[From the minutes book of the Port Hume Ladies' Musical Society, 1919 volume. Recorded by the secretary, Mrs. Celeste Vantine. Meeting of 16 October 1919.]
PORT HUME LADIES' MUSICAL SOCIETY — MINUTES Regular meeting, Thursday the 16th of October, 1919, at the Crescent Hall.
ATTENDANCE. Mrs. Celeste Vantine, secretary, presiding in the absence of our President (Mrs. Harvey Blackstone, in Boston for her daughter's confinement). Mrs. Evangeline Hume; Mrs. Ottilie Thorpe (her first attendance since the loss of Mr. Thorpe on the 12th of September); Mrs. Adela Thorpe (Julian's wife); Mrs. Augusta Thorpe Callisher; Mrs. Charles Reddick (down from Philadelphia); Mrs. Clara Westbrook; Mrs. Douglas Westbrook — no, not Mrs. Douglas; Mrs. C. is Mrs. Douglas, I have written her twice, I ask the reader's pardon. Mrs. Harriet Westbrook Jr. (n.b. — Miss Harriet does not prefer the married-style; I use it here per the Society's catalog and will amend at her written request). Mrs. Rachel Linden; Mrs. Leopold Vantine (myself); Mrs. Lenora Reddick; Mrs. Helen Calder, assisting; Mrs. Violet Ashmore, reporting for the Beacon. Total present: 12. Apologies: Mrs. Blackstone (Boston); Mrs. M. Bourne (ill); Mrs. F. Chandler (bereavement, her aunt).
OPENING. In the absence of Mrs. Blackstone, the secretary led the opening in a brief acknowledgment of the loss suffered by our dear Mrs. Thorpe in the past month, to which the meeting responded with a silence of two full minutes (timed by Mrs. Calder, who observes this courtesy at our meetings by courtesy of her private office experience). Mrs. Thorpe was thanked for her attendance; the meeting acknowledged without further comment the personal courage it had required.
MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING. Read by the Secretary; approved as read.
TREASURER'S REPORT (Mrs. Ashmore, in Mrs. Bourne's absence). The Society's account stands at $218.40. The autumn subscription concert, held on the 8th, realized $142 in ticket income; the Hall rental fee of $35 has been paid; the musicians' fees of $78 have been paid; the net proceeds for the Society ($29) have been applied to the general fund. (Approved as reported.)
BUSINESS.
(1) Spring concert programme. Mrs. Vantine brought the Programme Committee's proposed spring concert to the meeting. The Committee (Mrs. V., Miss Westbrook, Mrs. Linden) has considered several possibilities and proposes a programme built around the Brahms F-minor Quintet, with a short opening piece by Schubert and a closing American piece. The American piece proposed is either the first movement of Mrs. Beach's new piano quintet (if she permits; a letter has been sent) or a set of four songs by the late Dr. Abraham Kelsey of Port Hume, whose 1870s compositions Miss Hargrave-Thwaite of the Heights has recently brought to our attention through a private communication to the Committee. (After some discussion — in which Mrs. Thorpe observed that she had, as a younger woman, heard the Kelsey songs sung in her own mother's parlor and had remembered them fondly; Mrs. Hume thanked her for the remark — the meeting voted to pursue the Beach, with the Kelsey as alternate. Motion Mrs. Reddick, second Mrs. Vantine, carried.)
(2) Annual benefit. The annual benefit concert, proceeds to the Ward Street Settlement House (Mrs. Applegate, director; request conveyed via the League of Women Voters), is set for the 8th of December at the Crescent Hall. Tickets to be priced at $2 general admission and $5 patron. Mrs. Westbrook Jr. has volunteered to assist with the handbill design. Mrs. Calder to draft the form letters to prospective patrons.
(3) Membership. Mrs. Applegate of the Settlement House has inquired whether the Society would consider an honorary membership for her director-ship; Mrs. Ottilie Thorpe proposed the honorary membership without reservation; Mrs. Hume seconded. (Carried.) Mrs. Applegate will be so notified.
(4) Condolences. The Society records formally its condolences on the death of Mr. Cornelius Thorpe, and on the recent death of Mr. Ernst Brandt of the Crescent (member's husband, Mrs. Brandt), and on the recent death of the Rev. J. Tanner's sister in Schenectady. (Resolved nem. con.)
(5) New business. Miss Westbrook Jr. inquired whether the Society might consider — for the autumn of 1920 — an evening of lesser-known American women composers, perhaps in cooperation with the League of Women Voters. (Received for further consideration at the next meeting.)
CLOSING. No further business. The Society repaired to Mrs. Vantine's home at Mrs. Vantine's invitation for light refreshment. Mrs. Thorpe, saying she was "much restored by the afternoon," departed in Mrs. Hume's motor at 4:40 p.m. Mrs. Hume accompanied her home to the Crescent and returned to join us for tea at 5:15 p.m. The afternoon was a quiet one. The light in the Hall toward the close, as we were gathering our coats, was the October light that makes even ordinary walls golden. Mrs. Thorpe's was the first bereavement the Society has had among our Crescent-and-Vanderlin-Row members in four years. We carried it, I believe, as such bereavements are best carried: together, without display, and with our music still in our hands.
Next meeting: the 20th of November.
Respectfully submitted, Celeste Vantine Secretary, pro tempore.