PRESENT
Commission: Shirley Binkley, Ken Dean, Matthew Connor, and Erik Solveson
Excused: Kimberley Bauman, Loren Baker, Rosalie Melnick, Roger Easton
Staff: Lori Flemm, Amber Raney
Public: Diane Dean, Susan Hartman
Historical Society: Lanny Weaver

AGENDA
Lori added Matthew’s creation of a new brochure and his presentation of it to the Lacey Historical Society to the agenda under New Business.

 

MINUTES
The August 1, 2011 minutes were approved and placed on record.

ANNOUNCEMENTS 
Loren Baker and Shirley Binkley were re-appointed to the Lacey Historical Commission at the August 25 Lacey City Council meeting.

PUBLIC COMMENT
a) Lacey Historical Society: Lanny reported that the society has been very busy recently.  The Lacey School Reunion held on August 23 brought around 65 people to the Lacey Community Center, which all felt was a better venue for the event.  On August 31 the Lacey Historical Society, with help from Susan Ehlers, held a celebration in for Dr. Ehlers’ 90th birthday at Panorama.  Dr. Ehlers was Lacey’s first doctor, and over 90 people showed up to pay tribute to him.  The Annual Meeting for the LHS will be held at the Community Center on September 27 at 5:30 p.m.  The program will consist of Ken and Diane Dean reporting on the museum project as well as a presentation on the Kenney twins in the early 1900s in Lacey by Lanny Weaver and Amber Raney.  In keeping with the railroad theme, the meal will consist of a Big Baked Potato, which was a promotion run by the Northern Pacific Railway beginning in February 1909.

 

b) Others: No report

CORRESPONDENCE
No correspondence

CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Saturday, September 24, 1:00 p.m.: The Parks Board will be taking a walking tour of Lake Lois Habitat Reserve and McKinney BBQ. The Lacey Historical Commissioners are invited to tour the McKinney House at this time.

OLD BUSINESS
a) Himes diary transcription: Amber reported that Evan has completed the digitization portion of the project.  Roger now has copies of the first diary and as of this day has finished the transcription up to and including July 1861.  He logged 35 hours completing 1858-July 1861.  Everything seems to be on-track for the December 31 completion date.

 

b) Historic property survey: Amber reported that she received the final report from JBR and delivered it to the DAHP on August 30, one day before the deadline.  The final invoices and report from the City of Lacey are due to DAHP at the end of September.

 

c) Thurston County through the decades: Diane reported that the event, scheduled to be held at Tumwater Historical Park on October 2 from 10:00-4:00 p.m. covers the years 1875-1900.  There will be re-enactors, activities for kids, numerous booths, and the Thurston County Birthday Party will be at this event, hopefully bringing in a wider audience.  Diane will get any additional information to Lori and Amber as the date approaches.

NEW BUSINESS
a) Himes diary transcription 2011 grant application submitted: Amber reported that she submitted the grant application to the Thurston County Heritage Commission for the next phase in transcribing the Himes Diaries.  The deadline was August 31, but it is unclear as to when announcements on recipients will be made.

 

b) Lacey Museum at the Depot exhibit planning: Lori opened the floor for discussion as to what the commissioners would like to see at the new museum in terms of exhibits.  Remarks were as follows:

•  First step should be to determine what we want to display, keeping in mind that there will be some permanent exhibits as well as a small space for rotating exhibits.

•  Topics to consider included cultural diversity; broad events; technical and hands-on exhibits to attract younger audiences; interactive exhibits; tangible items to view; using digital photo albums to rotate through more of the museum’s collection.

 

•  Specific periods in Lacey history that were discussed included the resort era; the Lacey School; South Sound Shopping Center; incorporation; the Evergreen Ballroom; Christmas Island; the racetrack; the drive-in theater; the pioneers; the railroad/depot.

 

•  Shirley suggested considering how the cabin can be used on the site, whether within the museum or in the grounds around the building.  She offered the idea of creating an open structure in the park-like setting to be used as a shelter, but to also share what is known of the cabin’s history.

 

c) Lake Lois Resort history: Amber presented a brief history of the McKinney house on Lake Lois.

 

d) Matthew’s presentation to the Lacey Historical Society: Matthew worked on updating the brochure for Lacey’s Inventory of Historic Places and presented his work to the Lacey Historical Society on September 8 at their regular meeting.  He reported that he used the same information but with bolder and additional photos.  He also added “QR codes,” that can be scanned using smart phones in order to reach a website, as many were listed on the brochure.  He updated the visuals and improved the overall readability of the original brochure.  His next step will be to work with city staff to add it to the website.

COMMITTEE REPORTS
a) Depot: Diane asked about the status of the brochure since the logo is complete.  Amber reported that adding the logo to the existing brochure is proving to be difficult as the styles are quite dissimilar.  Amber will bring samples of options to the October meeting.

 

b) Depot Art: No report

 

c) 2012 Depot Fundraiser Performance: No report

STAFF / MUSEUM REPORT
1. Amber installed the Himes/Fleetwood exhibit at city hall at the beginning of the month, prior to the process of selecting the new city manager.

2. JBR Report — Amber reported that she received the final report, and submitted it to the DAHP before the August 31 deadline.  The next step will be to make sure all invoices have been processed and to complete the final report to the DAHP from the City of Lacey 

 

3. After discovering a problem with the formatting on the hard drive used by Evan Schneider to record the Himes Diary images, Amber made a trip down to Portland in order to sort out the issue, which was resolved with little trouble.  Evan is now finished with his portion of the project and has sent the final invoice and the hard drive to the City of Lacey.

4. Roger, unable to attend tonight’s meeting, reported that as of today he has completed up to July of 1861 of the diaries.  Evan digitized 1858-August 1867.  Roger has logged 35 hours of time and is making excellent progress!

5. Amber submitted a grant application to the Thurston County Heritage Commission for an additional $5,000 in order to continue the Himes Project.  The grant was due August 31.  It is unclear as to when exactly their decision will be made. 

6. Amber (with the assistance of Lanny Weaver) installed an exhibit at the Lacey Library about the Lacey Depot – the same exhibit that was on display at city hall and also the Lacey Museum.

7. August 23 was the Lacey School Reunion at the Community Center.  The event was well-attended and the Historical Society did a great job of bringing in people to help identify photos and donate materials.  As a result of this event, Ed Zabel came to the museum and identified at least four photos that had previously been unidentified.

8. Dr. Ehlers celebrated his 90th birthday on August 31 at Panorama.  The event was a huge success with many people celebrating the good doctor’s special day.  Thanks to all the Commissioners who were able to attend!

COMMISSIONER’S REPORT
No Report

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
No Report

 

DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Lori reported that at the regular City Council meeting on Thursday, July 28, the Council approved the allocation of $500,000 to be dedicated to the Lacey Museum at the Depot project.  In addition to this, $300,000 was dedicated to renovate the Jacob Smith House grounds, including paving the parking lot, etc.

ADJOURN

Meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.