as looking for Board members who can help us carry in our efforts.
The 3 cemeteries are in very good shape. The signs and flag poles are now down due to Dorian, and since we took them down, we left them that way, but we still have a few visitors. One couple came from Vermont specifically to see an ancestors grave in Founders and commented on the “niceness” of the site.
As the Auction, BBQ, Dessert café Heritage Day activities took place, it was evident to me that this community event is something we need to keep in mind. As in the Community concert, Port Maitland and area spirit was seen at its best!
The website still is proving very popular, and I continue working on it and the issues we’ve had with Register.com. There may come a time when we need to go to another hosting company, but that would mean a major piece of work to shift the site.
The removals portion of the website has been garnering “hits” and the Facebook page has led to some interest as well. I am still working on fleshing out the Removals section of the website, hopefully having it completed to the same standard as the Residents by the end of this season so that by 2020 we’re ready. The plan would be to then map where the Removals are who are in the current Port Maitland/Beaver River Cemetery.
We produced a new brochure and mailed it out to each member we have a mailing address for along with a “What’s Up” kind of letter. The result was a substantial income from donations.
The planning for next year is underway after a wonderfully successful day during the summer, including the cemetery tour that was very well received, and we have at least one new Board member.
I took an Old Stones display last weekend to the Mayflower conference in Middleton, and it was very well received indeed.
Sincerely,
Bill Curry – Outreach chair and Chair, Old Stones Society
New Business:
A discussion about fundraising led the group to agree to discontinue the auction, and instead continue with the yard sale, and a suggestion with volunteering from John Allan to have another Community musical event.
Another suggestion was a cemetery tour with a Mayflower influence with a bbq at the cemetery.
Tee shirts, hats, mugs, pins with the Old Stones Logo for fund raising was also mentioned.
Meeting adjourned at 8:00
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Board Meeting Old Stones
Date- May 27, 2019 Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
Attendance –
ChairBill Curry
Vice-Chair
Maintenance & Restoration ChairAlex Blooi
Vice chair of Maintenance and Restorations John Alan
TreasurerBev Outhouse
Recording SecretaryNorma Curry
Corresponding & Membership SecretaryMarilyn Ellis
Corresponding & Membership Vice-SecretaryDiane Rose
Fund Raising ChairSusan Moores
Fund Raising Vice-Chairs
Finance Committee ChairLlewellyn Outhouse
OutreachChairBill Curry
ArchivistsNancy Curry & Linda Campbell
Past Chairvacant
Agenda
Regrets from Lew Outhouse and Bev Outhouse, John Alan
Minutes
Minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes:
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Bev Outhouse
RESTORATION AND MAINTENANCE CHAIR REPORT
May 27 2019
MAINTENANCE AND RESTORATION REPORT
The weather has not been too co-operative this spring. The cold and rain have set us back about 2 weeks in terms of mowing. We did manage to mow the Free Will and Founders once. The Calvinist is on the agenda for this week. Hopefully we will be able to start our weekly rotation on the mowing.
All the panels and guest boxes are up. The flag- poles are up in all but the Calvinist. We are awaiting the arrival of new flags. The flag- pole base in the Founders will need to be replaced this summer.
A couple of the QR codes have disappeared. Bill is going to print off replacements. This will probably be an ongoing situation. The winter has taken its toll on some of the bricks. Frost has pushed some of them out of the ground. That will be addressed this summer. For the most part, the three cemeteries seem in good shape.
Tentative projects for this summer:
1.Clear the south –west corner of the Calvinist.
2.Parking and turn around area in the Calvinist.
3.Repair broken marker in Free Will.
- Rope off area between the two cemeteries to prevent vehicles damaging the “lawn”.
(We will leave a walking path down to the water)
Alex Blooi
M&R Chair
Membership Report
For Old Stones
Board Meeting
May 27th, 2019
From our Annual General Meeting on April 29th, 2019 we had 13 renewed members, 4 Honorary Members, and one Life Member for a total of 17 members. In my last report I had 12 renewed members when in fact it should have read 13.
During the last AGM we had another 3 renewed members for a total of 16 renewed members, 4 Honorary Members, and one Life Member, totalling 21 members.
Respectfully Submitted,
Marilyn Ellis ~ Membership Secretary
Diane Rose ~ Membership Vice Secretary
Correspondence Report
For
Board Meeting
May 27th, 2019
May 2019 – ‘Thinking of you’ cards were prepared for sending to our Honorary Members, Ann Sorensen, George Snow, and Hazel Trask. They will be sent as soon as we get their Addresses.
If there are any of our members or volunteers who need a card (thank you, sickness, sympathy, etc), please let us know by calling Marilyn Ellis at 902-649-2793 or Diane Rose at 902-649-3143. Thank you.
Respectfully Submitted,
Archivist Committee Report
Nancy Curry
No new business to report at this time.
Submitted by Nancy Curry
FUNDRAISING REPORT – OLD STONES
MAY 27, 2019
- Plans are well underway for the Village Yard Sale scheduled for June 8 with a rain date of June 15.We have approval to use the space in front of the empty lot owned by Tom and Patti Durkee. We have things to sell and a number of volunteer helpers with just final details to arrange. Marilyn Ellis will be selling memberships and Bill Curry will have a display outlining the work of our society.
- The committee organizing the community music concert for July 25 has met and are in the process of inviting performers for the evening.The event will be held at Bayview Baptist Church which has been loaned for our use. We will clean it before the concert and if the piano needs tuning, we will cover that cost. At the moment we have a number of musicians who have agreed to perform and will work on a full program for that evening.
- Plans are underway for Heritage Days on August 10/11.At the last meeting Alex thought he was a little short on GOOD items for the auction so we are trying to find some donations to fill that bill. Other plans will fall in place over the next two months as we have a very good template from other years to follow. We are going to make our emphasis on “cemeteries” this year and Bill Curry will offer a tour of the cemetery on Sunday, August 11.
Respectfully submitted
Susan Moores
Finance Committee
No changes and no report at this time.
Lew Outhouse
Board Meeting
Monday, 27 May, 2019
Outreach Chair and Chair’s Report
The key activities for the Outreach and Chair have been preparing for the May meeting and preparing the Outreach letter and pamphlet and adjusting the website.
We are planning at least two or three cemetery tours this summer – one held in August with Heritage Days and another in September with a Mayflower focus. We are also considering one in July to connect with the concert. This would go towards getting a listing in the Doers and Dreamers Guide for 2020.
The pamphlet has been re-designed and as discussed last month, can be sent out with the letter I will present tonight. The idea is to contact all current members, but also to reach out to new members, so perhaps we could each take some of these and pass them out? Other ideas for distribution would be welcome.
The Cemeteries now have the sign-in book and new pamphlets in them, the panels have been installed and we are awaiting our new flags. Despite the rainy start, the grounds look very good, and we’ve already had visitors!
As always, any ideas for encouraging members, and particularly anyone who could serve on the Board, would be welcome.
Sincerely,
Bill Curry – Outreach chair and Chair, Old Stones Society
New Business:
- A parking attendant and hand capped parking spots will be arranged for the fund raiser in August.
- A discussion about fundraising ensued.
Meeting adjourned at 8:00
Annual General Meeting Old Stones
Date- April 29, 2019 Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
Number in attendance –
ChairBill Curry
Vice-ChairGeorge Snow
Maintenance & Restoration ChairAlex Blooi
TreasurerBev Outhouse
Recording SecretaryNorma Curry
Corresponding & Membership SecretaryMarilyn Ellis
Corresponding & Membership Vice-SecretaryDiane Rose
Fund Raising ChairSusan Moores
Fund Raising Vice-Chair
Finance Committee ChairLlewellyn Outhouse
OutreachChairBill Curry
ArchivistsNancy Curry & Linda Campbell
Past Chairvacant
Agenda approved yes__X_ no___
Minutes
Minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes:
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Read by Bev Outhouse.
April 29 2019
RESTORATION AND MAINTENANCE CHAIR REPORT
Once again the mowing season is fast approaching. Last year a lot was accomplished in our three cemeteries. The north –west corner of the Calvinist was finally cleared with the help from Brian (our summer hire) and John Grant. Rather than burning, we rented a wood chipper, which made disposal of branches etc. more Eco- friendly. We hope to be able to clear the south- west corner soon.
The vandalized markers in Free Will were repaired with only a slight trace of paint visible. The marker that was broken and repaired has unfortunately fallen over and will need some further repair.
A large tree in the Free Will broke off at the base during one of our wind- storms. This was removed with the help of Don Deveau and Albert Hall. There is another tree that looks ready to fall over. We hope to address this ASAP.
Regular maintenance will commence soon.
Alex Blooi
Maintenance and Restoration Chair
Correspondence Report
For
The Annual General Meeting
April 29, 2019
May, 2018 – Thank you card and membership card was sent.
June, 2018 – Thank you note, receipt for donation, and membership card sent.
August, 2018 – A Birthday card was given to George Snow.
Two thank you notes and receipts for income tax purposes were sent.
September, 2018 – Get Well card, Sympathy card, and Thankyou card sent.
December, 2018 – Thankyou and words of appreciation card sent.
February, 2019 – Robert Ellis received a Get-Well card from Old Stones; it was appreciated, and he thanks you for it.
If there are any of our members or volunteers who need a card (thank you, sickness, sympathy, etc), please let us know by calling Marilyn Ellis at 902-649-2793 or Diane Rose at 902-649-3143. Thank you.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis ~ Corresponding Secretary
Diane Rose ~ Corresponding Vice Secretary
Archivist Committee Report
Nancy Curry
Archives Committee
This year we have received three new documents to add to the collection.
First: A report done in 1991 for the provincial Advisory Council on heritage Property. The section put into the archives is a short history as known and recorded in 1991 by Linda Campbell of the Beaver River memorial Temperance Hall. Although not exactly our mandate it is important to keep the history of this building that played an important role at the in the lives of folks living in Beaver River and surrounding communities. So we have included it here. At this time there is no viable collection site for materials in Clare.
Second: A copy of a report recording homes builders of the homes, and life in general of Port Maitland !909 -1925. The report is labelled “In My Mind’s Eye 1909-1925.”Also attached to this record is a document called “Early Automobiles of Port Maitland, 1914-1924.” It gives some insight into general life in Port Maitland during that era. These booklets were recorded by Winston S. Porter in 1969.
Third: A copy of the inventory work in the cemeteries done by Hazel Trask and Ann Sorenson in 1987. It was recorded on the set form issued by the Province at that time.
Linda and I are still looking for suitable storage for the archival material until such time as the association decides upon it’s permanent storage .
Submitted by Nancy Curry
Membership Report
for
Old Stones
Annual General Meeting
April 29, 2019
As of April 23rd, 2018, beginning a new year, we had one renewed Member from last year, 3 Honorary Members, and one Life Member.
Closing out the year, 2018, we had 32 renewed members, 16 new members, 4 Honorary Members, and one Life Member for a total of 53 members.
At the fund raiser in August we made George Snow an Honorary member.
Beginning another new year, February 18th, 2019, we had 2 renewed members from last year, 4 Honorary Members, and one Life Member for a total of 7 members.
From the meeting on February 18th, 2019, we had 10 more renewed members, making 12 renewed members, 4 Honorary Members, and one Life Member for a total of 17 members.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis ~ Membership Secretary
Diane Rose ~ Membership Vice Secretary
OLD STONES ANNUAL REPORT APRIL 29, 2019
This annual report reflects a successful year of raising funds for the maintenance and restoration of the three old cemetaries that are in our care. Everyone on the committee and numerous other volunteers have helped our two main events of the last year be successful.
During the month of June we set up at the Village Wide Yard Sale here in Port Maitland. We sold $219.75. In addition to our sales, Marilyn Rose Ellis was on hand selling memberships and we were generally raising awareness of our project. Items left over were donated to Kathryn Smith for the Hospital Hullabaloo in September.
Heritage Days, held over two days in August, the 11thand 12th, were again successful. With perfect weather on both days, we attracted a good crowd. We offered hot dogs, hamburgers and a dessert cafe. We focused on Tourism Over the Years in Port Maitland with a collection of old photographs for viewing and sale. Marilyn sold memberships and had some generous donations. The main event, the auction, was on par with other years and a success. Total monies for the day were $4925.00. Bill Curry presented an informative talk/tour of the Founders Cemetary, Beaver River on Sunday afternoon, August 12. It was well attended.
Thank you to everyone who has participated in these events over the past year…..you have all made the year a good one for our society.
Respectfully submitted
Susan Moores
Finance Committee
I have nothing to report Re Finance Committee, as there has been no activity in the account since our last meeting.
Lew Outhouse
Board Meeting
Monday, 29 April, 2019
Outreach Chair and Chair’s Report
The key activities for the Outreach chair have been preparing for the 2019 season, particularly the Heritage Day(s) and working on the website as well as looking for Board members who can help us carry in our efforts.
The 3 cemeteries are in very good shape. We will soon be putting up the signs and panels for the 2019 season, and we’ll have new, larger “titles” for the cemeteries. We are also planning on some parking improvements and some other work in the Calvinist Cemetery.
As this season comes in, I would like to do several tours this year – we’re going to aim at one in each of June, July, August and September to up our visibility and to satisfy some who are clamouring for such events.
The website has now had over 235,000 hits from over 130,000 visitors – and we keep on growing!
The removals portion of the website has been garnering “hits” and the Facebook page has led to some interest as well. I am still working on fleshing out the Removals section of the website, hopefully having it completed to the same standard as the Residents by the end of this season so that by 2020 we’re ready. The plan would be to then map where the Removals are who are in the current Port Maitland/Beaver River Cemetery.
We produced a new brochure and would like to mail it out to each member we have a mailing address for along with a “What’s Up” kind of letter.
The planning for the Heritage Days is underway after a wonderfully successful day last summer and we have at least one new Board member.
When Norma and I travel we frequently end up in graveyards (if you have to ask…) and consistently ours is so nice and organized compared to most others. This is excellent and our work is something we should all be proud of – keeping the memory of our ancestors and their community alive!
Sincerely,
Bill Curry – Outreach chair and Chair, Old Stones Society
New Business:
1) Linda moved and Nancy seconded that the nominations for the board be accepted. This passed unanimously.
2) The Community Concert Committee met and presented a report.
3) One of the group’s lawnmowers was sold.
Meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.
Board Meeting Old Stones
Date- Feb 18, 2019 Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
ChairBill Curry
Vice-ChairGeorge Snow
Maintenance & Restoration ChairAlex Blooi
TreasurerBev Outhouse
Recording SecretaryNorma Curry
Corresponding & Membership SecretaryMarilyn Ellis
Corresponding & Membership Vice-SecretaryDiane Rose
Fund Raising ChairSusan Moores
Fund Raising Vice-Chairs
Finance Committee ChairLlewellyn Outhouse
OutreachChairBill Curry
ArchivistsNancy Curry & Linda Campbell
Past Chairvacant
Regrets from: George Snow, Marilyn Ellis, Nancy Curry, Linda Campbell
Minutes
Minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes:
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Read by Bev Outhouse.
Feb. 18 2019
MAINTENANCE CHAIR REPORT.
There has been little activity in our cemeteries.
The tree that was blown over in the Free Will has been removed thanks to Don Deveau and Albert Hall for their assistance. Another tree is slated for removal in the same area. It is in danger of falling on one our grave markers. Looking forward to another mowing season.
Alex Blooi
Maintenance and Restoration Chair
Correspondence Report
For Old Stones Board Meeting
February 18th, 2019
December 7, 2018 – Thank you card with words of appreciation sent to Don Deveau for the maintenance of our lawn mower.
If there are any of our members or volunteers who need a card (sickness, sympathy, thank you, etc) please let me know…by calling Marilyn at 902-649-2793 or Diane Rose at 902-649-3143. Thank you.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis ~ Corresponding secretary
Diane Rose ~ Corresponding Vice Secretary
Membership Report
For
Old Stones Board Meeting
February 18th, 2019
Starting out a new year, 2019, we have 1 renewed member, 4 Honorary Members, and one life Member for a total of 6 members.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis ~ Membership Secretary
Diane Rose ~ Membership Vice Secretary
OLD STONES – FUNDRAISING REPORT
Meeting February 18, 2019
I have been meeting with Bill Curry and Alex Blooi on a monthly basis. We have been discussing fund raising events for the upcoming season. We will recommend that we participate in the Village Yard Sale in June – date to be determined. We also are moving forward for plans for Heritage Days on August 10/11. This will include both the fundraising event at the firehall on August 10 and a cemetery tour on August 11.
We are always interested in hearing concerns/suggestions that would help improve our fundraising events.
Respectfully submitted
Susan Moores
Archivist Committee Report
Nancy Curry
No report.
Finance Committee Chair
Lew Outhouse.
There is no change and so there is no report.
Board Meeting
Monday, 18 February, 2019
Outreach Chair and Chair’s Report
The key activities for the Outreach chair have been preparing for the February meeting (tonight) and preparing nominations for the Board and the Outreach letter and pamphlet.
We are planning at least two, possibly three cemetery tours this summer – one held in August with Heritage Days and another in September with a Mayflower focus. We are also considering one in July and could do one on June to make 4. This would go a ways toward getting a listing in the Doers and Dreamers Guide for 2020.
The website has now had over 229,000 hits from 128,501 visitors – and we keep on growing!
George Snow and I have been adding information about removals – each of the 100 or so Removals now has their own webpage, and photos of the markers will be added soon. This means that every one of the known 240 or so “Residents” or “former residents” of our cemeteries has been documented to some extent. We are also now thinking of putting a guide to the removals in Island Cemetery, with QR codes on the list to show who was a removal. This will also help spike interest in the cemeteries in that many of these folks who were removed are family members tied to the community and the people buried in Old Stones cemeteries.
The pamphlet has been re-designed and I will introduce it this evening along with an idea for outreach to our membership and beyond to try to make up for some of the “shortfall” from not doing a raffle.
The only major concern I would have is in getting folks to serve on the Board, something to chat about nd to always be thinking about.
Sincerely,
Bill Curry – Outreach chair and Chair, Old Stones Society
New Business:
- Possibility of a Community Concert/Talent show
Susan moved for a committee to be formed to organize a community talent show. Diane seconded. Unanimously approved.
- Outreach- new pamphlets and Letter
This was discussed and agreed to be sent out in April - Other business
Discussion regarding looking for more volunteers and board members for Old Stones. Reminder that we always need new interested folks on our Board.
Meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
———————————————————————-
Board Meeting Old Stones
Date- Nov 19, 2018 Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
Number of attendance –
ChairBill Curry
Vice-ChairGeorge Snow
Maintenance & Restoration ChairAlex Blooi
TreasurerBev Outhouse
Recording SecretaryNorma Curry
Corresponding & Membership SecretaryMarilyn Ellis
Corresponding & Membership Vice-SecretaryDiane Rose
Fund Raising ChairSusan Moores
Finance Committee ChairLlewellyn Outhouse
OutreachChairBill Curry
ArchivistsNancy Curry & Linda Campbell
At Large John Allen
Past Chairvacant
Agenda approved yes__X_ no___
Regrets from: George Snow, Susan Moores, Diane Rose, Linda Campbell
Minutes
Minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes:
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Read by Bev Outhouse. Distributed to attendees.
Alec Blooi, Maintenance and Repairs
November 19 2018
MAINTENANCE AND RESTORATION REPORT
Another season of mowing and maintenance has come to an end. Each of our cemeteries was mowed 8 times. We have had a lot of positive feedback on the way the properties have been maintained. This is due in part to the excellent help from Brian Doan our summer hire. He has taken an interest in our project and his help is greatly appreciated.
Some of the things accomplished this year include the widening of the path, rock removal and filling of holes. The bench was re-stained. A start was made at clearing the northwest corner of the Calvinist. Brian, John and I will continue to clear .We rented a wood chipper and were able to clear a good portion of the property. QR codes were re- installed.
A load of class “A”gravel was ordered and delivered from Rose Valley for use around the markers. We did straighten the Ernie Ellis marker, as it seemed ready to fall over.
The John Deere Mower now has 58 hours on it and was due for its annual maintenance. The 2-year warranty is about to expire and Don Deveau at George’s Truck and Tractor has gone over it and replaced any parts that came under the warranty. The guest boxes, panels and flag- poles have been removed and stored in the shed.
Plans for next year will include more clearing in the Calvinist (Southwest corner). Once all the clearing is completed and the cleared ground is negotiable a probe of the area will be done to determine if there are more grave markers in that location. A large spruce tree has blown over in Free Will. That will need to be addressed at some point. Arrangements have been made to remove a large boulder in the parking lot between the 2 cemeteries. Hopefully a turnaround area will be in place next summer in the Calvinist. I welcome any suggestions regarding maintenance and restoration.
Alex Blooi Maintenance and Restoration Chair
Correspondence Report
For Old Stones Board Meeting
November 19th, 2018
September 24th, 2018 – Get well card sent to George Snow.
October 29th, 2018 – sympathy card sent to Phyllis Jayne, John Allan, and grandchildren.
November 12th, 2018 – Thank you card sent to Erin Power.
If there are any of our members or volunteers who need a card (sickness, sympathy, thank you, etc) please let me know…by calling Marilyn at 902-649-2793 or Diane Rose at 902-649-3143. Thank you.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis ~ Corresponding secretary
Diane Rose ~ Corresponding Vice Secretary
Membership Report
For
Old Stones Board Meeting
November 19th, 2018
Closing out the year, 2018, we have 32 renewed members, 16 new members, 4 Honorary Members, and one life Member for a total of 53 members.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis ~ Membership Secretary
Diane Rose ~ Membership Vice Secretary
OLD STONES – FUNDRAISING REPORT
Susan Moores
Old Stones – Fundraising Report
Meeting November 19, 2018
The Wednesday morning group – now meeting on the first Tuesday of each month – has reviewed the fundraising efforts for this past year. We have examined changes that were recommended.
We have met twice since the last board meeting. While working on the budget, we decided to ask to increase the publicity/supplies budget for Heritage Days next year to $1,200 which is an increase of $200. In actual fact, we dipped into the contingency fund this year, so these numbers will reflect that. The discussion we had was, in addition to promoting the Heritage Days event, we are making our project known to the community in general.
We will continue to meet regularly. We are always interested in hearing concerns/suggestions that would help improve our fundraising events.
Respectfully submitted
Susan Moores
Archivist Committee Report
Nancy Curry
No report.
Finance Committee Chair
Lew Outhouse.
There is no change and so there is no report.
Outreach Chair and Chair’s Report
Board Meeting
Board Meeting
Monday, 19 November, 2018
Outreach Chair and Chair’s Report
The key activities for the Outreach chair have been preparing for the budget meeting (tonight) and moving the website to a new “on its own” secure server.
The 3 cemeteries are in very good shape. The new signage is up and the QR codes are now all transplanted and ready to be viewed. The new “long” signs are up on either end of the village. We were planning two cemetery tours this summer – one held in August with Heritage Days and another in September with a Mayflower focus. Both were also tied to efforts to get listed in the Doers and Dreamers Guide for NS. The August one was attended by about 10 or so of our members and others, and was very well received, the other, for the Mayflower Colony of NS, was held and had about 10 people as well – but these folks were most interested in the Mayflower connection and our cemeteries.
I did an interview with Eastlink for In-Focus that aired in June.
The website has now had over 217,000 hits from 115,000 visitors – and we keep on growing!
George Snow and I have been adding information about removals – each of the 100 or so Removals now has their own webpage, and photos of the markers will be added soon. This means that every one of the known 240 or so “Residents” or “former residents” of our cemeteries has been documented to some extent. We are also now thinking of putting a guide to the removals in Island Cemetery, with QR codes on the list to show who was a removal. This will also help spike interest in the cemeteries in that many of these folks who were removed are family members tied to the community and the people buried in Old Stones cemeteries.
The website has had a bit of a makeover. Register.com, and parent company Web.com, produced a rather messy error when they locked me out of our accounts due to a billing error. This caused me to have a couple dozen conversations with them, but as a result the website for Old Stones has been moved and it is more secure. We now have our own e-mail which is info@oldstones.ca. The upshot is that my photography business has gone elsewhere, but Old Stones remains local and I hope we can continue this – although I should mention, their competition made it very easy to transfer! We’ll see how we do and if they can continue to serve us!
Sincerely,
Bill Curry – Outreach chair and Chair, Old S
New Business:
- The new calendar was approved.
- A motion was made by Alex and seconded Nancy to donate $150 to the Port Maitland Fire Department. Unanimous vote to pass this motion.
- A motion was made by John and seconded by Bev to accept the budget for next year. Unanimous vote to pass this motion.
Meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
————————————————————
General Meeting “Old Stones”
Date- Sept. 24, 2018 Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
Attendance –
ChairBill Curry
Vice-ChairGeorge Snow
Maintenance & Restoration ChairAlex Blooi
TreasurerBev Outhouse
Recording SecretaryNorma Curry
Corresponding & Membership SecretaryMarilyn Ellis
Corresponding & Membership Vice-SecretaryDiane Rose
Fund Raising ChairSusan Moores
Fund Raising Vice-Chairs
Finance Committee ChairLlewellyn Outhouse
OutreachChairBill Curry
ArchivistsNancy Curry & Linda Campbell
Past Chairvacant
Agenda approved
Regrets from: John Allen, George Snow, Norma Curry, Alex Blooi, Susan Moores, Marilyn Ellis
No quorum at this meeting, so an unofficial meeeting
Minutes
Minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes:
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Submitted by Bev Outhouse, Cahir Bill Curry read
Alec Blooi, Maintenance and Repairs
SEPTEMBER 2018
RESTORATION AND MAINTENANCE
REPORT
We have had a very busy and productive spring and summer. Mowing has been sporadic yet the grounds looked pretty good most of the time. It is now possible to mow 90% with the ride on. This was unthinkable just a few years ago.
In order to properly install the bricks with the QR codes we ordered 2 yards of gravel and 2 yards of to soil from Rose Valley. The gravel and top soil have delivered and dumped beside the shed. A cart was purchased from George’s Truck and Tractor for hauling around the materials.
Projects to be completed:
- rock clearing
- clear north west side of Calvanist
Marilyn Ellis, correspondent Secretary
Membership Report
For
Old Stones Board Meeting
September 24th, 2018
At my last report for May 28th, 2018, we had 13 renewed members, 1 new member, 3 Honorary Members, and one Life Member for a total of 18 members.
On May 28, 2018 we had 2 more renewed members and 1 new member, making a total of 15 renewed, 2 new, 3 Honorary members, and 1 life Member; grand total of 21 members.
At the Port Maitland Yard Sale Day, June 2nd, 2018, we received 3 renewed members, 7 new members and for a total of 18 renewed members, 9 new members, 3 Honorary Members, and one Life Member for a grand total of 30 members.
During Old Stones Heritage Day Fund Raiser on August 11th, 2018, we had 14 renewed members and 7 new members sign up.
At the fund Raiser, George Snow was presented with a certificate, honoring him with a Lifetime Membership.
To date we have 32 renewed members, 16 new members, 4 Honorary Members, and one life Member for a total of 53 members.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis ~ Membership Secretary
Diane Rose ~ Membership Vice Secretary
Correspondence Report
For Old Stones Board Meeting
September 24th, 2018
June 5th,2018 – A thank you note, receipt for donation, and membership card sent to John Goudy.
August 11th, 2018 – A 95thBirthday card presented to George Snow (now an Honorary member).
August 16th, 2018 – Sent ‘thank you’ notes with receipts for income tax purposes to Pat Delaney and Melvin Perry for their donations on Heritage Day.
If there are any of our members or volunteers who need a card (sickness, sympathy, thank you, etc) please let me know…by calling Marilyn at 902-649-2475 or Diane Rose at 902-649-3143. Thank you.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis ~ Corresponding secretary
Diane Rose ~ Corresponding Vice Secretary
OLD STONES – FUNDRAISING REPORT
Susan Moores
OLD STONES – FUNDRAISING REPORT
MEETING SEPTEMBER 24, 2018
June 2 – Village Yard Sale – we set up the yard sale in front of the empty lot at the corner owned by Patti and Tom Durkee. We had lots of stuff for sale – five tables full – and sold a fair bit of it. The weather on that day was uncertain and the sale was in doubt right up to the last minute. I think it had an impact on the number of people attending and also the number of tables set up to sell. We donated our left over items to the Yarmouth Hullabaloo and Kathyrn Smith accepted items to be stored in her garage. The total amount raised that day was $219.75.
August 11-12 – Heritage Days – This was a perfect day as far as weather was concerned. We had a good crowd who kept the grills busy where we were offering hot dogs, sausages and hamburgs. We had an increase in our advertising through radio CJLS, the Vanguard community bulletin board, and an ad in the Clare Shopper which was cost shared by the local businesses and 700 handouts which was distributed through local churches, door to door and posted in local businesses. My eyes say we had more people attend our event and eat but I am not sure it translated into more money being spent on brown bags and the auction.
The dessert cafe had a wonderful selection of desserts and we sold them by the individual serving and also as the afternoon went on we sold cakes and pies by the whole and the half. $20.00 for a whole cake, $12.00 for a whole pie. At the end of the afternoon nearly everything was sold. Nancy Curry, Diane Rose and Karen Messenger managed the dessert cafe.
Alex Blooi organized and ran a very successful auction – and he reports prices were about on par with other years. We had many lovely items donated for both the auction and the brown bag auction. The main auction raised $3445.60
Marilyn Ellis looked after the membership and donation table as well as tickets on a baby set donated by Bev Outhouse…she always comes well prepared with everything she needs! At the end of the day she had taken in $434.00. Included in that amount were a couple of large donations….well done Marilyn!
The heritage theme this year was Port Maitland Tourism in days gone by. Bill Curry printed a number of photos of tourist events over the years and we sold a few! They were wonderful photos and not a surprise that there was interest in them.
We hired John Grant for a few hours over the weekend to help with the set-up and the tear-down. This worked well. He volunteered during the hours of the event.
Music was provided outside by John Allan and Graham Benvie.
On Sunday, August 12 Bill Curry led a tour at the Founder’s Cemetery. Again, bright sunshine and about a dozen people attended. Well done…..donations of $38.00
An event like this does not happen without help and hard work from many people. On the actual day we had sixteen individuals helping and numerous volunteers who helped before the event and afterwards. Overall, success….
The unofficial amount raised on Heritage Days 2018 – $4925.00
For next year we have had the suggestion of the theme “Transportation through the years” and perhaps have a drive-through of half a dozen old cars.
Other suggestions for next year –
We increase the number of sausages on the grills – they were a big hit.
We print a list of auction items for those attending the auctions
We take in more money on the grills than the desserts – maybe should examine that
Two people should be floating the event for trouble shooting – too many things for one person
Lists for dessert donations has been reviewed and revised – as per suggestions for those who were making the calls
500 handouts would have been adequate
Date for next year – August 10-11
Respectfully submitted
Susan Moores
Fundraising Chair
Archivist Committee Report
Nancy Curry
Finance Committee Chair
Outreach Chair and Chair’s Report
Board Meeting
Monday, 28 May, 2018
Outreach Chair and Chair’s Report
The key activities for the Outreach chair have been preparing for and helping organize the 2018 Heritage Days and the ongoing outreach efforts, including a cemetery tour set (2 in Founders) and the website.
The 3 cemeteries are in very good shape. The new signage is up and the QR codes are now all transplanted and ready to be viewed. The new “long” signs are up on either end of the village. We were planning two cemetery tours this summer – one held in August with Heritage Days and another in September with a Mayflower focus. Both are also tied to efforts to get listed in the Doers and Dreamers Guide for NS. The August one was attended by about 10 or so of our members and others, and was very well received, the other goes this Friday for the Mayflower Colony of NS, and we already have a half dozen people registered.
I did an interview with Eastlink for In-Focus that aired in June.
The website has now had over 207,000 hits from 114,000 visitors – and we keep on growing!
George Snow and I have been adding information about removals – each of the 100 or so Removals now has their own webpage, and photos of the markers will be added soon. This means that every one of the known 240 or so “Residents” or “former residents” of our cemeteries has been documented to some extent. We are also now thinking of putting a guide to the removals in Island Cemetery, with QR codes on the list to show who was a removal. This will also help spike interest in the cemeteries in that many of these folks who were removed are family members tied to the community and the people buried in Old Stones cemeteries.
The website has had a bit of a makeover. Register.com and parent company Web.com produced a rather messy error when they locked me out of our accounts due to a billing error. This caused me to have a couple dozen conversations with them, but as a result the website for Old Stones is more secure. We now sit with our own completely separate account, and I’m working on getting our own e-mail which might be info@oldstones.ca. The upshot is that my photography business has gone elsewhere, but Old Stones remains local and I hope we can continue this – although I should mention, their competition made it very easy to transfer! We’ll see how we do and if they can continue to serve us!
Sincerely,
Bill Curry – Outreach chair and Chair, Old Stones Society
New Business:
Proposed Calendar for 2018-2019
Calendar of Events:
Proposed Dates for 2018/2019:
Monday 19 November 2018, 7 pm: Board Meeting, Port Maitland Fire Hall
Monday 18 February 2019, 7 pm: Board Meeting, Port Maitland Fire Hall
Monday 29 April 2019, 7 pm: Annual General Meeting, Port Maitland Fire Hall
Monday 27 May 2019, 7 pm: Board Meeting, Port Maitland Fire Hall
Friday 9 August 2019: Set Up for Port Maitland Heritage Days (all day)
Saturday 10 August 2019: Port Maitland Heritage Day – Auction, Dessert Café and BBQ, – PM Fire Hall
Monday 23 September 2019, 7 pm: Board Meeting, Port Maitland Fire Hall
Monday 18 November, 2019 – 7 pm: Board Meeting, Port Maitland Fire Hall
Meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.
General Meeting Old Stones
Date- May 28, 2018, Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
Number of attendance –
ChairBill Curry
Vice-ChairGeorge Snow
Maintenance & Restoration ChairAlex Blooi
TreasurerBev Outhouse
Recording SecretaryNorma Curry
Corresponding & Membership SecretaryMarilyn Ellis
Corresponding & Membership Vice-SecretaryDiane Rose
Fund Raising ChairSusan Moores
Fund Raising Vice-Chairs
Finance Committee ChairLlewellyn Outhouse
OutreachChairBill Curry
ArchivistsNancy Curry & Linda Campbell
Past Chairvacant
Agenda approved yes__X_ no___
Regrets from: John Allen, George Snow, Dianne Rose
Minutes
Minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes:
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Read by Bev Outhouse.
Alex Blooi
Maintenance and Restoration Chair Report
The mowing season has started again. All 3 cemeteries were mowed and weed- whacked last week. Our casual labor, Brian Doan has proven to be a valuable asset.
The flags, information panels and guest boxes should be up soon. Two yards of class “A” gravel was ordered and delivered. This will come in handy when fixing the path and holes created by rock removal. Tree branches were removed and disposed of. This makes mowing a little easier.
Plans are underway to remove the old sandboxes that have been piled up beside the shed. Work will begin soon on the clearing of the Northwest corner of the Calvinist cemetery. Rock removal will be an ongoing chore.
Someone made rather deep ruts in path going to the lake. Repairs are underway.
Marilyn Ellis, correspondence Secretary
Old Stones
Correspondence Report
For
Board Meeting May 28th, 2018
May, 2018 – a Thank You card and a membership card for 2018 was sent to Joan Brown
If there are any of our members or volunteers who need a card (sickness, sympathy, thank you, etc) please let me know. Thank you.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
Membership Report
For
Old Stones Board Meeting
May 28, 2018
As of this date we have 15 Renewed members, 1 new member, 3 Honorary members, and 1 Life Member for a total of 20 members.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis ~ Membership Secretary
OLD STONES – FUNDRAISING REPORT
Susan Moores
OLD STONES – FUNDRAISING
MAY 28, 2018
We have spent time over the last month working on two projects: Firstly, the Port Maitland Village Yard Sale, June 2, 2018 and secondly, Heritage Days, August 11, 2018.
The plans for the yard sale are pretty much finalized and it seems we have lots of things to sell at this event. We have a group of five people to work the sale, Marilyn Ellis will be on hand to sell memberships and Bill Curry is preparing a visual display of the work we are doing and will be on hand to promote the overall project. At this point, we hope for a good day and hopefully everyone who helps will have a good time.
Plans for Heritage Day are underway. We seem to have a good number of items for the auction and are currently working to secure brown bag auction items. We will also have the dessert cafe, burgers and hot dogs for sale, live music, and generally a good time! We will continue to finalize plans as we draw closer to the summer months and as the date approaches.
Respectfully submitted
Susan Moores
Archivist Committee Report
Nancy Curry
We have one addition to the materials: a copy of the Canadian Pilgrim that highlights the efforts of our preservation committee and was written by Bill Curry. The date is Spring 2018. Thanks Bill, for helping to get the word out about our work and highlighting how many of those “residents” were descendants of those first colonists in America.
A helpful discussion about the storage of materials was held at the annual meeting. We will be moving forward in the next 2 months with sorting and storing materials in a more manageable format.
Submitted by Nancy Curry
Finance Committee Chair
The committee is in the process of adding Lew as another person who can sign checques.
Lew Outhouse.
There have been no changes in the investments since the last meeting.
Outreach Chair and Chair’s Report
Board Meeting
Monday, 28 May, 2018
Outreach Chair and Chair’s Report
The key activities for the Outreach chair have been preparing for the 2018 season and doing some prep work for the Heritage Days and the ongoing outreach efforts.
The 3 cemeteries are in very good shape. The new signage is up and the QR codes are now all transplanted and ready to be viewed. The new “long” signs will also go up soon. We are planning two cemetery tours this summer – one in August with heritage Days and another in September with a Mayflower focus. Both are also tied to efforts to get listed in the Doers and Dreamers Guide for NS.
I did an interview with Eastlink for “In-Focus” and this will air in early June.
The website has now had over 200,000 hits from 100,000 visitors – and we keep on growing!
George Snow and I have been adding information about removals – each of the 100 or so Removals now has their own webpage, and photos of the markers will be added soon. This means that every one of the known 240 or so “Residents” or “former residents” of our cemeteries has been documented to some extent. We are also now thinking of putting a guide to the removals in Island Cemetery, with QR codes on the list to show who was a removal. This will also help spike interest in the cemeteries in that many of these folks who were removed are family members tied to the community and the people buried in Old Stones cemeteries.
We have at least one new Board member. We welcome John Allan.
All of this is excellent and our work is something we should all be proud of – keeping the memory of our ancestors and their community alive!
Sincerely,
Bill Curry – Outreach chair and Chair, Old Stones Society
New Business:
! We welcome the new member, John Allan. He was unable to attend this evening.
2. The yard sale is all arranged. Any sale items can be dropped off June 2ndat 8 a.m. at the site of the yard sale at Patti Durkee’s corner lot located in Port Maitland Village across from Shore Grocery.
3. Heritage Day plans are ongoing.
Meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
Annual Meeting “Old Stones”
Date- April 23, 2018 Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
Attendance –
ChairBill Curry
Vice-ChairGeorge Snow
Maintenance & Restoration ChairAlex Blooi
TreasurerBev Outhouse
Recording SecretaryNorma Curry
Corresponding & Membership SecretaryMarilyn Ellis
Corresponding & Membership Vice-SecretaryDiane Rose
Fund Raising ChairSusan Moores
Fund Raising Vice-Chairs
Finance Committee ChairLlewellyn Outhouse
OutreachChairBill Curry
ArchivistsNancy Curry & Linda Campbell
Past Chairvacant
Agenda approved yes__X_ no___
Regrets from Alex Blooi
Minutes
Minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes:
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Read by Bev Outhouse.
RESTORATION AND MAINTENANCE
REPORT
We have had a very busy and productive spring and summer. The new shed arrived and was put in place. The lawn mowers, gas oil and other assorted tools needed for the maintenance of the cemeteries are safely under lock and key. George Snow made 6 new boxes that will be in place before the snow flies. All the new QR codes are on the bricks and some have already found their way by the markers. Mowing has been sporadic yet the grounds looked pretty good most of the time. It is now possible to mow 90% with the ride on. This was unthinkable just a few years ago.
On a sad note, we had some vandalism in the Free Will Cemetery that was discovered on June 13 . The markers of Matilda Horton, Israel McCormack and Margaret McCormack were damaged with red spray paint. Margaret’s marker was also knocked over and broken at the base. Israel’s marker was also knocked over but not broken. This is the first time that any vandalism has occurred in the past 17 years. Lets hope that this will be an isolated incident. The RCMP, were notified and an officer came out and took photographs of the damage. These have been put on file. George and I sought advice on how to remove the graffiti. Jack Dease at Mountain cemetery was very helpful and suggested that we order a solution from Quebec that would remove the paint. We split the cost with Mountain Cemetery, as they also wanted some. The trade mark name is ELEPHANT SNOT.
Jack had some good suggestions for repairing broken markers. The markers were cleaned on July 29. Bill Curry John Alan and I spent about 2 hours with great success removing the paint. A slight red hue is still visible if you look hard enough.
The broken marker was fixed using liquid nail (Jack Dease solution) this has worked out well. All is back to normal.
In order to properly install the bricks with the QR codes we ordered 2 yards of gravel and 2 yards of to soil from Rose Valley. The gravel and top soil have delivered and dumped beside the shed. A cart was purchased from George’s Truck and Tractor for hauling around the materials. We need to put together a work party to paint the shed before winter.
Projects to be completed:
1.QR codes
2.rock clearing
3.replace boxes
4.clear north west side of Calvanist
5.hire a student or casual labourer for next year.
Alex Blooi
Marilyn Ellis, correspondent Secretary
Membership Report
For
Old Stones AGM
April 23, 2018
For the year 2017 we had 52 Members; including 48 paid members, 3 honorary members, and 1 life member.
This is a new year and time to renew your membership for 2018.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis ~ Membership Secretary
Old Stones
Correspondence Report
For
AGM April 23rd, 2018
May, 2017 – 11 Thank you notes sent to the Volunteers for the maintenance of the Cemeteries.
November, 2017 – 13 Thank you notes were sent to the Volunteers during Heritage Day.
February, 2018 – 26 Thank you notes sent to those who donated items or services for our fun raiser.
February, 2018 – a Thank you card sent to Linda and Roger Hubbard for their contribution to the
Society.
If there are any of our members or volunteers who need a card (sickness, sympathy, thank you, etc) please let me know. Thank you.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
OLD STONES – FUNDRAISING REPORT
Susan Moores
OLD STONES ANNUAL REPORT 2017
FUNDRAISING
The year 2017 was a learning curve for me as chair of the Fundraising Committee. I followed plans that were in place by my predecessors who already had a well organized fundraising plan in place.
Last spring we added an event by having a table at the Port Maitland Village Yard Sale. We had auction items left from years gone past and this seemed like a good place to clear them out and make a few dollars. We set up on the lawn/sidewalk by the corner lot belonging to Tom and Patti Durkee and another table at Karen Andrew’s home. We cleared $179.55 and sold nearly everything we had on the tables. We also sold memberships and raffle tickets on the lawn tractor. I think everyone who helped enjoyed themselves.
We sold tickets on a lawn tractor. Selling tickets was a big effort by everyone – expecially by Alex Blooi, Roger Hubbard and George Snow. In addition to selling tickets to friends and acquaintances, they attended a number of local community events where they sold tickets on the lawn tractor. After paying for the machine we cleared a total of $1607.19.
Heritage Day on August 12, 2017 was successful in spite of a rainy morning. We quickly rearranged our plans of using space outside and moved everything under cover. Everyone was a good sport with the new arrangements. The display featured fishing and lobstering in Port Maitland “in days gone by”. We had an overflow crowd attending the auction and had to move additional chairs for seating into the space. We had a brown bag auction, sold memberships, sold tickets on the lawn tractor, pulled pork sandwiches, hot dogs and burgers were served and musical entertainment. As usual, the dessert cafe was outstanding and in addition to selling individual servings, we sold cakes by the whole and half. We were practically sold out at the end of the event. In addition to those who baked desserts, we had a total of twenty three volunteer helpers for that day. The final total for this day was $4667.82.
Overall, last year was successful in terms of raising money. I want to thank all who volunteered to help make these events successful………this would not happen without the efforts of many hands. Thank you…..
Respectfully submitted
Susan Moores
Susan Moores
902-649-3040
Archivist Committee Report
Annual report for the archives committee 2017.
We have had no new material passed along to us this year. If there are any pictures of the “yard sale”, tractor ticket sales, or the auction/dessert fundraiser please pass them along to us to be included in the record of events. The collection is safely stored but space is an issue in both our houses. We would like some clarification as to what you really want us to be doing for the society.
Nancy Curry
Finance Committee Chair
Lew Outhouse.
Investments are noted in the annual report by the treasurer.
Outreach Chair and Chair’s Report
Board Meeting
Monday, 23 April, 2018
Outreach Chair and Chair’s Report
The key activities for the Outreach chair have been preparing for the 2018 season after a great 2017, particularly the Heritage Day(s) and working on the website as well as looking for Board members who can help us carry in our efforts.
The 3 cemeteries are in very good shape. The new signage is up and the QR codes are now all transplanted and ready to be viewed. The new “long” signs will also go up soon – one at the junction of Highway 1 and the Richmond Road and another across from the Rose Valley location as one enters Port Maitland from the South. These signs have attracted a lot of attention when we constructed the one to the North, and hopefully this will intrigue people as to what our cemeteries are all about.
I have been contacted by the Mayflower Society and they want to do TWO articles on Old Stones – one for the summer “Quarterly”, and another for the Mayflower Journal. These two pieces would go to all the hundreds of members of the Mayflower Society world-wide!
The website has now had over 200,000 hits from 100,000 visitors – and we keep on growing!
George Snow and I have been adding information about removals – we are also now working on upgrading each of the “Removals” to their own webpage, which we have just about completed – each of the 100 or so Removals now has their own webpage, and photos of the markers will be added in the Spring. We are also now thinking of putting a guide to the removals in Island Cemetery, with QR codes on the list to show who was a removal. This will also help spike interest in the cemeteries in that many of these folks who were removed are family members tied to the community and the people buried in Old Stones cemeteries.
The planning for the Heritage Days is underway after a wonderfully successful day last summer in the rain – we have some great photos to share – and we have at least one new Board member. This is excellent and our work is something we should all be proud of – keeping the memory of our ancestors and their community alive!
Sincerely,
Bill Curry – Outreach chair and Chair, Old Stones Society
New Business:
We have 11 Board members and can have up to 15. John Allen has agreed to join the Board.
- George has moved the nominatinos for the new board (which was the same list as last year plus John Allen) and Linda has seconded.
Linda moved that nominations cease and Bev seconded. Nominations accepted.
John will be approached and will choose a slot of his liking for a position on the Board.
Discussion was introduced to encourage new board members to assist with maintenance and vice chair. - Lew will ask if the society archives could be stored in the Fire Hall.
- Susan reminded the group that we will need donations for the yard sale in June.
- Brainstorming of ideas needed to help advertise and promote the fund -raiser in August.
Meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
General Meeting Old Stones
Attendance
Date- February 19, 2018 Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
Chair Bill Curry
Vice-Chair George Snow
Maintenance & Restoration Chair Alex Blooi
Treasurer Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary Norma Curry
Fund Raising Chair Susan Moores
Finance Committee Chair Llewellyn Outhouse
Outreach Chair Bill Curry
Agenda approved yes__X_ no___
Regrets from Marilyn Ellis, Diane Rose, Nancy Curry and Linda Campbell
Minutes
Minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Read by Bev Outhouse.
Alex Blooi
Nothing to report today.
Marilyn Ellis, correspondent Secretary
Old Stones
Correspondence Report
For
Board Meeting February 19th, 2018
Diane and myself have been busy writing to the ones who had donated to our fund raiser in August 2017. We sent out 26 thank you notes to the following:
- Ascension
- Bailey’s Bakery
- Bamboo Garden Restaurant
- Boston Pizza
- Cindy’s Home Décor
- Comic Book Store
- Dayton Fruit Stand
- George’s Truck and Tractor
- Hugh Robicheau Law Firm
- Jo-Anne’s Quick-N-Tasty
- Jone’s Gym
- Le Village Acadien
- Marco’s Restaurant
- Petvalu
- Red Cap Restaurant
- Rose Valley
- Tony Muise Auto Repair
- Uncle Dude’s Country Kitchen & Event Centre
- Yarmouth Garden Club
- YMCA
- Barbara Surette
- Brian Porter
- Gerry Curry
- John Allan
- Mark Weagle
- Ruth Kirk
I also sent a “thank you” note to Linda & Roger Hubbard for their contribution to this society.If there are any of our members or volunteers who need a card (sickness, sympathy, thank you, etc) please let me know. Thank you.
Respectfully,
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
Membership Report
For
Old Stones Board meeting
February 19th, 2018
For the year 2017 we had 52 members; it included 48 paid members, 3 honorary members, and 1 life member.
2018 is a new year and time to renew your memberships.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis, Membership Secretary
OLD STONES – FUNDRAISING REPORT
Susan Moores
OLD STONES – FUNDRAISING REPORT
February 19, 2018
Over the past couple of months some very preliminary work has been done towards the two fundraising events planned for the summer.
- We will have a table in the Village Yard Sale – date yet to be announced. Alex reports that he has items suitable for a yard sale. If each member of the board gathers a few things from their own home as they are “spring cleaning” I think we will have a considerable number of items for sale on that day. Details will be worked out as we get closer and I will be reminding you again at upcoming meetings.
- The Old Stones Heritage Day is set for August 11, 2018. We have secured use of the fire hall for both Friday and Saturday so the set-up should not be such a rush. We tried to secure an attractive item for a raffle but were not successful. Instead of selling raffle tickets this year we will put more effort into promoting the Heritage Day event and trying to have some more higher end items at the auction to make up for the shortfall of the money that would have been raised in a raffle. The theme will be Port Maitland – over the years – as a tourist destination. During the month of April we will start planning details for this event.
Respectfully submitted
Susan Moores
902-649-3040
Archivist Committee Report
Nancy Curry
No report was submitted.
Finance Committee Chair
Lew Outhouse.
There have been no changes in the investments since the last meeting.
Outreach Chair and Chair’s Report
February 19, 2018
The key activities for the Outreach chair have been preparing for the 2018 season, particularly the Heritage Days and working on the website as well as looking for Board members who can help us carry in our efforts.
The 3 cemeteries are in very good shape. The new signage is up and the QR codes are now all transplanted and ready to be viewed. Carla Allen did a wonderful article on us published in both the Chronicle Herald and the Vanguard. Hopefully this will continue to spur interest in Old Stones and the cemeteries.
The website has now had over 200,000 hits from 100,000 visitors – and we keep on growing!
George Snow and I have been adding information about removals – we are also now working on upgrading each of the “Removals” to their own webpage, which we have just about completed – each of the 100 or so Removals now has their own webpage, and photos of the markers will be added in the spring. We are also now thinking of putting a guide to the removals in Island Cemetery, with QR codes on the list to show who was a removal. This will also help spike interest in the cemeteries in that many of these folks who were removed are family members tied to the community and the people buried in Old Stones cemeteries.
The planning for the Heritage Days is underway – we have some great photos to share – and we have at least a couple of new Board members. This is excellent and our work is something we should all be proud of – keeping the memory of our ancestors and their community alive!
Sincerely,
Bill Curry – Outreach chair and Chair, Old Stones Society
New Business:
- Reviewed the list of suggestions for nominations for the board. In April nominations will be done at this time.
SUGGESTIONS FOR NOMINATIONS FOR THE BOARD
Bill Curry – Chairman of the Board, outreach chair
Norma Curry – Recording secretary
Bev Outhouse – Treasurer
Lew Outhouse – Chair Finance Committee
Marilyn Ellis – Corresponding and Membership Secretary
Diane Rose – Vice Secretary with Marilyn
Nancy Curry
Linda Campbell……Archivists
Alex Blooi – Maintenance and restoration chair
Susan Moores – Fundraising chair
George Snow – Vice Chair
New Members being proposed to join the Board
Margaret Kaminski – Cedar Lake
John Allan – Hector Street
Finance Committee Members
Lew Outhouse – Chair
Bill Curry
Susan Moores
Alex Blooi
Bev Outhouse
Brian Johnson
- Susan suggested we purchase a canopy. Susan made a motion that we purchase an impact canopy with walls stipulating we don’t spend more than $300. 00. Bev seconded. Bill will watch for sales of this item to ensure the best price is found. The motion was passed unanimously.
Meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
General Meeting Old Stones
Date- November 20, 2017
Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
Number of attendance –
Chair Bill Curry
Vice-Chair George Snow
Maintenance & Restoration Chair Alex Blooi
Treasurer Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary Norma Curry
Corresponding & Membership Secretary Marilyn Ellis
Corresponding & Membership Vice-Secretary Diane Rose
Fund Raising Chair Susan Moores
Finance Committee Chair Llewellyn Outhouse
Outreach Chair Bill Curry
Archivists Nancy Curry & Linda Campbell
Past Chair vacant
Absent: Nancy Curry and Linda Campbell.
Minutes
Minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes:
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Read by Bev Outhouse.
Alex Blooi
RESTORATION AND MAINTENANCE CHAIR REPORT
Another season of maintenance and restoration is behind us. The mowers are safely under lock and key in our new shed. Our new John Deere mower now has 29.4 hours on it, and has been a great asset in the mowing of all three properties.
Thanks to George Snow for building new boxes for the markers that needed them. They are now in place. The QR codes have been replaced and positioned in a way that allows for weed whacking without damaging them. The flagpoles have been taken down for the winter. The removal of many rocks and boulders has made it easier to mow. This will be an ongoing project as they “grow” over time. Tree limbs have been lopped off where needed. A big thanks, to Lew Outhouse for painting the shed. It is hardly noticeable from the road. We are awaiting the arrival of a game cam for security. The markers that were damaged by vandals have been restored and the damage is barely noticeable. We are also now the owners of a Honda weed whacker. This will come in handy when we finally get to the north –west corner of the Calvanist cemetery. This will hopefully take place in the spring.
Although we were able to get some help from volunteers this summer, we have had to hire help. This brings up the need for discussion regarding the future of volunteers.
A lot has been accomplished this season. Future proposed projects include:
- Removal of rocks and boulders.
- Clearing in Calvanist.
- Gravel to upgrade pathway.
- Hiring casual labor for the summer.
Thanks to all I may have missed who helped in any way. Looking forward to next year.
Alex Blooi
Restoration and Maintenance Chair
Marilyn Ellis, correspondent Secretary
Old Stones
Correspondence Report
For
Board Meeting November 20th, 2017
To date I haven’t received the list of donors for the items auctioned off at Heritage Day.
I did receive the volunteers during Heritage Day and wrote out 13 thank you notes to: Denise Blooi, John Grant, Linda Cann, Petti Durkee, Henry and Margaret Kaminski, Bernie Hurlburt, Karen Dolan, Gerry Curry, Rod Moores, Brian Ottensen, Graham Benvie, John Allan, and Elizabeth and her Band (Sounds of Colour).
If there are any of our members or volunteers who need a card (sickness, sympathy, thank you, etc) please let me know. Thank you.
Respectfully,
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
Membership Report
For
Old Stones Board Meeting
November 20th, 2017
As of September 18th, 2017 we had 46 paid members, 1 life member, and 3 honorary members. Since that date we have two new members from the US; one paid up for 4 years and another for 5 years.
At present we have 48 paid members, 1 Life member, and 3 honorary members for a grand total of 52 members.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
OLD STONES – FUNDRAISING REPORT
November 20, 2017
As we start to look forward to 2018 in terms of raising funds for the continuing maintenance of the three historic cemeteries, we have two events on the agenda.
We plan to participate in the Village Wide Yard Sale held annually in the village of Port Maitland during the month of June. A date has not been set for this event. We do encourage all members and interested folks to save yard sale items as you are cleaning up after the Christmas holiday or doing spring cleaning for this event. We can pick up items and I will remind you as we get closer. Last year this event raised money and awareness of our project, we sold memberships, tickets on the lawn tractor and had a good time.
The Old Stones Heritage Day is tentatively set for August 11, 2018. The format we use will be similar to other years and we are always looking for ways to improve the day so please do not hesitate to make suggestions. As a heritage theme we are looking at focusing on Port Maitland – over the years – as a tourist destination. In the spring we will be looking for some help in researching and developing this theme. We will continue again in 2018 with the auction, dessert cafe, music, etc.
Respectfully submitted
Susan Moores
902 649-3040
Archivist Committee Report
Nancy Curry
No report was submitted.
Finance Committee Chair
Lew Outhouse.
There have been no changes in the investments since the last meeting.
Monday, 20 November, 2017
Outreach Chair and Chair’s Report
The key activities for the Outreach chair have been preparing for the 2018 season and working on the website.
The 3 cemeteries are in very good shape. The new signage is up and the QR codes are now all transplanted and ready to be viewed. Carla Allen will be doing an article on us to be published soon, and hopefully this will continue to spur interest in Old Stones and the cemeteries.
The website has now had over 190,000 hits from 97,000 visitors – and we keep on growing!
George Snow and I have been adding information about where the “residents” lived and what they did for a living, and Bill Day has assisted us in a couple of profiles. We are putting this information up on the website. We are also now working on upgrading each of the “Removals” to their own webpage, with a thought tp putting a guide to the removals in Island Cemetery, with QR codes on the list to show who was a removal. This will also help spike interest in the cemeteries in that many of these folks who were removed are family members tied to the community and the people buried in Old Stones cemeteries.
We now begin to plan for the 2018 year. Challenges await with the loss of a couple of Board members (we do need a vice-chair/PR type person), and we still need to draw in new members, but our work is something we should all be proud of – keeping the memory of our ancestors and their community alive!
Sincerely,
Bill Curry – Outreach chair and Chair, Old Stones Society
New Business:
- Bev Outhouse moved that Old Stones include $34.50 in the budget to pay for Quicken updates.
Alex Blooi seconded - Lew moved that we put $5000 into a GIA account.
Norma Curry seconded. Passed unanimously - Changes in the Calendar of Events were reviewed.
- Proposed budget was reviewed
Alex moved to accept the proposed budget and Susan Moores seconded it. Passed unanimously. - Alex moves signing authority changed to include Lew Outhouse. Passed unanimously.Marilyn seconded.
Signing authority would become:
Bev Outhouse, George Snow, Bill Curry and Lew Outhouse.
6). George Snow will be the nomination chair.
Meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.
———————————————————————-
General Meeting Old Stones
Date- September 18. 2017 Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
Number in attendance –
Chair Bill Curry
Vice-Chair George Snow
Maintenance & Restoration Chair Alex Blooi
Treasurer Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary Norma Curry
Fund Raising Chair Susan Moores
Finance Committee Chair Llewellyn Outhouse
Outreach Chair Bill Curry
Agenda approved yes__X_ no___
Regrets from Linda Campbell, Marilyn Ellis, Linda and Roger Hubbard, Nancy Curry, Diane Rose.
Minutes
Minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes:
Applied for the grant for Old Stones – received
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Read by Bev Outhouse.
Maintenance and Restoration
Alex Blooi
RESTORATION AND MAINTENANCE
REPORT
We have had a very busy and productive spring and summer. The new shed arrived and was put in place. The lawn mowers, gas oil and other assorted tools needed for the maintenance of the cemeteries are safely under lock and key. George Snow made 6 new boxes that will be in place before the snow flies. All the new QR codes are on the bricks and some have already found their way by the markers. Mowing has been sporadic yet the grounds looked pretty good most of the time. It is now possible to mow 90% with the ride on. This was unthinkable just a few years ago.
On a sad note, we had some vandalism in the Free Will Cemetery that was discovered on June 13 . The markers of Matilda Horton, Israel McCormack and Margaret McCormack were damaged with red spray paint. Margaret’s marker was also knocked over and broken at the base. Israel’s marker was also knocked over but not broken. This is the first time that any vandalism has occurred in the past 17 years. Lets hope that this will be an isolated incident. The RCMP, were notified and an officer came out and took photographs of the damage. These have been put on file. George and I sought advice on how to remove the graffiti. Jack Dease at Mountain cemetery was very helpful and suggested that we order a solution from Quebec that would remove the paint. We split the cost with Mountain Cemetery, as they also wanted some. The trade mark name is ELEPHANT SNOT.
Jack had some good suggestions for repairing broken markers. The markers were cleaned on July 29. Bill Curry John Alan and I spent about 2 hours with great success removing the paint. A slight red hue is still visible if you look hard enough.
The broken marker was fixed using liquid nail (Jack Dease solution) this has worked out well. All is back to normal.
In order to properly install the bricks with the QR codes we ordered 2 yards of gravel and 2 yards of to soil from Rose Valley. The gravel and topsoil have been delivered and dumped beside the shed. A cart was purchased from George’s Truck and Tractor for hauling around the materials. We need to put together a work party to paint the shed before winter.
Projects to be completed:
1.QR codes
2.rock clearing
3.replace boxes
4.clear north west side of Calvinist
5.hire a student or casual labourer for next year.
Alex Blooi
Maintenance and Restoration Chair
Marilyn Ellis, correspondent Secretary
Membership Report
For
Old Stones Board Meeting
September 18th, 2017
As of May 22, 2017 we had 19 paid members, 1 life member, and 3 honorary members.
On June 10th, 2017 at the Port Maitland Annual Yard Sale we added 2 renewed memberships and 6 new memberships.
From the Port Maitland Heritage Day (August 12th, 2017), we added 8 renewed members and 10 new members. One member (Nat Maillet) paid at the Heritage Day when she had already renewed her membership at the Yard Sale day; so she is on the membership for next year (2018).
At present we have 46 paid members, 1 Life member, and 3 honorary members for a grand total of 50 members.
A special ‘thank you’ to Roger Hubbard who sat in for me on Heritage Day due to my absence; it was appreciated.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
Old Stones
Correspondence Report
For
Board Meeting September 18th, 2017
Since the last meeting, there hasn’t been any correspondence to report. As soon as the list of donors for the items auctioned off at Heritage Day come in, we will be busy sending out the ‘thank you; notes.
If there are any of our members or volunteers who need a card (sickness, sympathy, thank you, etc) please let me know. Thank you.
Respectfully,
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
OLD STONES – FUNDRAISING REPORT
Meeting – September 18. 2017
June 12 – Village Yard Sale…….we operated two tables for the yard sale – one at the home of Karen Andrews and one by the empty corner lot owned by Patti Durkee. We were able to sell most of the left over items from previous Heritage Day auctions. It was a fun day and we ended the day with a total amount of $179.55. I would recommend we do this again next June.
Raffle Tickets…..An excellent effort was made to sell the raffle tickets on the ride-on lawn tractor. Alex Blooi and Roger Hubbard took the lead on this endevour as well as George Snow who did well with his effort of selling tickets – 109 of them! Alex and Roger attended several summer events with the lawn tractor where they sold tickets. After paying for the lawn tractor we cleared a total of $1607.19
August 12 – Heritage Day……This day was successful in spite of the rainy morning. Everyone quickly moved into “Plan B” to make the day work as smoothly as possible. The fire department kindly moved two trucks and we were able to have a number of things under cover inside. The heritage fishing display moved inside as well as the music by Elizabeth Wright, John Allan and Graham Benvie. We sold the food tickets inside and also raffle tickets with the ride-on lawn tractor on display inside. The brown bag raffle, the dessert cafe and the afternoon auction was held in the usual place with a large attendance – we had to move in extra chairs to seat everyone. The auction moved along nicely and was finished before 3:00 p.m. The dessert cafe sold most of the desserts – either as individual servings or by the half or the whole. At the end of the afternoon we had only a few cookies and muffins left. Our membership/donation table did well. We had a total of twenty three volunteer helpers for the day. Everyone did their part in the clean-up after the event. The final total for this day was $4667.82
These figures were provided by treasurer Bev Outhouse and their may still be a few small outstanding bills which have not been yet accounted for.
We have had some suggestions for improving for next year.
- As our group is getting older perhaps we look at hiring some younger help for a few hours in both the setting up and the tearing down.
- There were two dogs who were in the food/auction area and it was suggested that we not allow this – for Dept. of Health purposes and some people are uneasy about dogs.
- There seemed to be a fair bit of chat/visiting during the auction and we need to address how this can be controlled.
This event was already well organized and a smoothly running machine so I cannot take credit for what I thought was a very successful day. Thank you to everyone who baked for the dessert cafe or volunteered on that day or in preparation for the event itself.
Respectfully submitted
Susan Moores
Fundraising Chair
Archivist Committee Report
Nancy Curry
No report was submitted.
Finance Committee Chair
Lew Outhouse.
There have been no changes in the investments since the last meeting.
Monday, 18 September, 2017
Outreach Chair and Chair’s Report
The key activities for the Outreach chair have been preparing for the 2017 season and working on the website and facebook.
The Heritage Day is now completed and it was a wonderful success despite the rain.
For the season, we put all new QR codes on the bricks in the Free Will and Founders cemeteries.
We had a small act of vandalism in Free Will Cemetery – Alex, John Allan and I repaired it after George and Alex investigated the process needed to repair the markers. Sad, but we’re fixed up now and have taken steps to reduce the likelihood of future damage.
We have new flags in all three cemeteries (Thanks Zach Churchill) and new panels as well (thanks Municipality of Yarmouth). With the completion of the QR code installation, we will have achieved our Canada 150 goal and be all ready to roll and welcome many folks for the next several years. We’ll chat about this effort in New Business.
The website has now been switched to a domain on its own – www.oldstones.ca
This means that the site can be backed up on its own and the spam is directed through it on its own as well. I am working with Register.com to make sure that the database, the key piece, could be restored in the event of an “emergency”, and we tested it and it worked fine! (Whew!)
The website has now had 172,082 hits from 94,900 visitors – and we keep on growing!
George Snow and I have been adding information about where the “residents” lived and what they did for a living, and Bill Day has assisted us in a couple of profiles. We are putting this information up on the website. The website also plays a support role to the fund-raising as it has been a great venue along with Facebook to reach folks who might come to Heritage Day.
All in all, a great season and now we begin to plan for the 2018 year. Challenges await with the loss of a couple of Board members, and we still need to draw in new members, but our work is something we should all be proud of – keeping the memory of our ancestors and their community alive!
Sincerely,
Bill Curry – Outreach chair and Chair, Old Stones Society
New Business:
- Linda and Roger Hubbard are resigning from the group. The group will need to find new board members to replace them.
- A discussion was held about future maintenance costs Occurred
- Discussion of how to get listed with the Department of Tourism4. Calendar for next year’s events will be distributed.Bill moved to accept the calendar dates:
Accepted by consensus.Meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
General Meeting “Old Stones”
Date- May 22, 2017 Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
Attendance –
Chair Bill Curry
Vice-Chair George Snow
Maintenance & Restoration Chair Alex Blooi
Treasurer Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary Norma Curry
Corresponding & Membership Secretary Marilyn Ellis
Fund Raising Chair Susan Moores
Fund Raising Vice-Chairs Roger Hubbard & Linda Hubbard
Finance Committee Chair Llewellyn Outhouse
Outreach Chair Bill Curry
Archivists Nancy Curry
Past Chair vacant
Agenda approved
Regrets from Dianne Rose, Linda Campbell
Minutes
Minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes:
Applied for the grant from MODY for Old Stones. We are still waiting for the response.
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Read by Bev Outhouse.
Maintenance and Restoration
MAINTENCE CHAIR REPORT May 22,2017.
Alex Blooi
Maintenance and Restorations Chair Report
The mowing season is here. Our volunteer list remains the same with no new recruits as yet.
Our new shed will be arriving the week of the 29th of May. A spot has been agreed upon and branches cut to allow the shed to be placed behind the Dawson bench. We had initially thought of placing it about half way to the bridge. In order to do that would require cutting down 3or4 mature and thriving trees. This spot is more in the open and less prone to vandalism. We have been very fortunate in that vandalism has not been an issue. QR codes are almost ready for the bricks and 6 new boxes will be ready this spring.
A cold wet spring curtailed the clearing of the northwest corner of the Calvinist cemetery .We hope to get this done soon.
The flags are here and ready to fly.
We hope to have the cemeteries looking groomed and ready for visitors.
Alex Blooi
Chair
Correspondence Report for Board meeting
Of
Old Stones
May 22nd, 2017
Received the list of volunteers after the last meeting in April 24/2017
May, 2017 – Thank you notes sent to the following 2016 Volunteers;
Phyllis Jayne
Brian Johnson
Howard Snow
John Allan
John Grant
Bernie Hurlburt
Rod Moores
Kempton Newell
Buck Owen
Megan Snow
Ron Kelly and son, Adam
If there are any of our members or volunteers who need a card (sickness, sympathy, thank you, etc) please let me know. Thank you.
Submitted by:
Marilyn Ellis, correspondent Secretary
Old Stones Membership Report
for
Board Meeting
May 22nd, 2017
As of April 24th, 2017 Annual Meeting we had 6 renewed memberships
At present we have 19 paid members, 1 Life member, and 3 honorary members for a total of 23 members. I will be passing $30.00 over to our Treasurer, Bev Outhouse, at this meeting for the 6 memberships.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis, Membership Secretary
OLD STONES – REPORT FROM FUNDRAISING
Meeting, May 22, 2017
I have met with Alex Blooi once since the Annual General Meeting in April. Alex has done an outstanding job of chairing the Fundraising Committee. We discussed previous events and also the events that are planned for the rest of this season. I am trying to learn as much as possible from him. I will meet with the Wednesday morning committee on a regular basis.
Old Stones will have two tables in the Village Yard Sale – one at the home of Karen Andrews which will be staffed by Alex and his wife Joanne. The other one will be on the land at the corner owned by Patti and Tom Durkee. I will staff that table and will look for a helper for that day. George Snow would like to sell raffle tickets on the ride-on lawn mower at the corner site.
Plans are underway for Heritage Day on August 12. Auction items are getting ready, brown bag items are being received, a heritage exhibit of the fishing/lobster industry in Port Maitland is being developed. We will be calling for extra helpers on the evening of August 11 and for the day on August 12.
Respectfully submitted
Susan Moores
Fundraising Chair
Report from archives committee
We have 2 books available for those interested in doing some research this summer.
The first is “Stories in Stone”, a field guide to cemetery symbolism and iconography.
Written and photographed by Douglas Keister.
The second book is “Producing a Quality Family History” by Patricia Law Hatcher published in 1996.
Both of these books are very informative. The cemetery symbolism is a hard backed little book designed to carry around in your back pocket or small daypack. Useful reference when exploring old cemeteries in the province.
Submitted by Nancy Curry
Finance Committee Chair
Lew Outhouse.
There have been no changes in the investments since the last meeting.
Monday, May 22, 2017
Outreach Chair and Chair’s Report
The key activities for the Outreach chair have been preparing for the 2017 season and working on the website.
For the season we plan to put all new QR codes on the bricks in the Free Will and Founders cemeteries. The codes are all printed, and the bricks can now be pulled, dried and will have the codes re-installed quickly. We may need a work party when we get some gravel for the bridge/path to set aside some for planting QR Bricks more carefully than was done before to avoid whipper snipper damage, etc. We had a delay in our Free Will panel printing, but I have found a new pair of printers and I have asked them for a quote – we’ll see who answers first as I’d like to get that done for 1 June 2017, but that may be too ambitious. The Calvinist sign will follow quickly thereafter! The new flags will go up (Zach has set aside three for us), and the guest book boxes are stored and ready to come out as well.
The website has now been switched to a domain on its own – www.oldstones.ca
This means that the site can be backed up on its own and the spam is directed through it on its own as well. I am working with Register.com to make sure that the database, the key piece, could be restored in the event of an “emergency”.
The website has now had 159,000 hits from 90737 visitors – a rather amazing thing.
George Snow and I have been adding information about where the “residents” lived and what they did for a living, and Bill Day has assisted us in a couple of profiles. We are putting this information up on the website. One discovery while doing this is that there are many more “removals” than previously thought – the number is over 100 ! We are working on these as well, and hope to add information, and eventually have webpages for each of them as well – this would be a big effort, but would be very interesting.
I’ll look forward to our “outreach” chat as to what we can do to “add value” tio the Old Stones “experience”…
Sincerely,
Bill Curry – Outreach chair and Chair, Old Stones Society
New Business:
1. A replacement for Marilyn will be needed at the summer event to look for new members. Marilyn will provide the material needed.
2. George will set up a display of fisherman crafts for the heritage day display. If possible, several people will demonstrate the old skills such as net mending, etc. George will also contact Gary Lewis and ask him to bring his display. Alex suggested old photographs would also enhance the display.
3. Bill asked for suggestions to help make Old Stones eligible for designation with the Nova Scotia Tourism. Perhaps a cemetery tour could be arranged.
4. Other suggestions for displays at the summer fund raiser, include using house photos of the “residents” homes and photos of the Old Stones Cemeteries.
Nancy also has paintings by Sandy Gargano, and she and Bill will ask permission to use these.
Meeting adjourned 8:20
————————————————————————–
Annual General Meeting – Old Stones
Date- April 24, 2017 7 p.m.
Attendance –
Chair Bill Curry
Vice-Chair George Snow
Maintenance & Restoration Chair Alex Blooi
Treasurer Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary Norma Curry
Corresponding & Membership Secretary Marilyn Ellis
Corresponding & Membership Vice-Secretary Diane Rose
Fund Raising Chair Alex Blooi
Fund Raising Vice-Chairs Roger Hubbard & Linda Hubbard
Finance Committee Chair Llewellyn Outhouse
Outreach Chair Bill Curry
Outreach Vice-Chair Susan Moores
Archivists Nancy Curry & Linda Campbell
Past Chair vacant
Agenda approved
Regrets from Bev and Lew Outhouse.
Annual Minutes
Minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes:
None
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Read by Bill Curry for Bev Outhouse.
Alex moved and Linda seconded…unanimous. Accepted the report
Maintenance and Restoration
Alex Blooi
Maintenance Report
There has been little activity in our three cemeteries so far this year. However we had a busy 2016.Rocks were removed from the Calvanist and Free Will Baptist cemeteries to make mowing with the ride –on a lot easier. The mowing went smoothly with the help of our dedicated volunteers. We did however have to hire John Grant and Aaron Wellington for some of the jobs. John helped with rock removal etc. and Aaron was a great help to George Snow with painting sign posts and clearing brush in the Calvanist .
Some new bases were made for the Calvanist and the marker for Sarah Goudy was put in place on the south side of the property. All of the sign posts and flag-poles were painted and a new flag pole was erected in Free Will.
The Asa Pitman marker in Free Will had quite a lean on. It was removed and the existing “donut” was cleaned and leveled. The marker was set in place. A Pitman family member has offered to reimburse us for the cost of restoration. Bill Curry has been in touch with him.
Two new dog houses were replaced in the Founders Cemetery and the bridge was replaced by Fred Leblanc under budget.
In the spring, two new push mowers were purchased from Kent’s and we purchased a John Deere D-125 from George’s Truck and Tractor.
For the last 2 years Don Deveau at George’s has loaned us a ride-on .It was old but did the trick. The old mower deck has been removed and we will have the use of it for hauling a cart for gravel etc.
This will save wear and tear on our new equipment.
Plans For 2017
- Remove more rocks.
- Gravel path between Founders and Free Will.
- Improve parking and make a turn around area in the Calvanist.
- Clear brush on north- west side of Calvanist.
- Replace 6 boxes that are around the broken markers. George has made them.
- Complete and install panels in Calvanist and Free Will
We have purchased and are waiting for a 12×16 shed for the storage of our two ride –on mowers, our 6 new push mowers, gas jugs etc.
Happy Harry’s in Digby gave us a good deal on the price of the shed and a discount on the delivery.
There will no doubt be other projects in the coming summer months.
Alex Blooi
Maintenance and Restoration Chair
Correspondence Report for Annual General Meeting
Of Old Stones
April 24th, 2017
March 21st – Sympathy card sent to George Snow on the passing of his sister
March 21st – Get Well card sent to Elsie Outhouse in Hospital
April 24th – Sympathy card to the family of Elsie Outhouse
If there are members or volunteers who need a card (sickness, sympathy, thank you, etc) please let me know.
Thank you.
Submitted by:
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
Old Stones Membership Report
For
Annual General Meeting
April 24th, 2017
As of our Board Meeting, February 20th, 2017 we have 11 renewed memberships and 2 new memberships. We had one of our honorary members, Elsie Outhouse, pass away on Sunday, April 23, 2017. At present we have 13 renewed members, 1 life member, and 3 honorary members for a total of 17 members. At the Board meeting on February 20th, I passed $65.00 over to Beverly Outhouse, treasurer, for the memberships.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis, Membership Secretary
Fund Raising Chair Report
April 24 2017
FUND RAISING CHAIR REPORT
The Port Maitland Heritage Day event held on July 15 2016 was another resounding success. The day saw many new and familiar faces in attendance. Thanks to all the volunteers who were instrumental in making this day so successful. A total of around $6600 was raised by donations, memberships, raffle, BBQ and grill, the dessert café, brown bag auction and our main auction. Thanks to George Snow and Wilfred Allan for the display of 2 Red Cross quilts. These proved to be very popular. The music provided by Graham Benvie and Frank Reeves, was enjoyed by those who sat, in the sun on the many adirondack chairs provided by George and Howard Snow. It was good to see people enjoying the music and the food. A special mention goes out to Erin Power for his assistance with the auction, and it was great to see so many people having fun.
Bill Curry presented a beautiful photograph of “Darlene the Dragon” to Wilfred Allan for his many years of work and dedication to our society. We will miss him greatly and wish him all the best in his new endeavors in Annapolis Royal.
Port Maitland Heritage Day will be held on August 12, 2017. It was felt that the Car Show during SEAFEST was taking away from our event. The auction, dessert café, BBQ, and raffle will again highlight our fund raiser.
It was decided at one of our board meetings to raffle a John Deere D125 Lawn tractor. We have 2000 tickets printed. Sales have been slow but with spring hopefully on the way our sales will pick up.
Items for the auction are coming together.
I will no longer be offering for the position of Fund Raising Chair. Susan Moores has thankfully agreed to take over.
I know we will have a very successful event again this year.
Thank you to all our members and volunteers for making the Port Maitland Heritage Day fund raiser something for the community to look forward to.
Alex Blooi (out going) Fund Raising Chair
Archivist
The committee received accumulated materials in the spring of 2016. We =
have looked through the materials and discussed how we could best =
collate the many pictures and print materials for archives. This is an =
ongoing project and takes many small steps over time to accomplish.
How best to store the material is an ongoing discussion.=20
Many thanks to members who have contributed to the collection. If anyone =
has old fundraiser posters, pictures taken at past events that they =
would like to put into this we would be happy to take a look at them. We =
would like to keep any material new to the collection, but would return =
duplicates of what we already have.
Looking over photos of past years really highlights what a large project =
this has become .It also demonstrates how well a very small, but =
dedicated group of volunteers have worked together and accomplished a =
goal for all the community to be proud.=20
submitted by Nancy Curry
Finance Committee Chair
Lew Outhouse
Financial Report
No meeting since last meeting.
Outreach Chair and President’s report:
President’s and Outreach Chair’s Report –
Outreach Chair
And
President’s Report
Old Stones continued in 2016/2017 to attract large numbers of folks to our website, we are up to just under 190,000 visits from over 90,000 people! As well, we are transferring to a more stable web platform as I write this.
I have fielded many inquiries from folks interested in our projects – the old graveyard in Halifax on Spring Garden Road is going to use our template to begin doing some QR codes and webpages for their cemetery after prolonged chatting with us. YASTA (the Yarmouth and Acadian Shore Tourism Association) is going to have Old Stones listed in the online guide, and they will be putting us in the published printed guide in 2018. We also have undertaken a signage display upgrade, and in chatting with Councilor Patti Durkee, we will be able to have 3 roadside signs for the cemeteries as an attraction. We have contacted Tourism Nova Scotia and are negotiating with them for similar inclusion in the Doers and Dreamers Guide and for roadside signage.
Our cemeteries this year will have new QR codes in the Free Will and Founders cemeteries, and new panel maps in all three cemeteries, with the Calvinist cemetery having the QR codes right on the panel. Mayflower descendants and ancestry information is also noted on all three panels and the QR codes, with an eye to the excitement surrounding 2020 – because of course, more than 2/3 of our Residents are Mayflower descendants.
The Wednesday group is planning for the Heritage Day even in August and are also busy researching more information on each resident and removal.
Busy times – which may need more hands! Such a worthwhile effort though, and I continue to be amazed and proud of what our small group has and will accomplish!
Sincerely,
Bill Curry – Outreach chair and Chair, Old Stones Society
New business:
Nominations as listed have been unanimously approved. List is attached.
There was a discussion of Ideas to encourage new members and board members to join our group
Meeting was adjourned at 8:30 P.M.
Board and Directors for 2017/2018:
Chair Bill Curry
Vice-Chair George Snow
Maintenance & Restoration Chair Alex Blooi
Treasurer Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary Norma Curry
Corresponding & Membership Secretary Marilyn Ellis
Corresponding & Membership Vice-Secretary Diane Rose
Fund Raising Chair Susan Moores
Fund Raising Vice-Chairs Roger Hubbard & Linda Hubbard
Finance Committee Chair Llewellyn Outhouse
Outreach Chair Bill Curry
Archivists Nancy Curry & Linda Campbell
Past Chair vacant
Dates for 2017:
Monday 24 April 2017, 7 pm: Annual General Meeting, Port Maitland Fire Hall
Monday 22 May 2017, 7 pm: Board Meeting, Port Maitland Fire Hall
Friday 11 August 2017: Set Up for Port Maitland Heritage Days (all day)
Saturday 12 August 2017: Port Maitland Heritage Day – Auction, Dessert Café and BBQ, – PM Fire Hall
Monday 18 September 2017, 7 pm: Board Meeting, Port Maitland Fire Hall
Monday 20 November 2017, 7 pm: Board Meeting, Port Maitland Fire Hall
—————————————————————
Board Meeting Old Stones
Date- February 2017
Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
Number of attendance –
Chair Bill Curry
Vice-Chair George Snow
Maintenance & Restoration Chair George Snow
Treasurer Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary Norma Curry
Corresponding & Membership Secretary Marilyn Ellis
Corresponding & Membership Vice-Secretary Diane Rose
Fund Raising Chair Alex Blooi
Fund Raising Vice-Chairs Roger Hubbard & Linda Hubbard
Finance Committee Chair Llewellyn Outhouse
Outreach Chair Bill Curry
Outreach Vice-Chair Susan Moores
Archivists Nancy Curry & Linda Campbell
Past Chair vacant (Nominations Committee Chair to be appointed at November 2016 Board meeting)
Agenda approved yes__X_ no___
Regrets from Alex Blooi, Nancy Curry, Linda Campbell
Minutes
Minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes:
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Read by Bev Outhouse.
Maintenance and Restoration
George Snow
MAINTENCE CHAIR REPORT Feb.20,2017
Since our last report, there has been minimal activity in our three cemeteries. We managed to remove a few more rocks from both the Calvanist and Free Will Baptist. This will make it easier to mow with the new ride on. The mowing went smoothly with the help of our volunteers, however we did have to hire John Grant and Aaron Wellington for some of the jobs. John helped with removing of rocks etc. and Aaron helped George with painting of sign-posts and clearing brush.
Some new bases were made for the Calvanist and the marker of Sarah Goudy put in place on the south of the property. Rocks were removed and many of the holes were filled with sand and soil. We will check in the spring to see how much more sand and soil is needed.
All of the sign-posts and flag poles were painted and a new flag pole was erected in Free Will.
The Asa Pitman marker in Free Will had quite a lean on. The marker was removed and the existing “donut” cleaned and leveled .The marker was the set in place A Pitman family member has offered to reimburse us for the cost of the restoration.
Two new doghouses were replaced in the Founders. A new panel with QR codes was put in place. Great job Bill on the layout. The Mayflower symbols add a lot.
The bridge between Founders and Free Will was built and installed by Fred LeBlanc and under budget!!
We also purchased two new push mowers from Kent’s and a John Deere D125 ride- on from Don Deveau at George’s Truck and Tractor. For the last 2 years George’s Truck and Tractor loaned us a ride-on. It was old but did the trick. Don Deveau has removed the broken mower deck and will let us use the mower for hauling a cart for gravel etc. This will save wear and tear on our new equipment.
PLANS FOR 2017
- Remove more rocks. We will find them !!
2.Gravel the paths between Founders and Free Will. 3.Improve parking in Calvanist. A turn around area is needed.
4.Clear remainder of brush etc. on North West corner of Calvanist.
5.Replace 6 boxes that are around the broken markers. (George has volunteered to make them)
- Complete and install panels in Calvanist and Free Will.
I have no doubt that there will be more projects and improvements required as the summer approaches.
Something for your consideration: we now have 6 new push mowers, a new ride on and a utility mower for hauling a cart. We need a shed to hold our equipment during the mowing season. The shed could be erected just north of the bridge on the west -side. If we had enough volunteers we could probably build one for the cost of materials.
Don Deveau recommends a 16×12 size shed .
I hope I got it all!!
George Snow
Maintenance Chair
Correspondence Report for Board Meeting
Of
Old Stones
February 20th, 2017
No Correspondence for this period.
If there are members or volunteers who need a card (sickness, sympathy, thank you, etc) please let me know.
Thank you.
Submitted by:
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
Old Stones Membership Report
For
February 20th, 2017 Board Meeting
This is a new year. In 2016 we had 51 paid memberships, 1 Life member, and 4 honorary members for a total of 56 members.
Starting out a new year, 2017, we have 1 life member, and 4 honorary members for a total of 5 members.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis, Membership Secretary
Feb.20, 2017
Fund Raising Chair Report
We are in the planning stages of our Port Maitland Heritage Day fund- raiser to be held on August 12 2017.
Donations of auction items are a little slow in coming but we do have enough now for the main auction. We had a lot of small items that did not make it to the auction block last summer. These items will go on sale at the annual Port Maitland yard sale in June.
Ticket sales on the D 125 lawn tractor are slow. We have 5 more months to sell 1900 tickets. As soon as the weather breaks folks will be thinking about their lawns and replacing worn equipment. We will know more the closer we get to the event.
Alex Blooi
Fund Raising Chair.
Archivist
Report for archives committee:
We have looked through the materials we have and talked about how we might organize it. We have also discussed areas that we feel we need further clarification on.
1-specific mission of the archive committee beyond safeguarding the collection of photos etc.
2-we would like a dry storage space for these materials- neither of us has an abundance of closets (old houses).
3- we need a work space so that materials can be spread out on a work surface. Possibility of space in a church, garage, the Temperance Hall??
Any suggestions welcomed!
submitted by Nancy Curry
Finance Committee Chair
Finance committee will meet soon.
Lew Outhouse
Financial Report
As there has been no meeting of the Finance Committee since our last Board meeting, I have no report from the Finance Committee at this time. All Board members should have a copy of my report presented at the last Board meeting and there has been no change since them.
Outreach Chair and President’s report:
President’s and Outreach Chair’s Report –
Outreach Chair
And
President’s Report
After our successful fund-raiser I met several times with the bank of Montreal and as discussed, we moved some of our money to an investment account to earn a bit more interest. This took some time to achieve, as we wanted to make sure we had money enough on hand, but also that we could get the best rate for our money. This is now achieved and we can look ahead to another successful Port Maitland Heritage Day that will refill our coffers to where we can undertake some new things.
The new panel in the Founders Cemetery was installed, and I got comments from many people as I posted the photo of it on Facebook and our website. The Mayflower symbols add a lot, I think. The new panels for the Calvinist and the Free-Will are now being done, and will be installed this spring. We will also be re-doing the bricks and QR codes in the Free-Will and Founders cemeteries, and the Calvinist cemetery will have the codes on the new panels.
We are also working away at the profiles. George Snow and I have met, and we were joined by Bill Day, and we have added a lot of material about where our ancestors lived, as in house numbers and land lots, and we’ve added employment information as well, all so that a descendant might get a better mental image of their ancestor, and increase community interest in our efforts.
The website is now just over 150,000 hits from 87242 individual visitors, an amazing number really – and I’ve been contacted by many people asking about our project. We will be moving OldStones.ca to its own server in April.
I am now looking as well at signage and possible cemetery tours, as we will discuss tonight. Busy, busy…but thanks to everyone, the cemeteries look amazing and are a focal point for our community!
Bill Curry – Outreach Chair and President
New business:
!. A list of potential nominees was presented. April general meeting will be the meeting for official nominees to be elected. If any other potential board members are interested, this will be covered then.
2. Patti Durkee, our local councilor, will look into getting more signage for the community. She has sign permits already. The exact location is yet to be determined. Three signs may be posted listing Port Maitland businesses and Old Stones could be included.
- Between Free Will and Founders, a storage shed for mowing equipment would be helpful. Lew will look into whether a building permit would be needed and possibilities for building materials and type of structure needed. Bill will contact the Community College about structures made by students and Alex will talk to Deveau’s where small buildings are for sale. Insurance inquiries will also be investigated. Information gathered will be discussed in April.4. Bill will apply to the Municipality for a grant that will help pay for gravel to make the path between Free Will and Founders more easily accessible by wheelchair. Also gravel for a proper parking and turning area at the Calvinist Cemetery would make access safer.Meeting was adjourned at 8:30 P.M.
————————————————-
Board Meeting Old Stones
Date- November 21, 2016,
Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
Chair Bill Curry
Vice-Chair George Snow
Maintenance & Restoration Chair George Snow
Treasurer Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary Norma Curry
Corresponding & Membership Secretary Marilyn Ellis
Corresponding & Membership Vice-Secretary Diane Rose
Fund Raising Chair Alex Blooi
Fund Raising Vice-Chairs Roger Hubbard & Linda Hubbard
Finance Committee Chair Llewellyn Outhouse
Outreach Chair Bill Curry
Outreach Vice-Chair Susan Moores
Archivists Nancy Curry & Linda Campbell
Past Chair vacant (Nominations Committee Chair to be appointed at November 2016 Board meeting)
Regrets from Norma Curry (Bill recording)
Minutes
Minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes:
Port Maitland Day will be on the Saturday, August 12, 2017. There will be a display in the Fire Hall.
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Read by Bev Outhouse.
Maintenance and Restoration
George Snow
MAINTENACE CHAIR REPORT 2016
We have some new signs in all the cemeteries and are awaiting completion of the rest at L&N signs. A new flag -pole was erected in Free Will and all the sign -post were primed and painted.
Ready for the winter (Flag poles down, etc.)
Set the Asa and Sophia Pitman stones back – Asa’s in sandbox, Sophia needed a new base and was replaced upright.
Rocks were dug out of the Calvinist cemetery to lessen interference with the ride-on mower.
Maintenance Chair
Alex Blooi for George Snow.
Correspondence Report for Board Meeting
Of
“Old Stones”
Nov. 21, 2016
Nice letter from Wilfred thanking people
If there are members or volunteers who need a card (sickness, sympathy, thank you, etc) please let me know. Thank you.
Submitted by:
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
Old Stones Membership Report
For
Nov 21, 2016 meeting
As of February 22, 2016 we had 13 renewed memberships
Added 2 more renewed memberships on April 18th, 2016
From the Port Maitland Yard Sale Day (June 11, 2016) we added 1 renewed membership and 4 new memberships.
On July 16th, 2016 (Heritage Day) we added 15 renewed members and 16 new members.
At present we have 51 paid members, 1 Life member, and 3 honorary members for a grand total of 55 members.
Wilfred was made an honorary member at our Heritage Day Fund Raiser making him the 4th honorary member but he had already paid for his membership on February 22, 2016.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
November 21 2016
Fund Raising Chair Report
Since our last report a couple of things to mention. At the last meeting it was agreed that we would have a raffle on a John Deere D 125 Riding Lawn mower. The license from Nova Scotia Gaming was issued and the tickets printed by Sunrise Printing. We have 2000 tickets at $5.00 each. The mower will cost us about $2600, so if we sell all the tickets by August 12 2017, this will put a good sum into our bank account. This is the only raffle we are planning for this fund –raiser. I will be approaching local businesses to get permission to set up a display and sell tickets. At present, tickets can be purchased at George’s Truck and Tractor in Beaver River and at Reigh’s Service Center in Hebron. I am looking for volunteers to help with sales. I can not do this alone.
Donations in the form of furniture etc. are coming in. I have started on cleaning and fixing where needed. Again I ask you to keep an eye out for anything that could be of value for the auction.
At this time I am also letting everyone know in advance that this will be my last function as Fund Raising Chair.
Alex Blooi
Fund Raising Chair.
Finance Committee Chair
Finance committee met-
Adoption of budget for 2017 –
Lew moved, Linda H seconded adopted unanimously.
Bev – moved investment addition to our fund. Roger H. seconded.
Passed unanimously.
Lew Outhouse
Outreach Chair and President’s report:
President’s and Outreach Chair’s Report –
Old Stones-
Outreach Chair and Old Stones Chair
Outreach and Chair Report
Nov 21, 2016
The website has now generated over 140,000 hits from 80,000 users. We will be taking Old Stones to a new website in April and taking it off the billcurry.ca sub account, which will make the site more secure and less liable to errors. I am updating resident’s info all the time, and a major project for over the winter is a refresh of some of the profiles.
We have new signs in all three cemeteries installed and a brand new map panel in Founders installed and getting noticed – it includes the Mayflower ancestry of any resident who would probably be a descendant. The guest book records a number of people who found this interesting, and one who volunteered money to help us out! L and N has the 2 other panels and we will install these in the Spring of 2017.The Calvinist will see an experiment, as we added the QR code to the new map instead of using bricks – we’ll see which we like best.
The two stones unearthed in the Calvinist cemetery are now up – the markers for John Goudey and his daughter Sarah are now visible and standing next to John’s wife Sarah’s marker on the north side of the lot. We will be trying to see if there are more stones as we now have a detailed list of those “missing” from Calvinist records.
Bill Curry – Chair and Outreach Chair, Old Stones Society
New business-
- Auction and Dessert Café-need Dessert coordinator. Bill will coordinate the grill and outside food, Linda Hubbard will be the coordinator of the Dessert Café.
- Can we put some more promotion on website/Facebook about donations and giving money to preserve and protect the cemeteries. Bill will look into.
- Bev, Bill and Linda C will be the nominating Committee – Bev will Chair. Report for next meeting in February 2017.
The Heritage Day Event will be Aug 12, 2017
Meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
——————————————–
General Meeting “Old Stones”
Date- September 19, 2016,
Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
Chair Bill Curry
Vice-Chair George Snow
Maintenance & Restoration Chair George Snow
Treasurer Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary Norma Curry
Corresponding & Membership Secretary Marilyn Ellis
Corresponding & Membership Vice-Secretary Diane Rose
Fund Raising Chair Alex Blooi
Fund Raising Vice-Chairs Roger Hubbard & Linda Hubbard
Finance Committee Chair Llewellyn Outhouse
Outreach Chair Bill Curry
Outreach Vice-Chair Susan Moores
Archivists Nancy Curry & Linda Campbell
Past Chair vacant (Nominations Committee Chair to be appointed at November 2016 Board meeting)
Regrets from George Snow, Marilyn Ellis
Absent – Linda Campbell
Minutes
Minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes:
Port Maitland Day will be on the Saturday. There will be a display in the Fire Hall.
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Read by Bev Outhouse.
Maintenance and Restoration
George Snow
MAINTENACE CHAIR REPORT 2016
There has been a fair amount of activity in our three cemeteries this year. We mowed 4 times so far with probably 1 more mowing to go. The ride on mower has proven to be a great time saver, as our volunteer crews only had to spend anywhere from 30 min. to 1 hour with push mowers and whipper- snipping. The ride on is capable of cutting 80% of the grounds.
We have some new signs in all the cemeteries and are awaiting completion of the rest at L&N signs. A new flag -pole was erected in Free Will and all the sign -post were primed and painted.
The Calvanist Cemetery has had 4 markers placed in doughnuts that were made by
George Snow and secured with pea gravel. This seems to have done the trick in holding them in place. A number of rocks have been removed in the Calvanist to make it easier to mow. There are a few more to take out and it is hoped that we can get some one to dig a hole and bury them. More rocks need removing in all 3 locations.
A new bridge was built by Fred Leblanc and came in under our $1000 budget. We are ready to gravel the path between the cemeteries as soon as we find a way to get on site. Fred Leblanc has offered to spread the gravel.
Early in the mowing season we had some difficulty finding enough volunteers. We hired Aaron Wellington to help with trimming. He was also hired to help with the painting of the sign- posts and removing some brush from Calvanist. John Grant was also hired to help with the erecting of the markers. Both these young men did a great job.
At present, 2 “dog houses” are being replaced in the Founders Cemetery. The new QR codes are near completion and will be put in place next Spring. I hope I haven’t left anything out.
Maintenance Chair
Alex Blooi for George Snow.
Correspondence Report for Board Meeting
Of
“Old Stones”
September 19th, 2016
May 20th, 2016 – Get Well card to George Snow
Thank you card sent with cheque to Port Maitland Fire Hall
Thank you card sent to Melissa at Kent Building Supplies
June 13th, 2016 – Sympathy card sent to Phil & Gert Dennis for the passing of Brian Dennis
(Brian used to service our lawn mowers)
July 29th, 2016 – Thank you card along with Income Tax receipt sent to Melvin Perry
Thank you card along with Income Tax Receipt sent to Barbara Blauvelt
If there are members or volunteers who need a card (sickness, sympathy, thank you, etc) please let me know. Thank you.
Submitted by:
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
Old Stones Membership Report
For
September 19, 2016 meeting
As of February 22, 2016 we had 13 renewed memberships
Added 2 more renewed memberships on April 18th, 2016
From the Port Maitland Yard Sale Day (June 11, 2016) we added 1 renewed membership and 4 new memberships.
On July 16th, 2016 (Heritage Day) we added 15 renewed members and 16 new members.
At present we have 51 paid members, 1 Life member, and 3 honorary members for a grand total of 55 members.
Wilfred was made an honorary member at our Heritage Day Fund Raiser making him the 4th honorary member but he had already paid for his membership on February 22, 2016.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
Alex Blooi
Fund Raising Chair
FUND RAISING CHAIR REPORT
The Port Maitland Heritage Day event held on July 15 2016 was another resounding success. The day saw many new and familiar faces in attendance. Thanks to all the volunteers who were instrumental in making this day so successful. A total of around $6600 was raised by donations, memberships, raffle, BBQ and grill, the dessert café, brown bag auction and our main auction. Thanks to George Snow and Wilfred Allan for the display of 2 Red Cross quilts. These proved to be very popular. The music provided by Graham Benvie and Frank Reeves, was enjoyed by those who sat, in the sun on the many adirondack chairs provided by George and Howard Snow. It was good to see people enjoying the music and the food. A special mention goes out to Erin Power for his assistance with the auction, and it was great to see so many people having fun.
Bill Curry presented a beautiful photograph of “Darlene the Dragon” to Wilfred Allan for his many years of work and dedication to our society. We will miss him greatly and wish him all the best in his new endeavors in Annapolis Royal.
The organizing, and implementing of our event has turned out to be an enormous task.
Due to the time it takes to get a good quality auction together, I would like to concentrate on that alone.
The Dessert Café needs a coordinator, so we need a volunteer to take on this task.
Again I thank all those who made this Port Maitland Heritage Day a success. And I look forward to next year’s event, which may be held in August.
Alex Blooi
Fund Raising Chair
Finance Committee Chair
Finance committee will meet soon.
Lew Outhouse
Outreach Chair and President’s report:
President’s and Outreach Chair’s Report –
Old Stones-
Outreach Chair and Old Stones Chair
Outreach and Chair Report
September 19, 2016
We’ve had a full summer!
We have had another wonderful auction and dessert café, with great attendance and amazing generosity we can now carry on the work of restoring, preserving and promoting the cemeteries. I noticed that in addition to making money, people at the event said they were having fun, and that’s wonderful. I think people do get in the spirit of the event and the posters on the wall reminding all of the reasons for the fundraiser I think were well received!
The website has now generated over 130,000 hits from 75,000 users. We will be taking Old Stones to a new website in April and taking it off the billcurry.ca sub account, which will make the site more secure and less liable to errors. I am updating resident’s info all the time, and a major project for over the winter is a refresh of some of the profiles.
We have new signs in all three cemeteries installed and a brand new map panel in Founders installed and getting noticed – it includes the Mayflower ancestry of any resident who would probably be a descendant. The guest book records a number of people who found this interesting, and one who volunteered money to help us out!
We are working right now on the other two panels. They will go up in the spring, and we are refreshing the QR codes as they were beginning to peel off and become unreadable. It looks like the bricks take the glue for 4 years! The Calvinist will see an experiment, as we added the QR code to the new map instead of using bricks – we’ll see which we like best. We will be replanting the bricks and making the more permanently installed this fall.
The two stones unearthed in the Calvinist cemetery are now up – the markers for John Goudey and his daughter Sarah are now visible and standing next to John’s wife Sarah’s marker on the north side of the lot. We will be trying to see if there are more stones as we now have a detailed list of those “missing” from Calvinist records.
All in all, a very busy season!
Bill Curry – Chair and Outreach Chair, Old Stones Society
New business:
- a) Bridge repairs accomplished and path. Earl Goudy will donate new gravel for path but we will have to find someone to truck it.
- b) New policy-donations of money will be receipted, items need cash value, must be very clear. We will discuss this further during the finance meeting.
- c) New signs and panels are being worked on.
- d) Mower needs: ride on mower purchase, auction tickets on mower.
Alex moved and Roger seconded that they purchase a ride on lawn mower for Old Stones. Passed unanimously.
Alex moved and Roger seconded that the group will sell tickets on a ride on lawn mower to raise funds. Motion was passed with one abstention.
- e) Auction and Dessert Café-need Dessert coordinator. Bill will coordinate the grill and outside food, Linda Hubbard will be the coordinator of the Dessert Café.
The Event will be moved to separate date from SeaFest.
Meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Board Meeting Old Stones
Date- May 16, 2016 Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
Number of attendance –
Chair Bill Curry
Vice-Chair George Snow
Maintenance & Restoration Chair George Snow
Treasurer Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary Norma Curry
Corresponding & Membership Secretary Marilyn Ellis
Corresponding & Membership Vice-Secretary Diane Rose
Fund Raising Chair Alex Blooi
Fund Raising Vice-Chairs Roger Hubbard & Linda Hubbard
Finance Committee Chair Llewellyn Outhouse
Outreach Chair Bill Curry
Outreach Vice-Chair Susan Moores
Archivists Nancy Curry & Linda Campbell
Past Chair vacant (Nominations Committee Chair to be appointed at November 2016 Board meeting)
Agenda approved yes__X_ no___
Regrets from Susan Moores, George Snow,
Minutes
Minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes:
Port Maitland Day will be on the Saturday. There will be a display in the Fire Hall.
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Read by Bev Outhouse.
Maintenance and Restoration
George Snow
Oral report given by Alex
Two new lawnmowers were purchased from Kent at a very good price. Now the group has 6 new mowers in all. The flagpoles will have to be painted. George has a new flagpole and new flags.
Correspondence Report for Board Meeting
Of
“Old Stones”
May 16, 2016
Since our last Board meeting in February, 2016 there isn’t any correspondence to report.
If there are members or volunteers who need a card (sickness, sympathy, thank you, etc) please let me know. Thank you.
Submitted by:
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
Membership Report for Board Meeting
Of
“Old Stones”
May 16, 2016
From March, 2016 to date we have 15 renewed members as well as 1 Life Member and 3 Honorary Life Members for a total of 19 members.
Anyone wishing to join our Society for a yearly fee of $5.00 may do so on Line (old stones.ca) or contact me (902-649-2793).
Submitted by,
Marilyn Ellis, Membership Secretary
Alex Blooi
Fund Raising Chair
Fund Raising Chair Report
Plans for The Port Maitland Heritage days events on July 16 are coming along. Items for the auction are being gathered and evaluated. Tickets for the raffle are ready for distribution to our dedicated and eager board members. We have 1000 tickets for sale .I will be setting up a table during the Port Maitland Community yard sale to not only sell raffle tickets but also to promote our event, any help will be appreciated.
We are in need of more items for the auction so please put out the word to your neighbors and friends.
A big thank you to Linda and Roger Hubbard for their efforts as vice fund raising chairs. They have collectively received 28 donation of items such as furniture, gift certificates and other products. It looks as if this will be a good event.
The dessert café is well into the planning phase and the BBQ and Grill is confirmed.
Thanks to all who have and will make this event another success story for OLD STONES.
Alex Blooi
Archivist
Report for archives committee:
Linda and I now have the archival material in our possession and we are slowly working our way through the many photo albums, loose material, and a thumb drive. When completed we plan on prioritizing the material and developing a working plan. The goals being developed will guide our work at the Museum and Tusket archival centre. The summer and fall months will probably see our greatest efforts as the roads are in their best shape for travel. Plans for future storage of this material will have to be finalized and approved by this group and the receiving centres.
Nancy Curry and Linda Campbell
Finance Committee Chair
Lew Outhouse
A finance committee will meet to move money into a long term investment.
Outreach Chair and President’s report:
President’s and Outreach Chair’s Report –
Old Stones-
Outreach Chair and Old Stones Chair
The Society will hold its big fund-raising effort on July 16th this year with the Port Maitland Heritage Day – anchored by our Auction, Dessert café and BBQ/Grill events. I have included this event in the Calendar of Events at the bottom of the Agenda for your convenience.
Outreach has centered on a lot of thinking about the re-design of the panels and maps at the cemeteries and we’ll have new ones ready to go in the Spring for a refresh of the displays there. We will also be re-doing the QR codes on the bricks, complete with a re-design of the codes…
The re-design is necessary because the big news is that we have obtained a grant for a summer student who will be working on the new website – I’ll talk more about this later, but essentially we’ll end up with a newer stronger website and better ways to show off the information we have.
The website continues to grow amazingly in popularity and usage – we’re at over 70,000 individual visitors and way over 120,000 “hits”.
I am very pleased to report that Old Stones is being entered into the YASTA database and will appear on both their website and in the print Tourism Guide for the area. Our rack cards have been popular, and will need to be reprinted, and our brochures are also very popular. We are also to be included once again in Seafest, and that will hopefully help with promotions.
The Society has also done well in attracting new Board candidates, and I welcome the new Board members and their roles here tonight.
We’re planning for a big season this summer, and hope to really bring Old Stones forward and to the public mind. Our motto of Restore, preserve and perpetuate has never been more appropriate!
New business
a) Bridge repairs and path.
Linda moved and seconded by Nancy that $1000 will be budgeted to pay for a bridge replacement. Fred Leblanc will do the work. This work will make the bridge wheel chair accessible.
- b) YES have approved a summer student. Bill will advertise for applicants. They will help with the Web site and other projects.
- c) New signs and panelsd) We will get new rack cards printed.e) Old Stones will be able to use “Square” to accept and process credit cards at the auction only. It will not be used for the dessert café. It does not process debit cards.
Meeting adjourned at 8 p.m.
————————————————
General Meeting Old Stones Society
Date- April 18, 2016 Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
Number in attendance – 12
Chair- Bill Curry
Vice chair- George Snow
Treasurer-Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary – Norma Curry
Correspondence & Membership Secretary – Marilyn Ellis
Social Events Chair – Nancy Curry
Outreach Chair- Bill Curry
Fund Raising Chair – Wilfred Allan
Auction Chair -Alex Bloois
Directors- Linda Campbell, Diane Rose, Lew Outhouse
Members- Marilyn Ellis sends her regrets.
New member present: Roger Hubbard, Linda Hubbard
Minutes
Yearly minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes – none
Reports:
Treasurer’s report : Read and submitted by Bev Outhouse.
Linda moved and Alex seconded it be accepted. Carried unanimously
Maintenance and restoration:
Report written and read by George Snow.
Last year, as well as for a few years before that, have been mostly maintenance, cutting the grass and minor other small obs. I have been involved in maintenance and restorations for 16 years and have already started my work for this year.
Most of you noticed that the flagpole in the Free Will Cemetery blew down in a strong wind last fall. Well, a pole for a new one is in my barn ready to be made into a pole to replace it, and ready for this year.
Last year a group of volunteers did some probing in the Calvinist Cemetery and located tow more stones. These stones will need to be put up in place for this summer and finishing work done on some of the others in the same cemetery.
The bridge on the walking path needs to be replaced to accommodate wheel chairs, and the path itself needs a coat of gravel.
Our three cemeteries are unique because they are probably the only cemeteries in North America that have a Q.R. code for everyone who is buried there, and possibly the first one in the world to do it for all burials.
With improvements come problems, and we did not realize that some of the bricks to which the Q.R. Codes were attached were placed a bit too low. As a result, some of the information was damaged unknowingly by workers with weed-eaters trimming around the stones. So this means that they all need to be taken up, repaired and placed higher, out of harms way, possibly on a higher pile of gravel.
In the early years of our work we were able to stand up around 30 stones that had fallen over. We used concrete doughnuts as a base. In addition, we found a number of stones in two or more pieces, and they could not stand. For them we made a wooden frame, filled it with gravel, and placed the pieces on it in order, and so that all information could be read.
In those years we had a very tight budget, and used untreated wood donated by one of our members, and some of the forms are starting to decay. It is time that those in disrepair, be replaced, possibly with treated wood.
We are progressing though. The first year we used a lawnmower retrieved from the spring pick-up, and then graduated to second hand mowers purchased from and maintained by Brian Dennis. Over the years the cemeteries have become easier to mow, less rocks and toots become easier to mow, less rocks and toots so each of the last two years we have purchased tow new hand mowers. This year we hope to buy two more new machines. We have been fortunate the last few years to have someone who used their own ride on mower and mowed to portions of the Free Will and the Founders cemeteries that were suitable for their machines.
Last fall we were even more fortunate. Because of Alex Blooi, George’s Truck and Tractor business at Beaver River, loaned us a nice second hand ride on mower that we can use of all three of the cemeteries. He has checked on all three of the cemeteries. He has checked maintained and serviced the machine for us again for this year.
I am very fortunate that Phyllis Jayne has offered to do the calling for volunteers on the days of mowing. I am very thankful for this help, because it can often be a time consuming and frustrating task.
So you can see with all the work ahead, that we could, and should it, it is going to need lots of help. Lots of volunteers.
I feel that some of most of these jobs should be done, to make us proud of our restoration project, and proud of the appearance of the three cemeteries, and if volunteers are not available, we should hire some help to get things done.
Also 2 heavy stones were put up in place with a backhoe.
Correspondence Report for Annual General Meeting
Of
“Old Stones”
April 18th, 2016
May 4th, 2015 – Get well card sent to Bev Outhouse
August 4th, 2015 – Sympathy card sent to Elsie Outhouse.
– Thank you notes to George and Wilfred for the work that they put in to the
Heritage Day weekend.
– Thank you note to Alex for all that he did for the fund raiser with the auction and
all that it entailed.
September 16th, 2015 – Thank you note sent to Don & James Deveau at George’s Truck and Tractor for the loan of a ride-on mower to use on the three cemeteries.
Get well card sent to JoAnne Blooi.
November 27th, 2015 – Get well card sent to Buck Owen.
February, 2016 – Thank you notes sent to 11 volunteers who spent time mowing, whipper snipping, etc on the three cemeteries.
February, 2016 – Thank you to Jim Rose for his time and use of the back hoe.
February. 2016 – Thank you to 21 individual people and/or businesses who gave us items, gift certificates, etc for the auction in July of 2015.
Again if there are members or volunteers who need a card (get well, sympathy, or thank you) please let me know. Thank you.
Submitted by,
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
Membership Report for the Annual General Meeting
Of
“Old Stones”
April 18th, 2016
Last year, 2015, we had 47 members including 1 Life Member and 3 Honorary Life Members.
Up to this date, April 18th, 2016, we have 17 members including 1 Life Member and 3 Honorary Life Members.
Submitted by,
Marilyn Ellis, Membership Secretary
Social Events Report:
Social committee report for annual meeting April 18th, 2016
The annual fundraiser “meal” changed its format in 2015. The committee planned and carried out at dessert cafe drawing upon community bakers to donate fancy desserts which we sold by ticket at the firehall. Other foods were also available by ticket at an outdoor venue and sold out. This will be continued in 2016.
The response to the new format was very positive and we will carry this venture forward for 2016. A few changes will be made:
-coffee and tea will be available in the main room. Folks will get a cup for their ticket at the side counter and then help themselves.
-cookies and squares will be bundled into snack parcels and be available at the coffee cup counter.
-the very fancy desserts will be advertised on a whiteboard with the baker’s name. The list of “special” offerings will then be changed frequently in order to feature all the great Pt. Maitland cooks.
-signage will indicate coffee/tea cup location and the number of tickets required for dessert/coffee etc.
-the kitchen helpers will need a larger roster of volunteers in order to be successful.
-a roll of masking tape, marker, and a volunteer to identify the various baker’s plates in order to be able to return to owners will be useful.
-trying to be environmentally sensitive will continue to be a priority. We are still looking for a coffee cup source.
The committee is looking for additional members.
Nancy Curry
Chair
Submitted by Nancy Curry, chair
Auction Chair Report. Alex Blooi
Auction Chair Report
April 18 2016
Planning for the Port Maitland Heritage Days events are under way. The dates are July15, 16, and 17.The Dessert Café, Auction, BBQ and Grill will take place on the 16th. Starting with the dessert café at 11am and auction at 1pm. The brown bag auction and raffle will take place prior to the main auction. Our raffle this year will offer lobster only. 1st prize 30 lb. 2nd prize 20 lb and 3rd prize 10 lb. Unfortunately tickets for the draw are not available at this time, but I am sure all board members will step up to the plate again and sell, sell, sell. We are printing 800 tickets again. Last year we sold all but 72 out of 800.
Auction items are coming in slowly .We need some larger items like dressers, chairs etc. We are also looking for gift certificates from businesses in the area. I will be asking for volunteers to help with the planning and running of the dessert café some time in early June. At that time I will present some changes to the format. Any ideas or suggestions will be welcomed. Our goal this year is to raise $6000. I know we will be able to reach this goal with your help.
Alex Blooi
Fund Raising Chair
Outreach Chair and President’s report:
Outreach Chair and Chair’s Report:
Old Stones has done well in terms of the events and outreach this past year. In June in Antigonish at St. F.X. I spoke to a mixed group of cemetery and genealogical folks. The Old Stones efforts and results were of great interest to the group, and we have had contact from several groups as a result of this chat.
Our events, and in particular our annual auction and potluck went off well, and our fundraising target was met and exceeded as you have heard from our committees.
The website continues to be a very interesting project, as the keystone of our “perpetuate” mandate. We have now had over 100,000 “hits” from over 70,000 visitors from around the world, with many folks commenting on our website reply forms or e-mailing us for information. The QR code and website project is, as far as we can tell a first in the world effort, and it has paved the way for even more information to flow as we begin to include the removals in our database. The addition of our Mayflower project integration will also enhance the interest of genealogists in our work.
Speaking of the Mayflower project – new maps at the cemeteries and new signs will appear this year. The new maps will indicate the resident’s location, basic information and a special symbol for the over 2/3 of the residents who have direct ties to the Mayflower pilgrims and their families – coming as it does before 2020 (the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower landing), this will only help increase interest in the cemeteries. A new brochure and rack card are now out and again being distributed and we are working hard on getting the word out to YASTA and other tourism agencies that we exist and have some things to offer folks. We have also applied to have a summer student this year. If successful, the student would re-do the website from its current WordPress format into a complete HTML website – which will help greatly in the safety and security of our data and our online presence.
I want to thank the entire Board and all the members and volunteers who have worked so hard this year to make the restoration, preservation and perpetuation of the cemeteries a reality, and I am looking forward to continuing this amazingly rewarding task.
Sincerely
Bill Curry – Chair and Outreach Chair
New Business
Nominations for Old Stones Board of Directors 2016/2017
Chair Bill Curry
Vice-Chair George Snow
Maintenance & Restoration Chair George Snow
Treasurer Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary Norma Curry
Corresponding & Membership Secretary Marilyn Ellis
Corresponding & Membership Vice-Secretary Diane Rose
Fund Raising Chair Alex Blooi
Fund Raising Vice-Chairs Roger Hubbard & Linda Hubbard
Finance Committee Chair Llewellyn Outhouse
Outreach Chair Bill Curry
Outreach Vice-Chair Susan Moores
Archivists Nancy Curry & Linda Campbell
Past Chair vacant (Nominations Committee Chair to be appointed at November 2016 Board meeting)
Board Nominees
Alex Blooi
Linda Campbell
Bill Curry
Nancy Curry
Norma Curry
Marilyn Ellis
Linda Hubbard
Roger Hubbard
Susan Moores
Bev Outhouse
Lew Outhouse
Diane Rose
George Snow
Respectfully submitted
18 April 2016
nominations committee
Wilfred Allan (chair)
George Snow
Wilfred moved and Linda seconded that these nominations be approved.
Unanimous approval
Alex Blooi moved that we pay $150 for 2015 and the same amount for 2016 to the Fire Hall in lieu of rent. Unanimously adopted.
Meeting adjourned at 8:24pm
———————————————–
Board Meeting “Old Stones”
Date- Feb. 22, 2016 Time meeting started – 7:00 p.m.
Chair- Bill Curry
Vice chair- George Snow
Treasurer-Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary – Norma Curry
Correspondence & Membership Secretary – Marilyn Ellis
Outreach Chair- Bill Curry
Fund Raising Chair -Alex Bloois
Social Committee- Nancy Curry
Archives Chair- Brian Johnson
Directors- Brian Johnson, Linda Campbell, Diane Rose, Lew Outhouse, Denton Ford
Number in attendance – 11
Regrets from Nancy Curry
Absent: Linda Campbell, Denton Ford and Brian Johnson
Agenda approved yes__X_ no___
Minutes
Minutes approved Feb. 22, 2016
Reports:
Outreach Chair and President’s report:
Bill Curry
Since the fall, we’ve been busy planning for the 2016 season.
The Society will hold its big fund-raising effort on July 15 to 17 this year with the Port Maitland Heritage Days – anchored by our Auction, Dessert café and BBQ/Grill events and the Heritage Days display in the Legion Hall. I have included these events in the Calendar of Events at the bottom of the Agenda for your convenience.
Outreach has centered on a lot of thinking about the re-design of the panels and maps at the cemeteries and we’ll have new ones ready to go in the Spring for a refresh of the displays there – I’ve brought one along tonight.
One of the things you’ll note is the Mayflower logo on the Maps – 2020 is the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower landing in Massachusetts, and many of our residents are probable Mayflower descendants. This fact may account for much of the interest in the website and our cemeteries as those searching for Mayflower lines are led to our website and to our cemeteries. I did a lot of research and came up with the Mayflower line for every resident who might have such ancestry – and it works out to just about 2/3 of our residents! This fact will be made public and will be promoted through a number of methods to bring the historic importance of our cemeteries to public mind.
We have also chatted a lot about the website. Worried about the impact of a WordPress crash, I feel that our popular and valuable website should be converted from WordPress to HTML – a more standard and secure way of having the site. This will require a lot of effort, and so the proposal for a summer student, which I will bring forward under New Business. The website continues to draw much traffic; we are now at over 110,000 hits from over 70,000 visitors.
I am very pleased to report that Old Stones is being entered into the YASTA database and will appear on both their website and in the print Tourism Guide for the area. Our rack cards have been popular, and will need to be reprinted, and our brochures are also very popular. We are also to be included once again in Seafest, if that organization can find a way forward with a new President.
The Society has also done well in attracting new Board candidates as the nominating committee will describe, so the health of the organization looks good long term. The new Board policy re: Board members and duties and the slight re-arrangement of the Board will also go far to enhancing the security of our efforts going forward.
In short, Old Stones is set on a course for a very productive 2016 season thanks to the hard work and constant efforts of our team. I think our ancestors would be proud!
Fund Raising Chair Alex Blooi
Plans are still being made for Port Maitland Heritage Days.
This event is scheduled from July 15 to 17, with our big fundraiser at the Port Maitland fire hall on July 16.
Again we will be holding a raffle. Raffle prizes have yet to be confirmed but tickets will be available for sale on April18 at our AGM. The Dessert Café, brown bag auction the main auction and the Heritage display, will again be the events that will need the most volunteers.
It is not too soon to donate to the auction . We already have few items ready but can always use more. If you wish to de-clutter and /or have things you will never use again in your lifetime please pass them forward asap to Alex Blooi . Phone 902 649 2293 for pick up.
Please attend the AGM on April 18 for more details.
Treasurer’s Report
Submitted by Bev Outhouse
Bev moved to accept the report, Marilyn seconded. All approved.
Correspondence Report for Board Meeting
November 27, 2015 – ‘Get Well Card’ sent to Buck Owen
February 2016 – Thank you notes sent to the following volunteers:
John Allan
John Grant
Bernie Hurlburt
Brian Johnson
Rod Moores
Kempton Newell
Buck Owen
Cliff Swansbury
Donald Thompson
David Walsh
Gerald Crosby
Jim Rose – time and use of back hoe
February 2016 – Thank you with a card of the purpose of the cemeteries (Restore, Preserve,
Perpetuate) included sent to the following:
George’s Truck & Tractor – Don Deveau
Ascension Pet Supplies
Cat Rentals – Erin Power
Tusket Toyota – Dick Hubbard
J&T Ford Fisheries Ltd – Steven Ford
Seakist Lobster – Wade Nickerson
Gerry Curry
Rod Moores
Rose Valley Trucking & Excavating Ltd – Ed Rose
Peter Croxall
Barbara Surette
Brian Porter
Rick Newell
Diane Rose
Hook ‘n’ Sea – Dr Yvette Linklater
John Allan
Raili Poffenroth
Cheryl Anderson
Eastlink TV – Michael MacDonald
Kendrick Trask
Lin’s Kozy Canine Kennels – Lin Shediac
If there are members or volunteers who need a card (sickness, sympathy, thank you, etc) please let me know. Thank you.
Submitted by:
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
Membership Report for Board Meeting
Of
“Old Stones”
February 22, 2016
This is a new year and no renewal or new memberships at this time.
Submitted by:
Marilyn Ellis, Membership Secretary
Maintenance & Restoration –
George Snow
No report at this time.
Social Event Report–
Nancy Curry
The committee is starting preparations for the July event.
We will be looking for kitchen volunteers this year as two members have had to retire. As well, we will be phoning village residents for dessert donations. This year we will be focusing on the home made decadent style dessert. Store bought donations will be accepted, of course, but we will offer these items separately, as a package item, fixed price.
In keeping with our low environmental impact, we are trying to search out biodegradable cups. If you have any local, inexpensive sources, please let me know.
We will also be looking to improve our sign board with larger format and fewer items listed. Then we’ll remove some items and add others throughout the event. The name of the baker will be listed with their item.
Nancy Curry, chair
Business arising from Minutes – None
New business –
Nomination Committee- Wilfred Allen/George Snow
Proposal for 2016/17 Board of Directors
To be presented at the 22 February 2016 Board Meeting
Background
Over the years the offices and roles within the Old Stones board have evolved. The Nominating Committee (Wilfred Allan and George Snow) believes this is a good time to review our current practices and propose a new set of guidelines.
By-laws
Our by-laws state that there can be no less than five nor more than fifteen directors. Only four Officers are named: Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary. The offices of Treasurer and Secretary may be combined.
Over the years we have added new offices (e.g. separating the Secretary position into two distinct roles; adding Archivists and committee chairs) and have assumed that these additions did not merit a revision of the by-laws.
The signing officers for the Society are any two of the Chair, Treasurer, and Vice Chair. These may be changed at the Annual General Meeting or a Board Meeting.
The election of the Directors takes place at the Annual General Meeting, which is scheduled this year for 18 April 2016.
Procedures
Most Officers and Chairs are expected to submit reports, summarizing recent activities, to Board meetings and to the Annual General Meeting. We propose that when there is a “vice” position or a position is shared, the report will be jointly submitted.
We also propose that when Directors are unable to perform a duty they take the responsibility to ask a Society member to temporarily fill in for them. This person need not be a Director.
Proposal
In order to have a board made up of members who are active and have specific responsibilities within the Society we propose
1) that it become Old Stones policy that each board member will take responsibility for a specific role in the Society such as officer, chair or vice-chair.
Until now board committees, such as the Finance Committee, were only open to board members. Yet there are members of the Society who may not want to be Directors but would have something to contribute to a board committee. Therefore we propose that
2) membership on Old Stones Board Committees be open to any active member.
While committee chairs are appointed by the Board and are board members; membership on committees may be determined by the committees.
If accepted this proposal will take effect at the next Annual General Meeting. We do not believe it will require any changes to our by-laws.
Proposed offices for the 2016/2017 term
Chair
Responsible for guiding the activities of the Society; presides at each General and Board Meeting.
Vice Chair
Assists the Chair as requested and assumes duties of the Chair when he or she is unable to do so. If possible the Vice Chair would offer as a nominee for Chair if the person holding that office steps down.
Treasurer
In cooperation with the Finance Committee the Treasurer is responsible for the day to day financial operation of the Society.
- Reports to each General and Board meeting on the financial position of the Society
- In cooperation with the Finance Committee presents a Budget for approval for the coming year at each November Board meeting.
- Responsible for completion of all forms required annually by Service Nova Scotia and the Canada Revenue Agency.
- Maintains the archives of Society’s financial records since its inception.
Recording Secretary
Prepares and distributes minutes of board and general meetings.
- maintains the archives of Society minutes since its inception.
Corresponding & Membership Secretary
Responsible for all society correspondence that is not the responsibility of other officers (e.g. Treasurer, Recording Secretary)
- Sends sympathy & get well cards as appropriate
- Sends thank you notes to volunteers and those who have made significant donations
Maintains the membership records of the Society
- Responsible for preparing membership cards and forms.
- Responsible for selling memberships at Society events and distributing membership cards
Corresponding & Membership Vice Secretary
Assists the Corresponding & Membership Secretary as requested and assumes duties of the Secretary when she or he is unable to do so.
Restoration & Maintenance Chair
Advises and recommends future restoration work for the three cemeteries. Responsible for the supervision and recruitment of volunteers and the scheduling of maintenance and restoration activities.
Fund Raising Chair
Responsible for overseeing all Society fund raising including special appeals, grants, and fund raising events.
Fund Raising Vice Chairs
Assist the Fund Raising Chair as requested and assumes duties of the Chair when he or she is unable to so.
Finance Committee Chair
Chairs the committee responsible for oversight of the Society’s fiscal matters including investments and budgets. Ex officio members of the Committee are the Treasurer, Chair, and Fund Raising Chair.
Outreach Chair
Responsible for public relations with the community and Society members including the development and maintenance of OldStones.ca. The Chair’s responsibility includes brochures, signage, and maintenance of cemetery guest books.
Vice Outreach Chair
Assists the Outreach Chair, possibly as a public relations person responsible for liaison with media and/or as assistant web master.
Archivist
Responsible for preserving, maintaining, and, when appropriate, displaying all historical records of the Society with the exception of its Minutes and financial records.
Past President
Serves as Chair of the Nominating Committee
Old Stones
Proposed Nominees for Officers & Board of Directors, 2016/2017
to be presented at 2016 AGM
Officers, Chairs & Vice-Chairs
Chair Bill Curry
Vice-Chair George Snow
Maintenance & Restoration Chair George Snow
Treasurer Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary Norma Curry
Corresponding & Membership Secretary Marilyn Ellis
Corresponding & Membership Vice Secretary Diane Rose
Fund Raising Chair Alex Blooi
Fund Raising Vice Chairs Roger Hubbard & Linda Hubbard
Finance Committee Chair Llewellyn Outhouse
Outreach Chair Bill Curry
Outreach Vice Chair Susan Moores
Archivists Nancy Curry & Linda Campbell
Past-Chair vacant; Nominations Chair to be appointed at November 2016 Board meeting
Board Nominees
Alex Blooi
Linda Campbell
Bill Curry
Nancy Curry
Norma Curry
Marilyn Ellis
Linda Hubbard
Roger Hubbard
Susan Moores
Bev Outhouse
Lew Outhouse
Diane Rose
George Snow
Motions:
Wilfred moved and Alex seconded
– that it become Old Stones policy that each board member will take responsibility for a specific role in the Society such as officer, chair or vice-chair.
Approved.
Wilfred moved and Alex seconded that
-membership on Old Stones Board Committees be open to any active member.
Approved.
Bill will send out a notice to all past members to notify them when the next general meeting will be.
Bill explained about the possibility of a summer student to help with the data base and lawn mowing and other activities. Government funding is available to support this. Bill suggested applying for a grant for 12 weeks. Bill will apply before February 28th, 2016.
Meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm
______________________
———————————————
Board Meeting “Old Stones”
Date- November 16, 2015 Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
Number of attendance – 13
Chair- Bill Curry
Vice chair- George Snow
Treasurer-Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary – Norma Curry
Correspondence & Membership Secretary – Marilyn Ellis
Social Events Chair – Nancy Curry
Outreach Chair- Bill Curry
Past President- Wilfred Allan
Fund Raising and Auction Chair -Alex Blooi
Finance Committee Chair- Lew Outhouse
Directors- Linda Campbell
Members Present- Linda and Roger Hubbard
Regrets from Brian Johnson, Denton Ford
Agenda approved yes__X_ no___
Minutes approved yes __X_ no___
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Read by Bev Outhouse.
Maintenance and restoration:
George Snow
Several stones were erected that had fallen down. We would like to thank Jim Rose, Gerry Crosby , Clifford Swansburg, Brian Johnson and John Grant for assisting in this process. Jim Rose provided the backhoe and gravel.
Correspondence Report for Board Meeting
Of
Old BR/PM Cemeteries preservation Society
Nov 16th, 2015
The Society had received a cheque from the Haskell Family Association in honour of Wilfred Allan in appreciation of his many contributions in making the Haskell Reunion a great success. Bev Outhouse had asked me to make out a ‘thank you’ card to send to them; as I was away on vacation I had asked Bev if she would do it.
No further activity has taken place since the last report for September 21st, 2015.
If there are members who need a card (sickness, sympathy, thank you, etc) please let me know.
Thank you.
Submitted by:
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
Membership Report for Board Meeting
Of
Old BR/PM Cemeteries Preservation Society
November 16th, 2015
No further memberships since the last Board Meeting.
As of this date we have 47 members including 1 Life Member and 3 Honorary Life Members.
Submitted by:
Marilyn Ellis, Membership Secretary
Social Events Report:
Social Committee report
There is nothing to report at this meeting.
Nancy Curry
Fund Raising Chair Report. Alex Blooi
The plans are underway for the Port Maitland Heritage Days from July 15-17. Gain we will be having the Dessert Café, BBQ and Grill, our annual Raffle and the main fund-raiser the Auction. A heritage display will again be held at the legion hall. We already have some donation for the auction and, as always, a plea fro more items is going out early. If you or your friends and relatives have any items you wish to donate please feel free to call me. Any furniture items that need a touch-up of minor repair are welcome. I have the winter to work on things, so please don’t leave it until spring. Our goal this year is to raise $6000.00. I think that this can be done with the help of our dedicated volunteers whose efforts last July helped us surpassed our goal of $4000.00. Well done everyone.
Alex Blooi
Fund Raising Chair
Finance Committee Report
by Lew Outhouse
Finance Committee Meeting Minutes
Nov. 13, 2015
Meeting called to order at 10:00 am
Brian, Bev, Lew, Alex, Bill
2016 proposed budget-
Discussion and agreed to present it at Old Stones Board meeting as Budget 2016
Discussion about Investment – Move some funds to Managed Investment account
Moved by Alex, seconded by Bev that we move cash to the Investment account.
Bill to visit BMO and arrange account and transfer.
Meeting adjourned 11:05 am
Lew moved and Alex seconded to accept the budget. It was passed unanimously.
Archivist
Brian Johnson –No report.
President’s and Outreach Chair’s Report –
President and Outreach Chair
November 16, 2015
It’s been a busy couple of months since we met in September for our Old Stones Society!
First, the big news re: our website – we hit a milestone about two weeks ago, as the total count of hits to our website is now over 100,000, with over 60,000 unique visitors. This is interesting in that we’re becoming a genealogical website of record for the families in the area, but is the reason we need to be more appropriate in our budgeting for such an effort.
I was a part of the group that placed two fallen spires back up – the monuments to the Cann family in the Free Will cemetery and to the Raymond family in the Calvinist cemetery had fallen and we got them back up and level and looking good. As a result, we re-planted the bricks at those sites, something we’ll need to do over the entire three cemeteries in the spring of 2016 – complete with new QR codes and symbols. In order to reflect this, we also plan on new signage – both the panels and the signs are being redesigned – I’ve brought one panel for an example tonight. The idea is to have them done in metal and then screwed into the panel holders and over the signs to give a more permanent look to the whole area.
We have approached Trout Unlimited Canada and they are interested in our project to fix the bridge over the brook between the cemeteries (Free Will and Founders) and we’ll hear from them soon as to what their thoughts are about funds for this effort.
I am now working on the Newsletter to send out as a year -end reminder to people about our Society, and hopefully it will inspire new donors and possibly new volunteers! The Newsletter will be sent to the Vanguard as well.
Thanks to all who have worked so hard to make the Old Stones project the success it is – we should all be very proud of the efforts of our group!
Sincerely,
Bill Curry – President and Outreach Chair Old Stones
New Business:
Thank you notes will be sent to the people who helped replace the stones that had fallen down. Bill will look into possible funding available through the government to make the bridge wheelchair accessible.
Budget for 2016 adopted unanimously as presented.
The proposed calendar is accepted as recorded on the Agenda.
Alex moved to adjourn at 8:00 p.m.
———————————————————————–
Board Meeting Old Stones
Date- Sept 21, 2015 Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
Number of attendance – 9
Chair- Bill Curry
Vice chair- George Snow
Treasurer-Bev Outhouse
Finance Sub-Committee Chair – Lew Outhouse
Recording Secretary – Norma Curry
Correspondence & Membership Secretary – Marilyn Ellis
Social Events Chair – Nancy Curry
Outreach Chair- Bill Curry
Fund Raising Chair – Alex Blooi
Archives Chair- Brian Johnson
Directors- Brian Johnson, Linda Campbell, Lew Outhouse, Denton Ford
Members- Regrets from Marilyn Ellis, Denton Ford
Absent – Linda Campbell, Brian Johnson
,
Agenda approved yes__X_ no___
approved yes __X_ no___
Minutes
February 23, 2015 minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes.
Alex and Bill will contact Kim Walsh, Roger Hubbard, Tom and Patti Durkee to let them know when the next meeting will be.
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Read by Bev Outhouse. Finances reports handed out at Meeting
Maintenance and restoration:
George Snow
Over the summer very little work was done at the cemeteries other than mowing.
Now that the weather has cooled a bit, plans are being made to do some work on some stones, and also to replace the bridge on the path between the two cemeteries to allow wheel chairs access.
Social Committee:
Nnacy Curry stated that the social committee overall was pleased with the Port Maitland Heritage Day event, and that despite a few glitches, things overall went very well. The committee has met with Bill and Alex and discussed ways to improve the event for next year.
Sept 21h, 2015
Correspondence Report for Board Meeting
Of
Old BR/PM Cemeteries preservation Society
Sept 21st, 2015
August 4, 2015 Sympathy card sent to Elsie Outhouse in the passing of Ronald.
August 4, 2015 Thank you notes sent to George and Wilfred for the work they put in to the Heritage Day weekend. Also a thank you note to Alex for all that he did for the fund raiser with the auction and all that it entailed.
September 16, 2015 Thank you note sent to Don and James Deveau at George’s Truck and Tractor in Beaver River; they had loaned a ride-on mower to use on the three cemeteries.
September 16, 2015 Get well card sent to JoAnne Blooi; she has been under the weather for some time but, I understand, is now on the mend.
If there are members who need a card (sickness, sympathy, thank you, etc) please let me know.
Thank you.
Submitted by:
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
Sea Captains of Port Maitland 2015
Report
Wilfred Allen
The Exhibit
The exhibit was held at the Port Maitland Legion Hall, courtesy of the owners, Howard and Madeleine Snow, who provided the hall to Old Stones at no cost. It was open Friday 17 July 10am to 8pm; Saturday, 18 July 10am to 1pm & 5pm to 8pm; Sunday: 1pm to 7pm which was followed by the Sea Faring Tales interviews filmed by Eastlink TV.
The exhibit was inspired by a comment made to George Snow, who at a young age was told by Adeline (Porter) Brown, “When I was a young girl if I walked down a street in Port Maitland and met a man I didn’t recognize and said, ‘Good morning Captain,” I was probably right.”
This led to research by George and Wilfred Allan who through the kindness of Eric Ruff were provided with a list, compiled by Jerry Titus, of 47 Master Mariners who lived in Port Maitland. These sea captains formed the basis of the exhibit.
Other items on display included
- Three panels of early class photos from Port Maitland School. These were provided by Bev Outhouse and proved to be exceptionally popular.
- Original sketches from the life of Joshua Slocum drawn by Kevin Sollows and given by the artist to George Snow. These will eventually be donated to the Islands Historical Society Museum in Freeport, Digby Neck.
- The anchor,from the Cobequid was raised from Trinity Ledge last year by Derek Thomas. We are grateful to Derek, Hook ’n’ Sea, and to Jim Rose who transported the anchor to and from the Legion Hall. There was also a display of photos and other memorabilia about Trinity Ledge including Gilbert Hersey’s story of standing on the Ledge. It was good to see Gilbert visit the exhibit.
- Memorabilia provided by John Allan from the year he spent on The Bounty.
- The family Bible of Captain James Albert Rose (1843-1915) loaned by Jim & Peggy Rose.
- A large photo of Port Maitland and Beaver River showed the Free Will Baptist Church and a number of other buildings no longer standing. We are grateful to Bill Curry for making this wonderful enlargement possible.
- Marine charts and implements for reading them loaned by Jack Churchill.
- Various photos and postcards of early Port Maitland.
The Guest Book had 148 signatures with many positive comments. We were pleased with the turnout, the interest and the reactions of those who visited. We were especially pleased to welcome Life Member Hazel Trask.
Coffee, tea and cookies were available throughout.
A donations basket netted $200.05.This was included in the Port Maitland Heritage Day receipts.
Publicity
Seafest: we received wonderful publicity from various outlets by virtue of this being recognized as a Yarmouth Seafest event. We are grateful to Don Smith and the Seafest Committee for agreeing to sponsor both this event and Port Maitland Heritage Day.
A sign about the exhibit was placed next to the main Port Maitland Heritage Day sign on the northeast corner of the Highway 1 and Hector Street. We are grateful to Tom and Patty Durkee for making this space available to us.
Sea Faring Tales
Five men who had spent time at sea participated in interviews on Sunday evening that were filmed by Eastlink TV. They will appear as a special program in the Tri-County area at a time and date to be announced. The guests were: George Snow, Capt Hubert Hall, Capt Kenneth Smith, Derek Thomas and John Allan. The host was Wilfred Allan.
Next year
While it may have a different name we propose to build on this exhibit next year, and hold it again at the Port Maitland Legion Hall sponsored by Seafest. The proposed dates are: Fri through Sunday, 15 to 17 July 2016.
George Snow & Wilfred Allan
Fund Raising Chair Report. Alex Blooi
FUND RAISING CHAIR REPORT
2015
The first annual Port Maitland Heritage Day events attracted a large fun loving and hungry crowd. A big thank you for all the hard work to all the dedicated volunteers who made this day a resounding success.
Thanks go to Howard and Madeleine Snow for the use of the Legion Hall. The Sea Captains of Port Maitland Exhibit was a huge success thanks to Wilfred and George. We received donations of $200.05.
The Dessert Café BBQ and Grill was a first for OLDSTONES. Although there were some minor glitches the event was popular and raised around $1300. I say not bad for a first time event.
This year’s raffle went very well. Out of the 800 tickets printed only 72 were left unsold. The raffle brought in a total of $1234. Thanks to all that sold and /or bought tickets. Congratulations to the winners.
The ever-popular Brown bag auction realised $325.This was consistent with the last 2 years.
Donations at the door $81.
Memberships $115.
The main auction saw a number of new faces and buyers. This translated into a record setting total for the auction of $3056. Everyone seemed to be having fun.
The total revenue for the weekend was $6189.85
Again I wish to emphasise that none of this would have happened without the many dedicated volunteers who are OLDSTONES.
Thank you all for making this the best fundraiser ever.
Plans for next year are being discussed. I will meet with the committees to plan and implement changes where necessary. If you have any suggestions on how we can improve, please, by all means bring them forward.
Alex Blooi
Fund Raising Chair
Archivist
Brian Johnson – no report
Outreach Chair and President’s report:
President’s and Outreach Chair’s Report –
September 21, 2015
I have been busy as Old Stones chair since the last report. In late June, I spoke to a meeting in Antigonish about our cemeteries and the way we restore, preserve and perpetuate the memory of those who were buried there. The “Stones, Bones and Smartphones” talk went well, and many commented on the efforts of our group.
Of course, the largest effort was the July fund raising during Port Maitland Heritage Day, a day which took a huge effort from many people, but which paid off in an intake of over $6000. for the Society.
I was also involved in the Haskell family reunion – a group of Haskell descendants (of which I am one as well) who met here in late July. I spent an afternoon with them in the current cemetery looking at Haskell graves and then we went to Old Stones’ cemeteries and the result of this was that they gave us, via a gift acknowledging Wilfred’s efforts to make the reunion such a success, a large donation.
Our website has been just amazing. We are now at over 60,000 visitors and over 95,000 hits on the website. This is an amazing statistic and shows the interest in the project we have undertaken.
Plans for the future are to look at next year’s Port Maitland Heritage Days, and to look at what work we can do to better the actual cemeteries. A new map for each cemetery is underway, and a plan for more information to be added to the website, linking residents ancestral information for example, is in the works.
I am thrilled with the progress we have made this past year, and hope we can continue to be as successful in the future. Our efforts are appreciated.
Chair – Bill Curry
New Business:
Dianne moved that John Grant be given a gift certificate for $25 to recognize his hard work. Nancy seconded it. Approved. Bill will purchase the gift certificate and send it to John.
Lew will present the Finance Sub-Committee report at the next meeting.
The November meeting will be a budget meeting so proposals must be ready for the meeting. Also the calendar will be proposed.
Bev made a financial report for the Municpality to let them know how their $500 grant was used for the Port Maitland Heritage Day. Bill will send the report.
Alex moved to adjourn at 8:00 p.m.
——————————————————————-
General Meeting “Old Stones”
Date- May 25, 2015 Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
Number of attendance – 9
Chair- Bill Curry
Vice chair- George Snow
Treasurer-Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary – Norma Curry
Social Events Chair – Nancy Curry
Outreach Chair- Bill Curry
Fund Raising Chair – Wilfred Allan
Auction Chair -Alex Blooi
Finance Committee Chair – Lew Outhouse
Director – Diane Rose
Directors Absent- Brian Johnson, Linda Campbell, Denton Ford, Marilyn Ellis
Agenda approved yes__X_ no___
Minutes
February 23, 2015 minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes.
June 10th at 1 p.m. there will be a finance meeting at Bill Curry’s house.
Nancy Curry and Alex Blooi will meet to plan for the summer fund raiser on June 1st, Monday 10:00 a.m. at Alex’s house.
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Read by Bev Outhouse.
Maintenance and restoration:
George Snow
Bought 2 new lawnmowers and overhauled four. It is getting difficult to find lawn mowing volunteers, but George has some names that he will call. Wednesday gang will discuss.
Membership Report for Board Meeting
May 25th, 2015
By March 28th, 2015 we had 15 paid members, 1 Life Member, and 4 Honorary Life Members, totalling 20 members.
From the April meeting we had 3 renewals and 2 new members.
As of this date we have 25 members including 1 Life Member and 4 Honorary Life Members
Submitted by:
Marilyn Ellis, Membership Secretary
Correspondence Report for the AGM
May 25th, 2015
Wilfred received a note from Kim and Dave Walsh regarding their interest in Old Stones and their willingness to volunteer their time; Wilfred responded to their note in kind. Wilfred gave me both notes to keep on file.
May 4th, 2015 – Get Well card was sent to Bev Outhouse
If there are members who need a card (sickness, sympathy, thank you, etc) please let me know.
Thank you.
Submitted by:
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
Social Events Report:
Social Committee report May 25th, 2015
We have had general discussions about the July event and are ready to get things underway.
A supply of paper luncheon plates, cups, forks and napkins are on hand.
We will have a poster of old pie recipes and wear 30’s style aprons to keep the theme.
There are plans re keeping a constant source of tea/coffee going throughout the day.
We will be contacting all members of the Society to ask for donations as well as community folk. We are hoping the Board members will donate 2 desserts each. Our hope is that these will be “fancy” desserts since each serving will be a $3.00 value, but we will gladly accept everything that arrives at the door. A small selection will be on a board and added to as the day progresses. Any desserts left over will be auctioned off at the conclusion of the main auction. I have some recipes of Port Maitland fundraisers in the distant past I’m willing to share.
We have a list of “potential” kitchen helpers so that no one person has to stand and serve for more than 2 hours and will be phoning folks in June. Please volunteer or ask your neighbours. All are welcome.
Submitted by Nancy Curry,
chair
Fund Raising Chair Chair Report. Alex Blooi
FUND RAISING CHAIR REPORT
Plans are being solidified for our fund raising event on July 18 2015. A list of potential donors to our desert café has been compiled and will be discussed with the social committee when we get together. The banner that was planned for the event has been scrapped. Instead we have permission from the Durkees to erect signage at the top of shore hill. Publicity is of the utmost importance. I will be setting up a table to sell raffle tickets and to promote Port Maitland Heritage Day at the all Port Maitland Yard Sale to be held on June 13 2015.Donations of items for the auction are slow in coming. Please get the word out that we need more things.
On May 14th OLD STONES appeared on the local TV broadcast IN FOCUS. Our very capable host Wilder Allan interviewed Linda Campbell and Marilyn Ellis whose story of the beginnings of old stones was very interesting. George Snow and Bill Curry talked about our mission to restore preserve and perpetuate.
Bill and I then talked about our upcoming events with Bill finishing off the program by speaking about the QR codes and the involvement of the students from Port Maitland School. The program was interspersed with photographs from the early beginnings of our society to the present. It was by all accounts a very interesting program.
My next report will hopefully tell the tale of a successful Port Maitland Heritage Day.
Oh yes, sell those raffle tickets and get donations for the auction.
Alex Blooi
Archivist
Brian Johnson – no report
Outreach Chair and President’s report:
Since February, the main thrust of the Society has been to continue the planning toward our two main goals :
- The annual auction has turned into Port Maitland Heritage Day and will be a huge undertaking, but could be a very, very exciting and worthwhile event – from all perspectives.
- The Restore, Preserve and perpetuate has been steadily worked on as the plans for new signs are in place, with new maps and information. We have also made brochures and have ordered rack cards to be available to distribute to tourism outlets.
The other major news is that the website hit a milestone – we have now had over 80,000 page visits on our website in just the year since it went back up, and we have had in excess of 50,000 individual visitors from over 50 different countries !
In early May, we had several of our members interviewed by one Wilfred Allan of Eastlink TV for In Foucs. The experience was very interesting and we hope to get some good promotion from the event when it is shown on TV in mid-June. As well, I will be presenting to a cemeteries group in Antigonish in mid-June and talk about our efforts.
The Agenda tonight includes a lot of planning regarding the finances and the timing of efforts – and the complete 2015 calendar can be put up because of all this. I want to thank the Board for their efforts and their help getting all the work done. The cemeteries look great and are our efforts to perpetuate the memories of those buried here are bearing fruit, and the Society is moving forward with our efforts to help ensure that this is always the case.
Sincerely,
Bill
New Business
An extra board meeting to discuss the results of the fundraiser will be scheduled at a later date. All are encouraged to keep notes about their experience to share at the meeting.
Adjourn at 8:00 p.m.
| Old Stones Restore, Preserve, Perpetuate |
Board Meeting
Monday, May 25, 2015 7 pm
Port Maitland Fire Hall
Agenda
- Approval of Agenda
- Minutes of Board Meeting, Feb 23, 2015
- Business arising from the Minutes
- Reports and Discussion
- Treasurer
- Maintenance & Restoration Chair
- Membership Secretary
- Corresponding Secretary
- Social Events Chair
- Fund Raising Chair
- Auction Chair
- Archives Chair
- President and Outreach Chair
- New business
- Captains of Port Maitland exhibit
Calendar of Events:
Board meeting – February 23, 2015 at the Port Maitland Fire Hall at 7 p.m.
AGM – April 20, 2015, Port Maitland Fire Hall at 7 p.m
Board meeting – May 25, 2015 at the Port Maitland Fire Hall at 7 p.m..
Port Maitland Heritage Day – open at 10 am, auction at 2 pm – July 18, 2015, Port Maitland Fire Hall
Board meeting – September 21, 2015, Port Maitland Fire Hall at 7 p.m.
Board meeting – November 16, 2015, Port Maitland Fire Hall at 7 p.m.
———————————————————————-
Annual General Meeting
Old Stones
Date- April 20, 2015 Time meeting started – 7 p.m.
In Attendance –
Chair- Bill Curry
Vice chair- George Snow
Treasurer-Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary – Norma Curry
Correspondence & Membership Secretary – Marilyn Ellis
Social Events Chair – Nancy Curry
Outreach Chair- Bill Curry
Fund Raising Chair – Wilfred Allan
Auction Chair -Alex Bloois
Archives Chair- Brian Johnson
Directors- Brian Johnson, Linda Campbell, Diane Rose, Lew Outhouse
Members present: Roger Hubbard, David Walsh
Agenda approved yes__X_ no___
approved yes __X_ no___
Minutes
Yearly minutes were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes.
Nominations Chair
Investment/ Finance – brief oral report by Wilfred Allen:
New Investment Committee set up and has already met as per February minutes. Committee Chair to be Lew Outhouse.
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Read by Bev Outhouse. Report circulated at meeting.
Maintenance and restoration:
During the 2014 summer season the cemeteries were mowed regularly with the help of 16 Volunteers. The grounds are in better shape now, so we started to replace the old won out mowers. We purchased tow new mowers. To indicate how much the grounds have improved we now mow about 2/3rds of the Free Will Baptist Cemetery with a ride on mower. Buck Owens takes responsibility to mow the ditches in front of Free Will and Founders Cemeteries. Our plan is to purchase two more new mowers this year.
Late last summer a work party located two stones buried just under the surface in the Calvinist Cemetery, using probes and these will be put up in place this year.
We also have three very heavy stones that have fallen and will need a back hoe to put them back up again. This work cannot be done until the land has dried out. We also hope to reposition the rest of the footstones in the three cemeteries.
George Snow
Two new mowers have been located and will be purchased soon.
Membership Report for the AGM
Of
Old BR/PM Cemeteries Preservation Society
April 20th, 2015
We had 51 members including 1 Life Member, and 4 Honorary Life Members for the year 2014.
To date we have 15 paid members, 1 Life Member, and 4 Honorary Members for a total of 20 members. Two new names have been added tonight. (Roger and Linda Hubbard) .
Submitted by:
Marilyn Ellis, Membership Secretary
Correspondence Report for the AGM
Of
Old BR/PM Cemeteries preservation Society
April 20th, 2015
April 24th, 2014 – ‘Thank you’ note to the Port Maitland Fire Hall
April 28th, 2014 – ‘Thank you’ note to Donna Amirault, Accounting at NSCC
August, 2014 – Sympathy cards to Wilfred Allan (passing of his Mother) and to Ann Sorensen
(passing of her Sister)
October 17th, 2014 – ‘Thank You’ note to David Cottreau (donation of a Stihl whipper snipper)
February, 2015 – 14 ‘Thank You’ notes to the volunteers for the summer maintenance of the 3
cemeteries.
– ‘Thank You’ note to Arthur Rose for donating gravel to the Calvinist Cemetery
Submitted by:
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretar
Social Events Report:
Our first event of the year was held on July 13th, 2014 at the Port Maitland fire hall. We held a strawberry social following the annual cemetery tour. There is no charge for this event but donations are most welcome.
The day was clear, sunny, and hot but unfortunately we had only 10 folks to enjoy the strawberries and cake. There seemed to be a lot of competition for attendees by other local events that day. Since this is our event with the highest costs the committee feels it is time to consider changing the date or the event for next year.
The second event was held Saturday, August 23rd, 2014 at the fire hall. This was a potluck lunch with a variety of auction items following. The committee supplies turkey and ham with attendees bringing a cold food item to share. We served approx. 50 for lunch. Some folks came later to attend just the auction. This very successful event boosted everyone’s enthusiasm since the preparation is labor intensive before and at the event.
The social committee welcomes any new volunteers for this committee.
Thank you to the members of this committee for their support and very hard work this past year. It was a successful 2014 and we look forward to an even better 2015.
Submitted by Nancy Curry, chair
Nancy Curry
Fund Raising Chair. Wilfred Allen
2014 Fund Raising Report
Old Stones AGM 20 April 2016
The Fund Raising Chair has a fairly easy job because most of the work that adds to our coffers is done by others. This past year that was particularly true as most of our revenue was due to the efforts of Alex Blooi who supervised our very successful auction and raffle. As the auction is being expanded this coming year to include other activities under Alex’s leadership it make sense that he be designated Fund Raising Chair on our new board.
The results of fund raising this past year will be seen in the Treasurer’s Report. In short, it has been a good year.
In addition to the auction and raffle there were three other actions taken this past year that will have a positive impact on our fund raising.
- Designation of Donor ($50 & up), Supporter ($100 & up), and Patron ($250 & up) categories for donations.
- Creation of an excellent new Old Stones brochure by Bill Curry. It was mailed to every member along with a newsletter.
- Formation of a Finance Committee under the leadership of Lew Outhouse that will oversee the finances of the Society in cooperation with the Treasurer. This includes, but is not limited to, prudent investing of Society funds.
Not one of these initiatives was the responsibility of the fund raising chair. The specifics will appear in other reports. It is such a pleasure to work with a group of enthusiastic Society members who help us achieve our goals in this way.
Wilfred Allan
Fund Raising Chair
Fund Raising is to become part of Auction Chair’s responsibility, so a combined Auction Chair/Fund-raising, to be simply called Fundraising.
Two ads for Port Maitland Heritage Day and Sea Captains for Port Maitland were shown to the group. These will be events this summer (see posters on website elsewhere).
Auction Chair Report. Alex Blooi
Auction Chair Report
The fundraiser held last August was a resounding success. We had set a goal of raising $2500 and we ended up with almost $3500.This is mainly due to the outstanding efforts of our many volunteers. Our goal for this year is a modest $4000. We are expanding our efforts this summer with Port Maitland Heritage Day. This event on July 18 is part of SEAFEST and will start off with a Desert Café from 10 AM to 4 PM. A Bbq. and grill, a live auction at 2PM followed by the brown bag auction draw and this year’s raffle draw. Vesey’s bulbs will also be for sale. We are actively seeking quality items for our auction. Contact Alex Blooi at 902 649 2293 or e-mail jadeeblooi@hotmail.com .
It is not too soon to donate items, as we would like to have them on our web site asap for all to see. For more info regarding this years event you can go to our web site old stones .ca.
Alex Blooi
(Members will be asked to bring desserts to sell and pulled pork and grilled hamburgers will be offered with free tea and coffee. Local musicians will perform. Alex has tickets available to sell.)
Archivist
Brian Johnson is looking for materials to preserve old photographs. He is looking for acid free materials. Bill has offered to locate a printer for the photos chosen. Members gave suggestions about where to locate the materials needed. Wilfred has provided a book for the photos.
Outreach Chair and President’s report:
President’s and Outreach Chair’s Report – April 20,2015
Old Stones has done well in terms of the events and outreach this past year. In late May 2014, we were invited to present a lecture to the NS Genealogical Association in Truro – it went very well and many people commented on our group’s efforts and the amazing amount of time and energy that goes into our work. As a result of the talk, we have made a number of contacts with other cemetery groups, and have been invited to repeat the talk this year in June in Antigonigh at St. F.X. to a mixed group of cemetery and genealogical folks. Our events, and in particular our annual auction and potluck went off well, and our fundraising target was met and exceeded as you have heard from our committees.
The website continues to be a very interesting project, as the keystone of our “perpetuate” mandate. We have now had over 50,000 visitors from around the world, with many folks commenting on our website reply forms or e-mailing us for information. The QR code and website project is, as far as we can tell a first in the world effort, and it has paved the way for even more information to flow as we begin to include the removals in our database.
I am pleased that we did a “probing” of the Calvinist Cemetery and we discovered two heretofore unknown markers – and so we have added John Wellwood Goudey and his daughter Sarah Adelaide Goudey to the existing marker for John’s wife, Sarah Goudey It appears that daughter Sarah and her father John died less than a month apart in 1865 from typhoid fever. Both markers were found near the elder Sarah’s marker and during this year we will work to clean them up and display them.
The above is the kind of effort that yields very interesting information about our community and its history, and I hope that the Society soon can invite an expert down to help us understand new concepts in how to maintain and restore our residents markers. New maps at the cemeteries and a new brochure and rack card are all things that we have on tap for this year, and our very first newsletter has already gone out to every member.
I want to thank the entire Board and all the members and volunteers who have worked so hard this year to make the restoration, preservation and perpetuation of the cemeteries a reality. I am looking forward to sharing a slideshow of the efforts over the past 15 years, and am looking forward to continuing this amazingly rewarding task.
Sincerely,
Bill Curry
New Business
Nominations:
Old Stones
Nominees for Officers & Board of Directors
Annual General Meeting
20 April 2015
OFFICERS
Chair & Outreach Chair
Bill Curry
Vice-Chair, Maintenance & Restoration Chair
George Snow
Treasurer
Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary
Norma Curry
Corresponding & Membership Secretary
Marilyn Ellis
Social Events Chair
Nancy Curry
Fund Raising Chair
Alex Blooi
Finance Committee Chair
Llewellyn Outhouse
Archivist
Brian Johnson
Past-Chair & Nominations Chair
Wilfred Allan
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Wilfred Allan
Alex Blooi
Linda Campbell
Bill Curry
Nancy Curry
Norma Curry
Marilyn Ellis
Denton Ford
Brian Johnson
Bev Outhouse
Lew Outhouse
Diane Rose
George Snow
Wilfred moved that these officers be approved. Linda seconded. Unanimously approved.
Linda moved to adjourn at 8:12 p.m.
Following the Meeting:
A presentation – Bringing Historic Cemeteries to Life was shown to the group.
————————————
Board Meeting – Old Stones
Date- Feb. 23, 2015
Called to order at – 7:02 pm
Number in attendance – 9
Chair- Bill Curry
Vice chair- George Snow
Treasurer-Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary – Norma Curry
Correspondence & Membership Secretary – Marilyn Ellis
Outreach Chair- Bill Curry
Fund Raising Chair – Wilfred Allan
Auction Chair -Alex Bloois
Directors – Denton Ford, Lew Outhouse
Regrets from: Linda Campbell , Nancy Curry, Brian Johnson, Diane Rose.
Agenda approved
Minutes
Minutes from November 17, 2014 were read and approved.
Business arising from the minutes.
Investment/ Finance:
Old Stones Investment Committee
to be called Finance Committee
Home of Bill Curry, Port Maitland
Minutes
13 February 2015, 9 to 11 am
Meeting Chair: Bill Curry
All Committee Members named at the 14 November 2014 meeting of the Old Stones board were present: Bill Curry, Bev Outhouse, Lew Outhouse, Alex Blooi, Brian Johnson, Wilfred Allan (who recorded the minutes). Norma Curry also attended.
It was agreed that at its next meeting the Old Stones Board be asked to establish a Finance Committee to make investments on the Society’s behalf—the Committee to be chaired by Lew Outhouse with the Old Stones Chair, Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair to be signing officers of the Investment Accounts and Bill Curry to be the Investor on behalf of the Finance Committee. No actions are to be taken by the Investor without the unanimous approval of the Finance Committee members. The Finance Committee quorum to be 4 members.
Bill reviewed The Benjamin Graham Approach in Brief that outlined the principles of Value Investing. Print copies of this document will be made available to members of the Board at its next meeting.
Agreed that the following Rules for Investing be adopted:
- Follow general principles outlined in Value Investing: A Look at the Benjamin Graham Approach which was distributed at the meeting. (and copies given tonight to all other members present)
- Hold 50% of the monies in high security investments e. GIC or Government Bonds
- Other 50% to be invested in stocks following Value Investing principles. Stock trades would be reviewed at the Finance Committee meetings with consensus required to invest.
- Inform Board and general membership of the investment process and the knowledge that though growth of the internally restricted fund is the goal, there may be losses as investing in stocks does entail risk.
- The board will establish a Finance Committee and will authorize the Committee to make investments on the Society’s behalf.
Bill will present the report of this meeting to the 23 February meeting of the Old Stones Board and ask the board to approve the establishment of the Finance Committee under the guidelines stated above.
Wilfred Allen:
I move that the Old Stones Board formally establish a Finance Committee to make investments on the Society’s behalf
and to advise the Treasurer and Board concerning financial matters affecting the Society
—the Committee to be chaired by Lew Outhouse
with any two of the Old Stones Chair, Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair to be signing officers of the Investment Accounts and
Bill Curry to be the Investor on behalf of the Finance Committee and
that no actions be taken by the Investor without the unanimous approval of members attending any duly called Finance Committee meeting that has at least a quorum of 4 members.
The committee will submit a formal report at each Annual General Meeting of the Society and update the Board at each of its meetings concerning any actions taken.
The membership of the Committee will be as decided at the board meeting on 17 November 2014, namely Bill Curry, Lew Outhouse, Bev Outhouse, Alex Blooi, Brian Johnson, and Wilfred Allan.
Seconded by Alex Blooi.
George Snow: Would the budget still be prepared by the Treasurer and approved by the board at the general meeting? The answer is yes.
Denton Ford – who would do the investing and how will they choose investments?
Investments would be chosen by the Finance Committee, and the Investor would be directed to put that money into whatever investment is chosen.
Unanimously approved
Reports:
Treasurer’s report :
Read by Bev Outhouse. Copies of her spreadsheets distributed at meeting
Moved by Bev to accept the report, seconded by Wilfred. The motion Passed unanimously.
Maintenance and restoration:
No report – winter …
Membership Report for Board Meeting
February 23rd, 2015
During the year 2014 we had 51 Memberships.
To date we have 1 Life Member and 4 Honorary Life Members making a total of 5 Members.
Now that we are starting a new year I hope to add more than 51 members.
Submitted by:
Marilyn Ellis, Membership Secretary
Correspondent Secretary Report for Board Meeting
February 23rd, 2015
February, 2015 – 14 Thank you notes sent to the following volunteers for the summer maintenance of the three cemeteries in 2014:
Buck Owen
Bernard Hurlburt
John Grant
Donald Thompson
Mark Weagle
Rod Moores
Kempton Newell
Howard Snow
Ronald Kelly
Rod Snow
Julian Smith (combined with Megan)
Megan Snow
Andrew Moores
Gerald Crosby – assisted putting up signs & visitors boxes, and worked on 5 stones in the
Calvinist Cemetery.
Arthur Rose – donated gravel used at the Calvinist Cemetery
Two others who volunteered but didn’t need a ‘Thank You’ note:
John Allan
Alex Blooi
The Correspondent Secretary also thanked Wilfred Allan for the kind note to her (and to Bob) on the recent death in her husband’s family.
Submitted by:
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
Social Events Report:
The past two months have been very quiet for the social committee. We have had no new events since the potluck and auction last August.
However, we have done some preliminary planning for the Pt. Maitland Heritage Day, 2015. We have a list of potential donors for the dessert cafe and will be talking to these people directly later in the spring. We will be looking for some of the “famous” desserts of days past, known to those eating at the Pt. Maitland IODE fundraisers as outstanding. We have also referenced old Yarmouth recipe collections- published and private.
The kitchen volunteers will be sporting some of those “1930’s” aprons that marked that era so well. We have a source for originals- handmade, of course.
An inventory of plates, cups etc. has taken place and we will be purchasing supplies as sales come along this spring.
Submitted by chair,
Nancy Curry
Fund Raising Chair. Wilfred Allan
No report – see nomination report – to establish Auction Chair as Fund-Raising Chair.
Auction Chair Report. Alex Blooi
The auction being held on July 18th 2015 as part of Port Maitland Heritage Day is in an ongoing planning phase . We are already gathering items for the auction and those items will be listed on our web page soon. If you or someone you know need’s to de-clutter, suggest a donation of items to our auction.
The raffle tickets will be ready as soon as we get our permit.
1st prize A return trip for 2 with cabin and vehicle on NOVA STAR
2nd prize A signed framed photograph by BILL CURRY
3rd prize 20 lbs. Lobster
Ticket prices are $ 2.00 each or 3 for $ 5.00
As part of our fund raising event, Port Maitland Heritage Day activities are coming along. Part of the advertising for this event is a banner to be placed across the highway. In order to do this we are in touch with the appropriate persons. As you can well imagine the highway department is quiet busy with our blast of winter. We hope to get an answer soon.
The cost of the banner is $346 32 This is a mesh banner with grommets and includes the printing and delivery. The accessories needed to attach the banner to the poles will about $80.00 and the cost of putting it up is unknown. We hope to be able to recoup some or all of the cost through a grant from MODY. An application will be made as soon as we get permission to put up the banner.
Alex Blooi
Outreach Chair and President’s report:
Since November, the main thrust of the Society has been to continue the planning toward our two main goals that we will hear about tonight:
1.The Society has investigated a way to make more money on the investments we hold and will present this finding tonight. The Investment committee met, as you’ve heard and recommended the formation of the Finance Committee for Old Stones.
And
- The annual auction has turned into Port Maitland Heritage Day and will be a huge undertaking, but could be a very, very exciting and worthwhile event – from all perspectives.
The other major news is that the website hit a milestone – we have now had over 70,000 page visits on our website in just the year since it went back up, and we have had in excess of 46,000 individual visitors from over 50 different countries ! We are also big enough now to be an attractive target for spammers and hackers, and the newly installed software for protection has already caught over30,000+ spam attempts and hacking efforts.
In early December, we also had a very interesting event – we found two more “residents” in the Calvinist Cemetery – both cousins of mine we’d like to welcome John Wellwood Goudey and his daughter Sarah Adelaide Goudey in joining Sarah Daley Goudey (spouse and mother) to our known residents. John and Sarah A. already have some information added in Old Stones website and both graves have been added to the Geo-referencing project.
The Agenda tonight includes a lot of planning regarding the finances and the timing of efforts – and the complete 2015 calendar can be put up because of all this. I want to thank the Board for their efforts and their help getting all the work done. The cemeteries look great and are our efforts to perpetuate the memories of those buried here are bearing fruit, and the Society is moving forward with our efforts to help ensure that this is always the case.
Sincerely,
Bill
New Business:
Port Maitland’s Sea Captains Exhibit
As part of the Port Maitland Heritage Day celebrations and possibly as a SeaFest event we will be presenting an exhibit called Port Maitland’s Sea Captains—Discover our Seafaring Heritage. It will be held in the old Port Maitland Legion Hall Friday, Saturday and Sunday 17-19 July from 10 am to 8 pm. It will be closed from 2 to 4 pm on Saturday so everyone can be at the auction.
George Snow is working on a list of 43 Master Mariners who had links to the Port Maitland area. He is in the process of gathering information about their lives, their homes and any links they may have to the Old Stones Cemeteries. He is recruiting others who spent much of their lives on the sea to join him there to share their experiences as folks come in. There will be tea and coffee for which visitors may make donations.
We are also looking at the possibility of having a presentation on Sunday that has a working title of Sea Stories.
While Port Maitland Heritage Day has been approved as a SeaFest event we are asking the SeaFest Committee to also include this in its activities. It should be especially appropriate as the SeaFest theme this year is Captains and Crews.
A huge thank you to Howard and Madeleine Snow for making the Legion Hall available to us.
Old Stones
Draft Nominees for Officers & Board of Directors
to be presented at Annual General Meeting
20 April 2015
OFFICERS
Chair & Outreach Chair
Bill Curry
Vice-Chair, Maintenance & Restoration Chair
George Snow
Treasurer
Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary
Norma Curry
Corresponding & Membership Secretary
Marilyn Ellis
Social Events Chair
Nancy Curry
Fund Raising Chair
Alex Blooi
Finance Committee Chair
Llewellyn Outhouse
Archivist
Brian Johnson
Past-Chair & Nominations Chair
Wilfred Allan
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Wilfred Allan
Alex Blooi
Linda Campbell
Bill Curry
Nancy Curry
Norma Curry
Marilyn Ellis
Denton Ford
Brian Johnson
Bev Outhouse
Lew Outhouse
Diane Rose
George Snow
Alex moved we adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 8:20 pm
Board Meeting Old Stones
Date- Nov.17, 2014 Time meeting started – 7:03
Number in attendance – 11
Chair- Bill Curry
Vice chair- George Snow
Treasurer-Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary – Norma Curry
Correspondence & Membership Secretary – Marilyn Ellis
Social Events Chair – Nancy Curry
Outreach Chair- Bill Curry
Fund Raising Chair – Wilfred Allan
Auction Chair -Alex Bloois
Archives Chair- Brian Johnson
Directors- Brian Johnson, Linda Campbell, Diane Rose, Lew Outhouse, Denton Ford
Members-
Regrets from Linda Campbell
Agenda approved yes__X_ no___
Minutes
Sept. 22, 2014- Approved
Reports:
Outreach Chair and President’s report:
Since September, the main thrust of the Society has been to continue the planning toward our two main goals that we will hear about tonight: 1. The idea of the Port Maitland Heritage Day is now becoming much more completely developed and is to be tied into Seafest, which it is hoped will give us a lot of exposure.
And
2.The Society has investigated a way to make more money on the investments we hold and will present this finding tonight.
The other major news is that the website hit a milestone – we have now had over 50,000 page visits on our website in just the year since it went back up, and we have had in excess of 33,000 individual visitors from 50 different countries ! We are also big enough now to be an attractive target for spammers and hackers, and the newly installed software for protection has already caught over 27,000 spam attempts and hacking efforts.
The Agenda tonight includes a lot of planning regarding the finances and the timing of efforts – and the complete 2015 calendar can be put up because of all this. I want to thank the Board for their efforts and their help getting all the work done. The cemeteries look great and are our efforts to perpetuate the memories of those buried here are bearing fruit, and the Society is moving forward with our efforts to help ensure that this is always the case.
Sincerely, Bill
Auction Chair Report
Alex Blooi
Pans are under way for our huge fund raising events for 2015
On July 18, 2015 Old Stones presents
A Seafest Event
Port Maitland Heritage Day
A display of heritage items relating to Port Maitland and area could be held at the Legion Hall, Hook and Sea, Bill Curry Photography Gallery and the Fire Hall. Starting with the opening of our Dessert Café from 10 a,m, to 4p.m.or until sold out. We will be asking for donations of traditional desserts (historical recipes) to be sold from the kitchen window for $3.00 per dessert. We will provide free coffee, tea and water. Pop will also be available for $1.00.
There will also be a BBQ and Grill from 10 a.m. to 4p.m. with chefs Gerry Curry and Rod Moores. On the menu will be pulled pork sandwiches; sausages, hamburgers, veggie hot dogs and burgers.
All proceeds will go to Old Stones. Old Stones will cover the cost of all supplies (BBQ and Grill).
Auction at 2 p.m. Items will be on display at 10 a.m. Raffle at end for auction. Followed by Brown bag ticket draws there will be three places that take cash.
- Café, BBQ and rill, Auction, Silent Auction or (brown bag auction), and Raffle desk.
- Sell envelopes for brown bag auction
- Sell raffle tickets
- Distribute paddles for main auction
- Look after monies from auction
- TICKET DESK
SELL TICKETS ($1.00 each ) for purchase of all food items including pop 3. Old stones desk.
Collect donations for Old Stones
Sell memberships.
Take orders for Vesey’s bulbs.
As you can see we have a lot of plans for this event.
We are having a raffle. The prizes have yet to be confirmed. However, we will have tickets available in the New Year.
As with any large event, publicity is of great importance. We are fortunate that Port Maitland Heritage Day is a Seafest event. The publicity is of great importance. We are fortunate that Port Maitland Heritage Day is a Seafest event. The publicity alone is priceless. Plans are underway to have a banner that will stretch across the highway in central Port Maitland. The banner would read:
Old Stones Presents Port Maitland Heritage Day.
The date and time, et.
We plan to have the banner up mid June, giving us a month before the event.
Posters, and Ad in the Clare Shopper, Item in Vanguard Events, Word fo mouth is VERYY IMPORTANT so get the word out.
Treasurer’s Report
By Bev Outhouse
2015 Proposed Budget
Income
Membership $400
Donations 2,000
Port Maitland Heritage Day 4,000
Fund raisers 250
Bank Interest 65
Total Income $6,715
Expense
Restoration & Maintenance $1,000
Equipment & Repairs 600
Supplies 400
Outreach 1,300
Web site 150
New Panel Maps 400
Newsletter 100
Programs 200
Brochures & Rack Cards 450
Port Maitland Heritage Day 1,000
Administration 300
Contingency 500
Total Expense $4,100
Surplus (Deficit) $2,615
Bev moved the report be approved and it was seconded by Nancy. The movement was passed.
Membership Report for Board Meeting
Marilyn Ellis, Membership Secretary
Up to September 22nd, 2014, we had 49 members. This includes 1 Life Member and 4 Honorary. Life Members.
In October we had 2 new members- Jack and Gretchen Stevenson from MA., U.S.A. for as new total of 51 members.
Correspondent Secretary Report for Board Meeting
Marilyn Ellis
Oct. 17th, 2014 – Thank you note sent to David Cottreau for the donation of a Stihl whipper snippper.
Maintenance & Restoration –
George Snow
The season for Maintenance and Restorations for 2014 is over. The lawnmowers are put under cover. The signs and Visitor boxes are put away and the Flag Pole in the Founders Cemetery has been laid down to keep it from breaking in the wind. We have had 2 poles break from the wind in that cemetery in the past.
Social Event Report–
Nancy Curry
Since last meeting of the cemeteries committee there has been no activity for us. We will be involved in the planning of the 2015 fundraising event.
Fund Raising Report
Written and read by Wilfred Allan
There are two major items that have an impact on fund raising that appear as separate items on tonight’s agenda—Port Maitland Heritage Day and establishing an Old Stones Investment Committee, consequently they will not be included in this report.
Cemetery Tour & Strawberry Social: In the past we have had two summer events that had a fund raising component: the Cemetery Tour and Strawberry Social in July and the Auction and Potluck in August. Given the lack lustre attendance at last year’s Strawberry Social and July now being the month for the Port Maitland Heritage Day I would like to propose that we not hold a Strawberry Social in 2015 and that next fall we explore whether to bring it back in 2016.
While a cemetery tour as a stand alone event might be a possibility in 2015 the decision on a date could be left until next spring.
Wilfred Allan
Fund Raising Chair
Archival Chair
Brian Johnson
Scrapbooks have been collected and photographs with names, dates and places will be included. If newspapers can be located, they will be included as well. This project is ongoing and not complete yet.
Business arising from Minutes – None
New business –
Discussion:
Bill presented a brochure mock up for approval. They could be distributed in hotels, businesses, etc. When finalized in the next few weeks they will be printed for use. A separate insert could be made yearly with event dates for that year.
Bev read the proposed budget for 2015 was read. Bev moved and Alex seconded the movement to accept the new budget. The movement was passed.
Bev moved and Wilfred seconded a motion to send a cheque of $125 for rent of the fire hall. The motion was passed.
Wiilfred made a motion that is listed below. Alex seconded the motion. The motion was passed unanimously.
Old Stones
Financial Motion regarding investing to increase holdings with the purpose of obtaining a fund sufficient to perpetuate the care of the cemeteries:
Whereas right now the Society gets a very, very small amount of interest from our funds currently invested in our long term accounts in our savings account and our GICs
And whereas the Society is wishing to create a fund that would be sufficient to generate enough income in the form of interest, dividends and growth to cover the operating costs of normal maintenance of the cemeteries such as mowing and trimming
And whereas the Society currently invests in GICs and a savings account long term capital designed to be the source of those funds
And whereas the Society has been informed that an internally restricted account might be able to be invested more aggressively in a Society led personal investment account holding stocks and bonds
But also whereas the Society realizes there is some greater risk of capital variation due to this investing
Be it resolved that the Society create an Investment Committee
Said committee to have the power to create both an internally restricted account and a personal investment account able to invest in stocks and bonds, and the committee to bring to the February 2015 meeting of the Society’s Board an “Investment strategy” which would outline how the investment committee would operate and what investments would be deemed reasonable and desirable by the Society. The Chair, the Treasurer and up to 4 other Board members to be the Investment Committee
For clarity – the internally restricted account will have a goal of reaching an amount which would yield an income sufficient to perpetuate normal operations of the Society regarding mowing and trimming of the cemeteries, but the capital may still be used by the Society for other purposes if deemed necessary in extraordinary circumstances as moved by the Society’s Board and/or the Society itself.
Moved by:_Wilfred Allan
Seconded by: ___Alex Blooi
Motion adopted November 17, 2014 (Vote count: Unanimous )
Discussion: The restricted account purpose is to target a long term investment to pay for the maintenance of the Old Stones graveyards in the future. Up to six people would become the investment committee to oversee long term investment. A lawyer and an accountant and a n investment consultant from the bank have been consulted to develop this motion.
Wilfred, Alex, Lew, Brian, Bill and Bev have volunteered to be on this committee. George moved to accept these names and Diane seconded. The motion was passed unanimously.
Chair of the nominating committee will be Wilfred. Moved by Brian and seconded by Marilyn. The motion was passed.
Meeting adjourned at 8:45.
______________________
————————————————————–
Old Stones Board Meeting
Date- September 22, 2014 Time meeting started – 7:05pm
Number of attendance – 10
Chair- Bill Curry
Treasurer-Bev Outhouse
Recording Secretary – Norma Curry
Correspondence & Membership Secretary – Marilyn Ellis
Social Events Chair – Nancy Curry
Outreach Chair- Bill Curry
Fund Raising Chair – Wilfred Allan
Auction Chair -Alex Blooi
Archives Chair- Brian Johnson
Directors- Linda Campbell, Diane Rose
Regrets –Marilyn Ellis and George Snow
Agenda approved
Minutes
May 26th, 2014- Approved
Reports:
Treasurer’s Report
By Bev Outhouse
Was circulated, read and approved.
Maintenance & Restoration –
Written by George Snow. Read by Bill Curry.
The season for maintenance at the three cemeteries is winding down. All three cemeteries will be moved this week, probably the last mowing needed for this year. The flags will soon be taken down before they are ruined by the fall gales of wind. The Flag Pole at the Founders Cemetery will be lowered to the ground to protect it from damage. We have already lost two flag poles at that cemetery from winter gales.
Hopefully we will arrange for a group to probe for any unknown tombstones in the Calvinist Cemetery that may be buried just enough to be hidden under the sod. We believe there must be more stones in that cemetery than we have found.
We have been fortunate to have had many volunteers to care for the cemeteries over the years but it becomes a bigger problem to find them each year.
Membership Report for Board Meeting
September 22nd, 2014
Written by Marilyn Ellis and read by Bill Curry. A discussion followed and suggestions were noted.
Up to and including the Strawberry Social on July 13, 2014, we had
17 members (2 on line)
1 Life Member
4 Hon Life Members
Total of 22 members
From the Pot Luck and Auction August 23, 2014, we had
24 members to sign up
1 member on line
Total of 25 members
As of last week Wilfred gave me 2 more names (renewals)
For a grand total of 49 members to date.
Submitted by:
Marilyn Ellis, Membership Secretary
Correspondent Secretary Report for Board Meeting
September 22nd, 2014
April 24th, 2014 – Thank you note to the Port Maitland Fire Hall
April 28th, 2014 – Thank you note to Donna Amirault, Accounting at NSCC
August 8, 2014 – Sympathy card to Wilfred Allan (passing of his Mother, Dorothy Allan)
August 11th, 2014 – Sympathy card sent to Ann Sorensen (passing of her sister, Hazel Stos)
Submitted by:
Marilyn Ellis, Correspondent Secretary
Social Event Chair-
Written and read by Nancy Curry
The first event for 2014 was the annual strawberry social held July 13th, 2014. We planned to serve 65-75 folks but only 10 attended. It was a beautiful sunny, warm day with many other town and municipal events on the go.
We changed the menu a bit this year to be strawberries and sponge cake with ice-cream or whipped cream or both. This was easier to serve and we will continue with this next year.
The second event was a cold buffet lunch with the cold turkey and ham provided by us. Everyone enjoyed themselves, judging from the animated conversations around the room. Again a lovely sunny day bringing approx 50 folks to the hall for a meal. Teamed with an outstanding auction it was a very successful event.
A huge thank-you to the kitchen team of Linda Campbell, Janet Rose, Brian Johnson, and Diane Rose for their help.
Submitted by Nancy Curry
Chair
Fund Raising Chair Report
Written and read by Wilfred Allan
We are doing well. This may prove to be the best fund raising year in the Society’s history.
The highlight, of course, was the Auction and Potluck under the amazing leadership of Alex Blooi. The income for the day from all sources was about $3,500—$1,000 more than our goal.
The Strawberry Social, on the other hand, had a much lower attendance than in previous years which, not surprisingly, resulted in fewer donations.
The sale of Vesey’s bulbs continues to bring in a bit of income. This year the profit from the orders amounted to $243 which brings our total for the past six years to over $1,100. I do not have the records for years prior to that.
Actual figures will appear in the Treasurer’s report. A special thank you to Bev for her support and advice and for her speedy cheque delivery.
There are likely more donations to come. They will be reported at the November meeting with the final tally for the year being reported next March and at our Annual General Meeting in April.
Wilfred Allan
Fund Raising Chair
Auction Chair Report
Written and Read by Alex Blooi
The auction held on August 23rd was a resounding success raising $2159.50. A big thank you to all that were involved .The afternoon activities saw a good turn out and it seemed all had a fun time. The raffle draw for the Taylor Tot stroller/walker brought in another $653 and was won by Barb Scoville who generously donated it back to oldstones for auction. It was sold for $125. The silent auction realised $345. Donations at the door$169,Memberships$120 and an online donation of $20 For a grand total of $3456.50 for the days event.
This total far exceeds our goal of $2500. Thank you so much to all for contributing to this event. We could not have done this without you!
Discussions are now underway towards planning next years fund raiser.
Alex Blooi Auction Chair
Archival Chair
Brian Johnson
A request was made for more historic pictures with information to correspond with the photos. Bill will contact photos supplies stores and will print off some photos.
Outreach Chair and President’s report:
What a wonderful season we had this spring and summer!
The strawberry social as we all saw was held with a small crowd enjoying the effort, but the cemetery tour that preceded this was perhaps one of our more fun efforts as we toured the Calvinist cemetery with Wilfred and then connected that to the Island cemetery and the Removals. The group of 15 or so folks that came on this tour was thrilled with the visit and many have contacted me separately to thank Old Stones.
The Auction and Pot Luck were a huge success – thanks to everyone for their hard work.
The presentation in late May to the NS Genealogical Association was very well received and we’ve made contact with a digital genealogy group because of this effort (see NEW Business). We also have connected with many other groups who wanted to know how we did our GPS and QR linking and what exactly we went through to get that job done.
The cemeteries have had a number of visitors, and some signed the books – one fellow from Baddeck was accosted by Finn (my dog) and Norma and me as the poor fellow was “just looking at cemeteries”, little did he know a half hour long conversation about family ties to the MacAskills in Sydney would ensue. His wife told me this happens all the time. In any case, he was very interested in how we did our cemetery, in all aspects, and was taking notes to bring back to Cape Breton. The website continues to draw much interest. We have had just shy of 40,000 hits from over 25,000 individual visitors. We have now implemented a good back-up scheme and we will be moving to the newer Premium Word Press account soon to ensure even better performance.
On a personal note, I’d like to observe that Norma and I went to New England for the Mayflower Society meetings and we visited a number of old NE cemeteries. Not one had a full map and display outside (although one Quaker cemetery had a map in the Meeting House adjacent), and none had our QR system or any other kind of system to recognize the folks buried in the graveyard. We should be very, very proud not only of our wonderfully maintained lots, but also of our efforts to preserve, promote and perpetuate the information about the lives of those founders of our area interred and now in our care. What an amazing thing we have accomplished together!
Business arising from Minutes –
New business –
Discussion:
It was suggested that the auction fundraiser should be tied in with Seafest, July 25th, 2015. The event would be part of a “Port Maitland Heritage Day”. Also a new fund raiser selling desserts and barbecue and hot dogs and hamburgers could be implemented at this time.
Wilfred Allan moved that we approve the idea of having a Port Maitland Heritage Day during Sea Fest. The motion was seconded by Linda. Approved.
There has been a request for genealogical reports for the “Maritime Institute for the Renewal of Civil Society”. This group wants to use a GPS to mark the graves and then they will use this data to produce a genealogical data base that would produce a location map. If funding was available, a student could be hired to assist “Old Stones” in providing information.
A discussion followed regarding this request.
Meeting adjourned at 8:20.
______________________
——————————————————————–
Old Stones Board Meeting – May 26, 2014
Meeting called to order by chair Bill Curry at 7pm
Members in attendance:
Nancy Curry
Lew Outhouse
Diane Rose
Alex Blooi
Denton Ford
Marilyn Ellis
Wilfred Allan
Bev Outhouse
Bill Curry
Regrets
Brian Johnson
Linda Campbell
Norma Curry
George Snow
Agenda read and approved
Minutes from March 2014 were read and approved – 2nd and 3rd in tickets for auction draw should be changed. (I.e. the top prize is the Taylor Tot, second is the Mackinnon Cann Inn dinner for two, third is the lobster)
Reports-
FINANCIAL REPORT
May 26, 2014
We have received our annual Registered Charity Information report summary from Canada Revenue Agency and everything was okay as filed.
Leane’s last bank balance as of December 31, 2013 was: $4021.87
We have deposited:
Dues $15.00
Bank Interest .12
Donation 92.70
Total Income $107.82 $4129.69
We paid out:
Materials $32.20
Total Expenses $32.20
Leaving a bank balance as of May 26, 2014 of: $4097.49
Respectfully submitted,
Bev Outhouse, Treasurer
Bev moved acceptance of her report, Nancy seconded – approved
Alex speasking for George on Maintenance –
Erected (stood up) 3 stones in Calvinist Cemetery, placed 3 in cribs – mowed Founders and Free Will.
New mowers ready to go – chained to tree. Used 30 boxes of gravel to place stones.
Lew Outhouse reported he looked into benches – Looked at moulds that the Trails folks used, but they are way too complex and pricey for our needs, Lew looking into alternatives.
Membership – Marilyn reported that new memberships are coming in.
Corresponding secretary – Marilyn has sent a thank you to Donna at the NSCC for books (doing our tax files for the 2013 year), Note to Port Maitland Fire Department for the use of the hall.
Social events – Nancy said there are planning meetings coming up.
Fund Raising Chair Report – Wilfred
Vesey’s Fall 2014 Fundraising
We will again be selling Vesey’s bulbs this year. One half of the money received for the bulbs remains with Old Stones.
I am passing around copies of the flyers, if you do not plan to order or ask others to order bulbs please return the flyers to me. If you think you might like to order bulbs or ask others to order bulbs I have flyers that have the order forms with him and would be happy to leave one with you. Please note: cheques should be made out to Old Stones, not to Vesey’s.
I will be receiving orders at the Strawberry Social on 13 July and the Auction and Potluck Luncheon on 23 August.
The deadline for returning orders to me is our board meeting, Monday, September 15. I expect the bulbs will arrive around the end of September.
Last year our sales came to about $340 of which we retained $170. I am hoping it might be even more this year.
Wilfred Allan
Fund Raising Chair
.
Archives – Marilyn is looking for more photos, Wilfred has some and has scanned them. Bill also has some that Bev gave him on CD.
Auction chair – Alex said sales are going well. The three prizes are drawing attention.
Gathered more items for auction. We shall advertise the tickets being sold – see Board member or on weekends at Hook and Sea.
New Business-
GANS – Bill and Wilfred reported on Old Stones involvement in the Genealogical Association of NS conference in Truro where we were invited to present.
We learned we may wish to have better or more detailed Stone records, or even an inventory of stones – Wilfred has some records from before, we need to update and broaden these records.
Funding may be available for a conservator like Heather Lawson to come and visit us, and for improvements to the cemetery when restoring stones properly under her direction. We shall look into this. Wilfred also reported on the talk by Heather about stone maintenance and the thinking that is new about restoration and preservation of markers.
Alex moved adjourned at 8:10 pm.
General Meeting “Old Stones”
Date- April 28, 2014 Time meeting started – 7:05pm
Number in attendance – 11
Chair- Bill Curry
Vice chair- George Snow
Acting Treasurer- Bev Outhouse
Acting Recording Secretary – Norma Curry
Social Events Chair – Nancy Curry
Outreach Chair- Bill Curry
Fund Raising Chair – Wilfred Allan
Directors- Brian Johnson, Linda Campbell, Diane Rose, Lew Outhouse, Alex Blooi
Regrets –Marilyn Ellis
Agenda approved yes__X_ no___
Minutes of last years General meeting were read by Bev Outhouse the recording secretary.
approved yes __X_ no___
Reports:
Financial-Report was read and is attached. Nancy moved, adopted as read and Alex seconded it. Unanimously approved.
Membership & Correspondence – Marilyn prepared this report. Bill Curry read the report because Marilyn was unable to attend the meeting. Dues should be paid. Report attached.
Maintenance & Restoration –Read by George Snow.
We have come a long way since the first volunteers cut the first alders in the Free Will Baptist Cemetery in the summer of 1999.
Each year there is more maintenance than restoration. We mow all three cemeteries regularly during the summer. We owe a special vote of thanks to the many volunteers who have helped us over the years with the mowing.
We usually have about nine lawnmowers, some given to us, and some bought at a very low price. We used this type of inexpensive equipment because when we started, the cemeteries did not resemble lawns, they were filled with rocks, roots, stumps and other hazards. We felt it was not appropriate to use good machines on this type of land. We now feel that it is time to get better equipment for our volunteers to use. This spring we purchased two new mowers from Kent’s Store. At a very good price and hope to add one or two a year until we have mostly newer, more dependable machines.
We put up Nova Scotia flags at each cemetery every year to bring attention to the cemeteries. We owe a vote of appreciation for the flags provided by the Province of Nova Scotia and given to us by the M.L. A.’s.
We have had display signs in the Founder’s and Free Will Cemeteries showing map locations of all known monuments and the names of all known residents. We also have an information sign at the Calvinist Cemetery. Each cemetery has a guest book.
This year we hope to upgrade the signs in all the cemeteries.
Work is still ongoing in the Calvinist Cemetery with work in progress on six graves and monuments. This is a requirement for more volunteer work but will get finished.
Last summer we placer Q. R. Code information at the foot of every stone in all three cemeteries, providing interesting historical, and genealogical information which will be helpful to all living relatives.
We believe this to be a first for any cemetery in Canada and perhaps in North America. This all became possible because of the work of the genealogists who have been searching historical records steadily for the past two years.
Each year we try to do something to improve the cemeteries by further restoration.
The walking path between the Founders and Free Will cemeteries was a dream of Rev. Ulric Dawson. I have said many times that without him none of this restoration would have ever happened.
It has been pointed out that this well used and enjoyed path does not provide access by wheelchair. The bridge is too narrow. We feel that it should be replaced with one that is wider.
We welcome suggestions for improvements that can be made, bearing in mind that anytning more than what volunteers can do, will cost more money.
George Snow
Social Report – Written and read by Nancy Curry. Report attached. –
Auction organization – Written and presented by Alex Bloois Report attached.
Nancy asked time of Pot Luck… It will be at lunch. Alex will give tickets to members to sell. Members will sell thirty each to be sold by August, 23rd. 600 tickets to be sold with the draw at the auction. Alex asked to have email addresses listed on tickets if possible.
Web site will have major items listed for the auction.
Fund Raising Report- Report written and presented by Wilfred Allan. Report attached.
Tourist bureau in Yarmouth may be able to provide space for Old Stones brochures.
Lofty goal to double our fund raising but should be possible we agreed.
Out Reach /Web Report- Written and read by Bill Curry. Report attached.
Business arising from Minutes –
None
New business –
New Officers and Nominations.
List is attached. Wilfred called for any further nominations. Moved by Wilfred and seconded by Linda . Unanimously approved.
Wilfred. Allan called for a motion to thank Bev Outhouse And Leanne for past services. A note will be sent by Bill Curry to Leanne to thank her.
Wilfred Allan Moved that signing officers will be George Snow, Bev Outhouse and Bill Curry. Seconded by Alex Bloois and unanimously approved.
Meeting adjourned at 8:30. Linda moved the meeting adjourn.
______________________
April 28, 2014 Notes on Visioning for Old Stones
List provided and attached. Bill Curry wrote and read the goals recorded from last year.
Revisiting the list
Path was cut back but no shale was purchased. Alex discussed the idea of replacing the bridge to make it wheelchair accessible. Nancy suggested that grants may be available through Department of seniors or under health. George suggested speaking to the MLA. Perhaps the shale could also be provided through the MLA.
George suggested using probes to continue searching for new gravestones buried under the earth. A time was not set. This will be arranged later. They will go shoulder to shoulder to avoid missing spots as they search.
Wilfred will give a tour this summer of the Calvinist cemetery, then to the current cemetery (Beaver River) to locate the removals that were transferred here from the old cemeteries. Some of the people listed to be in the cemeteries could be listed as removals or missing on the boards listing “residents”. New England Historical Genealogical Society has a list of the original persons in the cemeteries.
Linda suggested placing benches in the cemeteries. This could be a fund raising project. Lew says there are moulds for concrete benches that he may be able to locate and borrow from LaFarge Construction. He will make inquiries. They were done for the Four Wheeler groups previously. Benches could be placed in a suitable location that would be convenient and also in an aesthetically pleasing location.
Nancy. Strawberry shortcake event will continue. Sometimes there are not enough people here to set up tables and chairs. This was listed as a concern.
There will be a May 26th, 2014 meeting.
Lew will confirm that the firehall is available for this meeting. At this time they will call for volunteers to set up tables for the strawberry social.
Wilfred suggested that Bill post a request for more mowing volunteers on the web site.
Auction has been a great asset thanks to Alex Bloois.
Bill talks about involving children by asking students in P.M. school by having them do a clean up of ditches in front of the cemeteries.
Signage of wildlife might interest students and encourage others to visit the cemeteries.
Record of missing markers continues through research.
People are beginning to leave comments on the Web Site. More information about the ancestors has been provided.
Membership drive will not be a priority but possibly new members may join at social events.
Bill will continue working on the brochure for Old Stones.
Wilfred volunteered to continue researching the history of the cemeteries.
Some new history information was discussed.
A Videotape of Wilfred’s Calvinist tour could be a project this summer or a video of the area. Bev has provided a memory stick of all the minutes. A digital copy could be produced. The physical records could be donated to the Yarmouth Museum. Marilyn Ellis wrote up an early history of the society with pictures.
June 22nd ,2014 meeting of Haskell’s locally will take place to work on the reunion the next year.
Haskell family will have a reunion in 2015 in this area. Wilfred related some history of the families.
Wilfred.. suggested a new picture of board members be taken at the next meeting.
Minutes of the Board Meeting
Old Stones – Old Beaver River/Port Maitland Cemeteries Preservation Society
March 18, 2014
The meeting was opened at 7:00 p.m. by Chair Bill Curry. There were 7 members present:
Chair Bill Curry, Vice Chair George Snow, Alex Blooi, Marilyn Ellis, Brian Johnson, Bev Outhouse, and Lew Outhouse.
Regrets were received from Nancy Curry, Wilfred Allen, Linda Campbell, Diane Rose and Leane Sweeney that they could not attend tonight’s meeting.
Minutes of the meeting of November 18, 2013, the Agenda and the Attendance sheet were distributed and the Agenda was approved.
The minutes of the General Meeting of November 18, 2013 were approved as read.
Reports:
Financial: In Leane’s absence, Bill read her report as follows:
The year-end taxes are at NSCC in the accounting class under the direction of Donna Amirault. The year-end Bank balance is $4021.87. Interest of $84.79 has been added to the large GIC, bringing the investment up to $7457.79. The next GIC earned $28.75 bringing that one up to $2528.75 and the newest GIC of $2000.00 earned $24.00 in interest which was deposited into the bank account. As she is resigning her position, she said it has been a pleasure working with all the Board these past five years. It was moved by Alex Blooi, seconded by Lew Outhouse and carried that Leane’s report be accepted. (Report attached)
Maintenance & Restoration: George reported that there hadn’t been much mowing being done. Everything is ready to go as soon as the weather co-operates. He suggested we start buying one or two new mowers each year as some of the older ones are in pretty bad shape. It was agreed that he should do this out of his budget even if he needs more money before the year is out.
Membership & Correspondence: Marilyn reported membership was at 56 and we have had one renewal bringing the total to 57.
Marilyn’s Correspondent Secretary’s report stated she sent out 14 thank-you’s to the men who volunteered with the mowing – Bernard Hurlburt, John Allan, John Grant, Donald Thompson, David Walsh, William Sollows, Mark Weagle, Rod Moores, Ross Hersey, Gerald Crosby, Julian Smith, Alex Blooi, Howard Snow and Ron Kelly. (Report attached)
Social Events Chair: In Nancy’s absence, Brian said he spoke to Nancy and said everything was fine with her as planned.
Fund Raising Chair: George read the report from the fund raising chair, Wilfred Allen. Wilfred reminded us that it’s time to renew our memberships again. Wilfred proposed we hold off on the decision until later this year of placing our year-end surplus into a “restricted fund”. We are hoping to raise more funds through donations and memberships by canvassing as well as a new brochure that is being drawn up. A new brochure (to replace the old one) will be on the web site as well as placed on the new ferry, Yarmouth Tourist Bureau and hotels and museums in the area. Bill has put in place an on-line method on the Old Stones site, through Pay Pal, for paying for memberships and making donations, which we hope will improve our membership renewals and new donations.
Alex reported the raffle plans to be held and drawn for during our auction day on August 23, 2014 was coming along. First prize will be the Taylor-Tot, second prize is 15 pounds of lobsters and third prize is a dinner for two at the McKinnon Cann Inn in Yarmouth. Alex will look after the tickets, application for same, reports, printing, etc.
President and Outreach: Bill reported the website is back up and running smoothly, including the pay online of memberships and fund raising. He will be going to Truro in May to speak to the NS Genealogical association about the efforts of our Society. He mentioned a Haskell Reunion in 2015 in which our society will play a prominent role. (Report attached)
Scrap booker: Brian reported he is still looking for any old pictures, etc for the history of the Society. Bev report she has scanned all the minutes of meetings since the beginning and would send them off to Bill and Brian to use for references. Marilyn gave them her report she had made up of the happenings of the Society when it was first started.
New Business: Bill brought to our attention that the strawberry social/cemetery tour was moved back a week to July 13, 2014 because of conflicts with events on the other weekend.
George read Wilfred’s list of Nominations for Officers and Board of Directors to be presented at the Annual General Meeting on April 28, 2014 as follows:
Officers:
Chair & Outreach Chair – Bill Curry
Vice-Chair, Maintenance & Restoration Chair – George Snow
Treasurer – Bev (Sollows) Outhouse
Recording Secretary – Norma Curry
Corresponding & Membership Secretary – Marilyn Ellis
Social Events Chair – Nancy Curry
Auctions Chair – Alex Blooi
Past-Chair, Fund Raising & Nominations Chair – Wilfred Allan
Board of Directors – Wilfred Allan, Alex Blooi, Linda Campbell, Bill Curry, Nancy Curry, Norma Curry, Marilyn Ellis, Denton Ford, Brian Johnson, Bev Outhouse, Lew Outhouse, Diane Rose and George Snow. (Report attached)
Brian suggested the meeting adjourn at 8:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Bev Outhouse, Recording Secretary
Minutes of the Board Meeting
Old Stones – Old Beaver River/Port Maitland Cemeteries Preservation Society
November 18, 2013
The meeting was opened at 7:00 p.m. by Chair Bill Curry. There were 9 members present:
Bill Curry George Snow Marilyn Ellis
Bev Outhouse Wilfred Allan Brian Johnson
Lew Outhouse Alex Blooi Diane Rose
Regrets that they could not attend tonight’s meeting were received from Nancy, Linda, Brian and Leane.
Minutes of the meeting of September 16, 2013, the Agenda and the Attendance sheet were distributed and the Agenda was approved.
The minutes of the Board Meeting of September 16, 2013 were approved as read.
Reports:
Financial: Leane reported that there wasn’t much change from last meeting so she didn’t make up a report.
Membership: Marilyn read her membership report showing we currently have a total of 56 members, there being one new member since last report. This includes 4 Honorable Life members and 1 Life member. (Report attached)
Correspondent Secretary: Marilyn’s reported that one receipt had been sent out for the new membership.
Maintenance & Restoration: George reported there wasn’t much change since his last report. He has five bases ready for the stones in the Calvinist Cemetery that were found near the south boundary in early spring.
Social Committee: Nancy reported on the annual pot luck/auction event with suggestions for the next one. (Report attached)
President and Outreach: Bill reported the events and outreach have done well this past year. The planting of the QR code bricks by Old Stones volunteers and the Grade 4 class from Port Maitland Elementary School, the Cemetery Tour/Strawberry Social in July and the annual auction and pot luck in August were all very successful events. Bill was also interviewed by CBC in July. In late September the Register.com web site was hacked and as a result our web site was down for nearly a month. We have decided to purchase and install a Premium WordPress template to protect our site from being hacked. Wilfred, George and Bill will be doing a session at the Port Maitland Baptist Church on Old Stones and the Churches, showing people what we’ve done and help people understand the importance of the cemeteries from a heritage standpoint and also show the connection between Old Stones cemeteries and the Island cemetery. Another presentation will be done in May, 2014 to a group of Genealogists in Truro, NS. He said we have done an amazing job. (Report attached)
Fund Raising: Wilfred reported that they were looking into particulars regarding the “restricted fund” that has been proposed to be up and running by our annual meeting in 2014. He would like to debate on what this fund is and what it will mean to our Society. A report will be made in March, 2014.
New Business: Wilfred presented a Budget for 2014 with proposed Income being $5,000.00 and proposed Expenses of $2,400.00, leaving an approximate surplus of $2,600.00. It was moved by Wilfred Allan, seconded by Lew Outhouse and carried that we accept the proposed budget for 2014. Wilfred explained that the donations in the proposed budget would be raised by a committee who will approach people one on one to ask for donations. Our fund raisers income this year was higher than normal because of the great success of the auction. He said a Newsletter will be circulated to members and the members asked if they would like a Newsletter emailed. (Report attached)
Alex spoke of plans for our 2nd annual auction and pot luck. He thought maybe this year we might try holding it in the afternoon, rather than the evening and having a “pot lunch” rather than supper, hoping to gain more interest and attendance. He showed us a 1949 Taylor Tot cart/walker for children that he had overhauled and will be donating to the auction. He felt that maybe we could raffle it off and will look into getting permission to sell tickets on the cart. It was suggested that maybe there could also be a second and third prize (perhaps monetary) for the raffle as well.
Bill reviewed the proposed Old Stones Calendar for 2014:
- Board meeting – March 17, 2014 at the Port Maitland Fire Hall at 7 p.m.
- AGM – April 28, 2014, Port Maitland Fire Hall at 7 p.m.
- Strawberry Social/Cemetery tour – July 20, 2014 – Tour at 2:00 p.m.
- 2nd Annual Auction and Pot Luck Luncheon – lunch at noon, auction at 2 p.m. – August 23, 2014, Port Maitland Fire Hall
- Board meeting – September 15, 2014, Port Maitland Fire Hall at 7 p.m.
- Board meeting – November 17, 2014, Port Maitland Fire Hall at 7 p.m.
As discussed, we have dropped to two fund raising events this year. Bill thought perhaps the cemetery tour could start at the Calvinist cemetery and then move to the Port Maitland/Beaver River Island cemetery where some of those residents have been moved. It was moved by Wilfred Allen, seconded by Marilyn Ellis and carried that the calendar of events for 2014 be accepted.
It was moved by Wilfred Allen, seconded by Alex Blooi and passed that we send a cheque of $150.00 to the Port Maitland Volunteer Fire Department in lieu of rent to show our appreciation for the use of the Hall facilities.
Bill mentioned the fact that he would be calling Canada Post because they have the Old Stones mailing address with postal code incorrect.
Denton moved we adjourn at 8:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Bev Outhouse, Recording Secretary
Minutes of the Board Meeting
Old Stones – Old Beaver River/Port Maitland Cemeteries Preservation Society
September 16, 2013
The meeting was opened at 8:05 p.m. by Chair Bill Curry. There were 9 members present:
Chair Bill Curry George Snow Leane Sweeney
Bev Outhouse Wilfred Allen Brian Johnson
Lew Outhouse Alex Blooi Diane Rose
Marilyn Ellis sent her regrets that she could not attend the meeting.
Minutes of the meeting of May 13, 2013, the Agenda and the Attendance sheet were distributed and the Agenda was approved.
The minutes of the Board Meeting of May 13, 2013 were approved as read.
Reports:
Financial: Leane distributed copies of the financial report and reported the Bank balance to be $4124.09, our year-to-date operating expenses are $855.47, our year-to-date income from operations is $2924.99 and the net income is $2069.52. We also have $11,873.00 invested in GIC’s. (Report attached)
Membership & Correspondence: Marilyn sent her membership report showing we currently have a total of 55 members. Since May 13, 2013 we have had 19 renewals and 4 new members.
Marilyn’s Correspondent Secretary’s report showed a thank you note to an anonymous donor who paid for the painting of the guest book boxes, a thank you to Emin’s Meat Market for the great price we received on the pork roasts, and a thank you note with tax receipt sent to Archie and Heather Smith of Beaver River for their donation. (Reports attached)
Maintenance & Restoration: George reported he had a small bill for about $295.00 to submit for items such as gas, concrete & lawn mower repairs. He said it has been a normal year with each cemetery being mowed six times. In early spring they found five stones in the Calvinist Cemetery near the south boundary and they hope to continue the replacement of footstones in all three cemeteries. He plans to take down the flags soon so they won’t get destroyed by the wind and he plans to lower the flagpole in the Founders Cemetery for winter so it won’t break off again. (Report attached)
Outreach: Bill reported the outreach has consisted of updating the website, starting a new Facebook page for Old Stones at https://www.facebook.com/OldStonesSociety and completing the QR codes. He wants to get another project to involve the students who are in Grade 4 and 5 this year. Brian has been asked to make a scrapbook for the Society including pictures, write-ups and anything that anyone might have to include and Wilfred suggested we might add an audio consisting of interviews of some of the original Society members. Alex stated that the pot luck and auction went very well and raised a lot of money and thought it would make a good annual fund raiser. (Report attached)
Fund Raising: Wilfred presented a Proposal for Securing our Future, a proposal to establish and annually add to a “Securing Our Future restricted fund” that would be up and running by the Annual Meeting in April of 2014. In 2014, our short term goal will be our primary fund raising activity: to raise $2000.00 by asking members and supporters to make tax deductible donations, either by canvassing or through the Old Stones web site or by brochure. This would be in addition to whatever portion of our existing GIC’s we decide to turn over to the fund. Our long term goal will be to set a target of $250,000.00 which will need additional approaches to raise this amount such as exploring corporate and foundation support, asking supporters to remember Old Stones in their bequests and “in lieu of flowers” donations. (See attached)
Bill presented an “Events Proposal” for fund raising, the issue being to raise funds for the “general fund”, the fund that pays for the yearly operation of our Society, most importantly the mowing and maintenance, outreach, website and other efforts. His proposal for 2014 is to have our annual cemetery tour and strawberry social with free admission and donations accepted. The second event is an annual auction similar to this year’s event which would include a pot luck. We need a coordinator, an event publicity person, a kitchen team and a promotion & coordination person. We would hope to raise the funds required for our “general fund” in these two events. (See attached)
Meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Bev Outhouse, Recording Secretary
Financial Report
Meeting of September 16, 2013
We currently have a bank balance of $4124.09
Thanks to all the fundraising efforts, I have made five deposits since the beginning of 2013.
April – $325.00
May – $90.00
May – $338.00
July – $399.40
August $1772.45
Respectfully submitted,
Leane Sweeney
Treasurer
Old Stones
OBR/Port Maitland Cemeteries Preservation Society
| OBR PM Cemeteries Pres. Society | |
| Gross Margin Income Statement 01/01/2013 to 09/11/2013 | |
| OPERATING REVENUE | |
| REVENUE | |
| Membership Dues |
245.00 |
| Donations |
420.35 |
| Fundraisers |
2259.50 |
| Interest Earned |
0.14 |
| TOTAL REVENUE |
2924.99 |
| TOTAL OPERATING REVENUE |
2924.99 |
| COST OF GOODS SOLD | |
| TOTAL COST OF GOODS SOLD |
0.00 |
| GROSS MARGIN |
2924.99 |
| OPERATING EXPENSE | |
| EXPENSES | |
| Bank Charges |
0.00 |
| Equipment/Repairs |
213.00 |
| Equipment use |
0.00 |
| Materials |
284.22 |
| Supplies |
278.00 |
| Donations |
0.00 |
| TOTAL EXPENSES |
775.22 |
| GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATION | |
| Administration(office) |
80.25 |
| Accounting/Professional fees |
0.00 |
| TOTAL GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATION |
80.25 |
| TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSE |
855.47 |
| INCOME FROM OPERATIONS |
2069.52 |
| NON-OPERATING EXPENSE | |
| TOTAL NON-OPERATING EXPENSE | |
| NET INCOME |
2069.52 |
| OBR PM Cemeteries Pres. Society | ||
| Income Statement 01/01/2013 to 09/11/2013 | ||
REVENUE Revenue Membership Dues
245.00
Donations
420.35
Fundraisers
2,259.50
Interest Earned
0.14
Total Revenue
2,924.99
TOTAL REVENUE
2,924.99
_______________
EXPENSE Operating Expenses Bank Charges
0.00
Equipment/Repairs
213.00
Equipment use
0.00
Materials
284.22
Supplies
278.00
Administration(office)
80.25
Accounting/Professional fees
0.00
Donations
0.00
Total General & Admin. Expenses
855.47
TOTAL EXPENSE
855.47
_______________
NET INCOME
2,069.52
===============
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Report of Memberships for September 16th, 2013 Board Meeting
As of May 13th, 2013 we had 32 members
From the Strawberry Social July 21st, 2013
Renewals 9
Total 41 members
From the Potluck supper on August 24th, 2013:
Renewals 10
New Members 4
14
Grand total 55 members
Which includes – 4 Honorable Life Members and 1 Life Member
Correspondent Secretary’s Report for September 16th, 2013 Board Meeting
May 22th – Thank you note sent to Anonymous donor who paid for the painting of the guest book
boxes.
May 22 th – Thank you note sent to Emin’s Meat Market for the great price we received on the pork
roasts.
May 27th – Thank you note with tax receipt sent to Archie and Heather Smith, Beaver River, for
donation.
Submitted by Marilyn Ellis
Correspondent Secretary
Old Stones
The outreach for Old Stones for the last several months has consisted of updating the website, with much information about our “residents” added to the database and then uploaded to the website. We also spent a lot of time getting ready for the Strawberry Social and Cemetery Tour and the Auction and Pot Luck – both very successful events.
The website continues to attract visitors at a good rate – we did however have a serious issue when Register.com was hacked by an e-mail series attempting to gain access through websites like ours. Unfortunately this meant changing some of the features on our website temporarily, such as the counter we used to determine traffic to the website. I will be re-installing this soon.
We also started a Facebook page for Old Stones
https://www.facebook.com/OldStonesSociety
Which currently has 30 people following the updates via this page. Facebook allows us another vehicle to reach people, particularly when we have events and other newsworthy things to report.
Plans for the upcoming school year are underway, and I shall be contacting the PMCES to see what we might do with the Grades 4 and 5 students this year.
Our QR code project attracted a lot of attention when it was announced in late June – I was interviewed on CBC about the idea, and several media outlets have expressed interest in following our progress as we expand to “removals” as well as our “residents”.
We now have guest books in each of the three cemeteries, and folks have signed in and a few have left comments, and our website gets comments as well. Visitors seemed pleased with our efforts, and the word continues to spread about all the good work being done to maintain the cemeteries and perpetuate the memories of those who were buried there.
To preserve three Old Stones cemeteries and perpetuate the memory of those who were buried in them
Old Stones
Events Proposal-
Old Stones 2014
The issue – we need to fund raise for the “general fund”, the fund that pays for the yearly operation of our organization, most importantly the mowing, maintenance and so forth, and also the outreach, website and other efforts.
Current estimated need for this funding is $1000. Per year based on past experience
Proposal for 2014-
1. Have a cemetery tour and strawberry social – free admission, donations accepted.
Would need – tour leader (Wilfred), event publicity (website and FB by Bill), would need “kitchen team” in place for this and Promotion and Coordination of this event needs a person willing to do that.
2. Have one other event.
An annual Auction
Similar to this year’s event – would have a pot luck before the auction.
Would need a coordinator – Alex Blooi has said he would be the coordinator for this and would be the Auctioneer. Would need “kitchen team” in place for this.
Using these two events we would be looking to raise the amount required (or more) than our fund raising target for the “general fund”.
NEED –
a. Kitchen Team to be available for both events
b. Coordinator for each event – Auction is covered, need someone for the Tour/Social
To preserve three Old Stones cemeteries and perpetuate the memory of those who were buried in them
Minutes of the Board Meeting
Old Stones – Old Beaver River/Port Maitland Cemeteries Preservation Society
May 13, 2013
The meeting was opened at 7:00 p.m. by Chair Bill Curry. There were 10 members present:
Chair Bill Curry George Snow Leane Sweeney
Bev Outhouse Marilyn Ellis Nancy Curry
Brian Johnson Lew Outhouse Wilfred Allen
Alex Blooi
Regrets were received from Diane Rose and Susan Brown.
Minutes of the Board Meeting of March 18, 2013, the Attendance sheet and the Agenda were distributed.
It was moved by Bev Outhouse and seconded by Alex Blooi that the minutes of the Board Meeting of March 18, 2013 be approved as read.
Reports:
Financial: Leane reported the Bank balance to be $2,379.63 and the income tax report had been made out by NSCC and mailed. Also our name change has been completed at the bank. (Report attached)
Membership & Correspondence: Marilyn reported our current membership to be as follows: 23 membership renewals plus 1 membership paid up until 2015, 4 new memberships, 4 Honorable Life memberships, and 1 Life membership making a total of 32 members. (Report attached)
Marilyn also reported sending a thank you note with donation tax receipt to Ronald Outhouse, a thank you note sent to accounting at NSCC c/o Donna Amirault for doing our Charity Report, a sympathy card sent to Sara Rose, wife of the late Joe Rose, and a get well card sent to Diane Rose. (Report attached)
Maintenance & Restoration: George reported the summer maintenance is under way. He has a new flag pole ready to replace the one in the Founders Cemetery that broke off last winter, three Nova Scotia flags to put up next week. Two more boxes to hold Guest Books have been made making a total of three ready to be put in place. One grave marker in the Calvinist Cemetery was placed horizontally in a raised bed because it was not strong enough to stand, five stones were uncovered on the south side of the Calvinist Cemetery of which two are not suitable to stand and will have to be laid down. The other three can be stood upright in doughnuts. There are eleven lawn mowers ready for the summer season and they may have to start summer mowing in about a week. (Report attached)
Social Events: Nancy reported that the seafood supper has been changed to a roast pork dinner. The high cost of seafood was a deterent and due to a lack of slow sales, the preparation has been down-sized to 75 tickets rather than 110. She mentioned that the Department of Health is frowning on public suppers that are not covered by someone who has a ‘food handler course’ so for the time being we will work under Bill’s course. She will be setting up May 24 and will need help that night. She also asked for Bill, Lew, Wilfred, Alex, Joanne & Bev to serve, Marilyn will take the money at the door for tickets & hopefully some memberships.
Fund Raising: Wilfred stated that Madeline & Howard Snow will be available for the auction and if they can’t make it, Alex will be the auctioneer. He reported our income for 2012 was $1,995 and our expenses were $839. Our income was received through memberships, donations, book table sales and Vesey’s bulbs. He has three objectives for the year 2013:
- To meet our budgeted income target of $2,300
- To propose a realistic 2014 fund raising goal at our November 18 board meeting when the budget is presented for approval
- To develop a long term fund raising strategy
He also gave us some questions to ponder and suggested if we wanted we could email any suggestions to him. (Report attached)
Outreach: (formerly Webmaster) Bill reported our web site has reached almost 6000 visitors and he feels that the Family Data Base may be drawing a lot of interest to the site. The site now has updated profiles for over half the Residents and all updates lead into the Online Data Base that contains all Residents, their families and some genealogical information. Bill found where in the late 1800’s someone transcribed the names of all people in the three cemeteries. This will be a good check against the 130 we know of, plus the removals, and then adds some 50 extra people who may be buried here but whom we are only now finding out about. On May 21 he will be taking 33 school children from grades 4 & 5 to the Free Will Cemetery on May 21, 2013 and they will be placing the special bricks with the QR codes on them next to the stones that they belong to, as well as plotting a GPS map of the cemetery. Debbie Roberts will take some pictures that day for Bill for a slide show. He believes we may be unique with our idea of the bricks and QR codes. By scanning the QR codes with a computer or cell phone, it will call up the resident connected with the QR code plus the family data base. (Report attached)
We then split into two groups to discuss the “VISION” of our Society’s future.
One group felt that this year we would like to see the path trimmed back as the brambles are growing up and covering the pathway and perhaps next year we could cover the pathway with crushed shale that would pack down and make for better walking. We would like to see the Calvinist Cemetery probed completely this year to see if we can find any more stones that might have gotten buried with soil over the years.
Ideas from the second Outreach group:
Expand kitchen team, bring in younger folks
New and creative ideas for fund raisers
More involvement of school students
Follow up on 1899 transcriptions of the 3 cemeteries
Develop background information, find the markers
Develop information about “missing” residents and ask for help on web site
200 members
Establish endowment fund
Annual brochure
Develop histories of the cemeteries and the churches
Videotape tours of the cemeteries and put on web site
Video & audio tours available to visitors at the cemeteries
Create an illustrated history of the Society and make it available on the web
Alex made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:00 p.m.
Bev Outhouse, Recording Secretary
Financial Report
Meeting of May 13, 2013
We currently have a bank balance of $2379.63 after a deposit of $325 from
ticket sales and memberships and a few donations as well.
The year-end taxes are done and sent off. They were completed for us by the
NSCC Accounting Class (as a class project) and instructor Donna Amirault,
free of charge.
We have completed our Name Change at the bank and now anyone wishing
to write a cheque to our Society may now make it out to “Old Stones”
instead of writing the long version of OBR/Port Maitland Cemeteries
Preservation Society. It will be much simpler.
Respectfully submitted,
Leane Sweeney
Treasurer for the OBR/Port Maitland Cemeteries Preservation Society
OBR PM Cemeteries Pres. Society
Balance Sheet As at 04/30/2013
ASSETS
Current Assets
Operating Account BOM
Cash for deposit
Toronto Dominion
Total Cash
Total Cash
Investments
5 Year GIC 12/01/2011 3.65
GIC Rate Riser Matures Dec.2, 2016
RateRiser GIC (July 16, 2012)
GIC Rate Riser (2) Matures Feb 2014
Total Capital Funds
Total Investments
Capital Assets
Signs
Equipment
Building
Land
Total Capital Assets
Total Assets
TOTAL ASSETS
LIABILITIES
Current Liabilities
Total Long Term liabilities
TOTAL LIABILITIES
EQUITY
Owners Equity
Retained Earnings – Previous Year
Current Earnings
Total Owners Equity
TOTAL EQUITY
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Printed On: 05/13/2013
|
2,379.63 |
|
|
0.00 |
|
|
0.00 |
|
|
2,379.63 |
|
|
2,379.63 |
|
|
0.00 |
|
|
7,373.00 |
|
|
2,500.00 |
|
|
2,000.00 |
|
|
11 873.00 |
|
|
11 873.00 |
|
|
495.00 |
|
|
809.00 |
|
|
155.00 |
|
|
3,000.00 |
|
|
4459.00 |
|
|
4459.00 |
|
|
18,711.63 |
0.00
0.00
18,386.57
325.06
18711.63
18,711.63
18,711.63
Page 1
OBR PM Cemeteries Pres. Society
Income Statement 01/01/2013 to 04/30/2013
REVENUE
Revenue
Membership Dues
Donations
Fundraisers
Interest Earned
Total Revenue
. TOTAL REVENUE
EXPENSE
Operating Expenses
Bank Charges
Equipment/Repairs
Equipment use
Materials
Supplies
Administration (office)
Accounting/Professional fees
Donations
Total General & Admin. Expenses
TOTAL EXPENSE
NET INCOME
Printed On: 05/13/2013
135.00
60.00
130.00
0.06
325.06
325.06
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
325.06
Page 1
Membership Report for May 13th, 2013 Board Meeting
23 membership Renewals plus 1 membership paid up until 2015
4 new memberships
4 Honorable Life memberships
1 Life membership
With a total of 32 members
Submitted by Marilyn Ellis
Membership Secretary
Correspondent Secretary‘s Report for May 13th, 2013 Board Meeting
April 29th – Thank you note sent with donation tax receipt to Ronald Outhouse
April 29th – Thank you note sent to Accounting at NSCC Burridge c/o Donna Amirault for doing our
Charity Report.
May 13th – Sympathy card sent to Sara Rose, wife of Joe Rose. Joe passed away on the 7th•
George Snow informed me that Joe had worked on the cemetery several times a couple
of years ago whipper snipping – before thank you notes were being sent.
May 13th – Get Well card sent to Diane Rose who had a couple of surgeries this past week.
Submitted by Marilyn Ellis
Correspondent Secretary
Maintenance & Restoration
Summer maintenance is under way. A new flagpole is ready to replace the one in Founders Cemetery that broke off in a gale of wind last winter.
We have 3 Nova Scotia flags to put up next week.
Two more boxes to hold Guest Books have been made and along with the one made last year, are ready to be put in place.
The posts for those boxes have been purchased, painted and ready to go in place.
One Grave Marker in the Calvinist Cemetery on the north side was placed horizontally in a raised bed because it was not strong enough to stand.
Five stones were uncovered on the South Side of the Calvinist Cemetery. Two are not suitable to stand and will have to be laid down. The other three can be stood upright in doughnuts.
Eleven lawn mowers are ready for the summer season.
We may have to start summer mowing in a week’s time.
George Snow, Chair
Maintenance and Restoration
Fund Raising Report, 13 May 2013
What happened in 2012
Total Income: $1,995 Expenses: $859
Sources of Income:
- Memberships: $215
- Donations: $1,398
- Book table (3 events): $202
- Vesey’s bulbs: $113
We did not have an auction or sale last year; consequently I believe our 24 August sale & auction will
help us increase our revenue in 2013 even without having the book table at our events.
As your fund raising chair I have three objectives for the year 2013
• to meet our budgeted income target of $2,300.
- to propose a realistic 2014 fund raising goal at our 18 November board meeting when the budget is
presented for approval
- to develop a long term fund raising strategy
Some questions to ponder.
- What do we need our funds for?
- What should be our fund raising goal for 2014?
- In addition to memberships, the roast pork dinner, donations at the strawberry social and potluck, the
auction & sale, and Vesey’s bulbs do you have suggestions for other fund raising we could do this year? - What capital projects would you like to see us undertake in the next five years? (e.g. upgrading the path
between Founders and Free Will)
- If we establish an endowment fund what restrictions should be placed on its expenditure? (e.g. only the
interest should go towards operating expenses and then only if necessary)
- Should our membership fee be raised?
- In addition to events and memberships what other methods of fund raising should we have?
- Do you agree with me that we should do away with our current $100 life membership fee? We currently
have one such life member.
Feel free to email your thoughts to me or possibly we could begin a conversation on our web site.
In addition to making written comments about the above or any other thoughts you have about fund
raising let me know if you would like to be part of a one-morning discussion sometime in the next two
months to explore these issues. You might regard the topics above as our “yet to be approved” agenda.
Wilfred Allan
Chair: Fund Raising
Report from Outreach Chair:
Much of the April and may period has been spent doing the
profiles online of the Residents and the QR codes and
Bricks for the school project, along with organizing the
project as well.
The website now has updated profiles for over half the
Residents, and all updates lead into the Online Data Base
that contains all Residents, their families and some
wonderful genealogical information.
The website continues to draw interest – and I can only
assume the traffic will increase when the QR codes go live
next Tuesday for Free Will Cemetery after the students help
us do the installation. The website currently has had over
5000 “visitors”, with the Resident’s information being the
most popular section by far.
We are also working on other clues about Residents of the
cemeteries – namely that we have discovered a “gold mine”
of information at the New England Historical Genealogical
website, which I have subscribed to, where in the late 1800’s
the names of all people in the 3 cemeteries was transcribed.
This gives us a good check against the 130 or so folks we
know of, plus the removals and then adds some 50 extra
people who may be buried here but whom we are only now
finding out about. Our efforts continue…
Bill Curry
———————————————————
Old Stones – Old Beaver River & Port Maitland Cemeteries Preservation Society
Annual General Meeting
April 15, 2013
The Annual Meeting of the Old Stones – Old Beaver River & Port Maitland Cemeteries Preservation Society was held at the Port Maitland Fire Hall on April 15, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. There were 28 present:
Chair: Wilfred Allen
Vice Chair: Bill Curry
Recording Secretary: Beverly Outhouse
Corresponding Secretary: Marilyn Ellis
Directors: Linda Campbell, Nancy Curry, Brian Johnson, Llewellyn Outhouse,
Diane Rose, and George Snow
The Treasurer, Leanne Sweeney was unable to attend.
Chair Wilfred Allen gave a special welcome to Honorary Life Members Elsie & Ronald Outhouse and said that Hazel Trask was not able to attend tonight.
Copies of the agenda, the minutes of the Annual General Meeting of April 16, 2012, the annual reports from the Treasurer, Social Events chair, Corresponding Secretary, Education chair, Restoration & Maintenance chair, Membership chair and the Chairman were given to everyone.
Wilfred approved the agenda and the minutes of the Annual General Meeting of April 16, 2012.
It was moved by Linda Campbell, seconded by Alex Bloi and carried that the annual reports be accepted as submitted. (Copies attached)
It was moved by Tim Trask, seconded by Ann Sorensen and carried that an auditor be appointed by the Board.
It was moved by Brian Johnson, seconded by Linda Campbell and carried that the signing officers for the coming year will be the Chairman, Treasurer and Corresponding Secretary.
There being no further nominations, it was moved by Gwen Trask, seconded by Ann Sorensen and carried that the nominees for the Officers and Board of Directors for the coming year be accepted. (List attached)
Wilfred Allen thanked Ann Sorensen for her service to the Preservation Society. The coming year will be the first year Ann has not been on the Board since its inception.
The Chair, Wilfred Allen then turned over the meeting to the new Chair – Bill Curry who said he was happy to take over the Chair.
Linda Campbell moved the meeting be adjourned.
Following the meeting we enjoyed a lunch of sandwiches, sweets, tea & coffee and watched a slide presentation of the restoration and preservation of the three historic cemeteries in Port Maitland and Beaver River after which Wilfred Allen presented Ann Sorensen with a framed certificate giving Ann an Honorary Lifetime Membership in the Old Stones Preservation Society.
Bev Outhouse, Recording Secretary
Old Beaver River and Port Maitland
Cemeteries Preservation Society
Financial Report
Meeting of April 15, 2013
The financial status for our society, Old Stones, is currently a very healthy
one.
The banking account stands with a balance of $2054.63 as of April 10, 2013.
We have two Term Investments. One in the amount of $7,402.97 and another
one (which was originally two smaller ones we decided to combine), in the
amount of $4,528.67 as of April l0, 2013.
Respectfully submitted,
Leane Sweeney
Treasurer: Old Stones-OBR/Port Maitland Cemeteries Preservation Society
Old Stones
Old Beaver River & Port Maitland Cemeteries
Preservation Soeiety
PO Box,92, Port Maitland, NS, BOW 2VO
www.oldstones.ca
Annual Report
for Annual Meeting 15 April 2013
Social Events
The central committee for social events for the year 2012 were Nancy Curry- chair, Brian Johnson, Janet
Rose, and Linda Campbell. We also thank Diane Rose for her support and extensive help in the kitchen on
the day of the events. A thank-you to Lew Outhouse for always having water on hand for us and arranging
anything to do with the fire hall.
We held a community potluck dinner and book sale, followed by a “historical trivia of Port Maitland
.area” in May. The turnout for this event was disappointing, we served approx. 50meals. Post event
discussion showed the word “quiz” may have been seen as a little threatening by some, the event was held
too early in the summer season to attract summer residents, or many of the seniors living here can no
longer prepare pot luck dishes with confidence.
The second event was held in July on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Folks gathered at the Founders
Cemetery with Wilfred for a tour and “visit” with the residents, and an update on the work being done in
this cemetery under our care. The tour.was followed by a strawberry-social in the fire hall with more than
75 in attendance. Judging by the chatter in the room and the lingering by the community I would say this
was a great success once again.
– I
The third social event was held at the fire hall in August. Again the weather was perfect. Again a potluck,
but the committee supplied cold ham and turkey and participants brought salads and desserts. We had
prepared for 80, but served more than 90 plates. We ran out of turkey and ham, water for beverages, and
spaces to sit. A wonderful surprise after the disappointment of May. A special thanks to George Snow for
his delightful and entertaining presentation of the early homes of Pt. Maitland, with audience
participation. ‘
The overall fundraising picture was a successful one, we met the society’s fundraising goal, but we will
have to do some creative thinking to improve the early season event. Look for a unique presentation in
May 2013, and please join us for another exciting event.
Submitted by Nancy Curry
Chair Social Events”.”
Corresponding Secretary
One Sympathy card sent April 20th, 2012
One Thank You card to Accountant sent April 20th, 2012
Eight Thank You Notes with Tax Receipts sent August 25th, 2012
One Thank You note sent to PM Fire Hall November 21st, 2012
One Thinking of You card sent November 21st, 2012
Twenty one Thank You cards sent to Volunteers January 18th, 2013
One Get Well Card sent March, 2013
One 50th Anniversary Card delivered April 13th, 2013
Submitted by Marilyn Ellis
Corresponding Secretary
Education
The main work done during this last few months has been on the website www.oldstones.ca
We have now had over 5000 visitors to our website, and the profiles that we have for each Resident
continue to be improved. The addition of the Family Group records – where each Resident’s family is
shown on a “card” and the members of the family of the resident are linked, has made the Resident’s
portion of the site very useful for genealogy, as well as those interested in the history of the area.
The school project is going along – we will be placing the bricks with QR codes this May in all three
cemeteries. This will allow those with smartphones or other tablet devices (iPad, etc.) to go right to the
Resident’s webpage while standing at the grave marker. The students will assist with this placing of the
stones, will find out a bit about any ancestors and also will help produce a map showing the markers and
their locations. The students will learn a bit about GPS technology doing this, and the map we produce
and a sample of some of the QR codes, etc. will be on display at the May supper.
I have applied for the new name as well – Old Stones has been added to the name of the Society.
If anyone has any questions, comments or concerns, please feel free to contact me at my new e-mail
address: bill@biIlcurry.ca .
Submitted by Bill Curry
Chair, Education Committee
The Old Stones QR Code
point your smart phone and up comes our web site-
soon to be placed in front of every grave marker.
Restoration & Maintenance
As you all remember the spring of 2012 came early, so the grass grew earlier, and the cemeteries had to
be mowed more times: We thank all the volunteers who came so willingly to mow throughout the longer
grass season. We try to make the mowing days cheerful, sociable and lots of fun. We mow the grass too.
The cemetery maps and flags were in place over the summer months, and we understand that the maps are
particularly helpful to first time visitors. We hope that they are, and that they make their first visit more
interesting and successful. .. .
In the fall we started to return all the footstones to their original locations. When the cemeteries were first
cleared, many footstones were just lying on the ground, and were placed next to the main stone. This
summer we hope to have the rest of them in place.
Over the winter months, during one of the many gales of wind, the flagpole in the Founders Cemetery
was broken off and fell to the ground. Work is underway to replace it in time for the flags to be in place
this spring.
Extra work in the summer of 2013 will probably be on about nine graves in the Calvinist Baptist
Cemetery that need to be restored, as we have done to so many in the other cemeteries.
Submitted by George Snow
Chair Restoration & Maintenance
Membership
For the year 2012 we had 51 annual members and 1 life member. Since the inception of the Society
Honourary Life Memberships have been awarded to the late Rev Ulric Dawson, Ronald Outhouse, Elsie
Outhouse and Hazel Trask. ..
Submitted by Ann Sorensen
Membership Chair
Chair
As the previous reports show, this has been a year of progress, thanks to the work of so many volunteers
and donors.
Our first priority as a Society must be the maintenance and restoration of the cemeteries. Everything else
is icing on the cake, but what wonderful icing it is. The cemeteries have been mowed, footstones
replaced, the path kept clear, the panels put in place and the flags kept flying. All thanks to George Snow
and his cadre of volunteers.
We held memorable events with great food, thanks to Nancy Curry and her dedicated team. Those events
have enabled our treasurer, Leane Sweeny, to report yet another year of operating in the black and being
able to set a bit aside for days to come. There will be tougher days ahead and we need to prepare for them
now by creating an endowment fund to ensure our long term sustainability.
Our education efforts, primarily through our web site, have attracted enough interest that over 5,000
different people have visited oldstones.ca. Collaboration between our Recording Secretary, Bev Outhouse,
and our webmaster has meant that minutes of meetings have appeared on our web site within hours of the
meeting being held.
Our membership this past year was the highest it has ever been.
The introduction of QR codes (see the sample on the previous page) on our posters and soon at every
marker would be a shock to the residents of our cemeteries. To many of us the introduction of new
technology has been mind boggling yet it has done so much to extend our reach.
Appreciation must be expressed once again to the Port Maitland Fire Department for the use of the hall
for our meetings and events. Publicity for our events could not have happened without support from The
Vanguard, EastLink Tv, CJLS, Shore Grocery and the team of Brian and Bob who deliver posters to
mailboxes in the area.
Saying thank you to our volunteers and remembering that our members have other events in their lives
has been the work of Marilyn Ellis who never gets to send a card to herself to say thank you for what she
has done.
Our name change has been a hallmark of this past year. Yes, our very long name just got longer but I look
forward to the community getting to know us simply as Old Stones. Thanks to Bill Curry for dealing with
the bureaucratic hoops that made it happen.
This year marks a milestone. Ann Sorensen has been an enthusiastic board member and volunteer since
day one. We would keep Ann on the board forever but she has asked to step down this year while
continuing to remain active as a member. If Ann, Marilyn Ellis and Rick Dawson had not taken time 14
years ago following a Sunday service at Cedar Lake Baptist Church to discuss how they could help
restore these cemeteries we would not be here today celebrating the results of that conversation.
All our members, particularly our volunteers, should take a well deserved bow. We’ve earned it.
I now come to the end of the second period of time I have served as your chair. It has been a truly
satisfying and rewarding experience. I am grateful to Bill Curry for offering to take on the position and
look forward to giving him a hand, particularly ‘with historical research and fund raising.
Submitted by Wilfred Allan
Chair
Old Stones
Nominees for Officers & Board of Directors
Presented to Annual Meeting
15 April 2013
OFFICERS
Chair & Education Chair
Bill Curry
Vice-Chair, Maintenance & Restoration Chair
George Snow
Treasurer
Leane Sweeney
Recording Secretary
Bev Outhouse
Corresponding & Membership Secretary
Marilyn Ellis
Social Events Chair
Nancy Curry
Public Relations Chair
Susan Brown
Past-Chair, Fund Raising & Nominations Chair
Wilfred Allan
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Wilfred Allan
Alex Blooi
Susan Brown
Linda Campbell
Bill Curry
Nancy Curry
Marilyn Ellis
Denton Ford
Brian Johnson
Bev Outhouse
Lew Outhouse
Diane Rose
George Snow
Leane Sweeney
Nominations Chair
Wilfred Allan
Reports from 2012 (Given at the Annual General Meeting, April 2013)
Old Stones
Old Beaver River & Port Maitland Cemeteries Preservation Society
PO Box 92, Port Maitland, NS, B0W 2V0
Annual Report
for Annual Meeting 15 April 2013
Financial Report
Meeting of April 15, 2013
The financial status for our society, Old Stones, is currently a very healthy one.
The banking account stands with a balance of $2054.63 as of April 10, 2013.
We have two Term Investments. One in the amount of $7,402.97 and another one (which was originally two smaller ones we decided to combine), in the amount of $4,528.67 as of April 10, 2013.
Respectfully submitted,
Leane Sweeney
Treasurer: Old Stones-OBR/Port Maitland Cemeteries Preservation Society
Social Events
The central committee for social events for the year 2012 were Nancy Curry- chair, Brian Johnson, Janet Rose, and Linda Campbell. We also thank Diane Rose for her support and extensive help in the kitchen on the day of the events. A thank-you to Lew Outhouse for always having water on hand for us and arranging anything to do with the firehall.
We held a community potluck dinner and book sale, followed by a “historical trivia of Port Maitland area” in May. The turnout for this event was disappointing, we served approx. 50 meals. Post event discussion showed the word “quiz” may have been seen as a little threatening by some, the event was held too early in the summer season to attract summer residents, or many of the seniors living here can no longer prepare pot luck dishes with confidence.
The second event was held in July on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Folks gathered at the Founders Cemetery with Wilfred for a tour and “visit” with the residents, and an update on the work being done in this cemetery under our care. The tour was followed by a strawberry social in the firehall with more than 75 in attendance. Judging by the chatter in the room and the lingering by the community I would say this was a great success once again.
The third social event was held at the firehall in August. Again the weather was perfect. Again a potluck, but the committee supplied cold ham and turkey and participants brought salads and desserts. We had prepared for 80, but served more than 90 plates. We ran out of turkey and ham, water for beverages, and spaces to sit. A wonderful surprise after the disappointment of May. A special thanks to George Snow for his delightful and entertaining presentation of the early homes of Pt. Maitland, with audience participation.
The overall fundraising picture was a successful one, we met the society’s fundraising goal, but we will have to do some creative thinking to improve the early season event. Look for a unique presentation in May 2013, and please join us for another exciting event.
Submitted by Nancy Curry
Chair Social Events
Corresponding Secretary
One Sympathy card sent April 20th, 2012
One Thank You card to Accountant sent April 20th, 2012
Eight Thank You Notes with Tax Receipts sent August 25th, 2012
One Thank You note sent to PM Fire Hall November 21st, 2012
One Thinking of You card sent November 21st, 2012
Twenty one Thank You card sent to Volunteers January 18th, 2013
One Get Well Card sent March, 2013
One 50th Anniversary Card delivered April 13th, 2013
Submitted by Marilyn Ellis
Corresponding Secretary
Education
The main work done during this last few months has been on the website. www.oldstones.ca
We have now had over 5000 visitors to our website, and the profiles that we have for each Resident continue to be improved. The addition of the Family Group records – where each Resident’s family is shown on a “card” and the members of the family of the resident are linked, has made the Resident’s portion of the site very useful for genealogy, as well as those interested in the history of the area.
The school project is going along – we will be placing the bricks with QR codes this May in all three cemeteries. This will allow those with smartphones or other tablet devices (iPad, etc.) to go right to the Resident’s webpage while standing at the grave marker. The students will assist with this placing of the stones, will find out a bit about any ancestors and also will help produce a map showing the markers and their locations. The students will learn a bit about GPS technology doing this, and the map we produce and a sample of some of the QR codes, etc. will be on display at the May supper.
I have applied for the new name as well – Old Stones has been added to the name of the Society.
If anyone has any questions, comments or concerns, please feel free to contact me at my new e-mail address:bill@billcurry.ca
Submitted by Bill Curry
Chair, Education Committee
Restoration & Maintenance
As you all remember the spring of 2012 came early, so the grass grew earlier, and the cemeteries had to be mowed more times. We thank all the volunteers who came so willingly to mow throughout the longer grass season. We try to make the mowing days cheerful, sociable and lots of fun. We mow the grass too.
The cemetery maps and flags were in place over the summer months, and we understand that the maps are particularly helpful to first time visitors. We hope that they are, and that they make their first visit more interesting and successful.
In the fall we started to return all the footstones to their original locations. When the cemeteries were first cleared, many foootstones were just lying on the ground, and were placed next to the main stone. This summer we hope to have the rest of them in place.
Over the winter months, during one of the many gales of wind, the flagpole in the Founders Cemetery was broken off and fell to the ground. Work is underway to replace it in time for the flags to be in place this spring.
Extra work in the summer of 2013 will probably be on about nine graves in the Calvinist Baptist Cemetery that need to be restored, as we have done to so many in the other cemeteries.
Submitted by George Snow
Chair Restoration & Maintenance
Membership
For the year 2012 we had 51 annual members and 1 life member. Since the inception of the Society Honourary Life Memberships have been awarded to the late Rev Ulric Dawson, Ronald Outhouse, Elsie Outhouse and Hazel Trask.
Submitted by Ann Sorensen
Membership Chair
Chair
As the previous reports show, this has been a year of progress, thanks to the work of so many volunteers and donors.
Our first priority as a Society must be the maintenance and restoration of the cemeteries. Everything else is icing on the cake, but what wonderful icing it is. The cemeteries have been mowed, footstones replaced, the path kept clear, the panels put in place and the flags kept flying. All thanks to George Snow and his cadre of volunteers.
We held memorable events with great food, thanks to Nancy Curry and her dedicated team. Those events have enabled our treasurer, Leane Sweeny, to report yet another year of operating in the black and being able to set a bit aside for days to come. There will be tougher days ahead and we need to prepare for them now by creating an endowment fund to ensure our long term sustainability.
Our education efforts, primarily through our web site, have attracted enough interest that over 5,000 different people have visited oldstones.ca. Collaboration between our Recording Secretary, Bev Outhouse, and our webmaster has meant that minutes of meetings have appeared on our web site within hours of the meeting being held.
Our membership this past year was the highest it has ever been.
The introduction of QR codes (see the sample on the previous page) on our posters and soon at every marker would be a shock to the residents of our cemeteries. To many of us the introduction of new technology has been mind boggling yet it has done so much to extend our reach.
Appreciation must be expressed once again to the Port Maitland Fire Department for the use of the hall for our meetings and events. Publicity for our events could not have happened without support from The Vanguard, EastLink TV, CJLS, Shore Grocery and the team of Brian and Bob who deliver posters to mailboxes in the area.
Saying thank you to our volunteers and remembering that our members have other events in their lives has been the work of Marilyn Ellis who never gets to send a card to herself to say thank you for what she has done.
Our name change has been a hallmark of this past year. Yes, our very long name just got longer but I look forward to the community getting to know us simply as Old Stones. Thanks to Bill Curry for dealing with the bureaucratic hoops that made it happen.
This year marks a milestone. Ann Sorensen has been an enthusiastic board member and volunteer since day one. We would keep Ann on the board forever but she has asked to step down this year while continuing to remain active as a member. If Ann, Marilyn Ellis and Rick Dawson had not taken time 14 years ago following a Sunday service at Cedar Lake Baptist Church to discuss how they could help restore these cemeteries we would not be here today celebrating the results of that conversation.
All our members, particularly our volunteers, should take a well deserved bow. We’ve earned it.
I now come to the end of the second period of time I have served as your chair. It has been a truly satisfying and rewarding experience. I am grateful to Bill Curry for offering to take on the position and look forward to giving him a hand, particularly with historical research and fund raising.
Submitted by Wilfred Allan
Chair
Old Beaver River/Port Maitland Cemeteries Preservation Society
Annual Meeting
April 16, 2012
The Annual Meeting of the Old Beaver River/Port Maitland Cemeteries Preservation Society was held at the Port Maitland Fire Hall on April 16, 2012. There were 8 members present:
Chair: Wilfred Allan
Secretary: Marilyn Ellis
Directors: Diane Rose
George Snow
Lew Outhouse
Bill Curry
Bev Outhouse
Ann Sorensen
Regrets were received from Brian Johnson, Nancy Curry, Linda Campbell, Leane Sweeney and Denton Ford.
Wilfred passed out copies of the Agenda and the Financial report (Leane delivered her report but couldn’t stay for the meeting). The agenda was approved.
Marilyn read the minutes of the last Annual Meeting – April 11th, 2011; Bill moved to approve these minutes; seconded by Lew Outhouse. Carried.
Financial report: was read by Wilfred. The fund raiser took in $1,604.17 – this includes donations and memberships. Our current Bank account is $918.58. Bev moved the acceptance of this report; seconded by Marilyn. Carried. Leane noted that all taxes have been paid for the year and the NSCC Accounting Class (by Donna Amirault) audited our books with no charge. Marilyn was asked to send Donna Amirault a thank you from the Society.
Membership: Ann stated that membership fees are due and that we have 28 members for this year thus far.
Maintenance & Restoration: George gave a verbal report stating that the flags, info panels, etc will be put up by the 15th of May. More of the bushes have been cut in the Calvinist Cemetery and there will be about 10% more mowing than last year. George said that the cemetery is in the best shape it has ever been in. There was a place in the cemetery where they found several stones including what looks like a corner stone and presume that this is where the church sat.
Web Site & Logo: see Bill’s attached report. In regards to the logo, Bill mentioned that the willow tree shows up in all three cemeteries. This logo that is now showing up on our letter heads, etc was actually from a photo of Abial Crosby’s stone in the Founder’s Cemetery. Wilfred gave thanks to Bill for his continuous work
History & Archives: see Wilfred’s attached report.
Wilfred and Leane will compose a budget and bring it to our next meeting.
Wilfred went over our proposed calendar for 2012. He passed out a brochure of our Potluck dinner & Community Quiz to be held on May 26th, 2012 at the fire hall.
This part of the meeting was turned over to George Snow, chair person of the nominating committee. List of the Nominees were passed out. George read the names on the list for officers and directors. There were no further nominations when asked by George. George declared acceptance of the list of Officers and Directors for 2012 – 2013.
Chairperson – Wilfred Allan
Vice-Chairperson – Bill Curry
Secretary- Bev Outhouse (Recording Secretary)
Marilyn Ellis (Correspondence Secretary)
Treasurer – Leane Sweeney
Directors
Wilfred Allan
Linda Campbell
Bill Curry
Nancy Curry
Marilyn Ellis
Denton Ford
Brian Johnson
Beverley Outhouse
Llewellyn Outhouse
Diane Rose
George Snow
Ann Sorensen
Leane Sweeney
Honorary Life Members Elsie Outhouse
Ronald Outhouse
Hazel Trask
Wilfred declared the meeting adjourned at 9pm.
Following the meeting we socialized over a cup of coffee, cookies and brownies supplied by George and Ann.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Ellis, Outgoing Recording Secretary
Minutes of the Board Meeting
Old Stones Old Beaver River/Port Maitland Cemeteries Preservation Society
March 18th, 2013
The meeting was opened at 7:00 p.m. by Chair Wilfred Allan. There were 10 members present:
Chair Wilfred Allan Directors George Snow Linda Campbell Nancy Curry
Brian Johnson Diane Rose Marilyn Ellis Ann Sorensen
Lew Outhouse Bev Outhouse
Regrets were received from Leanne Sweeney, Bill Curry and Denton Ford.
Minutes of the General Meeting of November 19th, 2012, the Attendance sheet and the Agenda were distributed.
The minutes of the General Meeting of November 19th, 2012 were approved by Wilfred Allan as read.
Reports:
Financial: Leanne sent her report and the bank balance as of February 12, 2013 was $2127.09. Wilfred reported that, rather than appoint auditors to go over the books, we usually have the Finance Class at Burridge Community College inspect the books.
Membership: Ann reported that we have approximately 60 people with memberships and that the memberships will now be for the calendar year.
Correspondence: Marilyn reported that a get-well card had been sent to Bev and to Denton, a thank-you note and cheque sent to the Port Maitland Volunteer Fire Department for use of the hall, and thank-you notes sent to the 21 volunteers who helped with the mowing of the cemeteries.
Maintenance & Restoration: George reported that there wasn’t much mowing going on right now. The flag pole in the Founders Cemetery had snapped and blown over this winter and will be replaced. And Bernard Hurlburt has agreed to help George this summer with the cemeteries, etc.
Web Site & Logo: Bill sent a report (attached) that we now have had over 5000 unique visitors to our website. The addition of the Family Group records show links to the Resident’s family. The school project is coming along and the students will assist with the placing of the bricks with QR codes this spring in all three cemeteries. The web re-design is complete and getting good reviews.
Social Events: Nancy reported on the preparation for the ‘seafood chowder’ supper in May: bread & rolls – brown, whole wheat & white are ordered from Edna’s bakery. Apple pies are being purchased from Apple Valley Foods in Berwick. There was some discussion on buying lobster in the shell or frozen lobster. Wilfred agreed to make up the tickets for the seafood chowder supper and start selling them at the Annual meeting on April 15th, 2013.
New business: After some discussion, it was felt the Board meetings scheduled for June 17 and September 16, 2013 were unnecessary and so it was moved by Bev Outhouse and seconded by Brian Johnson that the June and September Board meetings be replaced with a meeting as needed by a call of the chair.
Preliminary Nominations: Chair Wilfred Allan reported the addition of two new nominee Directors to the Board – Alex Bloi and Susan Brown. The following is the list of nominees for officers and board of directors for 2013.
Chair & Web Master – Bill Curry
Vice Chair & Maintenance & Restoration Chair – George Snow
Treasurer – Leane Sweeney
Recording Secretary – Bev Outhouse
Corresponding & Membership Secretary – Marilyn Ellis
Social Events Chair – Nancy Curry
Public Relations Chair – Susan Brown
Past-Chair & Fund Raising Chair – Wilfred Allan
Board of Directors
Wilfred Allen Alex Bloi Susan Brown Linda Campbell
Bill Curry Nancy Curry Marilyn Ellis Denton Ford
Brian Johnson Beverly Outhouse Llewellyn Outhouse Diane Rose
George Snow Ann Sorensen Leane Sweeney
Honourary Life Members
Elsie Outhouse, Hazel Trask, Ronald Outhouse
Wilfred adjourned the meeting at 8:30 p.m. after which we enjoyed coffee & cookies.
Bev Outhouse, Recording Secretary
Minutes of the General Meeting
Old BR/PM Cemeteries Preservation society
November 19th, 2012
The meeting was opened at 7:05pm by Chair Person, Wilfred Allan. There were 9 members present:
Chair Wilfred Allan
Vice Chair Bill Curry
Directors Marilyn Ellis Brian Johnson
Linda Campbell Diane Rose
Nancy Curry Leane Sweeney
Member Janet Rose
Regrets were received from Cheryl Anderson, Hazel Trask, Donna Grant, Bev Outhouse, Lew Outhouse, Ann Sorensen, and George Snow.
With the addition – Fire Department payment – under New Business, the Agenda was approved.
The minutes of the September 17th board meeting, the Agenda, the Budget for 2013, and the Financial Report were distributed.
In the absence of Bev, Marilyn read the minutes of the Board meeting of September 17, 2012; they were approved as read.
Reports:
Financial: Leanne read her Financial Report. After two successful fund raising events this past summer, we raised $1,635.36. Our bank account now stands at $2356.95 with more interest due in December from one of our investments. It was moved by Linda to accept this report; seconded by Nancy; carried. Leane has requested, if anyone has bills for her, to submit them before the end of the year.
Membership: Ann was absent but she related to Marilyn that there were no new members since last report.
Maintenance and Restoration: Marilyn read George’s report as follows –
Most effort this year was in Maintenance. The grass began to grow in April and it never stopped. We mowed the Calvinist Cemetery 10 times over the summer, which I believe is a record. The other two were mowed 9 times each over the summer. This required a lot of volunteer help. We did manage to put most of the foot markers in the Founders Cemetery back in an upright position. This is an improvement that we hope to complete in all three cemeteries in 2013.
George supplied us with a list of the volunteers:
Ross Hersey Kempton Newell Joe Upton, Sr
John Allan David Walsh Julian Smith
Kevin Sollows Buck Owens Alex Blooi
Donald Thompson William Sollows John Grant
Dr Ronald Kelly Howard Snow Rod Moores
Peter Moores Bernard Hurlburt Megan Snow
Gerald Crosby Brian Johnson Bob Brown
A ‘thank you’ note will be going out to each of these volunteers.
Education, Web site & Logo: Bill gave his report as follows –
The main work done during these last few months has been on the website. We have totally redesigned the navigation of the website, which took a lot of effort, and probably few people will notice the difference, which is what we wanted – but it will be easier to find one’s way around the site. We also worked on making the resident’s profiles more complete, by adding plain language descriptions for each person, and then adding in a Family group Sheet genealogical record for each resident – this work is ongoing but will do two things. First, it will make the “landing” page for each resident much more user friendly for folks looking for basic information, and secondly it will also give full genealogical data for those who are doing that kind of research. I would encourage the Board members to go to
and give the new look a review. We have had well over 3500 visitors to the website since its inception.
We are also working with the Grade 4 and 5 classes at Port Maitland School. Wilfred and I will be meeting soon with the Grade 4 teacher, who also teaches Grade 5 social studies, and the Principal – we will have the kids assist us with the QR placement (see sample) and with mapping the three cemeteries on GPS. Wilfred and I will in turn help the classes with genealogical information and by showing kids how to trace their ancestors, perhaps including some in the cemeteries. The students will be able to showcase some of this work at our May 2013 supper.
The list of removals is on the website now as well, and this will be the focus of efforts as we move forward, as many of these folks are related to the residents in the three cemeteries, and it may be worthwhile to add these folks into our database at some point.
After Bill’s report, he gave us a demo of how the QR works and that a brick will be standing on its end, partial submerged in the ground, with QR Code on top of it. Each stone will eventually have a brick with the QR Code next to it.
Correspondence Report: Marilyn provided a missing you/thinking about you card and had everyone at this meeting sign it; it will be mailed out to Bev Outhouse.
Events: Nancy gave her report –
In May of 2013 the committee wants to have a seafood chowder supper using the famous recipe that the IOOF Hall provided many years ago; this recipe was provided by Janet Rose (found within her Mother’s papers). They are hoping they can get the rolls, bread, and pies donated and maybe the fish. Tickets will be sold and they will be limited to 100 tickets only. The cost of a ticket will be decided later.
New Business:
a) Nominating Committee – Linda moved that Wilfred be appointed chair of the nominating committee, seconded by Brian, carried.
b) 2013 Budget – It was suggested that the Donations be divided into Fundraisers at $1000. and donations at $985. It was moved by Bill to approve the Budget with this suggestion, seconded by Linda, passed.
c) Incorporating “Old Stones” into our society name – Brian made the motion to add “Old Stones” in front of our name, seconded by Nancy, passed. Bill will got to Access Nova Scotia and take care of the addition.
d) 2013 Calendar as follows – Subject to change
Monday 18 March 2013, 7pm: (3rd Monday); Board Meeting, Port Maitland Fire Hall
Monday 15 April 2013, 7pm: Annual General Meeting, Fire Hall
Program: The Society and its Cemeteries slide show
Monday 13 May 2013, 7pm: (2nd Monday); 1st Meeting of New Board, Fire Hall
Saturday, 27 May 2013, 6pm: School Event and Meal, Fire Hall and/or School
Monday 17 June 2013, 7pm: Board Meeting, Fire Hall
Sunday, 21 July 2013, 2 pm: Cemetery Tour; 3:30 pm Strawberry Social, Fire Hall
Saturday, 24 August 2013, 6pm: Potluck, Sale & Auction, Fire Hall
Monday 16 September 2013, 7pm: Board Meeting, Fire Hall
Monday 18 November 2013, 7pm: General Meeting, Fire Hall
e) Payment to the Fire Hall – Nancy made the motion to increase the payment for the use of the fire hall to $125.00, seconded by Leane, passed. Marilyn will send a thank you note with the cheque to the Fire Hall.
Wilfred adjourned the meeting at 8:55pm.
Cookies and coffee followed.
Respectfully Submitted –
Marilyn Ellis, filling in for Bev Outhouse
Minutes of the Board Meeting Old BR/PM Cemeteries Preservation society September 17th, 2012
The meeting was opened at 7pm by Chair Person, Wilfred Allan. There were 8 members present: Chair Wilfred Allan Vice Chair Bill Curry Directors Marilyn Ellis Brian Johnson George Snow Ann Sorensen Nancy Curry Denton Ford Regrets were received from Linda Campbell, Diane Rose, Leane Sweeney, Bev Outhouse and Lew Outhouse. The attendance sheet was passed around. The minutes for the June 18, 2012 board meeting, the Agenda, and the Financial Report were distributed. In the absence of Bev, Marilyn read the minutes of the Board meeting of June 18th, 2012; they were approved as read.
Reports: Financial: Wilfred read the Financial Report in the absence of Leane. We had two successful fund raising events this past summer – raised $1,635.36. Nancy moved to accept this report; seconded by Denton; carried. Membership: Ann reported that we now have 49 members plus 3 honorary members and one life member, totalling 53 members. At present the membership cards show two years, example: 2011 -2012; this has been confusing for some people so now the cards will show one year, example: 2012.
Maintenance and Restoration: George gave his report which is the following – This summer started early with two mowings in the month of May. In spite of it being dry, the grass grew fast and we mowed the three cemeteries seven times. In addition, we painted two flag poles and replaced in an upright position about 20 foot stones in the Founders Cemetery. We expect to finish that job at the Founder’s Cemetery and also the Free Will Baptist Cemetery this fall in cooler weather. We have taken down the flags this past week; one lasted through the summer in perfect shape; the other two frayed quite badly on the outer edges. In addition to replacing footstones this fall, we hoped to put the remaining stones in the Calvinist Cemetery up and suitable for viewing and also later to burn the pile of brush at the back which came from our last expansion.
Education, Web site & Logo: Bill gave his report as follows – The primary efforts that have been undertaken are to maintain the website for the society including not only the homepage for the OBRPMCPS, but also the “virtual burying ground” which is the online presence for each of the 3 cemeteries. The society’s website running well, and the History committee regularly meets and updates the resident profiles of each person in the cemeteries. We are working on placing a QR code system for each resident somewhere in each cemetery so that anyone with a smart phone or tablet device could jump right to any individual resident’s page right there in the cemetery. We have completed detailed profiles of many of the folks in the Founders Cemetery and will now work on Free Will. The website has now attracted over 3500 visitors. We have also added to the website a list of those folks who were listed as “removals” by the current Island cemetery – that is people who were buried elsewhere, many in one of our three cemeteries, and were later removed to the Island cemetery. We have a list of 80 people, and we feel there may be more who could be added. The list has been posted to the website, and we will add detailed information on each of these “former residents” in time. A discussion was held about producing a brochure or newsletter that could be put up electronically on the website and mailed to members who wish – perhaps with the first one going to everyone weho is a member, and we will begin looking at how that might be done by getting a group together who might be interested in producing same. We are also working on a project with the Port Maitland Elementary school and doing a genealogy project tied to the cemeteries.
Correspondence Report: Marilyn gave her report – As a result of donations made from the Social event held August 25th, she sent out 8 thank you notes with the official Tax Receipts provided by Leane. Events: Nancy gave a report on the success of the events, especially the last one in August; they had set up for 80 people but ended up feeding over 100. Nancy discussed the events for another year; maybe the May event to involve kids and food. She brought up that it would be nice to send a thank you to the Fire hall with our appreciation. Business arising from the minutes of June 18th, 2012 – Next year, maybe, brochures of the summer work and events could be done up and sent out to our members. Due to the weather Wilfred was unable to have a book table at the PM Community-wide-Yard Sale.
New Business:
a) Disposal of Used books – Denton made the motion to sent the 6 boxes of left over books to the Salvation Army, seconded by Brian, all in favour, motion passed.
b) Incorporating ‘Old Stones’ into our Society name – this topic will be brought up during our November meeting.
c) 2013 Calendar (board and general meetings) –It was suggested to have at the Annual General meeting in April – 20 minutes of meeting, 45 minutes of a slide show, followed by sweets (maybe sandwiches), coffee, etc. The rest of the meetings and/or events will be brought up during the meeting in November.
d) Other new business – George will present Marilyn with a list of the volunteers so that she can send out ‘Thank You’ notes. Wilfred adjourned the meeting at 8:55pm. Sweets and coffee followed; thanks George.
Respectfully Submitted – Marilyn Ellis, filling in for Bev Outhouse
On June 18, 2012, the Society passed a motion that all Society minutes be made public and be posted on our website. This page will record those minutes.
Minutes of Board Meeting
Old Beaver River and Port Maitland Cemeteries Preservation Society
June 18, 2012
(Minutes are subject to approval at the next Board meeting)
The meeting was opened at 7 p.m. by chair person, Wilfred Allan. There were 9 members present:
Chair Wilfred Allan
Vice Chair Bill Curry
Recording Secretary Bev Outhouse
Directors Nancy Curry Linda Campbell
Brian Johnson Lew Outhouse
Denton Ford George Snow
Regrets were received from Diane Rose, Marilyn Ellis and Leane Sweeney.
Handouts: Agenda, Financial Report, Proposed Budget for 2012 and Minutes of May 12, 2012. The Attendance sheet was passed around as well.
Minutes of the Board meeting of May 14, 2012 were read and approved.
Reports and Discussions:
Financial: Wilfred briefly went over Leane’s Financial Report noting that our Trivia/Quiz/Pot Luck night did not go as well as past efforts. We raised $227.55 broken down into Book Sales of $57.36, Donations of $145.19 and Memberships of $20.00 which has been deposited, along with a previous membership of $5.00. Our bank total is now $1,211.14. Copy attached.
He also mentioned that he and Leane had been to the Bank and the GIC Rate Riser of $2,500.00 which matures in July, 2012 has been renewed for three more years.
Wilfred then went over the Proposed Budget for 2012. He stated that the Budget should be done in our November General meeting. Linda Campbell moved and Bill Curry seconded the budget be accepted.
There was a short discussion regarding when the Society was formed in 1999, how the cemeteries were nothing but alders and bushes and were cleared by hand by the first Society members and pictures were taken to record some of these events. It was decided to try to digitize some of those pictures and maybe put some on the website.
Maintenance and Restoration: George reported the Free Will and Founders Cemeteries have been mowed twice and the Calvinist Cemetery has been done three times. He read an expense report to date totalling $473.58 for such things as tarps, motor oil and gas for the mowers. Last year Joe Upton cleared around some stones at the back of the Calvinist cemetery and that area is now able to be mowed. Regarding erecting an information box with a Guest book, brochures, etc for the cemeteries, George said he would like to try one in the Founders cemetery until fall to see how it would work. It was decided that Wilfred & Bill would find a visitor book and George would see that an information box be made.
Education: Bill’s report stated that the Oldstones website now has over 2400 unique visitor hits and he is able to map out where people are coming from and where they go on the site and what they use it for. The website is now complete and we will soon be listed as a Nova Scotia cemetery with Gravemarkers.ca. Also the user can now zoom in or out and see the cemeteries on a map through Wikimapia.
The QR codes are now on the main panels at each cemetery allowing users to find the Oldstones website and the QR codes will soon be started for residents of the cemeteries. The list of removals has been added to the website and will be linked to residents of our cemeteries including the current active Port Maitland and Beaver River cemetery.
A discussion for contacting our members took place and it was felt we should be giving members (especially those from away) something for their annual membership fee to make it more attractive. The Board felt mailing a brochure with a cover letter including a summary of the summer’s work would be a good start. Another suggestion was to post our Society’s minutes on the website. It was moved by Brian Johnson and seconded by Linda Campbell that the minutes be posted on the website noting that the minutes were subject to approval of the Board. Copy of Bill’s report attached.
Summer Events:
Some discussion took place regarding our May Pot Luck & Quiz night. Questions and suggestions such as: a) Too many annual events? B) Same people always coming c) Conflict with other events d) “Team”/”Quiz” may have scared people off. Next year we might try involving school children in our event with such things as displaying their “rubbings” and GPS’ing of their work that Bill would like them to do in the cemeteries as part of their history classes in the next school year. Then perhaps sell them a ticket for their supper at the Fire Hall for a fish chowder supper or something similar rather than a Pout Luck.
New Business:
Wilfred will have a table at the Port Maitland community-wide Yard Sale on Saturday, June 23 in front of Donna Grant’s home. It will be a pay-as-you-wish for books, some membership forms and a donations box. He is looking for a couple more volunteers to help that day.
Wilfred adjourned the meeting at 9:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted –
Bev Outhouse, Recording Secretary
I appreciate having the last minutes (June 18th) on the web; I wasn’t able to attend but yet I now see what was discussed, etc. I feel more in sync.
Glad it helped Marilyn.
I have just read the minutes of the June 18 meeting and thoroughly enjoyed knowing what went on at the last directors meeting. I was unable to attend but realized i’d be unable to attend so late I could not send regrets. My belated apologies!. Thanks! Ann
Glad this is helping – we’ll see you next time, I’m sure.
it is great to see this happen it shows real a professional site that alows people to see what we are doing.
Glad you liked it and can get some benefit out of it, Brian.