March, 2009 Newsletter
February Meeting
Member Jeanelle Westerfield hosted our February 12 meeting at her home & place of
business, Mural Inspirations.
The home was built in 1875 or so. Its builders were
blacksmiths from Virginia. Only two other families have owned the home before
Jeannelle purchased the (then gutted) building from the bank. She’s remodeled the
building over the years. Using the building first as her studio, she later moved into her
living quarters upstairs. It’s obvious that a lot of work and TLC has gone into the once
gutted, and now gorgeous, historic home.
Business Meeting
President Diane Schulz called the meeting to order at 7:15pm.
Introductions
New members and guests were introduced: Meg Wall-Wild, P.J. Loy, Kathleen Halko, and Sara Barnes.
Treasurer’s Report
Treasurer Dale Knipshield reported a balance of $5056.41 once the check to the City of Dubuque clears.
Grants
Grant Committee Chair Cinda Welu proposed a vote on our grant to Four
Mounds for signage (as described in last month’s meeting). Paula moved to award the
grant as suggested. Gwen Kosel seconded the motion. It was approved.
Cinda requested that this award be mentioned in the House Tour brochure. Gwen agreed.
It’s Cinda’s goal to get more grant application submissions by December so that the grant
committee can consider the applications and get the winner approved well in advance of
printing the House Tour brochures. New member Meg Wall-Wild expressed interest in
being on the Grants Committee with Cinda.
Membership
Due to an illness, our current Membership Committee members (Jim and
Jo Edwards) have had to resign. Please keep Jo in your thoughts and prayers.
New member Kathleen Halko volunteered to help out. So did Marie Fitzgerald.
John Martin mentioned that he has the addresses of pre-1900 homes ready to go if we
want to do a mailing. (He’s since printed out 1000 address labels.) However he needs
someone to compose a letter or postcard.
Gwen Kosel has put the Old House Enthusiasts on Facebook. We’ve received lots of
hits, many from folks who are not currently members. She is putting House Tour updates
on Facebook. Facebook sign up
(Update since the meeting: there’s been an email discussion between different board
members about hosting a specific membership drive meeting to which we can invite new
members. This will undoubtedly be discussed at the March meeting.
House Tour Committee
House Tour goddess Gwen Kosel reported that it’s been an
up-and-down month for the House Tour. We added a fifth house in early February, only
have one of the other houses pull out. (Update: after an incredible bit of schmoozing at
the February Business PM, Gwen found a 5th house. Isn’t she good?)
(Another update – Gwen sent out an email with a list of all 5 houses and volunteer
coordinators with contact information. So I won’t reproduce all of that here. If you
didn’t get her email – titled OHE All 5 Tour Houses, drop me a line.)
The houses this year are (drum roll, please):
2310 Simpson – owners Tom and Dr. Valerie Peckosh (contact Schrobilgens)
690 Sunset Ridge – owners Tony and Anna Their (contact Dale Knipshield)
140 Fremont – owners Doug & Sara Warthen (contact Bethany G & Marie F)
368 S. Grandview – owners Marvin & Jean Heiderscheit (contact Dick Vorwald)
96 N. Grandview – Owner Joe Behan (contact Vance & Trish DeLeier)
Preservation
Dick Vorwald announced a Sustainable Dubuque conference on Thursday, February 19. He plans to attend. He also had some handouts of a Julien’s Journal article on Dubuque’s Architectural History. Conact Dick if you need a copy.
Old business
President Diane Schulz announced that the board had approved the by- laws and asked Treasurer Dale Knipshield to start the process of getting our non-profit status. He has mailed the application to the state of Iowa.
Adjorned 7:45pm
Future Meetings
March 12 at 7pm – Four Mounds – 4900 Peru Rd, Dubuque. Maureen Weires, Frank & Cindy Kraus, and Chris Olsen will provide the goodies. Jean Kilburg will discuss old photo restoration.
April 9 at 7pm – Clarke Manor – 216 Clarke Drive. Treats by: Kathleen Halko and Bruce Oestreich. Innkeeper Rose Ames will discuss the history of the building.