Newsletter
Board Members of the French Praire Historical Society publish a periodic newsletter to inform members and the public of current projects and news events pertaining to the Settlemier House.
2013 Update
Greetings from the French Prairie Historical Society,
It is time once again to renew your support for the Settlemier House.
We continue to make good progress on the upkeep of this fine old mansion. After a major rebuild of the front porch last year we decided to protect our investment with a new gutter. The front porch never had a gutter but we decided the best way to extend the life of the porch would be to keep as much rain off it as possible. The problem we ran into was getting gutter companies to build and install a gutter on a radius. We love our circular front porch but the bids we got for the job were as high as nine thousand dollars. As you know we the board members of the FPHS hate to spend money on things we can do ourselves. We got on the internet and found a company in Michigan that fabricated the half round copper gutter and shipped it to us in four pieces. Everett Hemshorn and I spent two full days installing the gutter. In the end we had a new appreciation for why it cost nine thousand dollars but we got the job done for the cost of materials only. We saved about 75% on the job.
In an another example of your boards frugality we needed 30 English Laurel plants to complete our hedge line along the south border of the lawn. I called Angelo Spada of A&R Spada farms and sure enough he donated 30 plants. I borrowed a trailer from a friend and picked up the plants and spent two afternoon planting them. Total cost to FPHS...zero.
In this era of “fiscal cliff” and “pork barrel spending” rest assured your financial support of the Settlemier House will never be wasted. We are aware of, and very much appreciate those of you that are life members and continue to support us with an annual donation.
With the generous support of you the members of the FPHS we will continue to maintain and preserve this fine old Victorian lady for generations to come.
Sincerely your,
Daniel Dinges
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January 2009 Newsletter
January 2011 Newsletter
January 2012 Newsletter