Annual Meeting 2016

Following the Pledge of Allegiance, Bob recognized 2016 Nancy Fike Scholarship winner Taylor Gordon. Taylor will be attending Miami (Ohio) University in the fall, where she plans to study political science.

Bob Frenz recognized outgoing board members Tom Behles, Jack Paul, Linnea Kooistra and Edith Varga for their service and provided an overview of the past year.

Kathy Bergan-Schmidt, Nancy Roozée and Grace Moline presented reports on membership, finance and the Historic Sites Committee, respectively, before Governance Committee Chairwoman Molly Walsh recognized outgoing board members. Molly thanked current board members, whose terms were expiring, for agreeing to remain on the board for another three years. They include Lonni Oldham, Judy Beth Hervert, Henry Kenyon, Dan Shea and Sue Richards. She then placed for nomination to the board Arlyn Booth, Kahled Elqunni, Marilyn Miller and Lisa Solak.

Former Administrator Kurt Begalka then gave his annual report before turning the podium back over to Bob Frenz who then introduced former administrator Nancy Fike, who shared her thoughts on Norma Doolittle Anderson. The estate of Norma and Glenn “Andy” Anderson made an extremely generous donation to the McHenry County Historical Society.

“When we get right down to it, the “face” of giving is a very personal “face,” Nancy said.  Now – in the moment – most of us here knew Norma Doolittle Anderson. We knew that she volunteered here faithfully every Tuesday for years. … To her credit, Norma remembered the details –  all kinds of details. She knew of and remembered connections between families. There wasn’t a fabric type she couldn’t identify or an old script she couldn’t decipher. And she regularly entertained herself by catching grammatical and spelling errors in the local newspaper – a proofreading skill that saved my bacon many times.

“… As we move beyond the moment when those memories of Norma are clear, those who follow after us may not remember the person, who along with others with names and faces who contributed talent, time, dedication and money. But they will appreciate and benefit from a first-rate local history research library, an outstanding collecotn, the preservation of original on-site structures and – most importantly – the continuing efforts to use education and participation to encourage the type of citizenship involvement that Norma so typified. Her “gift” makes possible the contributions of the next generation of Norma Doolittle Andersons.”

Norma Anderson, of Woodstock, died on April 18, 2016.

Roberta Wajrowski, trustee for the charitable trust trustee and co-executor of the Anderson estate, then presented a “treasure” box containing a costume pearl necklace (Norma’s “classy” side), dark chocolate candy bars (her sweet side) and the check. She thanked Nancy Fike for sharing her thoughts and added a few kind words of her own.

About 50 people attended this year's cookout and meeting ... moved to a Sunday afternoon in an effort to avoid mosquitoes.