LACEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY (LHS)
PO Box 3324 Lacey, Wash. 98509-3324
‘To be a voice for the early citizens of Lacey, and to be their stewards protecting the historical heritage they have given us’
BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MEETING
April 15, 2026
Minutes
Present: President Jon Halvorson, Vice President Cynthia Pratt, Treasurer Tim McGuire, Secretary John Dziedzic, and Trustees Larry Ganders, Denise Keegan, John Turner, Paul Webb, and Margie Wyllie. Trustees Yvette Burroughs and Ed Sorger were excused.
President Halvorson convened the meeting at 2:20 p.m., and acknowledged that a quorum was present.
Agenda/Previous Minutes: M/S/P Secretary Dziedzic moved and Trustee Keegan seconded a motion to approve the agenda as amended to include an announcement regarding an event commemorating the 1984 Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials. The motion was adopted.
M/S/P Trustee Keegan moved and Trustee Webb seconded a motion to approve the Minutes of the March 10, 2026 meeting of the Board of Trustees. The motion was adopted.
Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer McGuire distributed a financial statement as of March 31, 2026, that included an expenditure for design work related to a new logo, which had been authorized at the March meeting. Treasurer McGuire also reported that the Society’s IRS Form 990 federal income tax filing had been submitted in the past month. The next Certificates of Deposit is scheduled to mature July. M/S/P Vice President Pratt moved and Trustee Wyllie seconded a motion to accept the report of the Treasurer as presented. The motion was adopted.
Election of Trustee: President Halvorson introduced Susie Coomes. Vice President Pratt spoke in favor of Ms. Coomes qualifications and long-standing relationship in the community. Vice President Pratt moved and Trustee Keegan seconded a motion to elect Susie Coomes to the term of office ending in December 2027. The motion was adopted.
Dr. Ehlers project update: Secretary Dziedzic reported that, thanks to the efforts of Trustee Sorger, the Lamplighter Lions Club had made a $200 donation towards the Dr. Ehlers statue project. In addition, it was noted that City staff will be making its last update
regarding the proposed policy on receipt of donated art by the city to an internal city committee in April, with action by the city council expected as early as its May meeting. Trustee Webb has made informal presentations regarding the Dr. Ehlers statue project to
two service groups in the past month. The official website of the Nisqually Tribe is being monitored periodically, as the application to be considered for a grant from the tribe’s charitable giving program is scheduled to be release on-line in April.
Annual Membership Meeting (9/10/2026): President Halvorson announced that the membership meeting planning committee was schedule to have its first meeting on April 24, and requested confirmation regarding whether the Board of Trustees continued to
support the idea of combining the Society’s regular annual membership meeting business meeting (primarily for the purpose of electing officers for 2027) with a celebration of the City of Lacey 60th anniversary of incorporation as well as the nation’s 250th birthday party.
The consensus was in favor of attempting to involve other historic organizations in developing a program that would attract a greater public gathering, justifying the renting of the entire Community Center for a more extended period of time.
Facebook/Website Status Report: Secretary Dziedzic summarized the results of additional discussions with the website designer regarding the costs of possible features to be added to the website (i.e. that items numbered 2 through 5 each involved a $200
annual subscription fee), reminding the Trustees that the Board had supported adoption of the first two items listed below in last month’s Trustees meeting
1. Establish a $10 minimum transaction, instead of the existing $5 minimum;
2. Expand the number of payment methods;
3. Create a third financial transaction category to designate “restricted donations” for the Dr. Ehlers Statue project (the two current categories are dues and unrestricted donations).
4. Give users the option to pay for the processing fee for their dues or donation;
5. Give users the option to establish an automatic annual renewal of their dues/donation transaction; and
6. Adding a function that automatically generates IRS notices to donors annually (requiring a $400 annual subscription).
Secretary Dziedzic indicated that he could not recommend requesting adoption of the IRS notice feature (item #6) as the current manual process was not burdensome.
M/S Secretary Dziedzic moved and Trustee Ganders seconded a motion to request that the changes identified above as numbers 1 through 5 be communicated to the webpage developer for implementation.
In the ensuing discussion, concerns were raised regarding item #4 (processing fee option). At the President’s suggestion, the motion was bifurcated to call for separate votes: (a) the first regarding item #4; and (b) a second vote regarding items #1, 2, 3, and
5. The suggestion was accepted by the mover and seconder.
The motion to implement item #4 failed. The motion with respect to the other four proposed changes was adopted.
President Halvorson instructed the Secretary to communicate the Trustee’s decision in this regard to the website developer in writing, and to propose an amendment to the existing website development and management contract reflecting (a) the name change
of the developer’s business name; (b) that the initial development phase of the agreement had been concluded; (c) the desire of the Society to include provision that the monthly invoice include performance statistics/analytics and an accounting of application of the
“retainer” payment.
NEW LOGO: President Halvorson reported that he had received four options in response to his request for a proposal to create a new logo for the Society. The option appearing at the top of these minutes was unanimously preferred.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Trustee Keegan announced that a display commemorating the running of the 1984 Women’s Olympic Marathon trials is scheduled to be dedicated at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 16, 2026 at Marathon Park on Deschutes Parkway.
There being no additional discussion, President Halvorson declared the meeting adjourned at 4:14 p.m.
Submitted by: Secretary Dziedzic.
NOTE: After reviewing my notes from the meeting, I realized that I probably failed to clearly indicate that item #5 (automatic annual renewal) had a $200 annual subscription fee associated with it. When Mr. Halvorson, Larry Ganger and I met
with the website manager, it was always clear that the $200 subscription attached to change requests #2 through #5. To accurately report what I now believe happened, it may be appropriate for the Trustee making the motion to adopt the minutes indicate that