Otis Historical Commission
October 8, 2024 Minutes
ATTENDANCE: Diane Provenz, Gail Gelburd, Joel Myers, Geoff Pigman, Peter Cameron, Robin Koval, Celeste Watman. The meeting began at 4:30 pm.
MINUTES: The minutes of September 10, 2024 were approved.
PRESERVATION ACTIVITIES:
Otis Cultural Center at Historic St. Paul’s: In the back of the building, the contractor made ditches for water drainage.
The grass was cut.
Geoff suggested replacing the barn which was once behind the building, and it was mentioned that this can be a future project.
East Otis School House: The school house still needs a tin roof, molding around the windows, and painting still needs to be done. If we do not use MA funds from the grant, then we do not have to duplicate the original color.
We must ask the Select Board to approve $30,000 for the new color painting of the school.
Diane stated that she has an original print of the school house.
Knox Trail: The 12 minute video of the Knox Trail by Josh Briggs, and Jessica Provenz was distributed to the members of the Commission. There was a discussion about showing the video at a Notice Otis event.
Signage: Diane spoke to Hal Kobrin about signage for the Otis historic district.
Historic District: There was a discussion about Peter presenting a lecture to the Select Board about the historic homes in Otis.
In December, Peter will discuss historic properties with the Otis Historical Commission.
COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES:
Archives and Museum: Celeste reported that Mr. William Paine, a resident of Illinois contacted her about finding information about his relative, William Babbitt Haynes, a 19th century Otis resident. Using sources in the archives, and from her personal collection, Celeste emailed the information to Mr. Paine.
Notice Otis events: On October 17, 2024 on Zoom, the Western MA Hilltop Hikers will discuss their activities. Future events were announced, and their locations will be decided at a later time.
FUNDING ACTIVITIES:
OPT Report: There was a discussion about inviting th winner of the MA state senatorial race to the Otis Cultural Center at Historic St. Paul’s.
Update on Grants: Gail and Celeste will apply for the Otis Cultural Council grant for the Notice Otis series.
NEW BUSINESS:
The next meeting of OPT will be held on October 16, 2024. The next meeting of the Otis Historical Commission will be held on November 5, 2024.
The meeting ended at 5:17 pm.