Minutes from 7-6-2020 Meeting held on Zoom - BristolSun

Minutes from 7-6-2020 Meeting
                      held on Zoom
 Attending: Mitch Mitchell, President, Linda Powell, Treasurer; RoseMary
          McDaniel, Secretary; and various audience members.

   Mitch Mitchell made motion to accept last minutes, and Linda Powell
   seconded. Motion passed. Treasurer Linda Powell advised that current
                  account BOTR balance is $4,620.55.

Treasurer Powell will get on-line access to manage the account at the Bank.

The discussion topics centered around events to be held in 2020.

The Puppy Paddle event from Paddle Michiana will be held on Saturday,
August 8, 2020 as a 5 mile kayaking event on the St. Joe River starting at 9am
(begin launching at 10am) at Hermance Park in Bristol. Dogs are welcomed
and encouraged to ride in the kayaks. The ending point will be the Six Span
Bridge. Mitch is arranging to have parking for cars for people participating in
the event at locations in downtown Bristol. Two things to note, due to Covid-
19 distancing requirements. Kayaks to line up at 6 foot distance, and one
kayak at a time can launch at a time. Also arrangements for individuals
transport from six span bridge back to cars parked at Bristol must be done by
participating individuals in conjunction with Covid-19 requirements.

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There will NOT be a raffle for a kayak. The event has a number of sponsors,
including Bristol Parks and the Bristol Public Library. The group will have a
representative of the Coast Guard to make a presentation on boat and water
safety and education at the event, and brochures about river safety, etc. will
be at a booth there. There also may be several food trucks in the vicinity to
sell refreshments.

To celebrate the famous Bristol Watermelon Festivals of the Past,
local residents and businesses of Bristol (anyone with a 46507 address) are
invited to join Bristol on the River for The Founder's Day “A Taste of the
Past” Event for Saturday, July 18, 2020 all day. (Suggested hours: 10am to
7pm.) We are asking residents to decorate in red, white and blue, if possible,
and join the Bristol on the River Town Wide Garage Sale 2020.

We encourage residents in the Bristol 46507 area that want to hold a garage
or yard sale to do so on Friday, July 17th and Saturday, July 18th in
conjunction with Bristol's Founders Day event. Encourage your shoppers to
visit our downtown restaurants and Jack's Feed Shack for free watermelon
from the Bristol Lions Club along with popcorn (by donation) while they
shop and dine. Encourage your shoppers to visit the Eastern Star on Vistula
for more shopping opportunities too. At the Mason Temple, they will have a
bake sale and indoor yard sale with their masks for sale, and may also have
BBQ for carryout.

We are not having a map so advertise here by posting and share with your
friends and family. Don't forget to post pictures of the treasures you are
selling! We will put up details for the event later this week on Facebook.
Bristol on the River will provide free watermelons on Friday, July 17 to all
businesses who wish to participate. Please call 574-596-6994 to tell us how
many melons you want and when you want to have them delivered. These
watermelons can be cut in slices and served as free carryout for visitors as a
reminder of the Bristol past yearly watermelon festival.

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The Red Bird, and the Evans Restaurant will also participate by serving free
watermelon slices or as carryout.

Additional downtown businesses will be contacted to see if they would like to
participate by decorating in red, white & blue and having watermelon slices
to offer free to customers. Town Manager Mitchell has large red, white and
blue ½ Bunting to lend to any business that would like to have to decorate
their building.

Another activity that week will be at 6-9 pm on both Thursday, July 17 and
Friday, July 17, 2020, will be an historical walking tour of Bristol presented
by the Elkhart County Historical Museum. Register by Wednesday, July 15
on their Facebook page

As discussed at the last meeting, Town Manager will take several of the old
stored Town wreaths to Linda Powell's home, so that the Decorations Task
Force can decide if the old wreaths can be refreshed and used again.. Powell
is the leader of the Task Force, and anyone can join.

Linda Powell will also follow up with local artist, Bonnie Barrett to design
new holiday boards to be visible on both sides of lamp post with unique
holiday designs. They would be lightweight and could be printed by Deco-
Art. They would be very unique and less expensive than buying commercial
decorations for Christmas. They would need lighting on them, too.

Powell reminded those who commented that those expressed in joining the
Task Force will be contacted via Facebook to meet to review the old wreaths
to see if they can be utilized in any way and discuss further.. She will make
the arrangements for a future meeting and the Facebook post on this subject.
This project was delayed due to Covid-19 quarantine. Town Manager has
plans for how the holiday boards can be hung, and how they can be lighted.

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After last year's successful BOTR Golf Outing at Raber Golf Course,
it was suggested to have one again this year in September. However, due to
the Covid-19 restrictions, and uncertain availability of enough volunteers to
run the event, RoseMary McDaniel made a motion to postpone planning a
Golf Outing until 2021.

Linda Powell seconded, and motion was passed.

For September or October, BOTR would like to work with the Elkhart
County Genealogical Society and other local history groups to hold a “People
of the Past Day” in early October at the Oakridge Cemetery in Bristol. It
would feature stories of people of Bristol buried there – and either storytellers
or reenacters in the cemetery to tell the stories of the people. Many families
and streets in Bristol have some of the names of those in the cemetery, and it
would be interesting for visitors to learn their stories. For those who may
need assistance in walking from one presentation to the other, several golf
carts will be available to assist them. In the old days, it was common to have a
picnic with the family in the cemetery, and BOTR is thinking about having
food available in the park local groups sell cookies or something? – perhaps
even a food truck? More information to come.

Linda Powell reports that the pumpkins and gourds that she and Perry
planted on the empty property at 110 Charles St. where the old house was
torn down are doing very well. She plans to use them for town fall
decorations.

Mitch advised that the Quilt Mural will soon be hung on the Open Door
building like last year, but it would be hung by Bristol Maintenance
employees to save money.

Mitch advised that he had obtained permission for Niblock to move the
concrete block blocking the former boat launch area (by the sign) which in
bad shape and received further damage when a submerged car was pulled

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from the river at that spot. That area is property of Bristol, according to the
DNR. In future, it may be redone as a launch for canoes and kayaks only.
Maintenance plans to clear the area prior to the August 8, 2020 Puppy
Paddle event.

Mitchell announced that a local Eagle Scout would like to work with Bristol
on doing a project for Bristol to complete his requirement. He will provide
some ideas on projects to the young man.

Mitchell announced that the Town Parking Lot in between the Red Bird and
the Bristol Theatre has been resurfaced and re-striped. Due to frequent
complaints about the entrance and exit of the lot being difficult to use,
the parking spots have been re-oriented to have the entrance at the Theatre,
and the exit beside the Red Bird. Signs will indicate the new entrance, but
the change of parking orientation will be obvious.

Powell advised that a group of cars parked attending a party in Cummins
Park at the outdoor Pavilion were illegally next to the Pavilion. The sign in
the Park clearly states that no cars are allowed beyond the parking lot. Any
future cars that are seen parking where they are not allowed will be reported
to the Bristol Police Dept.

The Town officials and Police Dept. have moved to the new building as of
June 30, 2020, and beginning on Wednesday, July 7, the lobby of the new
building will be open for town and police business during regular 8am to 4pm
hours on Monday through Friday However, an open house has not yet been
scheduled.

The next regular BOTR Meeting will be held on Monday, August 3, 2020.
The location is not yet determined. Although the June meeting was held
at the Hermance Park Pavilion, it could not be used this month. The new
rules for renting the building are that it is rented for a day, and then left
to set for 3 days, and then cleaned before it can be used again. There was
a weekend event, so it could not be used for the July 6 meeting.

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BOTR will advise the location for the Aug. 3 meeting at 6pm when
it is determined. Public is welcome and encouraged to attend.

Meeting was adjourned.
Report R1 submitted by Secretary, RoseMary McDaniel on July 7, 2020.