MINUTES OF THE DOGTOWN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
April 9, 2005

CALL TO ORDER: President, John Corbett, called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. at the St. James Rectory. Ten people were in attendance: John Corbett, Virginia Lopez, Didi Gardner, Henry Herbst, Rose Kennedy, Bill Miller, Gerry Miller, Tom Haller, Kay Richard and John Rooney. John thanked everyone for the concern and thoughts during his recovery. He is well on the road to complete recovery and will be at future meetings. He will be retiring from his Union position soon and plans to devote his time to Dogtown.

Treasurer’s Report -– – Didi Gardner gave a current report. The beginning balance was $3,865.76. There was income of $1,523.50. Expenses came to $1,021.60. Ending balance is $4,367.66. St. Pat’s Days sales were $928.50 (with expenses of $637.44) resulting in a profit of $291.06.

1. Nominations for Vice President and Treasurer for Two-Year Term – John Corbett called three times for nominations from the floor for Vice President. There being no additional nominations, John called for the selection of Virginia Lopez by acclamation. A motion was made and seconded. Virginia was elected unanimously by acclamation.

   John then called three times for nominations from the floor for Treasurer. There were no nominations made. John called for the selection of Didi Gardner by acclamation. A motion was made and seconded. Didi was elected unanimously by acclamation.

2. Century Home Committee – Fifty plus letters were sent to residents of homes built in 1905. Also made attempt to reach some of the owners where previous letters were returned. We have received three checks for 1905 homes. We have a total of eight orders as of now. If we do not receive more in the next couple of weeks, Bill Miller will contact the tile company to see if they can make these eight up. Of the 30 plaques already purchased, about 17 are displayed. People who had previously purchased plaques were contacted prior to St. Patrick’s Day and asked to display their plaques the day of the parade.

3. Speakers Series - Next event is May 22 and the topic will be the St. Louis Zoo. We do not have the name of the speaker yet.

4. St. Patrick’s Day Parade Festivities – The day was beautiful and the sales were a success. As reported by the treasurer, the profit was $291.06. It was suggested that next year we look into Kelly Green shirts, which may require checking with other companies.

Living History –Tom Haller will be contacting Sr. Marie Lee at Deaconess Hospital to set up a time to interview her. As a point of clarification, the tape referred to at the last meeting which couldn’t be viewed was the Mrs. Walsh interview. This was a copy; the original is okay.
5. Ghost Signs – Henry Herbst and Tom Haller will be moving forward on this project soon. Henry reported that a William Stage is the key person to contact. He should be able to provide names of wall painters. Once they have names, they will try to get an estimate of what this would cost.

6. School Project – A question was raised about the status of this project to have educational material on Dogtown presented to the schools and an essay contest by the students. There was a snag getting the schools acceptance of the idea and it was dropped for the time being.
   OTHER BUSINESS –

   Historic District - There was a discussion on Dogtown becoming a historic district and Tom Bauer’s passing on this opportunity. It was generally felt that the DHS should have had some input. John Corbett will contact Alderman Bauer and request that the Historical Society be consulted on any matters pertaining to the history of the neighborhood. He will also follow up on a request made previously to the alderman about Dogtown designation signs on Highway 40 at Hampton and Tamm avenues, similar to those on Highway 44 for the Hill.

   Yearly Fund Raiser - John Corbett suggested that we give thought to an annual fund raiser to help support projects such as the Ghost signs. Two suggestions were made for consideration – a Trivia Night and a House Tour.

Meeting adjourned 11:00 a.m. Next meeting will be Saturdy, May 14, 2005 at 10:00am in St. James Rectory, 6401 Wade Avenue.

Respectfully submitted
Kay Richard for Sally Ryan Sharamitaro, Secretary