The Annual Dinner was held Saturday April 26th at the Abington
Ale House. We had a great time with 60 Members, Family and Friends turning out
to enjoy the afternoon. Linda Myers did a wonderful performance as the Nations
First Lady Abigail Adams. I would like to thank our friends from the League of
Women Voters and Abigail Adams Historical Society for attending the Annual
Dinner.
Work has been completed on the Eagle Scout project of the new
Veterans Memorial Walkway. The Walkway is open to any Veterans from any Branch of Service
from the past, present or future. We will be dedicating the Memorial on Armed Forces Day May 17th at 12pm.
Everyone is welcome. Order your
Memorial bricks with our printable Order Form found on our Fundraising page.
We have started a Scholarship
Committee to help set up the Jane Holbrook Jewell Memorial Scholarship
to be given out at the 2009 Annual Dinner. The funds for the Scholarship are
from the proceeds of the Mark Twain Fundraiser. The Committee members are Bruce
Ketchen Chairman, Barbara Johnson Co-Chair, Dot Cole, Juliana Holbrook, Jane
Ketchen, and Dianne Oliverio.
I would like to give you an update on Jane Jewell's Estate. The
Society has received over $3000 from the sale of the contents of Jane's house.
We also have a Purchase & Sale Agreement in place with a 90 day waiting
period. We are about 30 days into the hold time. The sale price on the house is
$395,000 and $195,000 on the lot if everything goes as planned.
We will be starting some work on the Holbrook Homestead in the upcoming
months. The first stage will consist of painting the exterior of the house and
all the out buildings. We are having a fireplace enclosure installed to help
conserve heat. In the second stage will consist of painting the interior
woodwork, repairing & painting some of the ceilings that are in bad shape,
and some wallpapering. This stage may cause some interference during our
Wednesday openings, please bear with us.
The Nomination Committee submitted the Ballot of Officers
to the Membership April 26th 2008 and cast 1 vote for the ballot. Accepted unanimously.
Your 2008 - 2009 Officers are:
President - Herb Caldwell
Vice President - Ed Hines
Treasurer - Bruce Ketchen
Secretary - Joan Rotondo
Librarian - Debbie Sullivan
Directors for 2 Years
Don Cormack & Bill Tormey
I would like to thank the membership for trusting me with
another year as President. I would like to praise the Members of my Board.
Sometimes I don't think enough credit is given to the people who volunteer their
time to help make the Society what it is and to keep it running. I would like to
start this term as President by taking a minute to thank the Board Members for
opening the Museum on Monday nights and the Homestead on Wednesdays, for the
countless times you've opened for tours, workmen, answered false alarms, and met
with the families researching Weymouth relatives that come from all over the
country. This is the short list, there are many other things that go on behind
the scenes. So next time you see one of our Board Members give them a thank you
also. You'd be surprised what it would mean. If you would like to help, stop by
any Monday night or Wednesday and say "What can I do". Whether it's
for an hour, or you want to learn to give tours at the Museum anything would be
appreciated. I would also like to give a special thanks to Ed Hines for all the
hours he has spent with me at the Jewell house cleaning out.
I would like to apologize for the lack of Newsletters this
year. With the time we have spent at Jane's house it's been hard to find the
time. Hopefully this will all change when we get through with the sale.
