Meridian Hills Country Club
Indianapolis, Indiana
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Submitted by Robert H. Everitt
More than 90 members and guests of The Society of Indiana Pioneers met on Saturday, November 1, at Meridian Hills Country Club in Indianapolis for the 2014 Annual Meeting. Members greeted one another and inspected the interesting array of items that Chairman Louise DeMore and her hard-working committee had gathered for sale at the Society’s seventh annual silent auction.
Minutes of the 2013 Annual Meeting were approved as distributed, and the Treasurer’s report distributed by Treasurer Bruce Oakley was received for audit.
The membership elected the following members to the Board of Governors:
For a one-year term ending in 2015:
- Ann Boggs Bader, Oxford, OH
For three-year terms ending in 2017:
- Martha Sue Batt*, Indianapolis
- Jan Aikman Dickson*, Indianapolis
- Roberta R. Graham*, Brownsburg
- Hon. Eric A. Koch, Bedford
- Dr. George F. Rapp, Indianapolis
- Robert D. Rati*, Carmel
- Karen S. Ward*, Monticello
*Nominated to serve a second full term.
The Board elected the following as officers of the Society for one-year terms:
- President: Dr. James P. Fadely
- Vice President/President-elect: Dr. Charles F. Bragg
- Secretary: Robert H. Everitt
- Treasurer: Bruce W. Oakley
- Registrar: Marcia Ahrens Krieg
- Yearbook Editor: Joan Rothrock Everitt
President Miller recognized former Board member Janet Decker, who celebrated her 100th birthday in July 2014. Members greeted her with a round of applause.
The President delivered a summary report of the many activities of the Board in 2014: nominations of additional Pioneer Founders, participation in a number of family history and genealogical meetings, continued planning for the Society’s centennial celebration in 2016, and distribution of quarterly newsletters on line.
Following lunch, Glory-June Greiff presented an interesting talk on “Parks for the People: Origin of Indiana’s State Parks.” Undertaken as an initiative of the state’s centennial in 1916, the establishment of the network of state parks was aided by a number of the charter members of the fledgling Society of Indiana Pioneers in 1916.
In January 2007, the Board of Governors authorized the establishment of the Society of Indiana Pioneers Service Medallion to be awarded to members who had served the Society with extraordinary distinction. At this year’s Annual Meeting, the etched crystal medallion signifying the honor was presented to Ruth Dorrel by Awards Chairman Jim Fadely.
Dorrel is a former Office Manager/Genealogist and a former member of the Board of Governors (1990-1995; 2005-2010). She was the compiler of two Indiana Historical Society publications which were very valuable to Society of Indiana Pioneers members and potential members: Pioneer Ancestors of Members of the Society of Indiana Pioneers, 1983 and Pioneer Ancestors of Members of the Society of Indiana Pioneers, 1983-1999.
A PowerPoint presentation by Pilgrimage Chair Nelson Price highlighted the spring visit to points in Indianapolis related to Benjamin Harrison and other 19th Century Hoosier personages and the fall pilgrimage featuring visits to Wick’s Pies and Abbott’s Candies and tours of two remarkable 19th-century mansions in Richmond. The fall pilgrimage concluded with a stop at the Huddleston Farmhouse Museum on Route 40, the old National Road, near Cambridge City.
Louise DeMore announced the Silent Auction’s final results, which netted nearly $1,200.
Following tradition, the meeting was adjourned by the singing of “Back Home Again in Indiana” led by President Michael Miller.
