MINUTES OF THE DOGTOWN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
May 9, 2009

CALL TO ORDER: President John Corbett called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. at 6314 West Park, St. Louis, MO. Twelve members were in attendance: Bob Corbett, John Corbett, Lucy Corbett, Tom Corbett, Michelle Kennedy, Rose Kennedy, Bill Miller, Gerry Miller, Carol Nemeth, Kay Richard, Sally Sharamitaro, and Joe Weisbrod.

Minutes of Last Meeting - A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of the March 14, 2009 meeting. A vote was taken, the motion passed and the minutes were approved.

Treasurer’s Report - Bob Corbett, Treasurer, presented a treasurer’s report that covered the first quarter of 2009, reporting that the current balance is $4,326.66, and of that $3,244.99 is listed in the bench account. A motion was made and seconded to approve the treasurer’s report. A vote was taken, the motion passed and the treasurer’s report was approved.

Archives/Donations– – John told the members about a Dogtown neighbor; Teresa Natta, who was digging a garden in her backyard at 6528 Nashville and dug up several metal items that, she thought, might be of interest to the DHS. He said she called him and he went right over to see her findings and even brought some of the items home. After washing them off he said that they looked to him as though they might be railroad related items. One was long and tubular, with a cross piece that seemed to fit onto one end of it like a turning handle, others were short spike or nail like, and one was a clamp of some kind.

John shared what is known about the site itself. He said that as far as anybody knows there has never been a building where Mrs. Natta was digging. What is not known is whether the site is near where the Taylor City Railroad tracks were located.

Photographs - Two photos of the Kies Bakery family and their staff were emailed to Bob by one of the members of the Koch family. Tom Haller, who is also related to the Kies Bakery family was delighted to see the photos and attempted to date them. He thought the one photo may have been an Easter Sunday photo, and his guess was that it looked to him to be 1910 or 1912.

Henry Herbst donated a photograph from his own collection of him as one of a group of school aged boys on a stage at Dewey School. He was dressed in a cowboy outfit but he has little recollection of the date or the occasion.

Bob reported on the recent bus tours that he conducted of Dogtown and St. James Church. He said that they went well and from the response of the tour group, everyone enjoyed them.

Century Home Committee - No Report

Ghost Sign Project - It was suggested that, in order to determine the exact wording of our next ghost sign project, a reward be offered for a photo of the original sign as painted onto the brick wall on the building at the southwest corner facing Tamm at West Park. John offered his own private gift/award of $100.00 to which two other members wanted to add their own portion, for a grand total reward of $125.00.

Bench Project - No Report

Living History Project - Bill Miller suggested Tom Coad as a possible living history interviewee. John said he would be there with the camera, all he needs to know is where and when.

Labor Day Parade – Plans are ongoing for the Labor Day Parade in Dogtown. Alderman, Bill Waterhouse, has agreed to apply for the necessary parade permits.

John met with Hugh and Duke McVey to lay out his ideas and plans for the Labor Day Parade. The McVey’s are well known in Dogtown and share a family history as leaders of AFL and CIO labor organizations.

The arrangements are in process for the floats (which will be limited for this initial parade), management of traffic and many of the other aspects of what John hopes will be the first of a yearly “celebration of labor” in Dogtown.

The current timeframe for the parade is 10:00am to noon on Saturday, September 5th 2009. Earlier that morning a special Labor Day Mass will be celebrated at 8:00 am at St. James the Greater Church.

Following the parade, plans are still in the discussion stage, one possibility is a dedication to the local Dogtown labor families, possibly a stage presentation using the outdoor stage in back of St. James the Greater School. Another idea is to approach the Dogtown businesses about a coupon book for visitors as an introduction of what Dogtown has to offer.

Bob is planning to create a spreadsheet and database for the Dogtown labor families/individuals.

Soldier’s Memorial Project – The permit for the Dogtown Soldier’s Memorial is currently in the approval process by the City Park Department of St. Louis. The owner of the property would like to donate the property itself to the City for the purpose of creating the Dogtown Soldier’s memorial. However, that requires the approval of the City’s Park Department.

Neighborhood Banners – John shared with the members that the DHS received a bill for the new neighborhood banners. He said that the bill was for $38,000 which came as quite a surprise to most of the members. John explained that the bill had already been paid in full by the Cultural Resources Office of the St. Louis Planning and Urban Design Agency.

Labor Day Parade – John spoke with the city police who told him that the traffic around Dogtown on St. Patrick’s Day would indicate what traffic problems could be expected at other parades held in Dogtown during the re-construction of Hwy 40. John will follow up.

Talent Show Fundraiser – John informed the members that the plans for the DHS talent show fundraiser have been placed on hold.

The meeting adjourned at 11:00 a.m. The next meeting will be Saturday, July 11, 2009, at 10:00 a.m., 6314 West Park, St. Louis, MO 63139

Respectfully submitted
Sally Ryan Sharamitaro
Secretary, Dogtown Historical Society