MECHANIC FALLS — Sunday’s meeting of the Mechanic Falls Historical Society may signal a turnabout in its fate.
Declining membership, the resignation of a few key officers, not much money in the checking account and an aging building in which to house its collection all combined to prompt society President Matthew Gary to call a meeting to gauge community support.
In his letter to the editor, which appeared in the Dec. 16 edition of the Sun Journal, society member Eriks Petersons laid it on the line:
“If the society cannot gain more public support, the existence of the society and the preservation of the building might not be a subject in the future,” Petersons wrote.
The building, the former First Congregational Church on Elm Street, was turned over to the town a few years ago when church members disbanded with the intent that the building be used by the Historical Society.
The Town Council, aware of the society’s precarious financial state, recently expressed concern about the society’s ability to take care of the building and the collection of historic artifacts it houses.
Town Councilor Nick Konstantoulakis addressed those at the meeting, saying that council members also wanted assurance that the society’s collection had been properly documented and that its financial records are being kept in proper order.
There were nine attendees at Sunday’s meeting — three times the attendees at the society’s meeting a month ago.
Due to increased public support, officers voted to take steps to place the society’s finances under the town’s umbrella with town Treasurer Lisa Prevost added to the checking account.
The society’s expenses will be reported to the town and its account audited in conjunction with the town’s annual audit.
It was agreed that the building will be closed for the winter in early January, following the few events planned by private citizens who have hired the hall for Christmas parties.
Once November’s electrical bill is paid, the society’s banking account will dip below $1,800 and, even at today’s low prices, paying for oil to heat the place is an unaffordable luxury, according to Petersons.
Petersons said that he would like to begin a proper inventory of the society’s collection in January, cataloging and documenting items with a digital camera.
Glenda Mitchell, who was among those who responded to Petersons’ appeal for public support and a recently retired office worker, agreed to help with the cataloging, once they figure out a suitable system.
Petersons led a brief tour of the building, opening boxes filled with old newspapers — copies of the Mechanic Falls Citizen, published from 1877 to 1881, and copies of the Ledger, dating from 1892 to 1909. He pointed to signs that once hung above the doors of now-defunct businesses and pulled out pictures of classes upon classes of former schoolchildren, some doubtless the ancestors of current students at Elm Street School.
“Preserving so much of the history of our town rests on the shoulders of such a small number of people,” Konstantoulakis said. “We need more volunteers.”
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