Tuesday, October 3, 2006.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM with 9 members present.

In the absence of the president, Raymond Dawson was called upon to conduct the meeting.

The news reporter read the report from the last meeting as the secretary had been absent.

The treasurer's report was given. A motion was made and seconded for the treasurer to check the interest rates on CD's to see about the possibility of investing some of our money to earn some interest. Motion carried.

The tabled item from last month's meeting about the kiosk that the Ohio Scenic Byways Commission wanted us to provide $1,000.00 toward the cost was presented. A sheet showing the wording of the marker that is already in place at Lincoln Ferry Park was handed out to the members. The Spencer County Historical Society had paid 1/3 of the cost of this marker ($700.00) in 2001. The rest of the cost was paid by the Indiana Historical Bureau.

After much discussion, a motion was made to not furnish the $1,000.00 for the kiosk due to the inaccuracies in the wording and the fact that we had already paid for part of a marker that is now in place at the Lincoln Ferry Park. There was no need to pay for two markers at the same location. The motion was seconded. Motion carried.

It was brought up that the goal of the Society was history and we should be putting up markers on various historical places in the county. Several historic homes in Rockport were mentioned as an example.

The Apple Fest was mentioned and a motion was made and seconded to write a check, for change, to the person that would be running the Society's booth and selling Society materials. Motion carried.

It was also mentioned that several postcards that are available in the Genealogy Room need to be reprinted. The library can make copies for $1.00 a page. A motion was made and seconded to have the library make the copies before the Apple Fest. Motion carried.

The subscription to Eagle Press, a local history magazine, is due for renewal. A motion was made and seconded to renew the subscription. Motion carried.

A member had talked to the editor of The Rockport Journal-Democrat about microfilming the old issues which the Genealogy Room does not have. A major problem is that the bound books would have to be taken apart and then rebound. The pages now have very little side margin and that makes it difficult taking the books apart. The editor said that she would like to attend one of our meetings and talk to us about it. The editor had also mentioned that the paper would like to resume the "Hoosier Ancestors" column, but with a different name. The title "Times Past" was suggested.

The member had some information from the Indiana Historical Society about what needs to be done to have the pages copied. The books would have to be delivered to Indianapolis and would cost $0.20 a page to be copied. The member was asked to do some research and see approximately how many pages would be included in a year's worth of papers.

The member had also checked on The Spencer County Leader which the librarian said they had the issues from 1999-2006 on the shelves to be copied. The state has already made microfilm copies of the years 1999-2005. We can buy the past years for possibly $35.00 a reel. He is going to check about getting the completed reels.

A member mentioned that the Rockport High School Alumni were working on replacing a concrete bench that once was beside the walkway to the high school. They had discussed the old sun dial that once was on the high school campus, but no one had a picture of it. It was mentioned that one former alumni might possibly have some old home movies that might show the sun dial.

It was asked if the library was making any DVD's of the VCR tapes that contained Rockport history. It would be too bad to lose that link to Rockport's past. It was mentioned that maybe the computer technician for the library might be able to transfer the tapes to DVD's.

A motion was made and seconded to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 8:15 PM.

The next meeting will be Tuesday, November 7, 2006 at 6:30 PM in the Genealogy Room.