Historical Commission Meeting: September 23, 2025

Attendance

• Attendees: Tom Kokernak – chair, Carl Soderberg – vice chair, Larry Todd – clerk, Gina Polewaczyk.

Call to Order

Tom opened the meeting at 7:08 pm at the annex, with remote access

Meeting Minute Approval

The meeting minutes of 6/17/25 were approved as written.

New Business:

Tom announced that Larry has resigned from the commission effective 9/30/25. Larry was asked to stay on as an alternate member – will consider it.

Gina was voted in as the new clerk.

There was a question regarding Martha Upton and her interest in the commission as she did not attend this meeting; Tom will contact her.

Joyce has told the Select Board she does not want to be reappointed at this time.

Civil War Website

Tom said the town is working on changes to the town website so we should wait to ask for material to be added to the Historical Commission webpages. We asked if this will allow groups like ours to make changes to material. (Later note: Larry called the town offices on 9/24 and was told that Karen Cruise is doing the work on changes to the town website and we can continue to ask for changes to our material and we can address questions to her.)

Cemetery work

Larry said the invoice for the tomb door was submitted last week to use the encumbered funds and the door will be finished this week.

Tom will bring a draft of the Paupers’ Graves sign to the next meeting. Tom said he has been very busy at the fire department the past few months but should have more time in the fall to work on commission projects.

Carl offered to step up as commission chair but Tom declined the offer.

Historic House Signs

Carl will ask the town to get his writeup put on the commission website as soon as they can.

Public Safety Building

Carl gave us an update and said the aesthetics of the design have been a subject of review and he showed illustrations of the current design. The building committee has an OPM on board who will work with the project through construction. There was a trophy case in the school building which Carl would like to find a place for in the new building if it is in reasonable condition (now in the custody of the historical society) and suitable space can be found.

Boylston Villa

no update; the $1200 we encumbered for this were not spent and will be returned to the town’s general fund.

Other Business

• Tom is looking into the history of the Princeton Fire Department; at some time there were two fire companies, Wachusett #1 and Wachusett #2. He will continue his research.
• Tom is also looking into Princeton’s role in the Revolutionary War but is just beginning his research.
• There was discussion about Mechanics Hall; options are still being considered by the Select Board.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 7:57 pm

Submitted by

Gina Polewaczyk, Clerk on behalf of Larry Todd, previous Clerk

Action items

• Tom: Bring a sample of the language for the Paupers’ Graves sign to the next
• Carl: Have Historic House Plaque Program posted to the commission website
• Gina: Work on creating a fill-in application form for the historic house plaque