Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Society
of Pennsylvania, Inc.
Annual Meeting and Election of
Officers
Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church,
Manheim, PA
Sunday, September 11, 2016
President Tom Walczak called the
meeting to order at 2:15 p.m. He asked
for a moment of silence for those lost in the 9/11 attacks 15 years ago then led
us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
NEW
MEMBERS AND GUESTS: None
Tom reminded members the minutes are
in the box in the back for review and approval later.
TREASURER’S
REPORT 383 members
renewed for 2015-2016 (15 more than 1 year ago). 130 members renewed for
2016-17.
MEMBERS’
REPORTS.
Tim and Connie McLaughlin visited about 10 PA bridges since our
last meeting. He noted that Bitzer’s Mill
(PA-36-04) is still closed and progress on Speakman 1 (PA-15-05) is ongoing.
Janet Orland drove through Jack’s Mountain
(PA-01-08). Nice!
Alda Scheib’s grandson was married at Poole Forge
(PA-36-01) last month.
Pat Cook reported that the Maryland Cozy Inn
romantic shelter has been moved to a housing development in Poolesville
MD. She also visited Roddy Road (MD-10-02)
and road the historic Whites Ferry across the Potomac.
Greg Williams had an article about Speakman stating
it should be “finished by end of year”.
Ben Evans took June back to the bridge where they
were first interviewed after publication of their book, Zook’s Mill (PA-36-14). It still looks the same as it did then.
Olive Jones brought in an article posted on the
board about vandalism of Sachs Bridge (PA-01-01).
OFFICERS’
REPORTS
President Tom Walczak – On August 25th he
visited Hewitt (PA-05-26) in south Bedford County – nice shape, great
reflection. Last Sunday he saw
McClelland (OH-15-02) in Columbiana County Ohio which is to be rebuilt (damage
was reported last month) – work has begun!
The superstructure is well along and it has been raised about a foot
higher. It will be a #2 bridge. A picnic area will be added. It remains closed during the
rehabilitation. Tom visited McConnell’s
Mill (PA-37-01) which he found completely covered with non-transparent
plastic. It will be closed for about 60
days while being painted.
First Vice
President Jim Smedley
– No report.
The deadline for the fall
issue of PA Crossings is October 2nd, the date of our meeting and lasagna
dinner fundraiser here at the church.
Second Vice President Ray Finkelstein helped out at the Lancaster Bike
Event which was partially rained out. He
visited Bogert’s (PA-39-01) where he often takes walks. On Thursday September 1st he
visited both Schlicher’s (PA-39-06#2) and Geiger’s (PA-39-05) during his walk
between them. As he started out he was
stopped by a couple looking for directions to other Lehigh Valley Bridges. He shared a laminated business card he made with
society information that is easy to carry with you to give to people you
meet. He encouraged members to always
have information on hand when traveling to bridges. He visited some lost bridge sites in
preparation for a presentation he is giving to the Emmaus Historical Society in
November. He was able to get a few
pictures of what might be part of the abutments of the S. Lerch’s Bridge in
Northampton County (PA-48-09x) off of Kreidersville Road. He spoke to a man mowing the property who
knew right where the bridge had been.
Third Vice President Steve Wolfhope – Steve and Gloria went back to New
Hampshire to finish up the last 8 bridges he had not yet seen including the
Sulphite Railroad (NH-07-09) upside down bridge. They also enjoyed a few train
rides during the trip. He mentioned the
Vermont bridge, Salisbury Station (VT-01-01) was burned yesterday during the
middle of the day – obvious arson. They
are having more problems fixing sewer lines at Knox (PA-15-15#2) so it will be
closed at least another month.
Fourth Vice President Tim Cohen – no report.
Historian Fred J. Moll - Fred gave his annual report of the covered
bridges of Berks County.
Wertz’s Bridge (PA-06-06) –Wertz’s Bridge is
in good condition.
Pleasantville Bridge (PA-06-01)
–Pleasantville Bridge in good condition except for the portals which could use
another coat of white paint.
Griesemer’s Mill Bridge (PA-06-03)
–Griesemer’s Bridge is in good condition, since last year the clearance sign
has been put back up at the bridge and the damage to the abutment wall on the
mill side of the bridge has been repaired.
Kutz’s Mill Bridge (PA-06-05) –Kutz’s Mill
Bridge is in good shape.
Dreibelbis Bridge (PA-06-07) –The Dreibelbis
Bridge is still out of shape it is in the need of some board replacement and a
new coating of paint. All this should be
taken care starting in the fall of next year.
On Saturday, October 1st,
Fred will be giving tours inside Wertz’s Bridge at 1:00 and 2:30 during the
Heritage Festival. Stop by if you are in
the area. Next year Wertz’s Bridge will
be 150 years old and they will be planning something
special at the bridge.
Recording Secretary Gloria Smedley –No report.
Corresponding Secretary/Program Chair Pam Heisey - No report.
Treasurer Robert Kuether – Bob thanked everyone for the calls,
emails and cards he received after his hand surgery. He also thanked Ray and Linda Finkelstein for
their assistance at the Lancaster Bicycle Ride event and announced he’s always
looking for help at the Knoebel’s and Christmas Show events coming up.
REPORTS OF ILLNESSES OR DEATHS
– Tom had just
learned that Jim Jones of Indianapolis, IN passed away on July 17, 2016.
OLD BUSINESS –
Connie
McLaughlin asked about status of rebuilding Dellville (PA-50-16). Bob and Jim responded. Bid has gone out. It is official that it will be repaired. They are considering using different wood
than Pine since woodpeckers and carpenters bees love pine.
Connie
noted that Herr’s Mill (PA-36-21) is being given away. Problem is whoever takes it must rebuild it.
NEW
BUSINESS
The 2017 Safari will be led by Ray
Finkelstein and held in Bedford/Somerset counties. It will be a 3 day safari, likely
Friday-Sunday, and held in the fall if hotel costs are reasonable. Ray will scope out the details while in
Washington-Greene area for the festival this weekend and have more details at a
future meeting.
Gloria
reviewed the details of our Lasagna Fundraiser Dinner to be held at our next
meeting, October 2nd.
NEW COVERED BRIDGE ITEMS
Jim
Smedley announced availability of archived materials on C.D. for $5. He has thousands of photos and news articles
that have been scanned and archived.
Members can request materials by county/counties of interest. Katie Helm and George Rothlingshofer expressed
interest.
Greg
Williams shared a covered bridge pillow cushion and painting.
Ray
Finkelstein shared a covered bridge painting on a rock.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES – August minutes were approved as
presented.
NEXT MEETING
Our Next Meeting will be on October 2, 2016 at St. Paul’s
Episcopal Church. We will conduct our
regular business meeting at 2:00pm followed by our Lasagna Fundraiser Dinner.
There was a short break before conducting the Annual
Business Meeting.
ANNUAL MEETING
REQUIREMENTS
Tom
conducted the annual meeting. He
thanked Pat Cook and Greg Williams for serving on the Nominating Committee.
Pat announced
the current slate of officers and conducted the election for the Nominating
Committee:
President
- Tom Walczak
1st
VP – Jim Smedley
2nd
VP – Ray Finkelstein
3rd
VP - Steve Wolfhope
4th
VP – Tim McLaughlin (replacing Tim Cohen)
Treasurer
– Bob Kuether
Recording
Secretary - Gloria Smedley
Corresponding
Secretary - Pam Heisey
Historian
- Fred Moll
As there were
no other nominations the Recording Secretary cast a unanimous ballot.
Tom
thanked Tim Cohen for his year of service as 4th VP and that he is
looking forward to working with Tim McLaughlin.
Pam
Heisey conducted the memorial service reading a passage and naming members who
had passed during the year along with their date of death and years of membership. There were 11 deceased members over the past
year. A moment of silence was held in
memoriam.
Tom
announced that the annual written reports of the officers are available to
members for review in a folder at the front. They will be available for the next
few meetings also. The reports reflect
what the officers have done over the past year in service to the society. Tom encouraged members to review them.
Tom
gave the Society’s Annual Report along with a power point presentation which
highlighted the events of the year. He
thanked Jim Smedley for working with him to put the annual report into a PowerPoint
presentation entitled – “Our Society’s Year in Review”.
Details
of the presentation can be found in the president’s written annual report.
Tom
closed the meeting by thanking all the officers and members who participated in
events throughout the year.
ADJOURNMENT
The
meeting was adjourned at 4:15 p.m.
Respectfully
Submitted by Recording Secretary, Gloria Smedley
September
19, 2016