November 9, 2023
TABERNACLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY REGULAR MEETING MINUTES 11-9-2023
President Franzen called the meeting to order at 7:00 followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence.
Members Present:
Rick Franzen James Cuviello Bill Sprague
Mary Ann Silvers Eileen Chesla Barbara Toms
Gail Corey Carolyn Cuviello Sue Shannon
Bill Berlin Ann Franzen Carol Riener
Members present silently read the highlights from the minutes of the previous meeting. A motion was made by Ann Franzen to accept the minutes with some changes and seconded by Bill Sprague. The motion was unanimously approved.
The Treasurer’s Report was read into the record. There was a beginning balance of $17,662.41, .17 interest earned and $653.49 in expenditures leaving an ending balance of $17,009.09. Mary Ann explained that $6,734.85 from the balance belongs to the Cemetery Fund and that a new account to hold grant monies received was opened with $100.00 on 6-23-22023. A motion was made by Jim Cuviello and seconded by Bill Sprague to accept the report which was unanimously approved.
OLD BUSINESS
There were no new members to report.
One of the grants that we received regarding the African American Cemetery was changed to an Incubation Grant earmarked to do research on the cemetery and those buried there. A discussion was held regarding an available History Community Project Grant. The application is due 1-13-2024. Rick suggested that we hold off on pursuing it for now.
Rick showed the membership a picture of the results of the GPR study done at the African American Cemetery. We are waiting for a written report as they potentially have found the footing for a church.
We have not heard from the Eagle Scout who was interested in pursuing a project with us.
The road signs are done. A discussion was held regarding giving away or selling the old signs. It was decided that members would receive the old signs at no cost if they so desired and any others would be sold at a cost of $25.00 ea.
A discussion was held about soliciting donations of $150.00 ea. in order to digitize 10 more rolls of film.
The town Christmas Tree will be put up on 12-1-2023. Volunteers were solicited to help decorate it. The Senior dinner for over 60’s will be held on 12-10-2023. Some of the invitations are out but you can still call to get on the list. The House Decorating Contest may open to on-line voting and a map will still be published.
Jim and Caroline Cuviello cleaned up 2 roads for which we received funds from the Township.
A discussion was held about doing a field trip to Friendship Bogs. Do we like the idea of continuing these trips? The idea was met with great enthusiasm. We may be able to go to Apple Pie Hill in January.
A follow up discussion was held about members visiting local Historical Society Museums.
Mary Ann is working on the Auto Tour Brochure. There is a balance of $402.00 left to complete the project. She will find out how much it will cost to have them printed.
There is a New Jersy State Library Program “Get to know your local Historical Society” where, if we participate, we can post information about us, resources available etc. We can also post a video about our organization. We discussed maybe have a school student or Eagle Scout film Mary Ann on our behalf.
NEW BUSINESS
Bill Sprague donated a candle stick phone for display at the Pepper House.
Mary Ann talked to the bee keeper about the School House Honey. A discussion was held about purchasing and potential pricing: 6 oz. – 12 for $40.00, 12 oz. – 12 for $72.00 – 1 lb. 12 for $96.00 – 2 lbs. we have to get a price. It was decided to purchase 3 cases with pricing to be determined.
The next meeting will be our Winter Social held at Jim and Carolyns house on 12-14-2023.
We discussed donating 3-or 4 sets of dishes to the Seniors for gifts/prizes for their Social.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:05
Respectfully submitted,
Carol Riener
Secretary
October 12, 2023
TABERNACLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY REGULAR MEETING MINUTES 10-12-2023
President Franzen called the meeting to order at 7:00 followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence.
Members Present:
Rick Franzen James Cuviello
Mary Ann Silvers Stephen Cramer Eileen Chesla
Gail Corey Carolyn Cuviello
Bill Sprague Ann Franzen
Members present silently read the highlights from the minutes of the previous meeting. A motion was made by Jim Cuviello to accept the minutes and seconded by Bill Sprague. The motion was unanimously approved.
The Treasurer’s Report was read into the record. There was a beginning balance of $22,510.81, .18 in revenue and $4,848.58 in expenditures leaving an ending balance of $17,662.41. Mary Ann explained that grant monies will be held in a special bank account to keep expenditures from grant monies clear. President Franzen explained that $6,500.00 in grant money went to digitization and webpage improvements. He also reported that the webpage consultant donated his $300.00 fee back to us. A motion was made by Gail Corey and seconded by Eileen Chesla to accept the report which was unanimously approved.
We have 3 new members to welcome: we now have 20 total memberships and another 15 lifetime members.
OLD BUSINESS
Gail Corey reported the New Jersey Council on Humanities grant application will be for oral histories of the families of those buried in the African American Cemetery. Also going to do a GPR study to determine burials and available space. The deadline was extended to 10-24-2023. A grant for digitization and map restoration is also being applied for.
Rick reported that GPR was done at the African American Cemetery and that it took several hours. The cemetery may extend into the woods. We are waiting for the written report.
We received a letter from the Pinelands Commission thanking us for the letter we sent in support of a grant they are seeking.
An Eagle Scout will be making a sign for the AME cemetery.
The township will be paying for 4 of the historical markers in need of replacement. We will be paying for 3 at the cost of $ 202.50 each.
The New Jersey Mirror and Central Record historic issues have been digitalized. They are a source of much information for us especially information about Friendship Mill as an 1877 history of the mill was discovered in the newspaper files.
John Drudig reorganized our history of schools on our webpage to integrate new information from newspapers.
The Friendship School House has been painted as well as the windows of the Pepper House.
The Road cleanup has been cancelled for now. There are not enough volunteers on same day.
NEW BUSINESS
Volunteers are solicited to go on a road trip in November as well as to visit local Historical Society Museums.
Mary Ann is developing a self-guided auto tour brochure. We will use the $300.00 speaker fees to publish this.
The New Jersey State Library will register historical societies and list their collections. Gail Corey said this would benefit us and generate more interest in our Society.
Meeting was adjourned at 7:40.
A special thank you to Ann Franzen for taking the minutes while I was out of town.
Respectfully submitted,
Carol Riener
Secretary
August 9, 2023
TABERNACLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY AD HOC ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING AUGUST 9, 2023
President Franzen called the meeting to order at 6:35.
Members present:
Rick Franzen Mary Ann Silvers Bill Sprague
Gail Corey Carol Riener
Jim Cuviello Ann Franzen
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
We received 2 estimates for painting the Pepper House and it was decided to go with the $2500.00 estimate from Mike’s Painting out of Southampton.
A Seneca HS student is wanting to do his community service hours with the THS. The thought is to have him organize some of our archives as well as any other projects we can come up with.
The School House was partially painted until a hive of some 60,000 to 80,000 bees was discovered in the wall. A beekeeper was called and the bees removed. The rest of the repair and painting were able to be completed. We would like to sell the honey as a fundraiser.
Gail reported that an organization is conducting African American Church tours. The group has a database of African American cemeteries which may be useful to us.
4 or 5 people toured the Friendship Sawmill site. We may try to do another tour in the Fall.
Mary Ann updated/created a brochure for our driving tour. She asked for corrections. The brochure will be available on the web site and in paper form.
Rick asked for feedback from the Farm Fair. All agreed that it was not a money maker but that the exposure was worth the effort. We will plan to try to do it again next year.
A Medford Eagle Scout contacted Rick with regard to the African American Cemetery. Rick put him in touch the people who are maintaining it.
No word on the Town Hall subcommittee.
A limited GPR study was done at the cemetery to see if there was a burial plot available for a resident who inquired. Carol and Greg will look at the fence posts and see what needs repaired.
Mary Ann brought a basket that was made by Indian Ann and donated by Art and Brenda Allen. We will be displaying it.
There are 25 rolls of microfilm we would like to have digitized.
Gail reported that the recreators for our Fall event are waiting to hear from us to book a date. We are looking at October 2024. Although they do not charge it was agreed a donation to would be given. Gail is looking for some grant monies to help finance the event.
Rick was contacted by the Woodland Historical Society who proposed opening discussions about consolidating their group with ours. It was unanimously decided that we would remain autonomous.
The FY 2024 Grant from the County was discussed. We will ask for $750.00 for the Driving Tour Brochure that Mary Ann is making. Jim suggested that the map at the Friendship School is in need of repair. Carol said she would look into getting an estimate to see if it can be included. We would also like to secure funds to get more Pension Records.
Gail will be sending a letter of intent to the NJ Council for the Humanities regarding securing Grant Funds for the African American Cemetery.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:40.
Respectfully submitted,
Carol Riener
Secretary.
June 8, 2023
TABERNACLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY REGULAR MEETING MINUTES 6-8-2023
President Franzen called the meeting to order at 7:05 followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence.
Members Present:
Rick Franzen Noble McNaughton James Cuviello
Mary Ann Silvers Colleen McCourt Stephen Cramer
Carol Riener Sue Shannon Eileen Chesla
Gail Corey Carolyn Cuviello Kim Brown
Bill Sprague Lisa Giafaglione Ann Franzen
The Secretary read the highlights from the minutes of the 5-11-23 meeting.
A motion was made by Bill Sprague to accept the minutes and seconded by Ann Franzen. The motion was unanimously approved.
The Treasurer’s Report was read into the record. There was a beginning balance of $20,470.05, $353.52 in revenue and $414.80 in expenditures leaving an ending balance of $20,408.77. A motion was made by Jim Cuviello and seconded by Gail Corey to accept the report which was unanimously approved.
Jim Cuviello reported that we have received our last Amazon Smile revenue.
A thank you note was received from John Druding for payment he received for working on our web site. He graciously returned the monies.
OLD BUSINESS
A discussion was held regarding the various grants we are seeking including reapplying for the grant we received last year from the County as well as applying for a grant from the National Endowment for The Arts. We also discussed attempting to obtain grant monies for the Civil War Reenactor Program we would like to do in the Fall. Rick noted that Gail has helped us receive over $9500.00 in grant monies so far and for that we are all grateful.
Rick indicated that he had met with the Township regarding some of the historical signs in need of replacement.
Sue Shannon reported that the Piney Movie is scheduled for 9-14-23.
Mary Ann has reached out to several painters with regard to the Pepper House with no response. Carol will reach out to Mike’s Painting for an estimate.
The painting of the Friendship Schoolhouse is scheduled for June 16th with a back up date of June 19th. Either day will begin at 9:00.
Rick inquired if anyone would be interested in touring the old Sawmill site located on the Camp Inewendewin Property on Foxchase Rd. The proposed dates are July 7th or July 14th. Anyone attending a meeting is welcome to join in.
A discussion was held regarding the African American Heritage Trail and whether or not we could get the African American Cemetery listed on it.
A lengthy discussion was held regarding the proposed Reenactor Event. Everyone is very enthusiastic about trying to implement it. Many ideas have been floated and the details will need to be ironed out once a date is picked and we secure the Reenactors.
Rick brought us up to date on the use of the GPR at the Old Cemetery. The grave sites of the Foulk Family were surveyed at the request of Barry Foulk who would like to be buried there.
Rick inquired as to whether anyone had done their museum visit: no one has.
Mary Ann reported that she has been taking 8-week Collection Management course writing policies about our donated collections with Melissa Bozarth from the Burlington County Lyceum starting April 20, 2023 to June 8, 2023.
Noble McNaughten explained how he happened to secure a building that was located behind Scoots Liquors and was part of an old Motel. He uses it as a pool house.
NEW BUSINESS
Mary Ann will reach out to the family of Brenda Allen to see if they would be interested in represent us at the wreath laying on Carranza Day.
A fascinating video was presented of an interview of Jean Holloway who lived at Sandy Ridge until 1941. Her recollections of the area back then were vivid and interesting to listen to.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:35.
Respectfully submitted,
Carol Riener Secretary
May 22, 2023
TABERNACLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY AD HOC ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MAY 22, 2023
President Franzen called the meeting to order at 7:05.
Members present:
Rick Franzen Mary Ann Silvers
Gail Corey Carol Riener
Jim Cuviello
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
Rick and Gail presented the committee with various grant options that may be available to us including a grant from the USDA. There are many very specific parameters that must be meet in order to qualify including socioeconomic requirements that we may or may not be able to fulfill. A lengthy discussion ensued with regard to the complexities of some of the grants and it was ultimately decided that we should pursue any grant opportunities that we are able to find.
We discussed the plans for the Memorial Day Parade and celebrations and whether or not we should open the Pepper House for tours. Both Mary Ann and Gail said they would be able to staff the house and Rick and Jim would be able to join them after their obligations.
Carol will ask H.L. from camp Inawendiwin about a tour for Life Members.
We received an email from Barry Foulks inquiring about the possibility of laying his sister to rest in the old Tabernacle Cemetery as she is very ill. We discussed using the GPR to at the Foulks plot as well.
Jim and Carol are going to visit two of the local museums, take pictures and report back.
Rick discussed a booth at the Burlington County Farm Fair and asked for any volunteers to help man it.
We discussed giving John Drudig a $300.00 gift card from Amazon for all of the work he put into our web site.
We had a discussion about perhaps having Civil War reenactors stations in the Old Tabernacle Cemetery doing commentary on individuals buried there. This was met very enthusiastically by all and Gail is going to look into a grant for funding.
Mary Ann discussed the need to update our brochure.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00.
Respectfully submitted,
Carol Riener
Secretary
May 11, 2023
TABERNACLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY REGULAR MEETING MINUTES 5-11-2023
President Franzen called the meeting to order at 7:10 followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence.
Members Present:
Rick Franzen Noble McNaughton James Cuviello
Mary Ann Silvers Colleen McCourt Keith Zane
Carol Riener Sue Shannon Eileen Chesla
Gail Corey Carolyn Cuviello Kim Brown
Bill Sprague
The Secretary read the highlights from the minutes of the 4-13-23 meeting.
A motion was made by Jim Cuviello to accept the minutes and seconded by Bill Sprague. The motion was unanimously approved.
The Treasurer’s Report was read into the record. There was a beginning balance of $20358.12, .16 interest, $224.33 in revenue and $112.40 in expenditures leaving an ending balance of $20470.05. A motion was made by Eileen Chesla and seconded by Sue Shannon to accept the report which was unanimously approved.
OLD BUSINESS
President Franzen acknowledged our new members some of whom were in attendance.
There was a lively discussion with regards to the disposition of the currently closed Township Building. While many ideas were presented it was decided it was best to wait to see which way the Township Committee intended to proceed before we explored further.
Various Grants were discussed by Gail and Rick:
The Dreyfuss Grant for the digitization project has been submitted but we won’t hear until the fall.
T-Mobile offers a grant up to 50K for a museum but we will wait on that.
Grant from County Commissioners – out of the $78000 available we received $6500:
$4500 – structural work
$300 – web consultant
$480 – pension files
$300 – lecturers
$300 – brochures
$700 – signage
Rick advised that the structural work on the Pepper House had been done by the Township and he would like to reallocate those funds to the digitization project. He also indicated that he would see whose budget the new road signs would come out of.
Jim reported that the road cleanup was a success and maybe we could add another road, perhaps Tuckerton, for the Fall cleanup.
We discussed the replacement signage needed as was previously noted in the minutes.
Sue Shannon went to see the Pine Barrens Film and enjoyed it. Our tentative date for showing it is 9-12-23. A discussion ensued about whether we should charge but it was decided that we would take reservations in advance up to 50 people and ask for donations.
The 3rd grade trip is off for this year.
Rick reported that the trip to Sandy Ridge was a success and he would like to have another “field trip” for Life Members at either the Saw Mill site on Foxchase or Friendship on Carranza.
Plans were discussed for the repainting of the one room Schoolhouse. Carol will make arrangements to get the paint etc. Rick will coordinate the date with the volunteers.
We discussed the identification of the arrowheads and artifacts we have in our possession.
Some funding is being secured for inviting speakers to our meetings in the future.
RFQ’s are being solicited for the painting that needs to be done at the Pepper House.
NEW BUSINESS
The Memorial Day Parade is being planned. We need someone to do the wreath laying. It was decided that President Franzen would represent us and do the honors.
We discussed the use of GPR at the cemeteries we are currently involved in concentrating on the African American Cemetery located on Caranza.
Since some of the grants we are attempting to secure are for museums, Rick asked for volunteers to “scout” some of the other museums in the area for ideas for presentations should we be able to secure both a location and funding for one of our own. Several people volunteered to visit the locations.
The THS was able to secure the pension records for George Ayers.
We received a donation of depression glass.
John Druding has been and will continue to work on our web site.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 followed by refreshments and discussion.
Submitted by:
Carol Riener
Secretary
March 9, 2023
TABERNACLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY AD HOC ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MARCH 9, 2023
President Franzen called the meeting to order at 7:05.
Members present:
Rick Franzen Ann Franzen Mary Ann Silvers
Gail Corey Carol Riener Carolyn Cuviello
Jim Cuviello
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
Newspaper Project: The ongoing attempt to digitize archival newspapers has become a circular quest for funding. The Burlington County Library System, while enthusiastic about the project, is not financing it. Gail is looking into grant monies but our budget is small so that presents some difficulty. Rick has found a company call Advantage Archives that can do the conversion for us but for a fee. Gail is still looking for grants and a discussion was had about financing the project with our own monies on hand.
Shamong Records Project: We are seeking access to some of the birth/marriage/death records from Shamong dated 1853 through 1910. If granted we are going to copy them for our records and will share with the Shamong Township Historical Society.
Grants: We had applied for a grant from the county but have not been formally notified that we received it. Rick is going to see what he can find out. Gail is still working on grants for the digitization as mentioned previously.
Budget: The 2023 budget was reviewed. Gail indicated that she uses the budget at times for grant applications.
Pepper House – Leak and Beam: There was a discussion regarding the condition of the Pepper House including what appears to be some water leakage as well as some structural issues that are being addressed. It was mentioned that we might look into attempting a historical designation for the property. Carol said she would attempt to secure an overview of the process as she has prior experience with another Historical Society. Carol also indicated that it was probably not eligible but all agreed it was worth investigating.
Plaques – Nixon/Pepper Family: We will be revising some of the plaques at the Pepper House. Carol will place the order as soon as a list has been forwarded to her. We discussed making sure that we have correct and complete information from donors in the future.
Road Cleanups: Carolyn and Jim are going to coordinate the dates for the Spring Road Cleanups. We are hopeful that we can add Foxchase to the list this year.
Log Cabin Visit: There was a discussion by those of us who were able to tour the property.
Town Hall Historic Designation: As with the Pepper House, Carol will see if she can track down the information pertaining to a designation.
Historic Signage: Kevin Worrell is working on this for us. It was mentioned the old green Nixon’s sign is in the cemetery.
Charitable Registration: A lengthy discussion was had regarding the renewal of our 501(c)(3) designation. Several suggestions were made by all members and by consensus we adjusted the designation of some of the expenses we incur. We also reviewed the Treasurers Report and discussed the use of PayPal on our website.
School House Video – Bruce Powell: Mary Ann gave an overview of the filming of “Times in the Pines” done at the Friendship School House. She indicated that as a result of the film several people expressed interest in visiting the school. They are also going to give us a copy of the film.
Pine Barrens Film: Carol contacted the producer of a film about the life of “Piney’s”. Rick will reach out to him about scheduling a date and location for a viewing for the THS.
Town Panorama: Mary Ann and Gail have been working on the design for a Town Panorama. We had initially hoped that some of the school students might be able to help but it won’t be possible this year. The project is still in development and will still move forward.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Eagle Scout Project: The Eagle Scout Project at the Friendship School was discussed. Ann and Rick donated 25 Hosta plants toward the project. It was decided that we would make a donation to cover the cost of the project back to the young man doing it.
Hampton Gate Hotel Site Visit: A discussion was had about the site visit several members made.
Tours for Lifetime Members: Rick proposed potentially offering tours for the Lifetime Members of the society. It was meant with minimal enthusiasm the biggest issue being who would give them.
Lepsis Grant: Rick was able to secure 3 more pension files and 2 more personnel files through monies gifted to the Society.
Picture Donation: A picture was donated by Sherry Pepper of William Henry Wills. It was decided the portrait should be displayed prominently at the Pepper House.
Oral Interviews: A discussion was had about conducting and recording more interviews such as the one done by Rick with Sam Moore Sr. There is at least one older surviving member of the Pepper Family we would like to record.
Donation: Mary Ann reported that Jeff Nixon’s family had donated more items including some family Bibles.
Lines in the Pine: Rick reminded everyone that the Lines in the Pines event was being held at Stockton College the weekend of 3/11.
Adjournment at 8:45.
Submitted by:
Carol Riener
Secretary
Tabernacle Historical Society 
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