Clarksville Region Historical Society
Board of Directors Meeting held at
The El Dorado Hills Public Library, El Dorado Hills, CA
May 28, 2008
MINUTES
Board Attendees: Hal Erpenbeck, Melinda Peak, Betty January, John Thomson, and Fran Thomson
Board Members Absent: Jim Brunello and Mike Sproull
Members Present: Pat and John Thomsen, Diane Baczewski, Janet McMahan, and Paul Jones
A quorum of directors being present, President Hal Erpenbeck called the meeting to order at
6:50 PM.
FIXED AGENDA
Minutes: The minutes of the April 16, 2008, Board Meeting were approved as written.
The proposed agenda was adopted.
Treasurer’s Report: The Treasurer’s Report for May was approved as presented.
Betty January reported that her total expenses for Clarksville Day came to $803.50.
Membership Report: John reported that CRHS has 48 members to date and one new member not yet
reflected in the Treasurer’s Report. Report approved.
Confirm Speaker for Next General Meeting: Betty January said that she has not yet secured a speaker for
the June CRHS General Meeting. The board discussed a list of possible speakers.
OLD BUSINESS
Change in the Date of This Board Meeting: The Board confirmed Hal’s action in moving the date for the
monthly board of directors meeting from May 21 to May 28 because there was to be no speaker or formal
program for the May 28 CRHS general meeting.
Clarksville Day 2008 Recap: Betty January reported that this year’s Clarksville Day was even better than
last year’s; however, the 100-degree heat affected attendance. Betty asked that the minutes reflect thanks
to the following Clarksville Day sponsors: Parker Development Company, Nugget Market, Wilkinson
Company, and the El Dorado Hills County Library.
Betty also expressed thanks to the following Clarksville Day Committee members and other volunteers:
• Pat and John Thomsen who helped with errands and cleanup.
• Sue and Ray Hamarlund for organizing the kitchen and cleanup.
• Diane Baczewski for the Clarksville Day poster.
• John Thomson and Melinda Peak for the programs.
• John Thomson for the volunteer and exhibitor badges, table tents, and directional signs.
• Melinda Peak and her daughter for handling the information table.
• Mike Sproull for securing the flyers and banners and getting Nugget Market to donate food for the
exhibitors.
• Hal Erpenbeck for setting up Jakes Hot Dogs and the projector screening display.
• Ken Wilkinson for the porta pottie and his sons and helpers for week-wacking the fields and area next to
the library.
• Lloma Alameda for picking up the straw bales and unloading them for seating and set up the day before.
• Noah Briel for moving and lifting tables and pounding stakes, etc.
• Paul Jones for manning the information table, setting up the caution tape, etc.
• Trevor Thomas for his genealogy exhibit and for help with the heavy setup.
• Bart Magoffin for assisting wherever needed.
• Madelyn Moseley for greeting the Pioneer Families.
Betty also expressed thanks to the exhibitors:
• Pony Express Riders
• Mormon Battalion and Sierra Mormons
• EDC Historical Museum
• Rescue Historical Museum
• Author Jody Hornor
• EDH Genealogy Club
• Lincoln Highway Society
• Bart Magoffin for the telephone exhibit
• The Walker and Joerger families for their display
• Towe Car Museum
• CRHS Exhibit
Betty also expressed thanks to the STAR Volunteers who helped with parking and crowd control, Jakes Hot
Dogs and Sampson’s Smoothies. She said that the Alan Fuller trio provided excellent music, and Russ Kurz
and his gold panning exhibit were worth the cost.
Buckeye School District 150th Anniversary: Betty reported that the celebration would be held on Friday,
May 30, with most of the activities happening at the Buckeye District schools.
Officers and Directors Liability Insurance: John reported that of the quotes for insurance received from
Truex Insurance and from Joe Ryan, the insurance offered by Truex for California Conference of Historical
Societies members was by far the least expensive. In both quotes, directors’ and officers’ liability insurance
was prohibitively expensive. After discussion, it was moved and seconded that CRHS secure liability
insurance through the California Conference of Historical Societies’ group insurance policy for a cost of $350
per year. Passed.
Newsletter: Hal said that he is finding that the CRHS web site is not sufficient to keep members informed of
events. He would like to get a committee together in the future to produce a one-page newsletter that could
be distributed quarterly. Postage would be about $20 per mailing. Melinda Peak said that she would run the
newsletters off for CRHS. It was the sense of the board that a newsletter is probably needed in the near
future.
Brochure: Hal said that he would like to form a committee to produce a CRHS brochure. Diane Baczewaki
and Pat Thomsen volunteered to take on this project. John Thomson said that he will send Diane and Pat
the information he formerly provided to Mike Sproull for brochure content. Melinda Peak offered to do a final
review of the brochure.
Badges and Membership Letter: John advised that the Clarksville Day badges used up the lanyards he
had on hand and donated to CRHS. He said that he could purchase similar lanyards at $.75 per piece, and
he recommended purchasing the lanyards in black. It was accordingly moved and seconded that John
Thomson purchase 100 black lanyards to be used for badges at $.75 per lanyard. Passed. Hal said that he
would complete the letter that will accompany the badges and get those to John.
Additional Board Members: In previous board meetings, the board discussed a suggestion from Betty
January to add additional board members. The board had concluded that the addition of committees to the
board would serve the purpose of involving members in CRHS governance and provide a source for future
board members. Betty said that she saw a model of another organization where several vice presidents
were responsible for such things as membership, and she still thought it would be a good idea to add more
members to the CRHS board. After discussion, the majority of the board concluded that for the size of
CRHS at this time, board members were sufficient.
Storage Shelving at Gold Key Storage: Melinda Peak said that she and her family took three long tables
and some chairs to the storage facility to get things up off the ground. Melinda suggested that purchase of
permanent shelving be postponed until the board has a better idea of what will be needed long term.
Update of CRHS Web Site with Village Life Articles: Hal said that he has received permission to access
the article morgue of the Village Life newspaper, and he plans to go through the morgue and select articles
that can be posted on CRHS’s web site.
Strategic Planning Session: Hal said that the board would need to set a date in August for the planned
strategic planning session. Hal said that Jim Brunello has offered his office conference room for this
purpose.
Zentgraf House Tour: Hal said that he has confirmed September 13th with the owners of the Zentgraf
House for a barbecue and tour. The family has declined our offer of an honorarium. Hal said that we would
ask Ken Wilkinson to provide a porta pottie as there is no inside bathroom facility. We will provide the food
and drinks. Melinda Peak said that we would get to tour the old winery as well as the house.
Purchase of Projector: Hal purchased the Epson 77c LCD projector and said that he is very pleased with
it.
NEW BUSINESS
Formation of a County Group of Historical Organizations: Betty told the board that there are 25 or so
historical associations in El Dorado County. Some time ago, the administrator of the El Dorado County
Historical Museum created a list of those associations with the objective of trying to bring them together to
share ideas and to provide input to the County on plans that affect historical organizations. The
administrator did not have the time to bring this idea to completion, and Betty said that she thought it would
still be a good idea to get representatives from the various historical societies together. In her opinion, if the
groups could work together, they might have more political clout.
The board agreed to host a meeting of the various societies, and Hal and Betty agreed to set up such a
meeting.
Report from the Sacramento Area Consortium of Historical Associations: John and Fran Thomson and
Hal gave a recap of the Sacramento Area Consortium meeting they attended on May 22. They also reported
that they offered to host the next quarterly Consortium meeting on August 26.
Future Programs: Betty said that the Towe Auto Museum would like to have an antique car rally through
Clarksville at a future date, and Ken Wilkinson and Jim Brunello think this would be a good idea. Jim would
also like to have Clarksville Day in Clarksville next year.
The board had concerns about logistics for having Clarksville Day in Clarksville, particularly if the
temperature turned out to be in the hundreds again. A tent for exhibitors and restroom facilities would be
required, and providing food might be more difficult. It was agreed that Hal should set up a meeting with Ken
and Jim to discuss these proposals.
Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Grant Workshop: Hal said that he went to a workshop
on how to secure grants. Hal thinks we could probably get a small grant, but at this point, he went more for
informational purposes.
Gold Truck: Hal said that John received a call from an elderly gentleman who used to drive a Reo
Speedster with gold bullion through Clarksville. Hal is arranging to go speak to the man.
Docent Training in Coloma: Hal said that he has enrolled in docent training for Marshall Gold Discovery
State Historic Park in Coloma. He will eventually volunteer eight hours per month and is interested in the
blacksmith shop.
Frequency of Board Meetings: John asked the board to consider whether we need to meet monthly. After
discussion, it was the consensus of the board that with the number of upcoming activities, the board should
continue to meet monthly.
Other New Business: Member Diane Baczewaki asked why the board members could serve no more than
two terms in the same position. She said she thought the current board members were doing a good job and
should be able to continue. The board members explained that because CRHS is a charitable organization
whose donations are tax deductible, such a rule prevented any one group from monopolizing the
organization for its own benefit. The rule also was intended to encourage participation by the membership in
the governing of the organization.
There being no further business to transact, the meeting was adjourned at 8:50 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Fran Thomson
Secretary