
A Look Inside The Society
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Tilton Historical Society Regular Monthly Meeting
March 12, 2025
The meeting was opened at 6:00pm by John Ciriello, President
The following officers were present John Ciriello, Tim Rose, Kathy Yeo and Janice Leighton-Boudreau. The following board members were present Patty Amora-Pender, Rob Clogston, Vicki Hussman, Chuck Hussman, and John Basiliere. Those board members joining via Zoom were Todd Piper Al Lockwood, and Dan Jordan. Members at Large present were Sharon Bullerwell, Bruce Bullerwell, William Hockensmith, Jennifer Loutrel, Barbara Sullivan, Trish Basiliere and Kim Cilley
Elections
John discussed with society the process and procedure for the election that will take place at the April Meeting.
The following positions are up for election in 2025.
Vice-Chair, Secretary; (Tim and Janice), 3 Board of Directors; (Roy, Al, Vicki).
Our bylaws require that the membership be notified of the elections within the 30-day period.
It was requested that anyone wishing to be a candidate for any of these positions, please let John know by Wednesday, March 26th so that their name can be placed on the ballot that gets sent out to the membership on April 2nd. It was requested that voters return ballots by April 8th, but any that arrive before the 6pm Elections on the April 9th will be counted as long as the time stamp on the email reflects that they were on time.
For Family Memberships, “Each voter must fill out a separate ballot (or send an email stating who they choose) to count them as multiple votes. Otherwise, if only one ballot is submitted “as a family”, it will only be counted as “one vote”.
On Election Day, we need a counter and a verifier (because only paid members can vote per our bylaws).
It was determined that to vote an individual must be 18 years or older.
Membership Dues
Dues must be paid by Election Day to vote on April 9th. The dues can be paid the day of elections if submitted before elections start).
Tours/Presentations
John gave an update on events that will be occurring in the next few months
*4/3 - 6:30pm Hall Library – PowerPoint History of Soldiers Home
*4/10 - 5:00pm - “Stories of Lane Tavern” Sanbornton Hist Society at Library (Presentation to us of Tilton artifact)
*3/19-2pm, Peabody Place - Mansion Tour
*June Senior Center – Mansion Tour (date to be announced)
*Gatherings at Park Cemetery (Grave Group) will commence soon in order to plan for the 2025 History and Hauntings Tour (as soon as weather permits). Announced via email and FB posts.
*Gatherings for Downtown Tour practice will be announced via email and FB posts.
He also discussed the Tilton School 4-week “Local History” presentations included CET Mansion Tour, Powerpoint on History of NH Soldiers’ Home, Walking Tour of Downtown, and a “virtual tour” of the Arch, Endless Belts, Civil War Monument, Hall Library, Northfield Depot (due to snow). Cabinet cards were used as visuals.
New Website
Al Lockwood gave an update on the new website – $388.80 Wix website, $12.90 transfer of domain from GoDaddy to Wix.
Zeffy
John discussed with the society about Zeffy.
100% free fundraising platform. They make money from voluntary tips from donors. Option for “recurring” auto membership. Used by over 50,000 non-profit groups. Deposits donations electronically directly into our bank account.
Donations
Conrad Young – Medals, awards, works from his graphic design business.
Cindy and Stacey Clarenbach – watercolor of Arch (Omer Luneau), 1939
Mark Penney – Tilton Optical photos in Memory of Beverly Rose
Loutrel Family – Papers from the Moses/Chalmer House on Chestnut St
Tilton Selectmen – 150th Commemorative mugs and mini coolers for fundraising
Don Giguere – Cabinet Card of Bank Block
Scott Hilliard – Postcard of Island, 1900
Billy Lawrence – Griffin Drug tableware card
Bonnie Randall – J. Greenwood Plumbing Supplies receipts from 1930s, Iona bank books
Tom Lawrence – Print of Charles E Tilton II or III (possibly). Belonged to Hazel Lawrence.
Kathy Davidson – Annual Report, Northfield, 1947
Roy Cilley - "Jay Cee" TS publication, The Tower 1926 Journal Transcript newspaper 1940, Endless Belts employee group photo, Small parade photo (location unknown) Says "Main St Tilton" on sticker
Kathy Pease Yeo - Tilton Police Trading Cards 2001
Diana Statue
Two years ago, we wanted Diana in our office after Selectman Jon Scanlon finished restoring her, but the Selectmen wanted to put her on display at Town Hall first. She’s been there for a little over a year and the Selectmen are now ready to finally move her to the Mansion. She will remain the property of the town, but we will be able to show her during tours of the Mansion since she’s in our office.
T-shirt reorder
John reported that we have very few T Shirts left. We only have 5 large, 6 medium, and 5 small We ran out of 2XL, and XL first.
In 2022 we ordered 10 S, 20 M, 20 large, 20 XL, 5 2XL. It was voted to move forward with the purchase of the T shirts.
2026 Calendars
John discussed calendars. John has time to do “Tilton’s Statues” calendars because he’s already working on the Tilton Statues PowerPoint presentation and has the pictures and individual descriptions/histories almost done. They can be sold at different events and tours and around the time of the “release” of the statue’s presentation this summer, or with the posting of the presentation to our Youtube channel and mailed to people out of state.
Printing cost is $6 each, John suggested we start with 50 - $300 and reorder as needed. 2 weeks or less turnaround time. A discussion occurred and it was voted on to design the calendars with the Tilton Statues and get them printed.
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Float for Old Home Day
Vicki and Chuck Hussman discussed having a float in the Old Home Day Parade Chuck is willing to create the Arch and the Hussman’s asked if people would be willing to help as well as participate on the float for Old Home Day. The group expressed an interest in this project.
Past Perfect update
The discussion was tabled to be presented at a future meeting because Kevin Murphy was not in attendance to give us an update.
Announcement Collaborative Meeting of Historical Societies
John announced there would be a collaborative meeting at the mansion, April 6th at 2pm (We are hosting)
Please let John know if you have anything you want discussed on the Agenda.
- Adjourned
Next Meeting April 9, 2025 6:00pm Elections