History Notes- - Waseca County Historical Society

The Capital Campaign in 2008 & 2009
W e are extremely grateful for the incredible support
during the first year of the Waseca County 150th
Birthday Gift Campaign, but the reality is that we are in the
middle of only the second year of the campaign. There is still
another year and a half to go! And while we met the goal of the
campaign early, we must continue to fundraise to build our endowment
funds and to maintain operations. Therefore, building
our endowment funds is critical. Twenty-five years or more
from now, there will be a substantial income stream from the
Jerry and Linda Rutledge Charitable Remainder Trust (see page
1 article). But until then, we need to continue to grow our membership
and contributions. We want WCHS to always be here
for you, please consider "being here" for WCHS!
With this in mind, we are enclosing the pledge form to ask
those of you who did not participate in the 150th Birthday Gift
Campaign last year, to consider doing so now, or before the
end of 2008. Those of you
who gave last year may
want to add to your gift.
You may want to consider
other methods of charitable
giving, as Jerry and Linda
Rutledge have. If you have
questions regarding the
campaign, call Sheila Morris,
(507) 835-7700. If you
Waseca County Historical Society Endowment Funds
Year-End December 31, 2007
Administered by the Waseca Area Foundation and the Minnesota Community Foundation:
The Edgar F. and Ethel Johnson Fund $ 79,154.00
The Waseca County Historical Society Endowment Fund $ 50,377.00
The Phil Allen Fund $ 13,182.00
Benefits WCHS’s Bailey-Lewer Research Library only.
The Frank and Barbara Goodspeed Memorial Fund $ 32,299.00
The Jerry and Linda Rutledge Heritage Fund $115,447.00
The Wes and Carol Rethwill History Fund $ 25,000.00
TOTAL $315,459.00
1
have questions regarding Charitable Remainder Trusts, Waseca
Area Foundation Funds, setting up your own WAF fund, or any
other planned giving information, call Pat Abbe, Waseca Area
Foundation Executive Director, (507) 835-5990.
City Council Seeks Funding Changes
The Waseca City Council is rethinking their support for organizations
until now considered to be “outside funding”. These are
non-profit organizations that have contributed to the Waseca
quality of life for many years. These organizations have consistently
provided culture, programming, services for all age
groups in the Waseca area community and beyond.
At the May 27 work session of the Waseca City Council,
the discussion centered around dropping this funding and then
creating a community grant-making fund, tentatively to be
named the "Community Enhancement Fund." While guidelines
and criteria are yet to be written or approved, it seems that
WCHS will lose $8,000 in annual funding. Other non-profit
organizations that may be affected include the Senior Citizen
Center, the Neighborhood Service Center, Waseca Arts Council,
MVAC-Minnesota Valley Action Council, and the Chamber
of Commerce. And so we continue to struggle with funding
operations. Please let us and the Waseca City Council know
how you feel about this potential change. WCHS’s $8,000
funding represents .001% of the city budget. Is this city council
assuming our citizens don’t want the opportunities and
services that we and these other organizations provide?
The 0% levy may be a no-nonsense approach to managing
the city budget, but the lack of city support for
these organizations in our community would truly be
senseless! Call City Hall, 835-9700 or email the city
council—www.ci.waseca.mn.us
These six Foundation Funds— all benefit the
Waseca County Historical Society with interest
they generate. The principle amount will always
be maintained, never to be spent. The first endowment
fund established for WCHS was the
Edgar F. and Ethel Johnson Fund. The WCHS
Endowment Fund was started by our Board of
Directors and then Executive Director, Margaret
Sinn, with a substantial anonymous donation from
one of our members. The Phil Allen Fund was
established by his family and friends to specifically
benefit the Bailey-Lewer Research Library.
The Frank and Barbara Goodspeed Memorial
Fund was started by their niece, Dorothy
Moriarty. Our most generous fund came from
Jerry and Linda Rutledge in 2006. And our most
recent fund was started as a donation to the
150th campaign by Dr. Wes Rethwill, Jr. We are
so grateful to these individuals for the kind
of support that will last forever!