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At the April 22, 2009, meeting for the 200th we will discuss Memorial Day publications and events, including the May 24 house tour, street party and church service, the walking tour brochure and web site, the “Boalsburg Then and Now” photo publication, historical research into earliest Boalsburg, a 200th logo by Todd Smith, Music at the Boal Mansion (Saturday, May 2 at 8 pm), "The Columbus Capers," a Boalsburg play for the 200th in May at the Boal Barn, the Fireman’s Parade with floats with a Boalsburg 200^th theme, etc.

Tickets will be available for the Sunday, May 24, Boalsburg Historic House Tour a week before the event at the stores on the square in Boalsburg, or by sending a check for $10 per person made out to “Boalsburg Village Conservancy” PO Box 451, Boalsburg PA 16827. Mark “May 24 tour” in the memo section of the check. Tickets ordered by mail will be on a “will call” basis on starting at 1 pm on May 24 at the House Tour information table at the Boal Mansion Museum.

We’ll also discuss what form publication of all the historical data we are gathering should take. Jim Keener has been in touch with Arcadia Publishing and will send a report on his findings of their offerings.

Agenda for the February 5, 2009, meeting of the Boalsburg 200th Committee:

1) The historic houses walking tour brochure. Bob Cameron. Can we get the information edited into a brochure and printed by May 25? And can we get the bigger database on a CD and on a web site for further reference? Does Bob need help with this? If so, what kind of help and who's available? Historic houses tour and street party Sunday, May

2): Katie Ellis and her committee. Which houses? Do they need volunteers to be in the houses. We should request a street closing from the Township very soon (it must be done well in advance of May 24). What sort of publicity do we need to make it well attended? (Coordinate with Memorial Day publicity).

3) Boalsburg Then and Now photo project, Bill Wallace, Greg Fredericks, Harvey Manbeck: Scanning and cataloguing has been taking place. What should the finished product be? A CD? Something more -- anything on paper? How shall we get it out to the public?

4) Boalsburg Fire Company parade, Saturday, May 23, 5 pm. Ben Smith of the Fire Co will include in the invitation a call to all Harris Township neighborhoods and organizations to organize a float or a marching group on the theme of "Boalsburg: 200 Years of Community" or some subset therein ("200 Years of Agriculture, of Transportation, etc."). What can we do beyond that to encourage a good turnout to celebrate the 200 years with the Fire Company?

5) The earliest land records of Boalsburg: Connie Randolph has to put the project aside at this time for family health reasons but hopes to return to it another time. However, Penn State history intern Patrick Miller has been invited to attend and update us on the latest results of his deed searches for a chain of title from the 1766 applications for the tracts of land called Harmony, Success and Union by Thomas and Benjamin Poultney and Thomas Scidmore underlying what is now the village square, David Boal's 1804 tavern and the Boal Estate. Ideally, he will have deed names and dates and acreages -- solid data that will confirm or refute the traditional folklore about the earliest days and tell an interesting story about the origins of this community. Patrick is also doing a little research on the origins of the Yoder Preserve tract for the Harris Township Parks and Rec Committee.

6) A report on the very successful October 200th Birthday Street Party and Ball. The street party was attended by a large number of community groups and residents and the ball yielded a $750.00 donation from the Boal Mansion Museum to the Boalsburg Village Conservancy for the Boalsburg 200th.

7) Stephanie Yager who is doing the documentary on the Boalsburg 200th to air on C-Net after Memorial Day has been invited to attend and update us on that project.

8) Todd Smith has been invited to show us his draft of a Boalsburg 200th logo.

9) Bob Igo of the planning commission has been invited to report on the planning commission's vision session for Boalsburg's future.

10) Jerry Sawyer will report on his Boalsburg mystery drama set in Boalsburg and Charles Dumas has been invited to discuss his play about the Boal family history.

11) John Wainright will report on Memorial Day activities (the Memorial Day committee is meeting the day before, on Feb 4).

Other activities in planning include a nature day in May, a concert and reception at the Boal Mansion in May celebrating 200 years of music in America and whatever else is of interest to the group (please contact me with your suggestions).

Christopher Lee, Chair