Otis Historical Commission
Minutes 10/11/22
The meeting began at 11:03 am, and the minutes of August 2, 2022 were approved unanimously. The meeting was attended by Diane Provenz , Gail Gelburd, Joel Meyers, Celeste Watman, and Lynne Geane.
There were several topics about preservation activities. The new sign for the Otis Cultural Center at Historic St. Paul’s was installed near the end of the lawn. Joel reported that the architect, Steve McAllister has not provided an RFP for the East Otis school house. Then, there was a discussion about the extermination of the powder beetles in the Otis Cultural Center at Historic St. Paul’s. At this time, no action was taken on exterminating them, although Joel submitted proposals to the town from 3 exterminators. Joel also stated that to exterminate the beetles, it is necessary to go underneath the building to determine the extent of the damage. The last topic pertaining to the preservation activities was about the Knox Trail video. Diane reported that in September, Josh Briggs, Jessica Provenz met with Tom Ragusa to interview him for the video. Next, Bonnie Parsons, the historical consultant will be interviewed for this documentary.
September was a busy month for the Commission. Celeste stated that the move of the OHC collection from the Rec Center to the upstairs of the Otis Library was completed by the Town’s Maintenance department. The unpacking, cataloging, and organization of the collection is ongoing. We received a donation from Elizabeth Wood who gave us several guest registers from the Maplewood Inn (located in Otis) plus the notebooks and scrapbooks of Francis Williams Barton and Lenora Barton Humason. An old Donation Application form was used to record the items. However, the form was inadequate, and Celeste revised the form and presented it to the Commission for their review. Changes were made, and then the form was approved. Lynne volunteered to retype the form. On November 3, Notice Otis will present a lecture by John Hanson, author of Reading the Gravestones of Old New England.
The Commission held a “Volunteer Meet and Greet” event at the Farmington River Diner on October 8th at 4:00 pm. Lynn Pyenson provided the delicious refreshments, and two of the guests were interested in the Commission’s activities.
Diane offered to contact print and media sources to publicize the Commission’s events.
Lynne, President of the Otis Preservation Trust informed the Commission about their application for the T-Mobile grant, and her contacts with the Crane Foundation, and their grant. An Otis Cultural Council grant was submitted for the funding of the Notice Otis series, a Wanda Houston concert/dinner at the Knox Trail Inn, and a marionette show. Gail spoke about the application for the Capital Fund Facilities grant from the MA Cultural Council.
Under New Business, Diane suggested asking the Otis Planning Board to propose a “best use” plan for the town’s buildings.
The meeting was adjourned
Old Donation Application