117th Annual Meeting 

The Piscataqua Pioneers restarted the tradition of Annual Membership Meetings together after missing the 2019 Annual Meeting due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting was held on Saturday, July 31st, 2021 at the Elks Lodge, Portsmouth, NH. President Betsey Cox-Buteau opened the meeting to discover that we did not meet the number of members present to reach a quorum 25, so she set about having members make phone calls for those they knew who were missing to come down. While we waiting for them to arrive, we were able to start the agenda and hear reports of the officers. 

While it was a bit of a bumpy ride to rev up while the pandemic still persisted, Betsey led the members present through the agenda items that did not require votes. She took a moment to recognize Past Presidents Ed Batchelder, Barbara Alex, Barbara Weiden, Virginia Spiller, and Tylene Jousse. She thanked Arlene Thomas for a $50 donation as well gave a small gift to Treasurer Carla Mueller who was completing her term on the Council. Carla has been a member since 1992. Betsey presented Barbara Weiden, who joined in 1973, was President in 1983, with a corsage. She then polled the members present for their longevity in the organization. Several had been members for 30+ years. 

After the delivery of reports, the NEW BUSINESS agenda included some important bylaw changes. Betsey led the group through a thorough review of these proposed changes. They included reducing the number of Vice Presidents required for a nomination slate and eliminated the alternating gender requirement. One recommended change was to raise the annual membership dues from $10 to $20. By doing that, the Life Membership Free would automatically become $200. During this discussion we were able to meet the quorum requirement by the arrival of several members. The membership voted to accept all recommended changes.

Then we voted to accept a number of new members, and elected the slate of new officers for the coming year. Patricia Twombly Karakashian was elected President. Arlene Quimby, Vicki Thomas, Ed Batchelder, and Barbara Carmone were elected as Vice Presidents. Beverly Mutrie was elected to remain as Secretary. Wendy Blood was elected to remain Registrar. Betsey Cox-Buteau was elected Treasurer. Ray Gervais was elected to remain the Database Manager. Barbara Alex was elected to remain Curator, and Carol Palmer to remain as Auditor. The officers were then inducted by Tylene Jousse. Betsey Cox-Buteau was presented with an original Piscataqua Pioneers pin as a token of esteem and for her extraordinary efforts during her two-year term. The meeting then adjourned at approx. 1:30 pm. Details of the business meeting can be found in the December 2021 newsletter.

The Council meeting was followed by a very interesting talk on the role of the Quakers during the early settlement years of the Piscataqua Region. We learned a number of disturbing facts about how the Quakers were treated by many settlers as well as the positive impact that they had on the area. Our speaker was Olga R. Merrill. She is a researcher and author of several books about the region during its earliest times. Her topic for the talk was "17th Century Piscataqua Families in History." Visit her website to learn more. https://vagabondquakers.wordpress.com/.