Membership in Placentia Area Historical Society climbing

The Placentia Area Historical Society (PAHS) is growing.

After a period with low membership with only three or four members, there has recently been an upsurge of interest.

The society now includes 11 members including Cyril Bambrick, Christopher Newhook, Lee Everts, Elaine Murray, Ann Devereaux, Winnie Barry, Rachelle Connors, Jeff Collins, Pastor Roy Randall, Elizabeth MacDonald and Tom O'Keefe.

At the regular monthly meeting in January, held in the PADA building because of the growing membership, the society reviewed a number of items in the works, including the development of an official website for PAHS. While there are a number of sites online that focus on Placentia's history, none are owned or controlled by PAHS, which means they cannot be kept up to date by the society. In order to save costs, Tom O'Keefe is learning to develop a website and, working with Christopher Newhook and Lee Everts, expects to have a PAHS presence on the Internet in about a month.

The meeting heard details on a new set of by-laws. The nearly completed document was presented for review. It will be submitted for approval by members at the upcoming Annual Meeting at the end of February. These by-laws are being worked on by a committee made up of Ann Devereaux, Jeff Collins and Tom O'Keefe. They will help guide PAHS into the future.

President Cyril Bambrick reported on new computer equipment, purchased with the assistance of the Placentia Lions Club. This is important to the society because it is in the process of digitizing the information it has and sharing that with the local library. It makes information easily accessible to the society and its clients and helps protect it from getting lost by having it stored multiple ways. The new equipment includes a computer, monitor, printer and a couple of USB drives for storage.

The society has been co-operating with the Town of Placentia and The Placentia Bay Cultural Arts Centre in planning for the upcoming Heritage Day. The event is planned to recognize the heritage of sport and recreation. Christopher Newhook is the link between the town and PAHS for this event.

With the growing interest in the society, PAHS plans to encourage even more new members and hopes to have an increased number at the Annual General Meeting that is tentatively planned for Feb. 28.

Anyone interested should contact any of the present members. At the AGM new members will be elected to the nine-person board of directors. Reports will be given and an information program held. It is hoped to have a representative from the Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (MANL) participate.