Tower-Soudan Historical Society's Annual Meeting
The information below was provided by TSHS.
Get “FIRED UP” about Tower’s Historic Fire Hall!!
The annual dinner meeting of the Society will be held at the Tower Civic
Center on Tuesday, September 18, 2018. Social time starts at 5:00 PM;
silent auction items will be available for bid. Our presentation and
guest speakers starting at 5:30. This year’s meeting will focus on
Tower’s historic fire hall, which the Society purchased in 2015. Tower’s
fire hall is the oldest historic public building north of Duluth! The
theme of this year’s meeting, which is free and open to the public, is
“Historic Fire Hall Restoration, Our History and our Future”. There will
be a power point tour of the fire hall, highlighting historic photos,
existing conditions, and future restoration plans. Presenters will be
historian Leone Graf and grant writer Nancy Larson.
Leone Graf has a MA degree in Historic Preservation and a BS in
construction, as well as extensive hands-on work experience. She has a
background in historic restoration and restoration construction, has
managed projects for other registered buildings and national landmarks,
and is meticulous in applying her expertise and historic restoration
methods in projects. She is very knowledgeable about historical
characteristics and has conducted an assessment on building conditions of
the historic Tower Depot-Museum (formerly the Tower Passenger Station), as
well as a feasibility study of the historic fire hall in Tower. She has
experience as a curator with Savannah Georgia's Coastal Heritage Society
and their two national landmark facilities. Currently she serves as
president of the St. Louis County Historical Society.
Nancy Larson is a citizen volunteer and Vice-President of the Tower-Soudan
Historical Society. She has over 30 years of community and economic
development experience. She directed the St. Louis County Community
Development and Housing activities for 16 years and facilitated the
development of several housing projects in northern Minnesota. She was
instrumental in establishing and managing the St. Louis County Housing and
Redevelopment Authority for 15 years. Currently she is the CEO of
Community Coaching Inc, a planning and development and health/wellness
corporation in Minnesota. She assists nonprofit organizations and
communities in planning and creating projects, and develops grant
applications to secure financing. Nancy grew up in Tower and has many
memories of the Tower fire hall when it served as Tower's Recreation
building. She travels each winter and lives in Soudan and on Lake
Vermilion's Ely Island in the summer.
Dinner will be served at approximately 6:30 PM and features a champagne
chicken and beef au jus buffet catered by Chef Marko Stefanich. There is
a $15 cost (payable that evening) for the dinner, which is open to all.
Dinner reservations are required and must be made in advance; please call
TSHS at 218 753-5021 by Monday, September 10, and leave a message with
your name, phone contact, and number of attendees.
Immediately following dinner, members of the Historical Society will hold
their annual meeting with a summary of the year’s activities, election of
board members, and voting on a Bylaws amendment. See next page for Bylaws
information.
TSHS membership dues for 2019 will be accepted at the annual meeting. A
single membership is $10.00, and a family membership is $20.00.
Additional note:
Bylaws Amendment:
One proposed Bylaws amendment has been filed with secretary Linda Folstad.
The amendment will eliminate mandatory limits on the number of
consecutive terms Board Directors may serve. The amendment will remove
the last sentence from the following Bylaw:
V. GOVERNANCE, MEETINGS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS
G. The directors shall be elected at the annual meeting by the membership
for three-year terms except that directors may be elected for terms of one
(1) or two (2) years when necessary to bring about the expiration of
one-third of the directors each year. Directors shall hold office until
their successors have been elected. In the event of a vacancy arising in
any office, it may be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term
through selection by the Board. No person should be elected a director of
the Society for more than two (2) full consecutive terms, but any person
who has served two (2) consecutive terms may again be elected as a
director after a lapse of one (1) year.
