by Brendan Sample

When the Gowen Estate House Tour Steering Committee moved more than $2,000 to the Germantown Historical Society in 2005, the organization thought it would be able to use the funds later. When organization leaders tried to use the money in 2014, however, they were told it wasn’t there.

The problem was that the Germantown Historical Society members said they believed the funds were given as a gift. They were no longer there to return.

After several years of discussions, a solution still hasn’t been found as far as GEHT leaders are concerned, so the organization hired attorney William Spalding to pursue the return of the $2,229.63 originally transferred to GHS.

The Gowen Estate House Tour steering committee had been in charge of a regular house tour on E. Gowen Avenue in Mt. Airy. The Avenue contains a nationally recognized collection of Victorian homes. When the Gowen tours were held from 1993 until 2005, the Committee’s funds were held by East Mount Airy Neighbors, as GEHT was not an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The group had to look for a different holding agent in 2005, however, as EMAN was moving into a smaller office space and would not be able to keep the money during the transfer.

Dr. Arlene Bennett, one of the co-chairs of GEHT, said Alex Humes, a fellow co-chair and president of GHS, had told her that GHS had agreed to hold the funds. The transfer was made official after the last house tour on April 30, 2005.

“The tours were very successful, but eventually we were down to just a few people organizing it,” Bennett said. “We figured we would wait until more people were interested, but that never happened. Over a period of time, a number of people asked when we were going to have the next tour. With so many people doing their own things and the loss of two committee members, we realized by 2011 that we weren’t going to have it again.”

Bennett told the Local that the first Gowen Estates realized its money was missing was in 2014 when they asked Historic Germantown for funds to establish a memorial for former committee members Kathleen Pierson and Anne Snyder, who passed away in 2004 and 2011, respectively.

After she was told by Historic Germantown that no record of the transfer could be found, Bennett produced copies of the original check and bank statements, thus proving the existence of the funds. After the Historic Germantown Board of Directors conducted its own investigation, the board members concluded that the money had been a donation to GHS.

The current members of the GEHT Steering Committee are contesting this claim on the basis that the funds were never meant to be a donation, and that there is no documentation claiming that the money was meant for that purpose. All 13 Committee members have signed an action of written consent authorizing Spalding to take any necessary action to have the funds returned to GEHT.

The litigation is still in the early stages, but Spalding is dedicated to finding the best solution for his clients.

“It’s completely ridiculous,” said Spalding of Historic Germantown’s donation claim. “Both Gowen Estate House Tours and East Mt. Airy Neighbors are charitable organizations, so why would they make a donation themselves? … A donation also would’ve triggered a letter thanking the donor, but that never happened.”

For GEHT, getting the funds back will likely not be a short process, as the organization could be facing months of waiting while different options are explored. This further delay, however, has not stopped Bennett from figuring out what actions the Committee will take in the event that they obtain the money again.

“I plan to call a meeting of the Steering Committee members, all of whom signed the motion, and proceed with plans to establish a memorial to Kathy Pierson and Anne Snyder,” Bennett said. “Any leftover funds would be left to the group, but we’d probably donate it to the Gowen Estate Area. It wouldn’t be wasted or disappear anywhere, as I have a solid reputation of being pretty strict about how funds are handled.”

At this time it is unclear what, if any, actions Historic Germantown will take in response to this litigation. Although HG president Loretta Witt told the Local she was not aware of this issue prior to July 12, she confirmed that she would work to find a resolution after gathering more details about the case.

“If there’s a debt to pay, we pay it” Witt said. “We’re an organization that embraces the whole of Germantown, Chestnut Hill and Mt. Airy. We’re not in the business of making enemies, and this seems to fall under the parameters of wanting to find a solution that works best for both sides.”

Brendan Sample can be reached at brendan@chestnuthilllocal.com