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New Sharon Historical Society no more after 33 years

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Final New Sharon Historical Society Meeting (7.21.15) : Left to Right:  Liz Jones, Marjorie Neal (Treasurer), Joanne Page (Secretary), Bill Reid (former President), Gene Martineau, Jessie Dill, Dana Dill (former President) and Forrest Bonney one of the first members. (Member Spencer Thompson photo)
At the final New Sharon Historical Society meeting on July 21, from left to right: Liz Jones, Marjorie Neal , treasurer; Joanne Page, secretary; Bill Reid, former president; Gene Martineau, Jessie Dill, Dana Dill, former president;  and Forest Bonney one of the first members. (Society member Spencer Thompson photo)

NEW SHARON – After 33 years, the New Sharon Historical Society members met for the last time on Tuesday.

Among some of its members it was a bittersweet meeting with some accusing the town’s selectmen of forcing its disbandment as an entity and replacing it with a town-appointed committee.

Selectman Milt Sinclair said there was no choice when the town’s residents voted last spring to turn over all the historical society’s assets to the town after the society members decided to voluntarily revoke its non-profit corporation status.

The decision to file an application for non-profit corporation dissolution with the state by the society members came after finding the annual membership dues wasn’t nearly enough to cover their liability insurance cost of $355 per year.

“With 16 members contributing $5 each in annual dues, along with occasional donations, there was not much money available. In 2014 the society planned to ‘de-incorporate’ which would eliminate the cost of liability insurance,” said Joanne Page, the society’s secretary of five years.

According to members of the society, they had planned to continue as they had been doing as an organization, using the original by-laws, established in 1982 and amended in 1990, without corporation status. The Secretary of State completed the dissolution process in May.

“It became an unincorporated association of 16 members, including four former selectmen, all planning to continue as in the past,” Page said.

According to society members who did not want to be identified for this story, selectmen “did not agree with the plan of the society to continue, and almost immediately after learning the ‘de-incorporation’ had been completed, they publicly announced that the New Sharon Historical Society had been ‘totally dissolved.'”

Selectmen said after consulting with the town’s attorney and the Maine Municipal Association that once the society members voluntarily revoked their non-profit corporation status, the organization becomes an association of individuals without any legal status to manage town funds or property.

With the town voting to accept the society’s donation of its collection and its historical society having no legal authority over the new town property, selectmen formed the new “New Sharon Historical Committee,” to oversee it in an advisory capacity.

“We had no choice, once it was voted by the town,” Sinclair said. “It’s town property now and somebody had to take care it.”

The most recent historical society president, Darlene Power, was appointed the committee’s chair. At last night’s selectmen meeting, from a list submitted by Power of interested residents, selectmen appointed David Dill as co-chair, Roger Smith, Dana Dill and Daniel Meng as members of the new committee.

Sinclair said the new committee will be an advisory to the board of selectmen who will ultimately make the decisions regarding the former society’s assets. “Once they (historical society) disbanded, they had no legal right to town assets,” he added.

According to Page, The New Sharon Historical Society was incorporated on June 9, 1982, with members initially meeting in member homes.

“Many historic valuables were donated for a future “museum,” then consolidated at the New Sharon Grange building a few years later,” she said.

The Grange building proved too small and was deteriorating. Society members advised selectmen they needed more space and were offered the small former town library building on Route 2.

In March, 2010 the society collection moved in there, but once again the small building was not suitable for the growing collection. Selectmen agreed to move a large number of historic artifacts to an unused room at the former school now used as the town’s office.

Earlier in 2015, the society donated the entire historical collection to the town to guarantee its preservation in the future, Page said. Last month, volunteers moved the collection. The collection will be open to the public on Wednesday nights 5 to 7 p.m. and on Saturdays from 1 to 3 p.m.

Some of the New Sharon Historical Society members said they are most upset that they were not consulted or even made aware that a committee was being formed.

“Members read about their society being dissolved on the town website and Facebook Page. Members advised they were quite amazed and shocked,” according to a statement released by the society members on Thursday.

Sinclair said he doesn’t think anyone should have been surprised after the vote at town meeting approved the town taking over the society’s collection.

“They weren’t happy but understood that’s what was voted on,” he said and he added, “there’s no reason they can’t continue doing what they were doing before.”

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11 Comments

  1. It’s got to be more to the story! 355 dollars seems to be so little! A bake sale could raise that!!!! Hmmmm

  2. Somewhere in the middle lies the truth I suppose.

    I have a bunch of stuff going back to my great grandfather that I was going to give to the Society. Not so sure now.
    And my grand nephew has a boy in the nest so there will still be Days to carry on the name. My father’s and grandfathers legacy as business owners in New Sharon will be carried on as well as the letters, bill-heads, 10″ x 18 General Ledger books.

  3. This is such a sad outcome. So many thanks to those who have taken such pride in their contributions to the preservation of the towns history. I hope they’ll continue and not just “hand it over” to people who are, quite possibly, less interested and invested.

  4. The New Sharon Select Board had a perfect right to determine the future and management of the historical items after the town accepted the donation, And they were helpful in supporting the historic items being moved from the library to a history room in the town office. But the manner in which they handled the entire procedure was just plain awful. They could have involved the Historical Society members, especially those with decades of experience; not doing so was an insult to them. They could have published their plans for all to review before going forward. They could have been more honest and open.

  5. The same president of the former dissolved society is the committee chairman one would assume it couldn’t be in any better hands. Thanks Darlene.

  6. All the NSHS wanted was to move the collection from one town owned property, the old library on Rt. 2, to the town office building where there was plenty of space. Of course, the Selectmen consulted lawyers and soon an article in the town warrant, loaded with legalese, was concocted by the lawyers that resulted eventually in disbanding of the NSHS. The selectmen needed only to say “OK, move the collection to the town office building.” No one in the Society had any inkling that this would happen. The citizens of New Sharon at the town meeting certainly were unaware of the cascading effect of their vote. The Society unincorporated because it was too expensive. There can be in Maine unincorporated associations, which of course is what the NSHS became. How the Selectmen leapt to the conclusion that the Association was defunct or “dissolved” is anybody’s guess. The association did much good work for 33 years by collecting historical items, cataloguing, doing genealogical work for people, publishing books, making audio recordings, making cds, participating in town events, sponsoring activities, working hard for years trying to save the old iron bridge, and gathering interested members who worked to promote an understanding of who we are and where the town had come from. The selectmen, green and untried, with two new members this year and the third with one year’s experience took over the town’s government. They claimed that the NSHS was “dissolved,” which wasn’t true. They treated the Society rudely, presumptuously, and in a totally unwarranted way. The town set up a Committee of five to do the job of the NSHS that volunteers for more than three decades had done well. So the NSHS members, realizing that the town no longer wanted their services, voted to go out of existence. The New Sharon Selectmen have a lot to learn.

  7. The “New Sharon Historical Committee” is alive and well, all items have been moved from the former Library, (which had a year round moisture problem to the point of items starting to rust) to a temperature controlled environment, also with this move, it allowed all the items to be on display for viewing open to the public, we are dedicated to doing what is in the best interest of the towns rich heritage. This move also allows us to be open 52 weeks instead of 12, a year. We have hopes and dreams of moving forward preserving the history of New Sharon. We gladly accept all donations, to be displayed for future generations. Any one is more than welcome to come browse Wednesday evening from 5-7, or by appointment.

    Sincerely
    Co-Chairs
    Darlene Power & David Dill

  8. Comment posted by administrator as requested by the New Sharon Board of Selectmen:

    The following Article appeared on the Town Warrant (March 7, 2015) and was voted upon by the Town’s legislative body (passed):
    Article 59   To see if the Town will vote to accept the donation of any and all assets of the New Sharon Historical Society, including all tangible and intangible personal property thereof, for the purpose of holding and maintaining, and managing those assets in trust for the citizens of the Town.
    At a regularly scheduled Board meeting on April 29, 2015 – president of the Historical Society Darlene Power notified the Board that the NSHS was considering filing dissolution paperwork with the State of Maine. The Board was shocked, to say the least, as no mention of this had been made previously.
    In early June the Board learned the Society had indeed filed paperwork (5/4/15) and voluntarily dissolved the non-profit corporation with the State of Maine.
    Researching the law pertaining to a voluntary dissolution of a corporation with the State of Maine http://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/13-B/title13-Bsec1101.html which is included in the dissolution filing paperwork that members of the Society signed; and speaking with the Maine Bureau of Corporations – it was clear to the Board that legally the NSHS had dissolved. The law states that assets should be distributed, and all activities cease.
    With no Society legally in existence, and with the transfer of assets to the Town, the Board contacted Maine Municipal Legal (MMA) counsel for their advice on how to best care for the tangible and intangible items transferred to the Town. Their recommendation was to set up a committee to advise the Board. The Board has no particular expertise in the cataloguing, archiving or care of such items and reached out to the former NSHS president to see if this would be a good idea and to recommend names for appointment to the Committee.
    On June 23 the Board provided copies of the law and other information on the process of dissolving a non-profit corporation in Maine to the unofficial spokesperson for the NSHS, which was distributed to Society members and other town residents.
    On June 24 the Board signed and implemented a policy creating the Committee with the former NSHS president now leading the Committee. Additional names for consideration would be provided and appointments made at the July 22 Board meeting.
    On July 7 (after the continuance of Society members that they were not dissolved but alive and well) the Board reached out to the Town’s attorney in an effort to bring closure to the situation. His comments:
    Legally, if the Society dissolved, the Society is no more. It is now a mere collection of individuals (legally, what is known as an “unincorporated association”) without any corporate or collective powers to own anything, or to hold or manage public funds.
    During all of these events, members of the NSHS were invited and encouraged to attend any regularly scheduled public Board meeting to discuss their concerns with the Board of Selectmen. To date, only three members have made an effort to speak with the Selectmen (former NSHS president, another former member and most recently an 82 year old former member who was completely disgusted with the actions of the former NSHS members and threw away his/her membership card), all who fully support the new Committee and its activities.
    It is unfortunate that members of the Society did not practice due diligence before signing and submitting the dissolution paperwork to the State of Maine. The Town did not disband or dissolve the Society. The Board never intended to be in the current situation, nor to have to the NSHS dissolve. The Board believes the error is that members were led down a primrose path in an effort to avoid paying taxes by simply ‘de-incorporating’ without reading the paperwork they filed and referring to Maine law on the consequences of such an action.
    With confirmation from the Maine Bureau of Corporations, legal counsel from Maine Municipal and the Town’s attorney – the Board feels it has acted legally in the best interests of the Town and its citizens and most importantly to preserve the historic items, history and heritage so that it can be made available to the public at large and future generations.
    ~New Sharon Board of Selectmen

  9. What is the actual problem? Like Concerned Citizen and Lloyd Day said, there is more to the story. Tax payers have funded the Historical Society with $1,700.00 every year to remain in an inadequate building. Taxpayers no longer have to fund this. The Historical Society is now in a secure, warm and spacious building with more exposure; not to mention saving members $355.00 a year, an untold amount of monetary donations and $1,700.00 from taxpayers. What’s not to like? It smells like another personal agenda or someone not wanting to relinquish something. Calling the selectmen “green and untried” and “having a lot to learn” (essentially whippersnappers) sounds a little like someone saying, “you can’t teach an old dog a new trick”. The article clearly was not about the Historical Society rather an attempt to be spiteful for a personal agenda. This reader gives this article a Giant Thumbs Down! Embarrassing behavior from New Sharon.

  10. When “the Selectmen consulted lawyers and soon an article in the town warrant, loaded with legalese, was concocted by the lawyers that resulted eventually in disbanding of the NSHS” Maynard Webster, Forrest Bonney and Lorna Nichols were Board members. Since Forrest Bonney was a member of both the Board of Selectmen and NSHS perhaps he could have helped to communicate the fact that NSHS did not intend to donate the collection to the town.

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