Plymouth's 400th Anniversary

Minutes of Public Meetings of the Plymouth 2020 Committee: 2009

MINUTES - Meeting of the Plymouth 400th Committee
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 7:00 pm at the offices of Plymouth Rock Studios, Cordage Park, North Plymouth

Committee members present: Peter Gomes, Chair; Kathy Babini; Jim Baker; Peg Baker; Ben Brewster; Paul Bumpus; Paul Cripps; Vinny deMacedo; David Kirkpatrick; Gary Marks; John McDonagh; Enzo Monti; Patrick O’Brien; Paula Peters; Ed Santos.
Absent: Tamson Burgess (exc.); Tom Calter; Ellie Donovan; Rodney Randy Joseph; Butch Machado; John Mahoney (exc.); Monica Mullin (exc.) for Therese Murray; Ken Tavares.
Invited guests: Darcy Lee.

Members of the public: Rev. Dr. William Fillebrown; Noel Le.

Peter Gomes opened the meeting at 7:00 pm.
New attendee Dr. Fillebrown was welcomed.
The minutes of the previous meeting were accepted as written.

REPORT OF PETER GOMES
Thanks to the efforts of Ed Santos, the Committee has received its first infusion of money. Ed, and the Chamber and the 375th Committee (originator of the funds) have the gratitude of the committee.
Governor’s Commission: There has been no movement. Peter Gomes, with the approval of the Committee, will ask Senate President Therese Murray to serve as Vice-Chair of the Governor’s Commission.
Executive Group meeting: Peter will gather the Executive Group on Monday, August 24, to frame a larger agenda for the committee, to formulate a more refined draft mission statement and to formulate ideas for a preliminary gathering in November 2009 to present to the Plymouth 400th Committee at its next meeting. The group will also discuss the issue of appointing another nonprofit agency to act as the committee’s fiscal agent until the 501c3 is formally recognized by the federal government.
The members of the Executive Group are Peter Gomes, Jim Baker, Peggy Baker, John McDonagh and Ken Tavares; Peter proposed and it was agreed by the Committee that Ed Santos and Ben Brewster be asked to join (they accepted). Peter also invited Paula Peters and Tamson Burgess.
International Outreach: Contact with the Dutch royal family will wait until after their visit to the New York for the Henry Hudson commemoration is past; in the meantime, Joan Bartlett will be contacting the Protocol Office of the US State Department for guidance. Peg Baker will contact Phil Budden, British Consul General for New York to ask about the protocol for an invitation to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Cape & “Old Colony” Outreach: At some point, our colleagues from the other Old Colony towns should be involved, perhaps invited to Plymouth. Peter Gomes asked the Committee to consider this matter. Peter is probably going to be invited to speak to the annual Meeting of the Cape & Islands Historical Group in January; this is a good opportunity to discuss 2020.

PRESENTATION BY FUND-RAISING CONSULTANT DARCY LEE
Darcy Lee reported that she had a lengthy meeting with Ann Berry of Historic Jamestown that afternoon; she will type up the minutes. A few key points to be mentioned: their commemoration was almost entirely state-run and had a state-supported staff of 15. Jamestown raised $150 million through fund-raising and ticket sales and state support (Darcy will ascertain, if possible, what percentage of funds came from which source).
Darcy distributed a draft preliminary mission statement for committee input. It will be reviewed by the Executive Group.
Darcy is prepared to submit a Massachusetts Cultural Council proposal of intent for a $5000 planning grant and a grant proposal for $10,000 to Entergy for planning and/or an event. The Massachusetts Cultural Council grant raises the issue of the 501c3. That status will not be completed before the grant is submitted. The Committee will therefore need to appoint another nonprofit agency as the committee’s fiscal agent to act on the committee’s behalf. This issue will be considered at the meeting of the Executive Group. The grant must be submitted by September 10 with a fiscal agent identified.
Peter Gomes noted that the contract with Darcy Lee had been signed.

NEW PROJECT – Branding. Darcy and Paula Peters met to discuss branding. Paula participated in a year-long “branding event” for Plimoth Plantation that looked at who they were, what their mission was, how to reflect that identity and mission in a logo, and how to market from a brand. The agency used was Crunch Brand Communications; Paula has consulted with them. It is clear that we need to identify ourselves under a brand. The process is that the committee (or a subcommittee thereof) creates an RFP and shops it out to firms that specialize in developing brands. We then choose 3 or 4 firms to come up with concepts; the work in developing the concept is paid for by the committee. We then choose from among the concepts.
Paula advises that we form a subcommittee to create an RFP and to come up with a list of firms that will be invited to submit proposals.
The Branding Subcommittee will consist of Paula Peters, Darcy Lee and David Kirkpatrick.
Paula also advised that committee members look at the Jamestown 400 Report, available online at www.jamestown2007.org (look under “Published Reports”).
Paula also reported that she had a meeting with Fran Burnham; she and Fran would like to extend a reciprocal invitation to English dignitaries. Paula Peters, John McDonagh and Mark Sylvia visited England (their expenses were paid by the English); Paula would like to invite the leadership of the English communities to visit Plymouth with the expenses paid by the Plymouth 400th Committee. After discussion, the sense of the committee is that we are not prepared to offer reciprocal hospitality at this point but that the issue will be reconsidered as circumstances allow. Peter Gomes will be going to England and will be willing to speak to the English communities (at no expense to the Plymouth 400th Committee).

ONGOING PROJECT – License plate. David Kirkpatrick reported that the license plate design has been submitted to the Registry of Motor Vehicles. A prototype will be made to show to the committee. One outstanding issue is the “specialty initials”; the committee will have to make a decision soon. The source of the $100,000 bond has not yet been identified.

ONGOING PROJECT – Formation of the 501 c3. John McDonagh reported that the IRS Form 1023 is currently in its second iteration. Once it is formalized, it will take 12 to 16 weeks to receive formal IRS recognition. The application will cost $750.
John is pursuing a banking relationship with Rockland Trust through Barbara Bobblis. They will be asked to host the $100,000 bond. John is going to be carrying through on this project.
It was noted that the committee will need to do an aggressive campaign to market the license plates. Paul Bumpus said that, as soon as the time is right, notice can be placed in the Mayflower Quarterly which reaches a significant number of Massachusetts residents for are Mayflower descendants.

ONGOING PROJECT – Education. Kathy Babini reported that some 600 1st grade “2020 drawings” have been filed. She is currently working on curriculum for the local history class that involves 2020.

ONGOING PROJECT – Stamp. Dr. Henry Louis Gates has agreed to be helpful with the stamp but not immediately. Patrick O’Brien will be starting on the preliminary paperwork for the stamp.

ONGOING PROJECT – Outreach, speakers & authors.
Peter reported that he has done an interview with the Old Colony Memorial. Jim Baker has done an article on the significance of August 1st. Paul Bumpus has put information in the Mayflower Quarterly and will put in information on the license plates when it is available.
Peter continues to be concerned about raising local consciousness. We need to think about this as a group.

NEW PROJECT: National Park status. National Park Service staff visited Plymouth about 5 years ago. They noted that Plymouth does not fit the criteria for a National Park – we don’t “act like a park,” the historic sites are too far apart – and that the Park Service was not adding any new parks. Jim Baker reported that he has done some preliminary investigation and that there are designations other than that of a National Park, such as National District, that are less rigorous although they still might require significant federal “ownership.” A connection with the National Park Service would be a great help in funding infrastructure. Jim Baker will investigate further and will come up with a synopsis of the various designations and their parameters for the next committee meeting.
Enzo Monti asked that Vinny deMacedo do all that he could to move along the completion of Route 44 to 495 by at least 2019.
The question of Congressman Delahunt’s involvement in funding for infrastructure was raised. The Committee felt that he should be involved and soon, and that the formation of the Governors Commission would be helpful in this matter.
[John Mahoney, who was not able to be at the active meeting, reported immediately afterwards that the Acting Town Manager is preparing to meet with Congressman Delahunt’s staff on National Park issues and that John has asked that representatives from the Plymouth 400th Committee be included in any such meetings.]

ONGOING PROJECT: TOWN FINANCING. There will be a warrant article for Spring Town Meeting for the dispersal of the “found” $190,000. It is expected that an amount will be designated for the Plymouth 400th Committee but we do not yet know how much. The Committee discussed whether the focus for this year should be placed on this money or on an independent warrant article requesting funding for the Committee (at a previous Committee meeting, it had been decided to have a warrant article at the Annual Town Meeting for $10,000 to support the work of the Plymouth 400th Committee). It was felt that right now the emphasis should be placed on the “found” money with a longer range plan of expected financials needs brought to Town Meeting to prepare for future warrant articles for Committee funding. The “190,000 warrant article,” even though it does not focus solely on the Plymouth 400th Committee, offers the opportunity for significant community education; the Committee members should be prepared to be present and vocal at meetings of the Finance Committee, Board of Selectmen and individual caucuses. For right now, the Committee should wait to see what the recommendation of the Board of Selectmen is as far as the exact distribution of the $190,000.

PUBLIC COMMENT - None

NEXT MEETING: Monday, September 21, 2009 at 7:00 pm at the offices of Plymouth Rock Studios, Cordage Park, North Plymouth

The meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm.

PETER GOMES
TASK: Peter Gomes will invite Therese Murray to serve as Vice-chair for the State Commission.
TASK: Peter Gomes will assemble the Executive Group and ask them to consider
1) a solid proposal regarding an event for November 2009 and/or other methods of involving local groups to lay before the entire Committee at the next meeting;
2) a preliminary mission statement or “charge document”;
3) asking another nonprofit to serve as the committee’s fiscal agent to operate on the committee’s behalf until the 501c3 is officially recognized.

KATHY BABINI
ONGOING TASK: Kathy will consult with David Kirkpatrick on a video component to the Class of 2020 project.
ONGOING TASK: Kathy will work with Tamson Burgess to promote the work of the “2020 Kids.”

JIM BAKER
TASK: Jim will investigate the various levels and types of National Park Service designations and will come up with a synopsis of the various designations and their parameters for the next committee meeting.

PEG BAKER
TASK: Peg will contact Phil Budden for advice on timing and protocol for an invitation for Queen Elizabeth II to visit Plymouth in 2020.

TAMSON BURGESS
ONGOING TASK: Tamson will start assembling lists of groups that would be receptive to having “2020 speakers,” she will get the list to Peg Baker.
ONGOING TASK: Tamson will work with Kathy Babini to promote the work of the “2020 Kids.”

RODNEY JOSEPH
ONGOING TASK: Peter asked Rodney to give some thought as to how the commemoration of the Treaty with Massasoit could play a more prominent role in the Thanksgiving events

DAVID KIRKPATRICK
ONGOING TASK: David will continue with the design of the license plate.
ONGOING TASK: David will consult with Kathy Babini on a video component to the Class of 2020 project.
ONGOING TASK: David will continue to pursue foundation interest in the “2020 Kids.”
ONGOING TASK: David will consider how the Studios groundbreaking event in October could be used to “market” the license plate.
NEW TASK: Branding Subcommittee.

GARY MARKS
ONGOING TASK: Gary will contact the Congregational Church association and other religious leaders about gathering in Plymouth in November of 2019 for the opening event in the 2020 celebration.

JOHN MCDONAGH
ONGOING TASK: John will carry through the idea of possibly participating in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, held on the Mall in 2019, as part of the kick-off of the celebrations.
ONGOING TASK: John will continue the work on establishing the 501c3.
ONGOING TASK: Ken Tavares & John will follow through with Rockland Trust and see if they would be willing to provide the bond for the license plates
TASK: John will seek funding for Officers & Directors Insurance for the 501c3.

MONICA MULLIN
ONGOING TASK: Monica will speak to the various commissioners who are, by the Executive Order, members of the Commission.

PATRICK O’BRIEN
ONGOING TASK: Patrick O’Brien will proceed with the stamp.

PAULA PETERS
NEW TASK: Branding Subcommittee.

KEN TAVARES
ONGOING TASK: Ken & John McDonagh will follow through with Rockland Trust and see if they would be willing to provide the bond for the license plates