Joseph F. Glidden Homestead & Historical Center Minutes of the Board Meeting May 12, 2014; Glidden Homestead, DeKalb, Illinois

Present: Debbie Behrends, Phil Bennett, Lucio Bortolin, Sarah DeMink, Jan Devore, Cindy Ditzler, Linda Fulton, Svetlana Henrikson, Kenda Jeske, Kepp Johnson, Marcia Wilson. Absent: Jeff Marshall, Jim Morel. Guest: Kathy Siebrasse.

President Svetlana Henrikson called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m. Kenda moved and Debbie seconded approval of agenda as amended. Motion carried.

Minutes. The April 14, 2014 minutes were reviewed. Kenda motioned and Kepp seconded to approve the minutes as amended. Motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report. The March and April Treasurer’s Reports were distributed by Kenda via email. Debbie motioned to place the reports on file with a second by Lucio. Motion carried.

President’s Report. Svetlana thanked all the volunteers for their help with Divas Dish. A discussion was held regarding the WW II museum in Kansas City, MO and the exhibit that included barbed wire. Svetlana viewed this as a great opportunity for us to work with the museum on a project. Linda suggested that we work with Cantigny on a project as well.

Executive Director’s Report. Marcia’s report was submitted by email. She reported the Homestead and DAAHA received a $2500 grant for the barn tour from the Roberts Family Foundation. This does not negate the Homestead from applying for a grant in the Fall.

Committee Reports. Development/Fundraising. Kathy handed out the Financial Report for Divas Dish, with a comparison for the last three years. She and Kepp reported that there is room to grow. Kathy stated that she buys $1000 worth of tickets every year and gives them away. Svetlana and Kenda also buy tickets and supports the silent auction. Suggestions to improve Divas Dish included switching to the Fall of 2015 instead of the Spring of 2015 since there are so many other events going on at the same time. The performances of Cymbal took away from Phil being able to talk and make announcements. Barsema Alumni Center is thinking of doubling the rental price. Terry, the Barsema employee told Kepp that she is willing to help keep the price lower for us. Svetlana reported that several people commented on the variety of food and that the advertising was good. Kepp talked about the parking lot issue. Terry didn’t know they were to cut off parking lot so Divas Dish people had a place to park. Kepp feels that cut into the ticket purchases since people couldn’t park. Svetlana reported that an unpurchased Spex Express gift certificate was donated to the Lions Club.

Marcia reported on the Give Local Campaign. The Homestead has not received the money yet from the DeKalb County Community Foundation. We will be receiving a $1515 check. Our highest donation was $250 and our lowest was $25. Linda added that the timing was bad since the campaign was so close to Divas Dish. Jan reported that online fundraising is popular so if we triple our $1515 we would earn 1/3 of Divas Dish. Svetlana said that our community doesn’t have that many classy events. Kepp will contact Terry to see about the cost of renting Barsema Alumni Center.

Membership. Jan handed out the membership statistics spreadsheet. The Homestead got one genealogy level. The approximation of members was pulled from the Treasurer’s Report.

Buildings and Grounds. The air conditioner is in the window. Marcia reported that the front porch and the Blacksmith Shop door needs to be painted. Phil will take care of it. She will ask Jeff if he can get the planter filled before the Opening Day.

1 of 2 pages Programs/Exhibit. Marcia passed around the volunteer spreadsheet. There are enough volunteers for Saturday but help is needed on Sunday and the rest of the season. Roger Keys’ presentation entitled Looking Back, Looking Forward will start at 3:30 on Saturday. The Puppets at the Barn our June 8th program and will promote the barn. Four artists have signed up for the Art in the Barn event. Deadline is June 1st. Debbie will send out a press release. Jan asked for artist suggestions. She will send the board members the letter and agreement so we can help recruit.

Public Relations. Debbie sent out the public relations for opening day and will send further announcements at the appropriate time. Marcia is taking over the newsletter from Kathy.

Gift Shop. The gift shop needs cleaning and pricing. Phil suggested Katie volunteer.

Archives/Furnishings. Marcia bought the laptop that Maureen recommended. She added tech support so is $50 over the budget.

Blacksmith Club. Lucio reported that the members of the club are meeting at the Homestead on Wednesday and another day at his house.

Old Business. Homestead and DAAHA are still recruiting volunteers for the Barn Tour on August 9th. Marcia handed out a list of possible sponsors for ads in the guide book. If you know anyone on the list please volunteer to contact them. Debbie reported that Resource Bank purchased a full size ad. She also volunteered to contact the restaurants. Svetlana will contact National Bank and Trust. The price of the ads are: back page - $500, full page - $250, half page - $125, business card - $50. There are seven locations – five barns plus Glidden and DAAHA. The guide book will be the ticket and will cost $20 per car load. Additional guide books can be purchased. Roger Keys volunteered to staff the Glidden barn that day. Sarah suggested we plan an activity or display. It will be a busy weekend as Art in the Barn is on Sunday. Since the Homestead is responsible for the finances we need to open a new bank account. NB&T was suggested even though we bank at Castle Bank. This will build relationships with others. Debbie motioned that Kenda set up a new bank account with NB&T with a second by Linda. Motion carried.

New Business. Thursday, June 19th is United Way Day of Caring. The application asking for volunteers needs to be turned in by May 16th. Marcia asked for prospective projects for the adult volunteers to work on at the Homestead. Two projects were suggested: wash the outside of the windows and the furnace room needs to be cleaned and the cupboards reorganized.

Marcia announced that she will be retiring at the end of the year. She suggested we start thinking about what the next steps will be for the Homestead and what qualities and strength we’ll need in the new director. She works 18 hours a week. Being flexible with the hours is one of the great benefits of the job.

Next meeting: June 9th at the Glidden Homestead at 7:00 pm.

Motion to adjourn by Kepp and seconded by Debbie. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned by Svetlana at 8:30 p.m.

Respectively submitted, Cindy Ditzler Board Secretary

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