Bellefonte Historical and Cultural Association
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania
Minutes of Past Meetings
Date: April 19, 2007
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Location: Home of Ralph & Colina Seeley
Type of meeting: General membership meeting
Meeting called by: Donna Rochon (President)
Members present: Ralph & Colina Seeley, Mark Houser (Arts Administrator), Sally Houser, Sara Jarvis (Recording Secretary), Erin McCall (Corresponding Secretary), Dave Eggler (Treasurer), JoAnn Knupp (Vice President), Romayne Naylor, Jim Dunne, Susan Nicholas Gephart, Barb Pennypacker, Sharon McCarthy, True Fisher, Holly Fritchman
Moment of silence:
A moment of silence was observed for those friends and relatives of the BHCA that passed away recently.
Treasurer’s report (at end of minutes):
- Dave didn’t have much to report
- Talleyrand Park donations have not been added to the report yet
Minstrel Show:
- JoAnn reported that the show was on hold for the time being
- JoAnn’s son, the writer for the show, has been having some health issues
- The BHCA received an email about a fundraising event that may be an appropriate substitute or addition to the Minstrel Show
- Susan: voiced that she would like to see some younger people get involved with the show
- JoAnn: the Nittany Symphony wants to get involved
- Sara: raised concern regarding the name of the Show. That is, can it be called a Variety Show or something that doesn’t have a negative connotation associated with it? Mark: the committee would meet and discuss possible names as this issue has been brought forward once before.
Summer Concerts:
- JoAnn reported that almost all of the dates are booked for the summer
- The gazebo roof is being replaced and a new sewer line is going in (through the park) this summer so the concerts are being moved to the Courthouse steps
- High Street on the Garman side may be closed
- Restroom access issues were raised. Romayne: didn’t think it would be a huge issue as the surrounding businesses would be open and would probably like the foot traffic. JoAnn: people could still walk to the Park to use the restroom.
- Romayne: we should try to advertise the Summer Concert series in the “Where and When” magazine. The deadline is probably approaching quickly.
By-Laws:
§ Article II, Section 1, #2:
o Agreement that we should leave the historical part in the by-laws
§ True: we can resurrect the historical aspect of the Association
§ Mark: we should try to focus on it a little more
§ Article II, Section 2:
o Audit will occur every 3 years
§ Article II, Section 3:
o Colina: concerned that a Board of Directors would be too cumbersome and doesn’t want people overseeing what we do as on organization
o Mark: a Board would give us some nice ties to the Community
o Romayne: if we chose the right members we could get a very supportive Board
o Ralph: if BHCA is dissolved we should outline where the money should go (i.e., Centre Co Historical Society). Romayne: we should keep it more general but limit it to a group with a similar mission. Romayne/True: keep the money in Bellefonte
§ Article III – Membership:
o Section 2 - Dues increase
§ Romayne motioned for $10/year dues; Holly 2nd
o Section 5 - Due date
§ Holly motioned to change the due date to June 30th; Sharon 2nd
§ What constitutes a quorum? Change the text to state 10% but not less than 5 individuals. Romayne: motioned; True: 2nd
§ Article IV – General Membership Meetings:
o Section 4 – those that pay dues have voting power
§ Romayne: how will we know?
§ Mark: he will keep track
§ Jim: contributions can’t necessarily be counted as dues. Contributions are tax deductible whereas dues are not. We could include a option for those that contribute to check a box stating whether they would like a portion of their contribution to go toward annual dues.
§ Colina: we need a subcommittee to work out these details
§ Article V – Board of Directors
o General feedback from the General Membership was that the Executive Committee needed to come back with some revised text for the General Membership to review rather than hash out line by line of the By-Laws
o Jim/Holly: we shouldn’t ask the Board to fundraise since we may loose people that way
o Dave: we don’t really need more money anyway
o Romayne: we should bring prominent people to our group
o Colina: concerned about having strangers in charge of our group
o Sharon: some BHCA members could serve
o True: we should pick the Board carefully
o Romayne: motioned for the Executive Committee to re-work the language for the Board of Directors in the By-Laws; ______ 2nd
§ Article VI – Officers
o Section 2, #1
§ Romayne: we can’t allow the President to vote. The President can only break ties. We need to follow Robert’s Rules of Order.
o Section 2, #4
§ Executive Committee should work on specific language regarding the two Secretaries
· May or may not always have 2 Secretaries
o Other:
§ Jim: Arts Administrator should not be in By-Laws since there is a separate job description
§ Article VII – Committees
o Section 1, #2
§ Remove last two lines. Dave: motioned; Romayne: 2nd
o Section 2
§ We should change the By-Laws to allow a term of 3 years unless approved by the Board of Directors.
· There was concern that officers couldn’t serve longer than 3 years (Dave, Treasurer)
· Also allows us to get someone out if things aren’t working
· Colina: two people should share the job of Treasurer so that one person can be “in training”
· Sally: a separate person should be in charge of handling the dues, not the Treasurer
§ Other:
o Sharon: Bring redlined version to the General Membership so they can see the original document with our revisions.