01-16-24 Conrad Mansion Board MinutesConrad Mansion Museum Board of Directors
January 16, 2024 - 4:00-5:00 p.m.
Conrad Mansion
1. Welcome- Members present in person: Sue Corrigan, Mary Pat Murphy, Diane
Morton Stout, Teri Iwerson, Susanne Wigginton, Diane Medler, Natalie Robinson,
Gail Erickson, Carrie Nelson, and Museum Director Brit Clark and new Associate
Sorcha Brooks. Members present via Zoom: Tia Robbins, Chris Vick.
2. Introductions- Susanne Wigginton has joined the board and Sorcha Brooks has
been hired as the part-time Museum Associate. Welcome to both!
3. Consent Agenda-
a) November board meeting minutes- Accepted. (There was no Dec. Board
meeting. Board and staff members met for holiday gathering. Chris Vick
sponsored the food.
b) Treasurer’s report for Dec 2023- Accepted.
c) Budget 2024- Continue next month. Budget is being reformatted for
better month to month comparisons.
d) Employee Manual/Handbook- Continue next month. See discussion below.
4. Grants/Sponsorships-
a) FEC Student Tour Grant (Sue Corrigan)- Next steps include getting
approval for teacher PIR workshops next year. Brit has signed up as a
shadowing role to see how State History Fairs are set up in Helena or
Bozeman. This year, half of the grant money will cover wages for school
tours. There will be no charge for students and teachers. The other half of
funds will be used for internships and community engagement. FEC has
provided notebooks, etc. for use with school tours.
5. Fundraising-
a) Room Sponsorships- The committee will be starting earlier this year.
After checking with continuous sponsors, rooms will be available for
community or business sponsorships. Sponsor period lasts from May-
April.
b) Teddy Roosevelt Impersonator (April 24th)- Thanks to Lucy Smith, a
Teddy Roosevelt impersonator will be doing presentations in the Valley
over the course of three days. He will be at the Mansion on April 24th. This
will be a small group experience (much like the piano forte fundraiser last
year.)
6. Facilities
a) Committee report- Mary Pat provided some updates. Jakola Architects
have created conceptual drawings that can be constructed in phases as
capital is raised. The gathering/event space will have a seating capacity
75-90 people.
b) Security System Upgrade- Upgrades to the security system camera
and software are needed and will be includued in the budget. (Approx.
$6,500). The Montana Tourism Dept. grant previously awarded to the
Mansion was used for new cameras in the back stairway. These will still
work with the new upgrade. Chris shared that the Budget Committee had
reviewed and this was a very sustainable expense.
7. Executive Director’s report-
a) Mansion Personnel- Sorcha’s first day as part time Museum Associate is
January 16th.
b) Employee Handbook and Manual- Tia and Brit have worked together
to update the Employee Manual. After some discussion, Chris wanted to
do a little research on current Federal Laws for a couple of items and will
share his findings at the next meeting.
c) Tour Stats- Brit shared data on the number of visitors by day of the
week for the 2023 season. Numbers are evenly dispersed throughout the
week. Finding blocks of time without visitors can be a challenge when
cleaning the house or working on maintenance.
8. Adjourn- 5:00. Next meeting Feb. 20th.