Ontelaunee Park Veterans Memorial Committee

7911 Kings Highway      New Tripoli, PA 18066

Meeting Minutes,  January 8, 2019

Present:, Justine Bachman, Steve Bachman, Donald Christ, Willard Dellicker, Harold Haas, Harold Handwerk, William Mantz, Nancy Zellner, Richard Bleiler, David Keller

Donald  Christ called the meeting to order at the Lynn Township Office and presided over discussion of the following topics:

1. MINUTES The October 23rd Minutes were received and the agenda was corrected to include Harold Handwerk in the meeting with Wentz Memorials at the park on 10/30/18.

2. TREASURER’S REPORT There was no Treasurer’s Report as the Treasurer was unable to attend.

3. 3. MEETINGS WITH SUPPLIERS Bill Dellicker recapped the meetings with local Memorial suppliers and contractors:

Wentz Memorials 10/30/18 w/ Bill Dellicker

Womer Memorials 11/2/18 w/ Don Christ, Bill Dellicker

Brown Design Corp. 11/20/18 w/ Don Christ and Bill Dellicker

Lehigh Valley Granite Studio 12/4/18 w/ Don Christ Bill Dellicker, Eugene Handwerk and Harold             Handwerk

The meetings were requested to get information and advice from local experts about the proposed location, materials for granite panels and pavers, design considerations, and other information that may help us develop design specifications when that time comes.  No commitments were made to any of the Suppliers and they were told there would be some kind of competitive bid process to select a supplier and contractor to build the Memorial.

4. DISCUSSIONS were held on the following topics:
5. DESIGN The concept for a design that would enclose a star in a circular wall of panels that was             offered as a starting point for the committee to develop.  A conceptual sketch drawn by Bill        Dellicker was made into a professional plan view by Chris Brown to begin discussions about the     design and to provide a marketing tool to show prospective donors and supporters the scope of     the memorial project.
6. INFORMATION SHEET  A signature line was added to authorize the public use of the information provided on the Veterans Information sheet.  It was recommended that an email             and phone number be added also.  The spelling of Heidelberg was corrected.
7. LETTER TO CHURCHES AND ORGANIZATION  The letter, attached to these minutes, can be used      by any committee member to advertize and solicit Veterans’ information.  The letter can be           opened in Microsoft Word and customized by any committee member by typing the date and the   organization and adding the members name and phone number at the end of the letter.    The       spelling of Heidelberg was corrected.
8. MOTION to approve the documents in b. and c. above, with the noted corrections, was made            by David Keller, 2nd by Justine Bachman.  Motion approved.
9. EMAIL ADDRESS  During the discussion about the need for an email address for the committee,             Justine Bachman created and established an email address with GMAIL!!  The new email address          for the Memorial Committee is officially:  OPVetMC@gmail.com

The email address is NOT case sensitive.  Thank you Justine for your prompt action!

1. QUOTATIONS FOR PANELS  A handout was given to members to suggest that historical quotes             related to Veterans, military, patriotism, etc. be engraved on the panels for an historical context to       the service of the veterans and their families.  Members were asked to think about this idea and      search for quotations they think would be appropriate.
2. RULES  a draft handout was discussed to establish rules or guidelines for names of Veterans to          be included on the Memorial.  A copy of the RULES is attached to these minutes.
3. WEBSITE  The committee thinks a website is needed so that donation can be taken online and           we can communicate progress of the Memorial design, construction and donations to the public.
4. 501-C-3  Further discussion and advice is needed to determine if a separate 501-C-3 is needed           to accept tax exempt donations for the Memorial.

5. REPORTS FROM THE TOWNSHIPS:

Heidelberg – Steve Bachman said Progress is being made to make the Memorial known to the public.  Eugene Handwerk collected 11 more information sheets, is continuing his efforts to get information from Heidelberg Church, is working on getting names from a Civil War Monument at Heidelberg Cemetery.  An email from Eugene stated the following about the account for the Memorial Committee:

“… the account has $8105.99.  The only recent expense was $88 for copies and laminates… The money is in the township account.  To disperse funds, Tammy will record moving  money from the OPVMC category and cut a check from the township account and track it that way.”

Lynn – On Feb 9th Lynn Township will have their annual banquet, Don Christ will give an update about the progress being made on the Memorial.

Lowhill – no report

Weisenberg – The Township has a link on their website home page that directs people to the form we have to collect Veteran’s information.

6. 6. DATA BASE Nancy Zellner reported that she has loaded more than 800 names in the data base.  She will begin loading the Revolutionary War names that we received from the historical society shortly.

NEXT MEETING is 7:00 PM, Tuesday, February 12 at the New Tripoli Fire Co.

Meeting adjourned at 8:32PM Motion by Steve Bachman, 2nd by Nancy Zellner

ATTACHMENTS:

1. RULES for engraving names
2. LETTER to Churches and organizations
3. FORM to collect Veterans’ Information