The keepers of ancient Brookline lore assembled once again at the Barnaby barn on this summer night. The coven included Bob Canada, David Fessenden, Diane Austin, Chris Corey, Eric DiVirgilio, Peter Cook, Jim and Vicki Pope, George Winters, Gina Bent, Marcia Farwell, Peter Webb. There may have been others. As always, the public was welcome to this second Wednesday of the month at 7 PM gathering. In the absence of new participants, we dispensed with the secret initiation ritual.
As always, de facto President, David, opened the meeting in a punctual manner. Minutes, probably unread, were kindly approved. Chris took pains to explain her treasurer’s report to her unsophisticated audience. Everyone eventually nodded in approval.
Chris has looked into the past costs of a town-wide mailing to solicit membership and sponsorship support. It seems that, despite the upfront expense, mailing in the past have been meet with generosity. The will to do so again exists. Beyond operating expenses such as propane, electricity and insurance, we have some capital projects that we need to get to. One involves the barn doors on the Springvale Avenue side, a large heat loss in the winter and a tempting entry for beasties seeking winter accommodations in the fall. We also need to incorporate a conventional person door into that wall. We’ll provide the elbow grease, but materials these days are pricey. By the way, a committee was formed for this project: Gina, George, Webb and Jim. They’ll need to meet to plan the work. May the Force be with them.
Speaking of keeping the wolf from the door, the limited addition 2023 BHS calendar is being finalized by Eric. Thank you, Eric. It promises to be a real treasure at $20 each. 210 will be printed at a cost of $914. Gina has been diligent once again managing the sponsors who are beating down the barn doors to be among those prominently displayed on a month of the calendar. The $100 sponsorship enables businesses the community supports to let it be known that they also support the community. Thank you, Gina. And thank you sponsors.
The work party still persists. Many wonderous things have been done by these jolly volunteers, but this month we’ll mention Bobby Canada. This remarkable and fine gentleman has four score and 8 years under his belt. He shows up every week to work. (Wednesday 9 – noon). He mows the entire lawn no matter how hot it is. He quietly lends a hand on every project. How lucky we are to have the likes of Bobby in our town.
Thanks to Diane, the cribbage night is moving forward, scheduled for Thursday, 9/15, 5:30 – 8:30. It will be a dry run event for the Leo Austin, Jr. Memorial Cribbage Society.
We joined in expressing our sadness for the passing of 93 year-old Edith Corey, a life-long resident, a beloved and irreplaceable Brookline fixture and a force of nature on the cribbage board. We will all miss her.
We are grateful to Charlie Jepson for his donation and the gift of a large collection of Brookline- related newspaper articles.
Our next meeting is September 14. Eric generously offered to provide snacks.