Canaan
Historical Society Meeting of June 25, 2007
The meeting was called to order by President Dan Fleetham at
7:00 p.m. in the Canaan Museum.
Members present: President Dan Fleetham Sr., Vice-President
John Ricard, Recording Secretary Carol Bergeron, Historian and Corresponding
Secretary Donna Zani Dunkerton, and members: Pete & Betty Cummings, Dan
Fleetham, Jr., Louise Kremzner, and Bob and Lorna Terhune.
The minutes of the April 23rd meeting were reviewed and
approved.
Old
Business: Donna has located a Certificate that shows the MuseumÕs
registration in the National Register of Historical Places. Donna will pursue the steps for getting
a plaque for the building.
John Ricard reported on the Society sponsored program
ÒRemember the Fire DayÓ.
Approximately 73 people attended the narration and slide show that
described the devastation of downtown Canaan during the fire of June 2, 1923.
John provided the narration and Ed Lary showed slides that belonged to Mary
Dinerman. Forty-eight buildings
were destroyed and two people killed in the three hours that the fire
raged. Fifteen hundred
firefighters from as far away as Concord came to the townÕs aid. The program, held at the Senior Center,
ended with a lunch, under the direction of Jackie Lary, and a walking tour of
the fire area given by John.
Following his report, the members thanked John for all his
work in producing a successful and memorable program. It was also mentioned that other events in CanaanÕs history,
such as the train wrecks of 1907 and 1949 would provide interesting programs.
New
Business: The physical condition of the Museum building is of
concern. The town has a Capital
Improvements Program which is aware of the building's problems but the members
are concerned about getting the columns repaired as soon as possible. John Bergeron will be asked to give Dan
Fleetham a copy of the report.
A motion was made and approved to authorize Donna to
purchase a vacuum cleaner for the Museum.
Donna noted it might be time to apply again to Mascoma Bank
for a grant.
Discussion followed to plan a meeting in August which would
combine a visit to the Meeting House, with lecture by Tom Geoghagen. Following that, the group would move to
the Museum for refreshments and a talk on the History of the Museum. Lorna, Louise, and Carol will work on
this
Dan, Jr., acquainted us with the Sullivan Museum &
History Center of Norwich University in Northfield VT. Also, he reminded us of the Vermont
History Expo in Tunbridge Vt. the third weekend in June.
Meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Carol Bergeron