Historical Commission

Sterling Heights Historical Commission September 4, 2014 40433 Utica Road Sterling Heights, MI 48313 Minutes of Meeting I. Call to Order Meeting was called to order at 6:05 p.m. II. Roll Call Present: Frank DiMaria, Michael J. Lombardini, Meaghan Mott, Ruthann Schinzing, Scott Townsend Absent: John Connor, Douglas J. Harvey Staff Present: Tammy Turgeon III. Approval of Agenda Request to add items VII. C. Oral History Collection and VII. D. New Projects. Motion made by Lombardini to approve the agenda as amended, seconded by Mott. Motion carried. IV. Minutes of May 15, 2014 Minutes of the May 15, 2014 meeting were approved on a motion by Townsend, supported by Schinzing. Lombardini abstained. Motion carried. V. Communications/Reports/Correspondence Commission members continue to receive local historical groups’ newsletters forwarded to them via email. Turgeon received correspondence from the Macomb County Heritage Alliance to attend their next meeting being held September 9th in Eastpointe. DiMaria will attend. Sterling Heights Historical Commission will host the MCHA annual meeting in 2016. VI. Unfinished Business A. Winter/Spring Magazine Article Townsend will do an article about the Haff Farm. Lombardini will do an article for the Summer magazine. B. Historical Display in Library Lombardini will ask Jeff Norgrove about doing a military display. Turgeon needs to know by October so that it can be publicized in the city magazine. Turgeon will ask Harvey to take down current display in December.  C. Clippings and Scrapbook Mott is helping with this. Townsend will ask for pictures from Haff family that we could scan and return. D. Historical Marker Program Turgeon indicated that Debbie Vercellone created a pamphlet to help people research their homes. The Historical Marker application and the pamphlet will be available at the library and will also be put on the Historical Commission website. E. Macomb County Heritage Alliance – Patch Program Trifold brochures were received by the library. Mott volunteered to create a flyer for the schools to let them know about tours of the Upton House. Turgeon will create a poster that will stay permanently in the Upton House letting people know about the patch program. F. Sterlingfest Wrapup Sterlingfest was very successful this year. Commission would like next year’s quiz to be about items in the Upton House – like a scavenger hunt. VII. New Business A. Names Project Mott sent out a copy of the Names Project that was started by a former Historical Commission member. Commissioners should look at the list of names that do not have any information and decide which ones they would like to research. This will be on the agenda for the next meeting. B. Sterling Christmas Jeff Norgrove is willing to dress in historical attire again this year. Commission is enthusiastic about this. Commissioners will decorate the Upton House on Monday, November 17th from 5:30-7:30pm. Sterling Christmas is on Saturday, December 6th and the Upton House is open from 6-8:30pm. C. Oral History Collection Turgeon purchased a device to copy the audiocassettes to digital format. Turgeon will find out if the audio files can be put on the SLC Digital Archive. D. New Projects Lombardini indicated that the City of Sterling Heights Wikipedia page does not have much information in the history section. Motion to update the Sterling Heights History section of the city’s  Wikipedia page was made by Lombardini, seconded by Schinzing. Motion carried. Lombardini will bring the update to the next meeting for approval. Lombardini suggested creating a photographic archive of city buildings. This project will be discussed further at the next meeting. VIII. Communications from Citizens Turgeon received an email from Debbie Vercellone indicating a lead on old pictures from the County Line School at their reunion being held on September 7th. IX. Adjourn A motion was made by Schinzing to adjourn, seconded by Lombardini. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 7:28 p.m. Next meeting: November 6, 2014 at 6 p.m.