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PCGS
PO Box 632
Bolivar, MO
65613-0632
info@pcgsmo.com
417-777-2820
BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
President
Susan Sparks
Vice President
Teresa Barker
Secretary
Julie Trout
Treasurer
Leta Gass
Director-at-large
Ray Brown
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January
The regular meeting of the Polk County
Genealogical Society was held Thursday, January 8, 2009
at
the PCGS Library on the square in Bolivar, MO. It was
postponed from the first Thursday of the month
due to the New Years’ holiday. President Susan
Sparks called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. There
were 20 present, 18 members and 2 visitors. A list of
those attending is attached to the minutes.
A big thank you to James Whitman who is
outgoing as the director-at-large. A big welcome to Ray
Brown
for taking his place!
Julie Trout read the minutes of the
December meeting. They were approved as read.
Leta Gass read the treasurer’s
report. A copy of that report is attached. The total
amount of the four main
accounts of PCGS totaled $21,618.60. The net income for
the month of December was $1,356.32.
Membership is 209 as of January 1.
There was $20,000 deposited in the PCGS
Capacity Building fund, a component of the Bolivar Area
Community Foundation. The money was a gift from the
Peterson Foundation.
Roy and Deva Kirchner have given a
donation to the Endowment Fund every year for the last
five years.
We want to say a big thank you to them!
Susan approached the commissioners in
December in hopes of getting some Delarue money to help
fix the
outside stairs of the library. No decision has been made
yet.
In 2008, the things that the PCGS
accomplished are, as follows:
Sound system installed; new microfilm
reader; we surpassed the year 1910 in the circuit court
record project;
the 1881 map project was completed; the death
certificates project was completed; a podium is now
available
for meetings; and an up-to-date computer was installed at
the main desk. Seven things accomplished!
There were also seven ideas/projects from
years past that are still ongoing. The outside stairs is
an ongoing project
and is in the works. The windows will be the next
project.
James Whitman gave a report on the
volunteer hours and visitors for 2008. 43 members and 2
non-members worked
in the library during the year. There were 4,700 plus
qualifying hours and 4,400 plus volunteer hours for a
total of
9,200 plus total hours. The library had a record of 245
visitors from 18 states and two foreign countries.
The business meeting then adjourned for
the round table discussions. There were three tables with
survey questions
at each table. Members also filled out a personal,
anonymous survey.
The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m.
Secretary, Julie Trout
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February
The regular meeting of the Polk County
Genealogical Society was held Thursday, February 5, 2009
at the PCGS
Library on the square in Bolivar, MO. President Susan
Sparks called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. There
were
35 present, 30 members and 5 visitors. A list of those
attending is attached to the minutes.
Leta Gass read the treasurer’s
reports. A copy of the reports are attached. The total
amount of the four main
accounts of PCGS totaled $21,735.58, an increase of
$116.98 from the January report total. Total expenses for
2008 were $29,609.52; total income was $24,874.77. The
net loss was $4,734.75.
Membership is 210 as of February 4.
Julie Trout read the minutes of the
January meeting. They were approved as read.
Susan held up Daisy’s newsletter as
an example of one that got chewed up in the mail. Please
let us know if yours
was damaged, so that we can get you a replacement.
There was no report yet on the Delarue
money from the commissioners.
The business meeting adjourned at 7:15
and Ben Gravely, long-time member of PCGS, presented the
program on the
First Churches of Polk County. He was challenged earlier
in the year to find out the oldest church building still
in use
today and his presentation came from that research. A
tidbit from his presentation: Before the Civil War, the
only
recorded churches in Polk County were Presbyterian,
Christian, Methodist and Baptist.
The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m.
Next month’s meeting on March 5 will
be presented by Susan Sparks on "Inventors of Polk
County."
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March
The regular meeting of the Polk County
Genealogical Society was held Thursday, March 5, 2009 at
the PCGS Library
on the square in Bolivar, MO. President Susan Sparks
called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. There were 32
present, 4 visitors and 28 members. A list of those
attending is attached to the minutes.
Secretary Julie Trout read the minutes of the February
meeting. They were approved as read.
Leta Gass read the treasurer's report. A copy of that
report is attached. The total amount of the four main
accounts
of PCGS totaled $21,253.59. Money was spent in February
on different capital improvements to the library.
The elevator was fixed in time for the March meeting. It
had not been working for part of February.
After looking into different options to buy folders for
the circuit court records project, PCGS received a bid
from
the same company we had already been purchasing them from
for half of what we used to pay for them. This price is
for a limited time, so the board will have to discuss it
again later this year.
Bunny Jones gave a report on the conference which will be
held April 11, 2009 at the Senior Center, located on W.
Broadway. A sign up sheet for lunch will be available to
members at the April meeting of the PCGS.
The business portion of the meeting adjourned at 7:20
p.m. and Susan began presenting her program on
"Inventors of
Polk County: The Famous and Not-So-Famous." She had
a Power Point presentation that outlined the different
inventions that she had discovered in her research.
The next executive meeting will be held Monday, March 23
at 5 p.m.
The next regular meeting will be held Thursday, April 2
at 7 p.m. The program will be presented by Richard
Sunderwirth on "The Burning of Osceola,
Missouri."
The meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m.
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April
The regular meeting of the Polk County Genealogical
Society was held Thursday, April 2, 2009 at the PCGS
Library
on the square in Bolivar, MO. Vice-President Teresa
Barker called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. There
were 23
present, 20 members and 3 visitors. A list of those
attending is attached to the minutes.
Secretary Julie Trout read the minutes of the March
meeting. They were approved as read.
Treasurer Leta Gass read the financial report. A copy of
that report is attached. The total amount of the four
main
accounts of PCGS totaled $21,444.93. Income for March was
$1,279 and expenses were $1,102, so we actually
came out ahead for the month. There were 172 members as
of March 31; several were dropped because of non-
payment of dues but we are hoping to get some of those to
renew late.
The PCGS conference is next Saturday, April 11 at the
Senior Center. A sign-up sheet for lunch reservations at
the
conference is on the counter. If you want to have lunch
at the conference, we need to know! Julie read the
schedule
for the conference from the conference flyer. Extras are
located on the welcome counter.
The business portion of the meeting ended at 7:10 p.m.
Teresa introduced Richard Sunderwirth, our speaker for
the
evening. He gave a short biography of his life and how he
got interested in the Civil War. His program was entitled
"The Burning of Osceola, Missouri."
The next executive meeting will be held Monday, April 27
at 5 p.m.
The next regular meeting will be held Thursday, May 7 at
7 p.m.
The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.
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May
The regular meeting of the Polk County
Genealogical Society was held Thursday, May 7, 2009 at
the PCGS Library
on the square in Bolivar, MO. President Susan Sparks
called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. There were 21
present, 18 members and 3 visitors. A list of those
attending is attached to the minutes.
Secretary Julie Trout read the minutes of the April
meeting. They were approved as read.
Treasurer Leta Gass read the financial report. A copy of
that report is attached. The total amount of the four
main
accounts of PCGS totaled $21,627.83. Income for April was
$1,103.25; expenses were $880.28. The report on our
endowment fund shows a loss of over $1000 for this
quarter. Membership is 190 as of May 7.
We had a good time at the conference April 11. The count
on attendance was 85 people, which counts a few visitors
and family members. Bunny Jones did a good job with it.
If you have ideas for next year's conference, talk to
Bunny.
The theme for the showcase for the next few months is
childhood toys (dolls, stuffed animals, trucks, etc.). We
have
both cases to fill if needed, so we have lots of space!
Art in the Alley will be held this Saturday, May 9 around
the square. PCGS is a sponsor of the event and our own
Sue
Brown will have some of her paintings on display inside
our library building during the day. The event is free.
Roy Kirchner donated $600 to the group for the purchase
of more books for the library shelves. Greene Co., MO
funeral home record books have been purchased with part
of the money. A big thank-you to Roy!
The business portion of the meeting concluded at 7:25
p.m. and Susan introduced the speaker for the evening,
Peter
Nichols. He spoke on "The Medicinal Springs of Cedar
County." The two main springs were the ones at El
Dorado
Springs and Jerico Springs. He also had a slide
presentation of pictures of the springs.
A special presentation of roses for Mother's Day were
presented to the oldest mother, the youngest mother, the
mother with the most children and the mother with the
most grandchildren. They were provided by Teters Florist.
Thanks to Danny and Teresa for that!
The next executive business meeting will be held
Wednesday, May 27 at 5 p.m.
The next regular meeting will be held Thursday, June 4 at
7 p.m. The program will be presented by Ken White on
"Experiences with the Truman Family."
The PCGS picnic will be held Saturday, June 13 at
Dunnegan Park, main pavilion from 4 p.m. to whenever.
There
will be musical entertainment and lots of food. Bring
your families!
The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m.
Back to Top
June
The regular meeting of the Polk County Genealogical
Society was held Thursday, June 4, 2009 at the PCGS
Library
on the square in Bolivar, MO. President Susan Sparks
called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Introductions
were
made of all attendees with a mention of surnames people
are working on. There were 38 present, 35 members and 3
visitors. A list of those attending is attached to the
minutes.
Secretary Julie Trout read the minutes of the May
meeting. With two corrections made by Julie herself, they
were
approved as read.
Treasurer Leta Gass read the financial report. A copy of
that report is attached. The total amount of the four
main
accounts of PCGS totaled $20,856.68. In May, we spent
more than we earned with a loss of $496.23 but part of
that was a purchase of folders for the circuit court
records project. Membership is 197 as of June 4.
The picnic will be held on Saturday, June 13 at the first
pavilion in Dunnegan Park. Eat at 4 p.m. There will be
musical entertainment.
We ordered green plastic chairs from Roweton's Home
Center.
We are soliciting names for the "Our Ancestors"
section of the PCGS website. Members can list five
surnames and
one or two specific individuals.
We are putting surname registration charts in the family
files in the file cabinets. There is a space for the
date, name,
address, etc. and other surnames researching. We hope
this will help connect more researchers together.
The business portion of the meeting concluded at 7:35
p.m. and Leta read an introduction of our speaker Ken
White.
He has photographed 10 U.S. Presidents including
President Truman. Ken is a championship fisherman/angler
and
photographer. His program was entitled "Experiences
with the Truman Family: the Common and Uncommon
Couple."
The next regular meeting will be held Thursday, July 2 at
7 p.m. The program will be a member share time.
The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.
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July
The regular meeting of the Polk County Genealogical
Society was held Thursday, July 2, 2009 at the PCGS
Library
on the square in Bolivar, MO. President Susan Sparks
called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m. Two new members
were introduced. There were 20 present, 20 members and no
visitors. A list of those attending is attached to the
minutes.
Secretary Julie Trout read the minutes of the June
meeting. They were approved as read.
Treasurer Leta Gass read the financial report. A copy of
that report is attached. The total amount of the four
main
accounts of PCGS totaled $20,407.09. In June, there was
$640 in income and $1457 in expenses with a loss of
$817 for the month. $668 of the expense were spent on
paper, toner, folders and book purchases for the library.
One reason for the lower income is that people are coming
in and photocopying things instead of purchasing books.
Membership is 203 as of July 2.
The picnic was fun and another will be held next year.
Thanks to all who came, especially the musicians.
The contractor is waiting for dry weather to start work
on the steps. Hoping to start very soon.
If members have anything in the display case, they are to
pick it up as the Kewpie Dolls are arriving on Monday,
July 6 and there will be an Open House here at the
library on Saturday, July 11. The Kewpie Museum curator
will be here that day also to answer questions.
The library needs cleaning before the Open House, so
anyone that can help, please come in and do so.
Remember, the library is closed Saturday, July 4.
The business portion of the meeting concluded at 7:20
p.m. and the member share time began.
The next regular meeting will be held Thursday, August 6
at 7 p.m. The program will be presented by Charles Gass
on "Polk County Railroads."
The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
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August
The regular meeting of the Polk County
Genealogical Society was held Thursday August 6, 2009 at
the PCGS Library
on the Square in Bolivar, MO. Treasurer Leta Gass called
the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. A list of those in
attendance is attached. 23 in attendance, 19 members and
4 visitors. President Susan Sparks is absent due to
obligations at the Ozark Empire Fair.
Due to the absence of the secretary Julie Trout, Leta
asked Betty Doyle to fill in as secretary for the evening
and
read the minutes from the July meeting. They were
approved as read. (Julie's father-in-law passed away, so
she
is out of town attending to a family matter. Please keep
Julie and her family in your prayers.)
Treasurer Leta Gass read the financial report, where a
copy of that report is attached. The total amount of the
four
main accounts of the PCGS totaled $48,254.12. In July the
income was $6,008.16. Included in the income was
$5,000.00 from the Delarue money. Another donation of
$200.00 was made as a memorial. Expenses for the month
were $2,084.81. Some of the expenses include the renewal
of the service contract on the microfilm reader/printer
of
$700.00 and a new handle on the back door. The building
capacity fund is down to $1,000.00 because of the new
steps being installed. Our next building improvement will
be windows.
Membership is 205, with 2 new members.
From the executive minutes, Leta reported that the taxes
are done. The front steps are almost finished. We
purchased a new spinning book rack from Frogs and Friends
who are going out of business. The old rack
was donated to BAMA.
Doctor Hall sent a gift of 130 books and each person
present tonight is being asked to write a short thank you
note
to him. Notes are on the desk and Leta will address and
mail them. In October he will be 91 years old and we will
do
a card shower for him.
The board is looking for a computer for Julie's desk.
The Fire Department is giving us old record books and
maps to hold for them.
Ray Brown thanked everyone for the flowers sent for his
mother's funeral.
Neva Charlene Gardner is in the hospital, she had surgery
on her shoulder today.
Kelsey Bologna started in about 1890 and Cookin' From
Scratch has bought the recipe and will begin making it
again.
Joyce asked about the group picture and it was suggested
we call members and come at 6:30 p.m. next month for
the picture to be taken on the new steps outside in front
of the building.
The business portion of the meeting ended at 7:23 p.m.
and the program was presented by Charles Gass. His topic
was Polk County Railroads.
The next meeting will be September 3rd and the speaker
will be Debbi Roberts-McGinnis.
Respectfully, Betty Doyle
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September
The regular meeting of the Polk County
Genealogical Society was held Thursday, September 3, 2009
at the PCGS
Library on the square in Bolivar, MO. President Susan
Sparks called the meeting to order at 7:15 p.m. (A group
picture was taken outside on the new steps before the
meeting.) There were 33 present, 29 members and 4
visitors.
A list of those attending is attached.
Secretary Julie Trout read the minutes as taken by Betty
Doyle at the August meeting. With one date correction,
the
minutes were then approved.
Treasurer Leta Gass read the financial report. A copy of
that report is attached. The total amount of the four
main
accounts of PCGS totaled $26,263.81. The income for
August was $1,115.85 and expenses were $22,437.53,
which included paying for the replacement of the outside
stairs. Total expenses minus the building repair were
$1,057.53. Membership is 213 as of September 1.
Julie thanked everyone for the gift certificate given in
memory of her father-in-law.
We need volunteers to help run the library for the
upcoming events--Polk County Picnic, Business Expo., etc.
PCGS has moved shelves and furniture around, both
upstairs and downstairs, to make room for more shelf
space for
books, etc.
We are sending Dr. William Hall birthday cards for his
91st birthday starting at the end of September (his
birthday is
October 9).
We will be giving out candy on Saturday, October 31 for
trick or treaters, so please bring candy anytime between
now and then.
We are starting a First Families of Polk County project
and need someone to head up the committee.
Replacing the windows is our next big project. We have
received one bid from Bolivar Insulation and will receive
a
second bid from Mid-State Restoration. The likely cost to
replace all windows will be around $9000 to $10,000.
Please contact Bunny Jones with any ideas for the 2010
conference.
The business portion of the meeting concluded at 7:35
p.m. and Vice President Teresa Barker introduced Debbi
Roberts-McGinnis, Polk County Collector. Debbi gave a
history of counties, taxes and collectors and the
different
things the job entails.
The next regular meeting will be held Thursday, October 1
at 7 p.m. The program will be presented by member
James Whitman, who plans to talk about his trip to
England.
The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.
Back to Top
October
The regular meeting of the Polk County
Genealogical Society was held Thursday, October 1, 2009
at the PCGS
Library on the square in Bolivar, MO. President Susan
Sparks called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. There
were
21 members present. A list of those attending is
attached.
Secretary Julie Trout read the minutes of the September
meeting. They were approved as read.
Julie read the financial report. A copy of that report is
attached. The total amount of the four main accounts of
PCGS
totaled $27,244.87. That was a gain of $981.06 from the
August total. Membership is 217 as of September 30.
First Baptist Church will be holding a Trunk or Treat
celebration a block north of the square on Halloween.
That,
combined with all of the businesses around the square
(including PCGS) giving out candy on Halloween night will
make the square a very busy place.
We need candy to give out for Trick or Treaters. Bring
some soon!
Susan talked about the card shower for Dr. Hall's 91st
birthday coming up October 9. Cards and stamps were
available at every table if members wanted to
participate.
We need more Local Life articles!
James Whitman, head of the nominating committee,
presented the following slate of officers for 2010:
Susan Sparks for President
Ray Brown for Vice President
Leta Gass for Secretary
Julie Trout for Treasurer
Ben Gravely for Director-at-large
The floor was then opened for nominations and none were
given. Nominations were closed. The election will be
held at the November meeting.
The business portion of the meeting concluded at 7:20
p.m. and member James Whitman began speaking about his
trip to England (Christmas 2008). He went to visit his
daughter and her family.
The next regular meeting will be held Thursday, November
5 at 7 p.m. Elections will be held and then a program
will
likely be presented. The topic is to be announced.
The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m.
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November
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December
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