The regular meeting of the Roane County Historical Society, Inc. was held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 21, 2013 at the Roane County Library. President, Rick Greathouse, called the meeting to order. An opening prayer and pledge to the American flag were given.

The evening’s special program was presented by Mr. Doug Wood of Nitro, WV who portrayed the Cherokee leader, Ostenaco. Approximately 45 youth, adults & children attended and enjoyed the informative and entertaining presentation. He was well-informed, personable and portrayed the Native American warrior in authentic dress and native Cherokee speech. The program was a part of the History Alive! presentations made possible through the West Virginia Humanities Council.

Refreshments were served between the program and the business meeting. President Greathouse convened the business meeting. The minutes from the October meeting were read by Susan Tucker, Recording Secretary. Carol Board-Westfall presented the Treasurer’s report, giving the current balance as: $16,606.63
Carol also reported that she had reserved the Heritage Park Community Bldg. for our 20th Annual Genealogy Fair for Saturday, September 27, 2014.

Linda Liss, Membership Secretary, reported the current membership at 206. Ten persons have not paid annual dues and will be removed from roll. She also sent one sympathy card to the family of a former member who had died recently.

Announcement: The National Genealogical Society 2014 Family History Conference will be held at the Marriott Hotel in Richmond, VA on May 7-10, 2014. Registration forms and fees schedules are available through our society.

Old Business:
Rick Greathouse reported on his findings regarding a new computer for the Historical Society’s Library. Motion was made & properly seconded & carried unanimously for him to go ahead and order the Dell desktop computer system with Windows 7. [Approx. cost: $750.] He agreed to install and setup the system when it arrives. A monitor has been donated to the society for use with the new computer.

History Hero nomination: The R.C.H.S. wishes to nominate Mrs. Susan Wyatt Tucker for History Hero for 2014. She has served the Society conscientiously over the years as Recording Secretary and has headed up projects to record, preserve, and digitize county newspaper microfilms and printed birth records housed in the Society’s library. She has helped with setup of our annual genealogy fairs and has represented our society at other genealogy fairs. Application must be completed and delivered to the WV Culture & History Library in Charleston, WV by December 31, 2013. Winners will be announced and honored at a special ceremony during the WV Legislature in February 2014.

B & O Rr Building - City Museum:
The Executive Committee still needs to meet and make a recommendation about the museum.
Theresa Boggs Parker announced that she has met with the Mayor and City Council & brought them up-to-date on the possibility of the Society taking over management of the museum. She attended a recent Grant Writing Workshop in Calhoun County. She also attended a recent West Virginia Non-profit Association meeting. The Association seeks to strengthen nonprofit organizations like the R.C.H.S., Inc. in their respective communities and may be able to help establish a program planning framework for Grant writing in connection to raising funds to renovate the Museum. Susan Tucker agreed to look over the printed materials provided and make a recommendation to the Society with regard to joining the WV Non-profit Association. Annual membership is $90.

The next meeting of the R.C.H.S. is scheduled for Thursday, December 19, 2013 at 7 p.m. at the Roane County Library. THIS IS THE LAST MEETING FOR 2013 ! Members, please make every effort to attend; we have several items to finalize and your input is important. Due to uncertainty of winter weather we will not be meeting again until March 27, 2014.

Members attending the business meeting were: Theresa Parker, Melissa Swisher, Patty Wyatt, Reva Paxton, Susan Tucker, Rick Greathouse, Carol Board Westfall, Linda Liss, and guests, Opal Groves and Paul Greathouse.

The 20th Annual Genealogy Fair, is scheduled for Saturday, September 27, 2014, from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, at the Heritage Park Community Building in Spencer.

The Roane County Historical Society's November meeting will feature Ostenaco (ca. 1703-1780), Cherokee leader, portrayed by Doug Wood of Nitro. The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 21, 2013 at 7:00 PM at the Roane County Library in Spencer, West Virginia and is open to the public. This special presentation is possible through the History Alive! program of the West Virginia Humanities Council.

The 19th Annual Genealogy Fair, is scheduled for Saturday, September 28, 2013, from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, at the Heritage Park Community Building in Spencer.

The regular monthly meeting of the Roane County Historical Society was held 27 Sept 2012 at 7 p.m. at the Roane County Library. Rick Greathouse, President, called the meeting to order and led an opening prayer. Mike Hill led the pledge to the American flag.

Linda Liss read the minutes from the August 23rd meeting as provided by the recording secretary, Susan Tucker. The minutes were approved as amended. Corrections and additions include:
1. Pledge to flag led by Local Scout Master, Michael Myers.
2. Opening prayer led by society member, Mike Hill
3. Treasurer’s report: Aug. Balance $17,812.22 [copy to be filed with minutes]
4. Fujitsu ScanSnap Sheet-Fed Scanner, Cost $414.49, plus CD’s & supplies $167.95
5. RCHS Membership as of Aug 23rd was 207 [report copy filed with minutes]
6. Attendance for Cornstalk presentation, approx.. 50. Business meeting att. Not available.
7. Refreshments were served between the Cornstalk presentation & the business meeting.

Carol Board-Westfall, Treasurer, reported a Sept. balance of $18,071.79 [Copy filed with minutes for annual audit]

Linda Liss, Corresponding Sect’y, reported that she sent sympathy cards were needed. She reported that an inquiry was rec’d through the society’s website regarding photos of the past & present courthouses of Roane County. Deb Warmuth, Project Mgr., The Walk-About Co., Wheeling WV & with the Ohio Valley Chapter of the National Academy of Arts & Sciences is researching courthouses of WV and is seeking historic courthouse photos/images that might be available for use in publications. The first courthouse was destroyed by fire in 1887 replaced by the two-story brick structure which was torn down to build the third present bldg. in 1964-5. Linda has photos of the three buildings, but needs to research the copyright on the first two. She will report back at next meeting.
As Membership Secretary Linda reported that the current membership is 210. Three new members were rec’d during the September Gen. Fair. She also noted that 22 members have NOT paid dues for the fiscal year 2012-13. All have been notified regarding their past due memberships. Report copy filed with minutes.

Carol reported that several books have been purchased or donated to the society:
1. Clay County Marriages w/Index by the Kanawha Valley Gen. Society
2. Mt. Heritage / Blennerhasset Island
3. Lewisburg Landmarks
4. Forebearers of Taylor/Cromwell Family
5. Jackson Co. WV Deaths
6. Hans Jacob Gandee Descendants pub. by the Lockharts

Johanna Nutter reported that the Sept 22nd Genealogy Fair was deemed a success. Vendors did well, the American Legion Auxillary food was a hit, 127 registered attendance plus many who came but did not register. Those attending had a good time and enjoyed the fellowship. The Heritage Park Community Bldg has been reserved for the September 28, 2013 fair. Special thanks to everyone who helped in any way to make the event successful. The society cleared well over a thousand dollars from table rentals and book sales at the fair.
At a past meeting it was discussed that the society perhaps purchase some sort of sound system to use at meetings and other society events. Johanna Nutter volunteered to check on this and report back at the next meeting.

It was reported that the Vol. 20, Issue 1 of the Roane County Journal was mailed and rec’d by the membership of the Society. Carol Cronin is to be complimented for her work as our newsletter editor.

Linda Liss asked if the RCHS wishes to continue the Annual Scholarship Essay with the Roane County High School. The past two years we have presented a scholarship to a deserving senior who wrote the best essay portraying their family genealogy. After discussion, motion was made by Melissa Swisher and properly seconded that the society offer a $750 scholarship to a senior who writes the best genealogy essay. Motion carried unanimously. Linda will meet with school officials and present the essay guidelines and applications.

P.J. Miller brought a local community concern to the society for consideration. Recent newspapers articles indicate that the local food pantry is in need of non-perishable food items. Even with generous monetary donations the food pantry is still in need of food. Therefore, by general consensus of those members present, it is agreed for each person attending the next meeting of the society on Oct. 25th be asked to bring a can/box of non-perishable food to be donated to the pantry.

Melissa Swisher noted that she had worked a shift at the Heritage Park Depot Museum during the Genealogy Fair. The building is owned by the City of Spencer. Many area residents have never visited the museum or perhaps do not know about it. She said the old Depot building is in need of some t.l.c. and cleaning. There are no photos displayed there! No heating/cooling. Is this something the R.C.H.S. may want to attempt as a community project to clean up the museum and perhaps pursue a grant to get h/c installed? Society member, Teresa Parker, is caretaker of the museum. Carol Board-Westfall will talk with Teresa to get ideas on how to proceed……and report back at next meeting.

For the good of the society, it was discussed having some sort of genealogical report or family history report at each meeting of the R.C.H.S. Since we are a society to promote genealogy and our Roane County family’s history this would be an excellent way of learning about some of the families our members are researching.
Mike Hill volunteered to be the first in this series of presentations. He will discuss the Roane County pioneer families of Meadows and Bonnett at the October meeting.

It was also suggested to have a future program on the use of DNA research in making family connections.

Carol and Melissa reported that the 5 cemetery books published by the RCHS have been scanned and put on CD’s. They were offered for sale at the September Genealogy Fair.

Shirley Hill will serve refreshments for our October 25th meeting.

Announcements:
October 6, 2012 – Battle Days at Point Pleasant, Mason Co., WV, Tu-Endie-Wei State Park.
October 6, 2012 – Wirt County Heritage Days at Elizabeth, WV.
Oct 11-14, 2012 – WV Black Walnut Festival, Spencer

Meeting adjourned.
Those present were: Carol Board-Westfall, Rick Greathouse, Linda Cottrell Liss, Hazel E. C. Gandee, Mike Hill, Shirley Hill, Roger Skinner, guest, Johanna Nutter, Betty Moore, Melissa Swisher, Brenda Whited and Phill “PJ” Miller.