HOPE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MINUTES
Annual Meeting - October 17, 2023

After a pleasant potluck supper, Society President Juanita Hunt called the meeting to order at 6:55 PM. There were 22 members in attendance: Margaret Morse, Juanita Hunt, Gwen Brodis, Donovan Bowley, Daisy Johnson, Jim DellaPenna, Cindy DellaPenna. Ron Smith, Catherine Pease, Jarvis Johnson, Marie Barry, Linda Hillgrove, Linda Black, Bruce Linthicum, Nancy Ford, Ann Leadbetter, Barbara Bentley, William Bentley, David Hall, Sydney Hall, Judith Jones, and Bill Jones. Everyone participated in the Pledge of Allegiance.

The secretary's report for the September meeting had been forwarded to all members via email, so reading was unnecessary; there was a motion to accept the minutes, the motion was seconded, and approved.

Gwen Brodis shared the Annual Treasurers report for the period Oct. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2023. Our expenses for this past fiscal year were about $910 more than the previous year and our income was about $2,538 less than the previous year. The largest decrease in income was in the category of Community & Membership Dues, which reflects a difference of about $1,500. Catherine Pease noted our Net Operating Loss for the year and stated we needed to boost income. Gwen explained the Capital Improvement entries for heat pump installation. The Historical Society received a full $9,000 grant from the Davis Family Foundation in Yarmouth, ME, which coupled with an Efficiency Maine rebate paid for the February installation of three heat pumps at our HHS home. At this point, we cannot predict if there will be a significant difference in our utility expenses, i.e., oil and electricity, until we go through an entire winter running the heat pumps. Of note, the utility expense for this past year was about $700 less than the previous year, but it was a reasonably mild winter except for February's extreme cold snap. There was another brief discussion regarding bottle/can redemption income and whether we had looked into a Clynk account - Donovan offered to check into Clynk. Of note, there was only a difference of about $125 between the past two years from redemption sources. There was a motion to accept the Treasurer's report, the motion was seconded, and unanimously passed.

Old Business:

Juanita described our very interesting and informative Moody's Cranberry Bog tour last week. It was learned that dry berry harvesting makes up the bulk of the harvest, wet harvested berries are what go into sauces. Juanita went on to inform us that the gutters have finally been installed on the home, and maybe they will help reduce some of the basement moisture; she also described the repair of the hot water tank element and the installation of night safety lights on the garage.

Marie described the food table HHS ran at Hope Orchards Apple Fest held Oct 8th - because of the rainy weather, there was less of a turnout; however, the table sold out making $424.

Gwen mentioned the upcoming recommended furnace repair - she is waiting on a quote.

New Business:

At the November 21st meeting, there will be sign-up sheets for various committees. The December brunch meeting date has been changed to the 12th, so it doesn't compete with the holiday rush.

Marie discussed the food/craft table(s) at the Town Office on November 7th election day. We need crafts to sell. Please, donations are much appreciated if you are crafty or know of someone that is. Marie showed note cards that the Society will be offering and after some discussion, it was determined we should sell the cards for $4.00 apiece. We are buying 50; there has been $40 donated toward the purchase so the remaining cost will be $60. We will make $140 if we sell all of the cards.

Juanita has been instrumental in securing a donation of over $700 in pine boards from Robbins Lumber and her brother, Jarvis Johnson, was instrumental in securing a donation of wall insulation valued at $345.17, from Viking Lumber in Belfast. Jarvis, not only picked up and delivered the donated items, but he and Juanita's husband, Roger, are also installing the insulation and boards in our ground-floor garage/barn. It should look sharp when finished - a huge thank you to Juanita, Jarvis, and Roger.

Juanita asked for volunteers to button up the home for the winter - Ron Smith volunteered. She also asked for volunteers to check weekly on the home and shovel the walkway during Jan., Feb., and March. Jim DellaPenna will cover the last week of December and the month of January; Marie Berry will cover February and March.

Juanita informed us that there had been recent donations of tintype photos of the Morse family; antique pocket watches, and circa 1909 dresses worn by Juanita's ancestors made of cotton lawn, a lightweight, tightly woven cotton.

Our next meeting on November 21st will be the showing of the documentary movie "An Old Maine Town - The Rockport Story". The movie should be of interest to all as it details the history of our next-door neighbor town with an interesting narrative, historic & nostalgic images, and interesting interviews. Popcorn will be provided!

Ann Leadbetter, a member of the HHS nominating committee, read the following recommendations for officers for the next two years - Juanita Hunt, President; Marie Berry, Vice-President; Gwen Brodis, Treasurer; and Cindy DellaPenna, Secretary. There was a motion to accept the list, the motion was seconded, and all were in favor.

The meeting informally adjourned at 8:20.

Margaret introduced our speaker for the evening, Beth Gindel, our Town of Hope Sexton.

Beth updated us on the activities at Morey Hill Cemetery this past spring and summer. She showed printouts of sample readings from a ground-penetrating radar machine. She then showed the resultant map with all of the 190 positive readings the University of Maine professor obtained from his GPS unit. The map is a drone photo image of the cemetery for which he superimposed the GPS coordinates of his positive finds using dots. Since the cemetery is so old, not all burials are discovered using ground penetrating radar, basically, it picks up air pockets. Between his findings, the dowser's findings last year, existing monuments, and Beth's discoveries through careful terrain analysis (many of Beth's findings were verified by GPR) the Town Select Board has agreed to close the cemetery to future burials. Since I am a member of the Cemetery Committee, I contributed to the discussion. Additionally, I spent many hours this past summer obtaining GPS readings for all of the existing monuments, dowser finds, and Beth's discoveries. We are working on an interactive map with individual data for every known burial.

Beth is working on an Ancestry tree of Hope residents or former residents and matching them to their place of burial. Her database exceeds 7000. If you have an Ancestry.com account, her "tree" named 'Barrettstown from the Beginning' may be directly accessed as follows: Ancestry Log In Page

Respectfully submitted by,
Cindy DellaPenna, Secretary