April, 2010 Newsletter

March Meeting

Over 30 members joined us at St Mary’s church for a tour and a program on its history. It’s impossible to do justice to Marty Lundh’s 30-minute presentation in so little space.
St. Mary parish was founded by 40 German families in 1849. Their original church was called Holy Trinity and located on the NE corner of 8th and White Streets. By 1863 they’d grown to 300 families and had out-grown their original church. They purchased a former fruit orchard from Langworth Estates and hired architect John Mullany (who also designed the Cathedral). He modelled St. Mary after the Cathedral of Salisbury in England. The new building features a tracker-action Hook Organ(1870), three bells (1876-1883), Way-of-the-Cross paintings (1912), F. X. Zetteler stained glass windows, and elaborate frescoes & mural designed by the Brielmaier family (1912). The Italian Carrara marble altar was placed in the church in 1928, but little is known of its origin. Restorations have been carried out in 1943 to restore the mural and 1976 after a fire.
Of course the discussion turned to the fate of the church. There is an on-line website and petition. Go sign it now!

To get an idea of how someone "rescued" a church and turned it into a home...see below courtesy of Marie Nadeau
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Business meeting

President Diane Schulz called the meeting to order at 8:16pm.

Guests and Introductions

Phyllis introduced her guest, Carol Finzel.

Treasurer’s Report

Preservation Committee chair Dick Vorwald reported a balance of $7101 for Treasurer Dale Knipschield. President Diane Schulz reported that our non-profit application is complete.

Correspondence

President Diane Schulz reported that the Annual Spring Downtown Cleanup is April 24. Kay Kluseman, Jim & Marie Nadeau and Joanne Georgulis volunteerd to work with her on a clean-up team. If you’re interested in helping, please contact Diane.
Architecture Days is scheduled for April 12. Paula Neuhaus passed out brochures. Old House Enthusiasts is donating 2 tickets to the House Tour as raffle prizes.
The historic mansion at 1433 Main St is on the market. The owner designed a website with photos & history.

Grants

Meg Wall-Wild reported that we had 5 grant applications. The committee recommended awarding the Dubuque Co Historical Society (paint and repairs to the Ham House cupola - $2000) and Dubuque Main Street Foundation (interpretive signage for the historic Millwork District - $1433) . She also recommended a gift of $100 to Five Flags. Meg made a motion to accept these recommendations, Marie Fitzgerald second. Motion passed unanimously. THANKS to Meg and others on the Grant Committee!

Membership

no report.

House Tour

(May 22-23) – Co-chair Kay Kluseman announced a revised line-up:
Koppes home – 440 Loras (coordinator Gwen Kosel)
Ungs home – 1335 Bluff (coordinator Bethany Golobeski )
Halko home – 506 Clarke (coordinator Marie Nadeau )
Hoyer/Cooper home – 486 Clarke (coordinator Dick Vorwald )
Clarke Manor – 216 Clarke (coordinators Derrald & Jean Schrobilgen - full)
Please sign up for the home of your choice ASAP!!!
Diane announced that Old House Enthusiasts and Dubuquefest will have joint print ads in newspapers in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and other surrounding cities notifying everyone of the date change.

Preservation

Dick Vorwald gave a short report on the recent Sustainability Conference.

Social

no report.

Old Business

none.

New Business

Dubuque’s Main Street Business PM was a success. Tour co-chair Kay Kluseman won 2nd place for her bearded lady costume.

Future Meetings & Events

April 8 at 7pm – Diane Schulz’s house – 1045 W. 3rd Street
Richard Barker agreed to speak at our April Meeting. He's writing a book on Dubuque folklore called 'Haunted Dubuque'. The book contains both factual information and stories that are not required to be verifiable. Mr. Barker says this book is mainly a 'history/picture book and will not focus on horror stories'. The reference web site. Treats by Jackie Arnold, Jim & Jo Edwards and Kristen Smith.
June 10 (picnic?) – TBD Treats by Kay Kluseman, Jim & Marie Nadeau ??