MINUTES OF THE DOGTOWN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
August 14, 2004

CALL TO ORDER: Vice President Virginia Lopez, in the absence of President John Corbett, called the meeting of The Dogtown Historical Society (DHS) to order at 10:10 a.m. at the St. James Rectory.

Twelve people were in attendance: Nina Bryans, Bob Corbett, JoAnn Emmerich, Henry Herbst, Rose Kennedy, Tom Lenartson, Virginia Lopez, Duke McVey, Kurt Odendahl, Dawn Owen, Sally Sharamitaro and guest Robert Herrick.

Minutes of Last Meeting - for the July Meeting were read by Sally Sharamitaro. There were no corrections.

Treasurer’s Report - No Report. Virginia Lopez will confer with President, John Corbett and will report at next meeting on whether Rachel Storch will continue to hold her treasurer’s position.

1. Living History Committee – Virginia Lopez reported that last week John Corbett and Virginia Lopez interviewed Mrs. Ode.

   Tom Haller has not contacted the committee regarding the interviews he recommended for August. Nina Bryans suggested that they schedule them for September.

2. Speakers Series Committee – Sally Sharamitaro reported that preparations are in progress for the next Speaker Series program. “The History of Dogtown Soccer”, a panel discussion, moderated by Bob Corbett whose father, Bob Corbett, was a member of the St. Louis Soccer Hall of fame. The panel is to be made up of the following: DHS member and Soccer Hall of Famer; Duke McVey, his brother Bob McVey, Henry Herbst, Bob Corbett and possibly Irv Shurwan.

   Plans in place are:

   • Press Release/Labels: all POC’s notified; 425 flyers have been mailed St. Louis Hall of Fame mailing list; Labels made and flyers mailed; special thanks to Duke McVey
   • Bill Kennebeck: has screen and sound system.
   • Webster Univ. has agreed to video tape the presentation (Autumn Eaton.)
   • Bob Corbett has agreed to provide his computer and a projector (Webster Univ.)
   • Bob will also coordinate the display of DHS and Soccer Memorabilia:

   Plans still to be made are:

   • The sound system will need to be expanded for more than one microphone A decision needs to be made as to the physical setup for the panel members
   • Copies of the flyer are available today to all DHS members for distribution to friends and organizations.

   Duke McVey announced that his brother Bob McVey is undergoing a surgical procedure on his heart next Thursday. All our thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family at this time.

   The next Speaker Series event; “The Founding of Forest Park” Peter Puleo, speaker, will be held on November 7, 2004.

   The Speakers Committee did not meet in July. A committee meeting will be scheduled for Fall to discuss the events for 2005.

3. Century Home Committee – Ten plaques have been picked up from the Webster Tile Co., and are in the hands of those Century Home residents. None of the ten are on display. The type of installation for the plaques seems to be a difficult choice for some, and in some cases an expensive deterrent in displaying the Century home plaques.

Tom Lenartson is doing research on businesses in the area that make their own tiles, to determine if it would be more cost effective to contact another tile company.

Sally informed the members that Bill Miller submitted an article on the Century Homes and plaques to the Clayton-Tamm Community Association Newsletter for their most recent issue.

Nina asked if a follow up letter to the original letter sent to the residents of the Century Homes was planned. Sally replied that a follow up letter has been discussed, but that the members of the committee chose to wait, hoping that more of the plaques would be displayed, which in turn would encourage others to order one of their own.

4. Civil War Days in Cheltenham --No Report


5. Archives/Donations – No Report.

Nina reported on the status of the DHS obtaining copies of the Muegge Prints from the Missouri Historical Society. It seems that there are licensing and copyright issues that need to be resolved. Nina will report on the progress at the October meeting.

Henry Herbst was happy to report that the Transportation Museum is much freer with their information. He was able to acquire additional information on the Taylor City Belt Line Railroad for his and the DHS archives. The information comes in the form of minutes of annual meetings, correspondence and incorporation documents.

Tom Lenartson brought and passed around three books from a series called “Images of America”. The three books are titled: 1) St. Louis Fire Departments, 2) St. Louis Arsenal and Armory of the West and 3) Post Card History of St. Louis.

Henry stated that he donated to the DHS archives, his 1954 Class Reunion Photo and the funding for framing it. He shared a concern that two checks he had written and mailed to Rachel Storch had not been cleared.

Duke McVey told the members about a 1904 Worlds Fair presentation he had attended in Jefferson City, and wondered if the DHS would be interested in contacting the organization that sponsored and presented it.

A discussion followed about the various programs in both the Jefferson City and the St. Louis area on the 1904 Worlds Fair, in particular, the film that was shown here at the Fox and the Tivoli. One hour of which was shown locally on Channel 4.

Though many of those at the meeting saw and enjoyed the Channel 4 showing, Henry noticed and reported several errors in their piece on the Tyrolean Alps exhibit. He will bring a display from his own collection of beer memorabilia specific to the Tyrolean Alps to our September DHS meeting.

Virginia reminded all the members that there is an annual St. James Quilt Social to be held in the St. James Auditorium tomorrow.

Meeting adjourned 10:45 a.m. Next meeting will be September 11, 2004 at 10:00am in St. James Rectory, 6401 Wade Avenue.

Respectfully submitted
Sally Ryan Sharamitaro
Secretary, Dogtown Historical Society