Historical Commission

Sterling Heights Historical Commission October 6, 2022 6:00 p.m. Meeting Meeting held at the Upton House Museum Minutes I. Call to Order Meeting was called to order by Bryan Wojciechowski at 6:02 p.m. II. Roll Call Present: Cynthia Appleton, Nicholas Cavalli, John Connor, Theresa Krol, Stanley Ortwein, Bryan Wojciechowski, Tammy Turgeon, Garrett Gaina Excused: Douglas J. Harvey III. Approval of Agenda Added item VIID. Upton House Museum Brochure. Motion to approve the agenda as amended was made by Connor, supported by Cavalli. Motion carried. IV. Minutes of August 3, 2022 Corrected minutes VA. to read “anteroom” instead of parlor and VIIB. To read “are no longer appropriate to the museum” instead of we want. Motion to approve the minutes of August 3, 2022 as amended was made by Ortwein, supported by Connor. Motion carried. V. Communications/Reports/Correspondence A. Activity report from Garrett Gaina, PT Librarian – Local History/Archives Visitors in August and September were 21 for our regular tours and open houses. Answered reference questions about Warren Consolidated Schools, Bressers, and state historical places. Created exhibit for Historical Commission display case at the Community Center regarding items from our second floor. Worked on the new Upton House Museum brochure. Continued research on the sign company – prices came in very high. Will continue to work on this. Continued work on the local history archive. New intern, Mitchell Mulroy, was hired and will start in October. Worked on wainscoting paint color selection. SHTV came to the museum to film the Upton clothing for the state of the city video. Received new accessions from the closet cleanup: glass pharmacy bottles and a children’s tea set. Will be picking up the time clock from the mushroom farm. Will try conducting tours on the first Saturday of the month January – April to see if that increases attendance. Appleton suggested to get a wood sign and she had provided a quote of $1,100. Turgeon will provide contact info to Gaina. VI. Unfinished Business A. Historical Marker Program No requests. B. Upton House Tours – October, November, December Volunteers October 9th – Ortwein and Wojciechowski November 13th – Turgeon and Connor December 11th – there will be no open house tours this day because we will be open December 3rd for Sterling Christmas. C. Historical Display Case in Community Center Gaina and Hathon created the display for September – October. November – December will be a Victorian Christmas display. Gaina will work on this with Mitchell the new intern. D. Holcombe Beach Historical Marker Two students contacted Turgeon about creating a border with flowers to surround the new marker after it is installed. Planning on the spring to have it installed with an event. E. Fundraising Turgeon will get the date for Treasure Hunters Market and will ask for one spot for the Historical Commission. Turgeon will ask Community Relations if the Beautification Commission is having a plant exchange that we could have a flower sale the same day. Commission asked for a Flower Sale Saturday sign that could be hung on the Upton House Museum for the week that could be used in future years. Agenda item for December meeting is for an early December event to take pictures with Santa Claus as a fundraiser. We would have a photographer and a treat. We would need to decorate in early November. Commission should scope out other places that are doing something like this this year so we can determine a cost for next year. F. Sterling Christmas  December 3rd from 6-9pm. Sold all of the ornaments last year so Wojciechowski and Appleton will go to Dollar Tree and Hobby Lobby buy 100 of them. Turgeon will buy 100 candy canes. Also need silver/gold sharpies, maybe garland for the stations, command strips, rubbing alcohol, and cotton balls. Turgeon will ask Facilities to put up the trees before November 9th. Decorating will be done November 9th from 3pm until finished. Need to promote that we have the $1 ornament for fundraiser or to bring their own ornament to decorate the tree. Commission suggested creating a venmo account for those that don’t have cash. A donation QR code would also be helpful. Connor will ask his friend to play the organ. Wojciechowski will ask Eckerts for a flower donation again this year. Options for next year are to get a polaroid camera or ipad to sell pictures. VII. New Business A. Accessions Gaina will contact donor for mushroom farm time clock. Bottles and tea set were found during cleanup. Commission is interested in a stove pipe for the stove and also a dry sink. B. Closet Inventory Appleton organized the inventory. Connor, Ortwein and Turgeon assisted. January 25th will be a review of the inventory to determine what items fit with the purpose of the Museum’s displays. C. Visiting Archivist Site Visit We received to have a grant through the Library of Michigan to have a site visit from a visiting archivist that will review our current policies/procedures regarding handling papers and photos and provide suggestions for storage and access. The visit will be on November 14th from 10am-2pm. Commissioners are welcome to participate as well. D. Upton House Museum Brochure Commissioners should review the revised brochure and send any changes to Turgeon by October 24th so that the new brochures can be printed before Sterling Christmas. VIII. Communication with Citizens IX. Adjourn Motion to adjourn was made by Cavalli at 7:36 p.m., supported by Connor. Motion carried. Next meeting: December 1, 2022 at 6pm