Turmoil has given way to peace for the Boone County Historical Society (BCHS), according to a statement recently released by the BCHS Board of Directors.
The board successfully purchased liability insurance for it directors and officers for next year. The cost is higher than last year’s premium, but the society will bear the cost in order to continue operations.
In September the Boone County District Court approved without prejudice an agreement between the BCHS and the plaintiffs, who filed a lawsuit against the society’s previous board of directors. The BCHS has now been removed as a defendant.
The city of Boone asked the Iowa State Auditor’s office in June 2018 to conduct a financial audit of the historical society. The state audit report is pending.
Board member Judy Stumbo reported that the artifacts at the Mamie Doud Eisenhower Birthplace (MDEB) that were on loan from History Colorado and needed to be returned were packed, loaded and shipped Sept. 23 and received Oct. 1 by History Colorado.
The cost was less than originally quoted, Stumbo said, and the Neil Goeppinger family donated to the MDEB a period-appropriate bed, mattress, box springs, bedspread and dresser to take the place of the returned artifacts.
The Goeppinger donation returned the MDEB to tour-ready status, and about 100 people visited the MDEB in the first two weeks of September.
Interim BCHS Treasurer Judy Russell reported that a generous donation from the Lois Kuhl estate allowed the society to pay off its debt with money to spare.
Society member Bill Lusher reported that he and current board members met a few weeks ago with the committee that awards CAT grants. After a tour of the Boone History Center, Lusher and the board members “picked the brains” of the committee for more ideas on how to best improve the History Center, Lusher said, and the meeting went so well that “the committee has given the Society an extension until Dec. 31, 2020, to finish meeting the terms of our grant.”
Interim BCHS President Jessica Stanley said she will report monthly on the society’s progress.
Board member Judy Stumbo thanked a number of Boone community members for their generosity over the past two months:
• The Neil Goeppinger family for the donation of the period-appropriate furniture to the Birthplace.
• Tracy Anderson of Saints Avenue Cafe for the use of his enclosed trailer to transport furniture.
• Boone Construction for the use of a pickup truck to pull the trailer and the use of two men to load and move the furniture.
• Redeker’s Furniture for the use of furniture blankets and large rubber bands to hold the blankets on the furniture.
• Steve Duncan of Duncan Heating and Plumbing, who changed the gas lines, free of charge, in the History Center and the Birthplace so they would meet Alliant Energy’s recent directive.
• Mike Peterson, who is mowing at the History Center for free.
• Joe Devin for printing large pictures of the previous furniture in the birthplace to be framed and placed in the birthplace.
• George Eckstein for making frames for the birthplace pictures.
• Shirley Walrod for contributing a picture of the clock that used to be displayed in the birthplace.
“We’ve come a very long way in a very short time,” said Stanley, “but we still need a lot of volunteers so we can continue growing.”
Along with Interim President Stanley, Interim Treasurer Russell and Stumbo, the BCHS Board includes Secretary Deb Duncan and board members Larry Adams, Janet Krengel and John Stephenson.
The Historical Society seeks volunteers. For more information, contact Jessica Stanley at jessica@boonehistorymuseums.org, or call the History Center at 515-432-1907 and leave a message.
