OHIO LINCOLN HIGHWAY LEAGUE
Minutes for the April 29, 2006 Meeting
The Canton Club, Canton, Ohio

Pre-meeting
Registration and Fellowship began at 10:00 a.m.

At about 10:30 a.m., Jim Cassler (Canton) welcomed members and guests, then gave a brief history of the Canton Club, which overlooks Canton from near the top of the old First National Bank Building.  Brian Cassler (Canton) presented the colors and led the group with the Pledge of Allegiance.  The meeting was then turned over to Mike Buettner (Lima), OLHL President.

I.   Call To Order
The meeting was officially called to order by the president at 10:41 a.m. as a quorum (Article VII B) was met with at least ten members and at least two officers present.  OLHL Vice President Mike McNaull (Ashland) was not able to attend this year’s meeting, but all other officers were present.

II.  Officer and Director Reports
Treasurer's Report, as prepared by Michael Lester (Bucyrus):
Copies of the treasurer’s report were distributed to those in attendance, with critical numbers as follows:

Checking account –01/01/05  $4,296.81  
Checking account --12/31/05 $2,468.71  
2004 loss $1,828.10  

 It was explained that a large expense of $1,800.00 was made in 2005 for the purchase of additional Lincoln Highway Historic Byway signs, which are being posted on alternate (pre-1928) routes of the highway.  Otherwise, the treasury is generally breaking even.  For the benefit of new members in attendance, Rosemary Rubin (Canton) explained the relationship of local chapters to the national association, and the distribution of dues to individual states.

B.  Secretary’s Report, as prepared by Mike Buettner from notes by Tammy Buettner.
Copies of the minutes from the 2005 meeting (Upper Sandusky) were distributed to all in attendance.  Two months before the meeting, the minutes had also been posted on the OLHL web site.  The president sought a motion to accept said minutes as prepared.  Such a motion was made by Ezra Malernee (Canton), seconded by John Long (Canton), and approved.

C.  State Director Report, by Marie Malernee (Canton)
Marie reported that about twenty OLHL members attended the June 2005 national conference in Ely, Nevada—a tremendous number given Ohio’s distance from there.  In all, over 150 members and guests attended some part of the event.  The conference committee reported an income of $9,050.

The Lincoln Highway Association enjoyed an income of $145,531 in their most recent business year, including an anonymous donation of $100,000.  After expenditures of $49,790, a net income of $95,741 was reported for that year.  An endowment fund committee was established to determine how best to manage the large and extremely generous gift.

As of January 2006, there were 1,114 members in the national association, including about 135 from Ohio.  Unfortunately, Ohio’s membership has been dropping—from 166 in both 2003 and 2004 to 143 in 2005.  The entire group was challenged to get more people involved in the association.

The next national conference will be in Cedar Rapids, Iowa from June 14-17, 2006.  Because the host site can be reached within a long one day drive, there will be no organized travel plans as in 2005.

There will be a tourism conference at the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana on July 28-29, 2006.  Brian Butko will be a featured speaker.

III.  Chapter Reports
A.  In the absence of Mid-Ohio Chapter President Mike McNaull, chapter representative Richard Taylor (Mansfield) reported activities and news from that chapter, including the following:

Chapter meetings have been and will be continuing on a monthly basis (third Thursday).

Averaged about twenty people per meeting in 2005.

There are 35 current dues-paying members in the chapter.

The May meeting featured a road trip to the Warther Museum in Dover.

The June meeting featured a book-signing by Brian Butko at “Main Street Books” in Mansfield.

Repairs were made at the Hopley Monument in Bucyrus, and flowers were also planted.  The monument has suffered from deterioration of the mortar, and some stones were starting to fall out.

Repainted Lincoln Highway ceramic markers in railroad underpasses at Bucyrus.

Cleaned brick section of roadway on pre-1928 alignment between Ashland and Mansfield.  Push brooms, power brooms, and shovels were used to clean this section which dates back to about 1922.

In August, participated in Lincoln Highway Yard Sale event.

Formed committee to identify best places for additional Lincoln Highway signs in chapter area.

In October, had joint meeting with Eastern Ohio Chapter.

Two members attended a ribbon-cutting for several miles of new four-lane U.S. 30 alignment east of Wooster.

Chapter agreed to donate $500 to Ohio Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor toward matching funds for additional Lincoln Highway signs on both the 1928 route and the various pre-1928 routes.

Bev Looker continues to publish the chapter newsletter on a monthly basis.

Mary Lou Taylor continues to serve as the secretary/treasurer of the chapter.

Richard Taylor continues to serve as vice-president of the chapter, and also continues to offer cast medallions and concrete posts.

B.   Eastern Ohio Chapter President Jeff Lotze (Louisville) reported activities and news from that chapter, including the following:

In May, met at Classic 57 Restaurant in Minerva for a dinner and business meeting.

In June, manned a Lincoln Highway information booth in Minerva for annual Cross-County Cruise.

In June, eight chapter members traveled west to Nevada for national conference.  With so many members traveling, no monthly meeting was held.

In July, Tom Kishman (Minerva) hosted a well-attended picnic at his home.

In July, manned a Lincoln Highway information booth in Massillon during the annual Historic Fourth Street Festival.

In August, the second annual Road Rally was held.  It covered western Stark County and eastern Wayne County, and ended with a cookout and awards ceremony at the park in Dalton.

In September, met at park in East Rochester.  Ed Cannane (Massillon) gave a short program on his recent cross-country trip along the Lincoln Highway.

In October, met at TJ’s Restaurant in Wooster for the annual joint meeting with Mid-Ohio Chapter.  Jeff Lotze presented a digital slide show of his June trip to and from the national conference in Nevada.  There was also an auction of items donated by the Lincoln Highway Trading Post to help raise money for additional Lincoln Highway signs.

In November, Bob Lichty and Rosemary Rubin opened up their home for a terrific dinner.  Following the business meeting, members made the trip across the street to Taggart’s Restaurant for ice cream.

In December, the annual Christmas Dinner Meeting was held at the Spread Eagle Tavern in Hanoverton.

In January, met at Classic 57 Restaurant in Minerva to make plans for the calendar year.

In February, a family movie night and covered dish dinner was held at the grange hall in Robertsville.  The movie was the 1954 hit The Long, Long Trailer starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.  There is a one-time mention of the Lincoln Highway in this film.

In March, met at Das Dutch Kitchen near Dalton for dinner, then toured the buildings of the Dalton Historical Society.  Of interest to the group were many old pictures of the Lincoln Highway.

 In April, met at Napoli’s Italian Restaurant in Canton.  After an enjoyable meal, final plans were made for the annual state meeting.

Hosted annual holiday dinner at Spread Eagle Tavern (Hanoverton) in December 2004.

IV. Other Reports
In addition to the director’s report by Marie Malernee, Rosemary Rubin reported some other national news of interest in the absence of husband and LHA President Bob Lichty (Canton), who was away on business.

 Regarding the Ohio Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor, Mike Hocker gave a report on the continuing successes of that group during the past calendar year, especially highlighting the yard sale event in August 2005, which will be repeated and expanded (into Indiana) in August 2006.  A tourism conference was held on April 26 in Wooster was well attended by about sixty folks from all parts of the Lincoln Highway corridor in Ohio.  OLHHC Officer and OLHL member Jim Cassler challenged his fellow members to consider creative ideas such as membership booths in order to promote the Lincoln Highway Association and chapter activities.  Mike Hocker further discussed ideas already in the works include a postal cancellation, scavenger hunt, letterboxing, and a barn-painting by Scott Hagan, who previously painted the Bicentennial Barns in all of Ohio’s 88 counties.

Regarding U.S. Route 30 improvements, Mike Buettner gave his annual update of projects based on information posted at the Ohio Department of Transportation web site at http://dot.state.oh.us/us30/.  With the opening of the new four-lane routes between Bucyrus and Ontario and between Wooster and Riceland, only one section of four-lane highway is now incomplete between Fort Wayne and East Canton—the stretch between Ada and Upper Sandusky.  This section of highway should be opened in late 2007.  Mike also reported that his employer will be doing a design for a replacement bridge over the railroad at Williamstown.  This is the thirteenth bridge job that the firm has had along the Lincoln Highway/U.S. 30 since Mike started working for them in 1978.

V.  New Business
OLHL will once again be subsidizing State Director Marie Malernee’s trip to the national conference.  This is a practice which began in 2005, and will be considered on an annual basis.  It was agreed that $300 would once again be a fair amount for this subsidy.  This came as a result of a motion by Rosemary Rubin, seconded by Jim Metzger (Lima), and passed.

Jim Ross reported that it is becoming difficult to cover expenses for the OLHL web site.  For the past several years, Jim Ross (North Canton) has graciously covered web site expense out of his own pocket.  Russell Rein (Ypsilanti, MI) will be in discussions with Jim regarding a possible solution to the web site expense.  It was agreed that if Jim chooses to continue making payments for the web site, an annual reimbursement not to exceed $500 would be set aside from the OLHL treasury for that purpose.  This came as a result of a motion by Rosemary Rubin, seconded by Mike Hocker, and passed.

All current officers were re-elected for the upcoming year.  This came as a result of a motion by Richard Taylor, seconded by Rosemary Rubin, and passed.  Officers through our next meeting in April 2007 are as follows:

Michael Buettner President  
Michael McNaull Vice President  
Michael Lester Treasurer  
Mrs. Michael (Tammy) Buettner  Secretary  

It was announced that Mike Buettner will continue his appointment as newsletter editor, and that Jim Ross will continue his appointment as webmaster, both through April 2007.  These appointments were made by the executive committee.

It was agreed that the next annual meeting of the Ohio Lincoln Highway League will be hosted by OLHL members from the western counties of Ohio, including Van Wert County and Allen County.  The date for the meeting will be either Saturday, April 21, 2007, or Saturday, April 28, 2007.

VI.   Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 11:55 a.m.  It was reported that 33 members and guests were in attendance for this year’s events.

 Post-meeting
With Jim Cassler serving as master of ceremonies, Jeff Lotze serving as scorekeeper, Brian Cassler monitoring the electronic equipment, and Ken Flanagan (East Canton) impersonating Vanna White, the Eastern Ohio Chapter presented the inaugural Lincoln Highway Jeopardy game.  Three teams of three members each took turns at providing questions for thirty interesting answers before the Mid-Ohio Chapter finally claimed a hard-fought victory after Final Jeopardy. 

The team from the Eastern Ohio Chapter and a team which included OLHL members from the western hinterlands (Allen County and Michigan) both lost all their points on the final answer.  The winning Mid-Ohio Chapter team included  Mike Hocker, Michael Lester, and Tom Lockard.  Generous gift certificates were awarded to the winners.  Door prizes were then distributed to almost everyone in attendance, with no family going home without some gift. 

The chapter was congratulated for their great effort in making it an enjoyable afternoon for all, with good food and lots of laughter in a first-rate location fourteen floors above the Lincoln Highway.  The group then had the option of visiting one of three local attractions: the First Ladies National Historic Site, the Canton Classic Car Museum, or Bob Lichty’s Motorcar Portfolio.  All attractions were within walking distance of the meeting location. 

Most folks were heading for home by 4:00 p.m. to close out a pleasant spring afternoon.

Prepared by President Mike Buettner from the notes of Secretary Tammy Buettner.

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