Historical Commission
Princeton Historical Commission
June 22, 2023
Attendees: Tom Kokernak - chair, Matthew Lindberg, Larry Todd - clerk, Gina Polewaczyk, Joyce Anderson, Lynne Grettum, Not attending: Carl Soderberg
Tom opened the meeting at 7:08 pm.
The meeting minutes of 5/18/23 were approved as written.
Budget: Tom reported there was no change in our two accounts during the past month; the donation account has a balance of $4021.78 and our general town funded account has a balance of $1340.
Disposition of gravestone fragments/broken civil war plaques: Continues to be a topic for discussion. Lynne and Larry have not yet found either copy of Teddy Lindberg’s 3 ring binder with the pictures and listing of fragments from Meetinghouse cemetery. They will keep looking and Joyce will check with the library.
Tom said he saw some new stone fragments in the cemetery recently and this may be an ongoing problem, perhaps due to aging and weather. Lynne suggested the historical commission should take the lead with this. Tom suggested our two commissions try to get a budget for restoration work; it could be an article for the next town meeting. Tom will approach the DPW for their support.
Joyce recommended TaMara Conde for restoration work; she has done a lot in the past at Meetinghouse cemetery. Joyce suggested we simply bury the stone fragments which have no carving; Lynnne thought this would be alright.
Civil War update: Gina asked for quotes from 3 sources and has received 2 for a quantity of 250 pamphlets, including folding: the UPS store was $200 but the paper was not what we wanted; Curry quoted $275.40 (price for 500 was $388). A motion was made and approved unanimously to order 250 from Curry. We will try to have an invoice in hand so Tom can encumber the funds from this year’s budget.
Signage for house plaques and paupers graves:
Joyce asked if we could have a bronze plaque made and attached to the existing
“town lot” stone marker at Parker 2 cemetery. Larry will contact Leominster monument and ask if it can be done and get a cost.
There was dicuussion of possible sources for house plaques and Gina offered to work on this. There may be a need for some existing house plaques to be restored or replaced.
Other business: There was brief discussion of the possible Worcester road historic district. Tom suggested we table this for now. Joyce will try to get a current cost to prepare the paperwork for a national historic district.
Lynne said someone left a gravestone on the stone wall at South cemetery; the inscription is in french. She is not sure what to do with the stone or if there is any connection to Princeton.
Tom asked if our commission should look into social media, such as a facebook page. Gina offered to look into this.
There is a barn on Rt 140 being demolished - why wasn’t our commission notified ? Tom will investigate.
Lynne suggested we discuss at a future meeting the proper sealing of the open tomb in Meetinghouse cemetery. Perhaps we could put together a warrant article once the details are clear.
The next meeting will be remote on Thursday, July 20 at 7pm.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:42 pm
Respectfully submitted, Larry Todd, clerk
Note: for general reference. The Belmont, MA historical society has a historic house plaque program very well documented.