November 10, 2009 Meeting Minutes

President John Lawson called the Lagro Township Tourism Board meeting to order on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 6:30 P.M. at the Lagro Community Building. Those attending were: Janet Poole, Maxine Baker, Justin Gillespie, Rod Stouffer, Larry and Mary Ross, Joyce Speelman, Kathy Bradley, Jodi Pefley, Lou and JoEllen Studio, Pastor Joel Murray, Jim and Debbie Watkins Camp, Tammy Siders, Deb Frieden, Carolyn Hegel, and John Lawson.
Carolyn Hegel, secretary treasurer, read the minutes. A motion to approve was made by Rod, seconded by Pastor Joel and seconded by the group.
John said this would be the last meeting for brainstorming. We should make all of our decisions by tonight, as the time is getting short to our event. John asked for any new information from committees.
Community Decorating Contest
Maxine reported she already has two entries. Carolyn said Becki Wagoner wanted to know the feelings of the group of putting the entry form for this contest as a flyer in The Paper. This would be only for the Lagro area. The cost would be $16.00. Deb moved that we do this. Jim Watkins Camp said he would check into $100, $50, and $25 prizes.
Commemorative Christmas Decoration
Kathy said there would be another craft meeting at the Community Building on Monday, November 16, 2009 at 1:00 P.M. Deb said easels have been donated.
Living Nativity
Deb reported that this activity is on track and will be behind St. Patrick’s.
St. Patrick’s Church
Janet said that the Friends of St. Pat’s group planned to meet November 23 to decorate the inside of their church.
Lagro Café
Mary is getting cans for luminaries from Ponderosa. She needs help making them. She is planning to serve Irish Stew and Mini-Reuben sandwiches at our event. She will set the hours next week that the café will be open. She is starting to get food donations.
Log Cabin/Locks Area
Jo announced the decorating of the cabin will be Sunday, November 29, 2009 at 1:00 P.M. Jodie will take care of decorating the old fire station and the house across the street. Chuck Schafer will help build the small building. John said the cabin floor was not in good shape for people to enter at this time. Jo has checked on the Santa outfit at Honeywell’s. We have been given the opportunity to use it, but it will need to be cleaned before returning to them.
Carriage Rides
Justin said he would check with Maxine about insurance. John said we need a board member/members at each station to assist. After much discussion, the group decided to stop at the various venues. Justin said at some point in the afternoon, perhaps 3:00 P.M. we will need to move the starting point from the Community Building to possibly the Café. A motion was made, amended, and seconded by Tammy Siders that we charge $1.00 a person for each ride. This was approved. Jo reported her brother has a "stretch limo" gator that can be used to move people also.
Receipt Books
John said he is collecting receipt books if anyone has any they aren’t using.
Checking Account
John stated that he and Carolyn would see about setting up a checking account for our group. The group, by consensus, agreed that using Beacon Credit Union would be fine.
Sweatshirts
The board discussed sweatshirts for the board to wear for our event but made no decision.
New Lock on Stephan Farm
John said he had been to the site of the canal locks on the David Stephan farm east of Lagro. He is receiving guidance from the Historic Landmarks group and a canal society. Papers can be filed and sent to Indianapolis to register this historic area. John would like for all of our board to visit the lock area, however, he asked that we respect the farm family’s private property rights. John also suggested that we might want to have some form of identification. A motion was made by Rod to wait until our January 2010 meeting to discuss some type of identification card.
Adjournment
Jo motioned and Mary seconded to adjourn. Approved.