Meeting Minutes
Torch Club of the Fox Valley
17 April 2025
Touchmark
Notes taken by: Sue Bennett, Secretary
ATTENDEESs: Sue Bennett via zoom, Nancy Van Rooy Bodway, David Debbink, Marcia Debbink, Walt Hedges, Barb Kelly, Bill Kelly, Dale Lewellyn, John Palmquist, Jan Mirenda Smith via zoom, Kris Stahl, Peter Thiel, Scott Valitchka, Bert Wiegand.
Guests: Sofia Wilson via zoom, Rich Carlstadt
The meeting was called to order at 6:22 p.m.
Bill welcomed guests, Sofia Wilson, a former member attending via zoom from Las Vegas and Bert’s guest, Rich Carlstadt, who is also our guest speaker this evening. Rich is a retired manufacturing engineer and lives in Green Bay.
MINUTES: There were no corrections or additions to the minutes. A motion was made by David to accept the minutes, which was seconded by Walt. All were in favor and minutes were approved as published.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Barb reported a balance of $2,156.28, as of 2/14/25. There were no payments or receipts, so the balance as of 3/16/25 remained $2,156.28. Barb also reported that she has filed the required E99 tax form for 501C4 non-profit organizations with the IRS. It was moved by Walt and seconded by Bert to accept the Treasurer’s report. All were in favor and the report was approved.
VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT: Bert reported that this evening we will be enjoying a guest presentation by Rich Carlstedt on the history of the USS Monitor. Upcoming presenters will be as follows: Bert in May, Kris in September and David in October, Paul in November, Barb in December and Scott in January. February through May of 2026 are still open. Walt is the incoming VP, so contact him with regard to choosing a date for your presentation.
OLD BUSINESS: Mary Poulson books: Barb reported that she has still not heard back from the Appleton Public Library regarding our donation of books and added that they have been very busy with the reopening. She also has never heard back from the Lawrnce University Library, even though she hasn’t told them to stop. She will continue to follow up on this.
NEW BUSINESS: Bill and Barb announced that they are hosting the summer party again this summer on August 21st. Please bring a dish of delicious food to share and Bill and Barb will supply drinks and tableware. This is always a very fun party and we all appreciate the Kellys’ hospitality.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: With reference to the subject of Mary Poulson, someone mentioned that they saw a banner at Lawrence tennis courts honoring Mary. Its nice to see her get recognized. Barb said that Lawrence has some wonderful pages about Mary’s history on their website.
It was moved by Walt and seconded by David to adjourn the business meeting. All were in favor and the business meeting was adjourned
At 6:22 p.m.
Presentation: A Journey of Knowledge of the USS Monitor by
Guest speaker, Rich Carlstadt.
Rich gave an extremely interesting and detailed power point presentation about the USS Monitor and his 20-year study of famous Civil War ironclad engines. Rich is the technical resource for the National Mariners’ Museum in Newport, VA, which is the repository for the USS Monitor archives.
Being an engineer and precision metal worker, Rich took an illegible copy of the plans for the Monitor’s ironclad engine and eventually built a scale model of it. This endeavor took years, but Rich had the passion and drive to accomplish his dream.