Meramec Valley Historical Society

Public Notice posted in accordance Date/Time Posted: Friday, May 3, 2024 at 5pm 0RSMo.610 as amended by: Kelly O’Malley, Tourism Director Meramec Valley Historical Society City of Pacific Pacific Government Center 300 Hoven Drive Pacific, MO 63069 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9dxzhHQWbPuIQJC1N6TSig Wednesday, May 8, 2024 5PM 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Approval of Minutes 4. Public Participation 5. New Business 6. Old Business a. Historical Plaques b. Volunteers 7. Reports a. Museum b. Genealogy c. Director of Tourism d. Alderman 8. Miscellaneous 9. Adjournment  CITY OF PACIFIC Meramec Valley Historical Society Meeting 300 Hoven Dr Pacific, MO 63069 April 10, 2024 at 5:00p.m. Call to order: The regular meeting was called to order at 5:00 pm by Chairman Oliver. Present for the Meramec Valley Historical Society: Chairman Dennis Oliver, Jeff Titter, Donna Graham, Bonnie Post, Karla Stewart, Lori Perdew. Absent: City Staff: Tourism Director O’Malley, Building Department Clerk Bauguess, Aldermen Scott Lesh Approval of Minutes Motion by Donna Graham, seconded by Linda Perdew to approve the minutes with one change. A voice vote was taken with an affirmative result. Public Participation No public participation New Business A. Presentation from Lori Perdew Lori Perdew gives an update on Scenic Regional Library and all of the things they have to offer. Scenic Reginal Library has nine different branches that serve Franklin County, Gasconade County, Warren County, and some of Crawford County. Some of what they offer is audio books, music CDs, stem kits and more. They also offer a wide variety of events at each of their branch’s libraries. She also provided a list of the free genealogical resources that they offer if you have a library card. Some of those can be used at home or at the library. You can check out all of their resources at scenicregional.org. Old Business- A. Historical Plaques Tourism Director O’Malley states they have written a permission letter with the attorney that will allow us to go on their property. The attorney is waiting on a hold harmless from Bruns Monument before he can move forward. She says the goal is to get ten to twelve of the plagues done by the end of June. Bonnie Post asks Tourism Director O’Malley if she has an updated list of the description of those buildings. Tourism Director O’Malley answers no. Just what Bonnie had sent and what they had before. They have some ready to go, but not all forty of them. Jeff Titter asks Tourism Director O’Malley to email the list of the ten to twelve they plan to start with. B. Volunteers Tourism Director O’Malley states they could use more volunteers. She says that they are needing volunteers that are good with computers and that can help log obituaries. It would also be nice to find 1 some people to man the front desk at Red Cedar, so her and her staff can focus on other projects. Lori Perdew asks Tourism Director O’Malley if there is an age limit on who can help. Tourism Director O’Malley says that as of right now high schoolers can volunteer. Reports A. Museum a. Items Donated List Tourism Director O’Malley provided a list on the donations that includes February and March due to the committee not meeting in March. b. Research Requested Tourism Director O’Malley provided a list of research requested information from December 2023 to March of 2024. She states that they log research requests and it is organized under their name, date of request, request status, the description and provides information on what was found. B. Genealogy a. Volunteers Needed to log obituaries Tourism Director O’Malley recaps what was said under volunteers. C. Director of Tourism Tourism Director O’Malley provides a report on historical society and tourism. She mentions the numbers of visitors since opening they had 9,244 visitors, and in 2024, so far, they have had 3,101 visitors. The Civil War exhibit starts June 1, this year is the 160th anniversary of The Battle of Pacific. Also on June 1, they will have Ben Franklin at Red Cedar from 12-3PM to speak and at 1pm he will talk for the kids. That day they will also be hosting Kid’s Entrepreneur Day outside that includes vendors of 18 years old or younger that make crafts, create inventions, sell lemonade, make art, etc. She mentions that on Thursday June 6th at 5:30pm, Ben Brown will be coming to speak on the Civil War. The Chamber is doing a late luncheon at Red Cedar on May 23rd at 4:30pm. They have started on the 2025 rotating exhibit planning which is going to be the history of BIGFOOT as it is their 50th anniversary. This past weekend they had international journalist with the Missouri of Tourism Department that are traveling route 66 in Missouri. The Missouri Tourism Division will be visiting on April 24th. The Missouri Humanities came and took a tour this past month, they will be back on June 15th with photographers and videographers. The City-Wide Garage Sale and Mega Sale at Liberty Field will be on May 11th. The City of Pacific will have clean-up day on June 14, that volunteers will clean up the town from 8-12pm. She mentions that she will be speaking at Wildwood Historical Society on May 21 to talk about Red Cedar at 6 PM. Ryan Lowery went to SLU for the St. Louis Regional Library Associations conference and presented on Red Cedar’s interactives. The Red Cedar one page ad is ready and they are going to be adverting in Explore St. Louis. Red Cedar will be in the Route 66 passport this year as well. They have been working on new billboard for Thornton, it will be in place mid-July. The Cedar Log monthly e-newsletter is being distributed to over seventy people now. They also have hard copies at Red Cedar for pick up. They have the YouTube channel up with interviews of people talking about their history in Pacific. They are still wanting to do more with that. She has been appointed to the Route 66 state commission team. She has attended one meeting so far, but is learning about grant opportunities for the Route 66 anniversary. She says they 2 plan on putting a large shield up in every Route 66 county, and she would like to see it come to Pacific. The Route 66 centennial planning committee are looking for a member that will focus on fundraising. D. Aldermen Aldermen Scott Lesh reports that the Board of Alderman approved the expenses from the last meeting in February. Miscellaneous Bonnie Post asked Lori Perdew if there is any equipment at the library that can scan old and new photos. Lori Perdew answers that they do have scanners, but they are older. Bonnie post asks Lori Perdew if they have equipment to digitize VHS tapes and film. Lori Perdew answers that they do not at the Pacific branch. Adjournment Motion made by Donna Graham, seconded by Karla Stewart. A voice vote was taken with an affirmative result. Next meeting will be May 8, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. Meeting adjourned at 5:58 p.m. 3