City of Jacksonville Heritage Cultural Center Board met Aug. 4.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
Due to COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings, the August board meeting was held at the Jacksonville Area Museum building (Old Post Office) with a teleconferencing option available in accordance with the suspension of the requirement of the Illinois Open Meetings Act requiring in person attendance by members of a public body during the duration of the Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamation. The meeting was called to order at 5:15 p.m. by David Blanchette, Chairman. Those present included David Blanchette, John Clancy, Diane Hollendonner, James Pisell, Greg Olson, Samantha Sauer, and Allan Worrell. Absent were Chad Boehlke, Patsy Erickson (Emeritus), Kyla Hurt, Nick Little, Laura Marks, Brittany Henry (Ex-Officio), and Judy Tighe (Ex-Officio). Also present were manager McKenna Servis, consultant Steve Varble, and interns Frankie Boston and Megan Walker.
The minutes of the July 14, 2022, board meeting were approved distributed.
McKenna Servis distributed copies of the treasurer’s report in the absence of Laura Marks. The checking account balance was $33,920.07 at the end of July. Expenses included monthly bills (George Alarm, I3Broadband, and garbage pickup), $166.00 for post office box rental, $198.00 to The Source for advertising, and several reimbursements for supplies to prepare for exhibits and receptions. Income included $1080.00 in donations and memberships. $3000 was received from the MacMurray Foundation as reimbursement for the manager’s salary. She also handed out a record of expenses to date for the Capps Exhibit, showing a breakdown of donated materials/services ($1994.07) and actual expenses ($1335.33).
McKenna pointed out that ink cartridges for the printer were very expensive and didn’t last very long, suggesting that it might be better to purchase an Epson printer with bottled ink refills. It was voted to purchase an Epson printer (ink included) at a cost not to exceed $300.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Administrative: Chairman Blanchette announced that Wanda Tiffany, former curator of the museum, passed away on July 23. Discussion followed about an appropriate way to recognize her contributions to the museum. Steve Varble will discuss it with Dave Tiffany and report back.
Several names were suggested as prospective board members to fill the vacant position left by Tiffany Warmowski’s resignation and will be referred to the Mayor.
Manager McKenna Servis announced that the two interns would be returning to school soon. Jim Pisell treated them to lunch at Los Rancheros. Blanchette will write up a nice recognition of their service and send it to Steve Varble to create appropriate certificates. A flatbed scanner is needed for documents and photographs, especially since the MacMurray Foundation wants to scan school newspapers and President Wittich’s papers. Blanchette will discuss purchase of a scanner with the MacMurray Foundation to see if they would like to share in the cost of one. It was voted to purchase a new battery for the laptop at a cost not to exceed $300. The JAM Foundation has agreed to provide $1500 from the Drennan/Becker donation to purchase archival storage supplies from Gaylord. Additional supplies are needed to properly store other artifacts. It was voted to authorize spending up to $1500 for storage boxes and other items.
Blanchette referred to the email from Brittany Henry at the Visitors Bureau concerning winter hours for area tourism sites. The board discussed pros and cons of closing or limiting hours during January/February but decided to let hours remain as is with the option of making changes if weather or Covid-19 intervenes.
The sign still hasn’t been installed; Blanchette will try again to get a response from Lomelino’s. The first business contacted about the HVAC system is no longer servicing commercial accounts so Blanchette will try to find another option.
No new developments on the county/city bicentennials or on putting together a budget for 2023.
Blanchette would like to schedule a strategic planning workshop before the end of the year and will continue to look for a date to fit everyone’s schedules.
Fundraising: Blanchette is getting ready to submit an application to the Jacksonville Children’s Foundation but is still looking for ideas. He also sent out a sample membership letter and asked for comments.
Nothing new to report on the Gift Shop.
Collections: Donated items included a poster recognizing Dan Kindred’s 50 years of ownership of Don’s Place (Jim Pisell), a hard drive/flash drive collection of MacMurray photographs (Warmowskis), a slab cut from one of the Dutch elm disease-infected Jacksonville trees (Betty Query Smith), and JHS yearbooks/Passavant Hospital items/Macoupin County certificates/large box of photographs (Nancy Moore/Wilma Range). It was voted to accept all of the items and continue trying to contact the Macoupin County Historical Society to see if they would like the items related to their county.
Exhibits: The exhibits committee has a meeting scheduled on August 10. Varble suggested that a space be designated for temporary exhibits created by local groups (such as the Routt exhibit) and that a stipend be requested to assist with development and promotion of the exhibits.
Discussion continues with Chuck Murphy about the Gold Star Mothers exhibit. McKenna has talked with the Dominican Sisters and they have offered to provide food and drinks for a members’ event when their anniversary exhibit opens. Blanchette has talked with MaryJane Bradbury about volunteering at the museum and it was suggested that she might want to develop a Ken Bradbury exhibit. Samantha Sauer added that the Illinois College Archives might be able to share items from the Bradbury collection to supplement a museum exhibit.
Promotion: Steve Varble reported that the new website is working now and the Capps information has been loaded on it. Social media accounts are doing well, with 1500 followers and averaging 3000-4000 “likes” and “shares” on postings. One of the recent big hits was a posting about Coach Al Rosenberger. Blanchette has several interviews lined up that will be developed into podcasts.
OLD BUSINESS: None.
NEW BUSINESS: Jim Pisell reported that bugs have been found in the museum and several methods of dealing with them were discussed. McKenna will call Rid-All Pest Control to schedule an evaluation and initial treatment.
McKenna will be starting her graduate classes this fall and will be unable to attend the board meetings but will send a report.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: Frankie and Megan suggested that adding a microwave and small refrigerator would be helpful for staff working over the lunch hour. They also thought that a list of basic local information to assist in answering questions about the exhibits would be nice to have.
The next meeting will be held on Thursday, September 1, 5:15 p.m., at the Old Post Office building, 301 E. State Street. The Central Park Plaza Marketplace event will be taking place at the same time. Social distancing rules will be observed and call-in option is available upon request.
With no further business or announcements to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m.
http://cms6.revize.com/revize/jacksonvilleil/city_government/boards_commissions_and_committees/docs/Boards%20Commissions%20Committees/HCC_Minutes/2022/Minutes%2008.04.2022.pdf
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