MINUTES OF THE DOGTOWN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
November 12, 2004

CALL TO ORDER: Vice President Virginia Lopez, in the absence of President John Corbett, called the meeting of The Dogtown Historical Society (DHS) to order at 10:10 a.m. at the St. James Rectory. Eight people were in attendance: Bob Corbett, Didi Gardner, Greg Gardner, Henry Herbst, Virginia Lopez, Sally Sharamitaro, and guests Dorothy and Verne Tarne.

Minutes of Last Meeting - No Minutes were taken for the October 9, 2004 meeting.

Treasurer’s Report -Treasurer, Didi Gardner, reported that we have a balance of $4024.53.

1. Living History Committee – No Report.



2. Speakers Series Committee – Sally Sharamitaro reported that the November 7th Speaker Series program, “The Founding of Forest Park and the Separation of the City from the County” was a success. Thirty seven attendees signed the registration sheets.

   Bob Corbett introduced his longtime friend and our guest speaker, Peter Puleo. Mr. Puleo sat in the front of the room at the microphone and began the introduction of his very well prepared and researched presentation.

   Following the timeline of events, Mr. Puleo discussed the literature on the subject, the principals and potential motives, and then drew his conclusion. The slides for the event were chosen from his collection of historical maps, newspaper articles and advertisements from the period.

   Expenses for the event totaled $356.25, donations received totaled $118.40. Comment sheets were handed out to the attendees and 32 responded. Sally read the lists of comments and recommendations for future topics from the Committee Report.

   Several members gave suggestions for future topics, ie., Architecture, Life in Cheltenham, Mining of clay, Bricks, and the Geology of the Dogtown area.

   A Speaker Series Committee meeting will be scheduled to discuss the events for 2005.

3. Century Home Committee – Bill Miller reported that the second set of plaques has been delivered. As of today 40 orders have been filled. Only 3-4 plaques have been placed on the Century Homes.

Bill informed the group that the Century Home Committee has received its first complaint. The owner stated that the plaque was badly made and that there was a chip in it. Bill will check into it with the Company.

4. Civil War Days in Cheltenham --Bob reported that he received a CD of photos of the Civil War Days from DHS member, Tim Veseau. Photos were also taken by a reporter from the Post Dispatch that day and would be used in an article that would be published in the near future. Member, Rose Kennedy donated several photos she took that day.


5. Archives/Donations – Bob notified the members that a large aerial photo of Dogtown, rejected for publication for an unknown reason, has been donated to the DHS archives. He will research options for displaying it.

The video taken by City TV 10 of the Dedication of the Statue of the Boy and his Dog has been received by the DHS and will be kept with the other video holdings in the care of Virginia Lopez.

After a year’s negotiation with the Missouri Historical Society, photographs of the original Albert Muegee paintings have been acquired for the Dogtown Historical Society through the generosity of Duke McVey and Nina Bryans and were on display at the meeting. Albert Muegee is the son of August Muegee, both were portrayed in the recent DHS Civil War reenactment.

The photos, listed below, show scenes of Cheltenham during the 1870’s. The titles on the picures are:

1. Sulphur Springs Resort
2. Muegge’s Oil Cloth and Window Shade Factory
3. Our Home in Cheltenham (Muegge Home)
4. Landscape of the area to the north past the railroad tracks
5. Landscape of the area west of Cheltenham and Benton

None

Meeting adjourned 10:50 a.m. Next meeting will be December 11, 2004 at 10:00am in St. James Rectory, 6401 Wade Avenue.

Respectfully submitted
Sally Ryan Sharamitaro
Secretary, Dogtown Historical Society