Historical society holds tumultuous meeting
The rocky start to its annual meeting of the membership didn’t smooth out for the Le Sueur County Historical Society (LSCHS) on Saturday, Oct. 7, and a Messenger reporter was asked to leave.
The bumpy road only got rougher when the Le Sueur County Sheriff’s Office was called to keep the peace. It is unknown if the LSCHS directors or one of the approximately 28 members called the deputy sheriff who sat at the back of the room and monitored the majority of the meeting.
The board President Jenifer Morsching, treasurer Evelyn Fierst, an interim board member, Donna Morsching, (Jenifer’s mother) had eight items on the Society’s agenda. Those included the approval of agenda and minutes, financial summary for 2016, the election of a director for the board, review of 2016, presentation of sites information, and future plans. Ex-Officio and Coordinator Kathy Burns was unsuccessful at smoothing out the meeting as members shouted during the discussion.
Some Society members left the meeting shortly after it started because of what they called "verbal fighting and unprofessional behavior.” The board made it partly through the Society’s list of future plans before the meeting fell apart and the deputy sheriff told everyone to go home.
Dorothy Riebel of Le Sueur County, is a lifetime member. She said she has sent the Society donations for years even though she no longer has to pay membership. She left the meeting shortly after it started, saying she had enough of the bickering. She also questioned why everything in the Society is so secretive.
“They’re acting like two-year-olds, very unprofessionally,” she said. “Why are these such secret meetings? This isn’t a secret society, so why can they keep people out from the meeting?”
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