The Mahanoy Area Historical Society met Monday, July 30, 2007 in the first-floor classroom of the Mahanoy Downtown building. Attending were: were Frank Senglar, Bob Fallan, Kathy Wufsus, William Brown, Patricia Brown, Peg Grigalonis, Betty Coombe, Rose Flamini, Joseph Flamini, Charlotte Maurey, Francis Burke, Joan Goodman and Tom Ward.

MINUTES

Senglar said due to a misinterpretation of the by-laws, the group did not think they had a sufficient quorum for the June meeting; however, when the by-laws were checked, enough members were present to constitute a quorum and the June session could be deemed a meeting. A motion was made by Peg Grigalonis and seconded by Kathy Wufsus to accept the printed minutes of the June and July meetings with the correction in the July minutes that Mark Zuckor not Mark Bucker was assisting the society with the website.

TREASURER’S REPORT

The treasurer’s report submitted by Treasurer Betty Coombe indicated there was a balance of $14,248.92 in the general fund of the society. She said a certificate of deposit at the M&T Bank in the amount of $1,039.56 will be renewed when it becomes due on August 31. The treasurer’s report was accepted on a motion by Rose Flamini, seconded by Swing Flamini and filed for audit.

CORRESPONDENCE

Secretary Pat Brown said a letter had been received from Casey Purkiss, granddaughter of Victor Schertzinger, containing a $50 donation and asking if a video of the presentation of her grandfather’s plaque last September was available for purchase. It was noted that Francis Burke videotaped the event and was selling DVDs for $10. Burke gave a DVD to be mailed to Ms. Purkiss, one to Kathy Wufsus, whose brother, Frank Whalen, provided musical entertainment at the event and another to the society. He was thanked for his generosity by a round of applause.

Brown also said that David Truskowsky donated a DVD with scenes of Mahanoy City to the society. Bob Fallan said he tried to get Truskowsky’s DVD to play on the computer in the historic room but was unable to do so.

ARTIFACTS COMMITTEE

Rose Flamini said she received some artifacts and would try to bring them to the room on Thursday. Pat Brown said a copy of the history of St. Fidelis Church was found in the historic room, but no one knew who brought it there. In addition to the church history, she said it contained very interesting information including names of those who served in the Civil War.

SPECIAL COMMITTEES

Christmas Committee

Mrs. Flamini said she and Kathy Wufsus were working on a program and would keep the group informed of their progress.

COMMUNITY PRESERVATION

Joan Goodman said all plaques that will be purchased with a $5,000 state grant secured for the society by Rep. Neal P. Goodman have been ordered. She said a plaque was ready to be presented to the Mahanoy Township Water Authority that now owns the Silliman building at 44 North Main Street. Kathy Wufsus will check to see when the plaque can be presented. Goodman said she will be out of town for awhile and asked Senglar to present the plaque. She also asked any society members who would be available to be on hand for the plaque presentation. Goodman also discussed other buildings that will receive plaques in the coming months. She said a final report on the grant must be submitted to the state by the end of August and she will have the report filed by the closing date.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Senglar said the society’s website is now up and running – www.mahanoyhistory.com; however, ideas are needed as to what to put on the site. He asked that suggestions be e-mailed to him, and noted that the guest book will be monitored daily and nothing would get on the site without his approval to prevent the problem that happened with the last website.

Senglar said in the past the society had talked about making a $1,000 pledge to the Mahanoy City Public Library to help with the preservation of the old Mahanoy City newspapers that are presently being stored in the library. A motion to do so was made by Tom Ward, seconded by Joan Goodman and unanimously approved.

Ward said 54 large bound binders were transported from the Shenandoah office of the Pottsville Republican/Herald to the library. He said some of the earlier editions were in poor conditions and actually had to be wrapped in brown wrapping paper before they could be transported.

Peg Grigalonis, who is also a member of the library board, said she spoke with a firm relative to having the newspapers digitized, which will enable anyone throughout the country to access them on a computer. She said all the person has to do is type in a name and they will get a list of all articles containing that particular name. Grigalonis said she is not sure just how the program will be handled by the library. She said there are 127,000 newspaper pages from 1916 to 1969 and it would cost $1 a page to have them digitized. She said she is looking into grant funds and was hopeful she would receive donations. Anyone wishing to make a donation to this fund can send it to the Mahanoy City Public Library, 34 West Mahanoy Avenue, Mahanoy City, PA 17948 to the attention of Peg Grigalonis.

Kathy Wufsus said there is a good deal of money in the society’s treasury and suggested purchasing a DVD player for the historic room. Her motion was seconded by Swing Flamini and unanimously approved. Bob Fallan will check prices and report back at the August meeting.

Senglar said the by-laws must be revised and asked for members to serve on the committee. Volunteering were Swing Flamini, Bob Fallan and Pat Brown. Past President Frank Selgrath will also be asked to be on the committee inasmuch as he originally drew up the by-laws.

Senglar said the "Tribute to Veterans" display in the historic room’s window was very attractive. Pat Brown said a "Back to School" theme is planned for September and Bob Fallan said a tribute to fire personnel will be displayed in October in conjunction with Fire Prevention Week.

ADJOURN

The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m. on a motion by Swing Flamini seconded by Kathy Wufsus. The next meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, August 27, 2007.