A.  Call to order: Jean Hanson or Mike Bacon, co-chairpersons

Members present: Jennifer Ehle, Harriet Persons, Myron Bacon, Jerry Neath, Jean Hanson and Mark Hanson

B.  Approval of Minutes from October 14, 2004 meeting. This was the last regular meeting of the committee because the November meeting had been canceled. Moved by Mike and seconded by Jerry. Motion carried.

C.  Announcements/Comments

Jennifer: We should have another gathering like last Oct.

Chuck: The North Central Jurisdiction of Archives and History of the United Methodist Church is meeting in Wisconsin from July 11-14, 2005. On Tuesday, July 12, they are planning a bus trip to various sites that are part of their Methodist heritage. Our Rutland Center Church is the first stop they want to make in southern Wisconsin. See letter they sent Chuck that's now with Jean. We need to respond to them and make arrangements for their visit. They are hoping that we can provide some information about the history of the church and the congregation.

Perhaps we could have a donation drop at the church to encourage contributions from groups such as this.

Jennifer: A group came to Cooksville to visit a renovated building; local organizers handed out a brochure with a donation envelope included. That was an unobtrusive way of encouraging donations.

Jeffries Foundation: Has not heard from them since Myron's email inquiry.

Artist: Need to check with Matthew Slaat to see if he plans any activity later this spring. Could be combined with some other activity.

Joan and Joan: Are wrapping up their cemetery project. Could bring it to public attention as part of a fall promotion.

D.  Old Business

1.  Landscaping: Have not heard back from the UW Landscaping department. May have to look for someone else to work with us. Myron will look into this.

2.  Special programs at Senior Center still possible?

There are 14 civil war veterans in our cemetery. Jennifer knows Dr. Richard Zeitlin at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum who could do an afternoon presentation for people interested in doing civil war genealogy. They have a database that could be brought to Oregon. The event could be sponsored by the Senior Center and/or the Historical Society. This could be something that would provide publicity for our project. Jennifer would be interested in running it at the Senior Center. She will contact Dr. Zeitlin and see if it could be done sometime this summer.

E.  New Business:

1.  Discussion of Ekstrom Restoration Proposal, First Phase

a.  Presentation and approvals were to be obtained from the State Historical Society by Architecture Network. Unclear if he has consulted with state on Phase I.

Myron will call Jason Ekstrom about getting approval for Phase I to proceed.

b.  Best way to stabilize (cables vs timbers) could be worked out and should not be a big issue.

c.  Professionals to help us: we can start looking now. Donald Cornwell....in Oregon....had been a teacher. He does woodworking on the side. Mike will ask him if that's something he could do and want to do.

d.  Lifting the building and forming a new foundation: We can now start looking for someone to lift the building and someone to build the new concrete foundation. Find out what we can get gratis and what we will have to pay for. Can get windows that look just like these that would be custom made. Rick Kraemer is a builder, says Chuck, that could help with this.

e.  Area craftsman: Jennifer knows John Diefenthaler, carpenter who specializes in working on old homes. He has a barn he's made into a shop. He could do work like this in the winter. She will talk with him.

f.  Goal for 2005: get foundation done and repair the windows. Most of this work will have to be done by professional people. Jim Wallace had volunteered to do the stone work. Historical society may have a list of craftsmen who could do some of this work.

g.  Window Repairs: We'll ask Mike Schmudlach to look into the window repair possibilities and building raising. Mark and Jean will look into finding someone to raise the building and build the foundation.

h.  Storage: Still need a place to store the pews, altar and the stoves. Someone on the Rutland Town Board said he/she had space. Myron will call Dawn. Once we have a space, we could call a work day and haul the material out and clean the church. Milt Spoerle may have been the one who knew about storage.

i.  Pew refinishing: Bill Zimmerman of Cooksville has a refinishing business with the big dipping tanks. Chuck Anthony has a neighbor that does it too. Jennifer will call Zimmerman about the best way to proceed. And Chuck will contact his friend on what we might do, too.

j.  Concern over costs: committee agreed that we said initially we were going to stabilize the building, fix the foundation and make the building water tight. We must do at least that much with the funds we have and/or raise additional funds to accomplish at least that much.

k.  Restoration in Cooksville: team of men took a building apart and re-assembled it, using original boards and nails whenever possible. The structure looks rough but authentic, says Jennifer.

l.  Get envelopes to accompany the brochure. We'll give this to the group that's coming July 12. Mark will handle this.

m.  Tuck pointing the foundation: If it turns out listing the structure and building a new foundation is out of the question financially, we need to go to "plan B," which would be to repair the existing foundation. The committee agreed we should contact Jim Wallace about just tuck pointing the walls and not actually replacing them. The building has been there a long time. It may be able to continue awhile longer. Mark and Jean will call Jim Wallace.

n.  Other opportunities for grants: Will have to pursue other sources of funding. May be too late for this year. Myron: If we were reasonably confident we could get a grant in the year 2006, then the town might be willing to advance us the money when we get the grant. Town has a contingency fund that might be tapped. Also have a depreciation fund.

o.  Additional donations from the Friends of the Rutland Church: Could send a letter reminding them of the annual donation. Could send the annual report, a letter with our current plans too. Once we have a better idea of what we will be doing this summer, we will send a mailing out to all contributors. Mark will prepare the mailing list, based on the donation list from Dawn George.

p.  Individuals or families could help: They could refinish a single pew or redo a window.

q.  New committee members: We also need to get some "new blood" on our committee. Perhaps we can solicit help from our list of contributors.

E.  Next Meeting: May 12, 2005 from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. at the Historical Society. Any leads for potential contractors would be appreciated.

F.  Adjournment: 4:38 p.m.

Prepared by:
Mark Hanson
Updated: May 1, 2005