The Lincoln County Historical and Genealogical Society will meet at the temple on Church Street Thursday at 6:30 p.m. to discuss ideas for setting up the museum, plan for future fundraisers and hear a pair of presentations on local history.

Guest speaker Larry Butler will deliver a history of Fair Oaks Springs school, which closed in 1960, and the society will deliver an update on its St. Stephens Road project, a compilation of history surrounding the trail that once ran from Natchez, through Brookhaven and on to Alabama.

"We've got a lot of activities going on," said society chairwoman Rita Rich. "The public can hear our plans as far as the museum, and that's not going to be a small task."

The most pressing issue at hand for the museum is money, Rich said.

She said the society has about $13,000 in its account, but is facing an immediate expenditure of close to $6,000 for a central heating and air unit for the museum. Likewise, annual utility costs are unknown, but will be higher than the $2,500 per year price of maintaining the temple when it was rarely used.

Insuring the museum is expected to cost around $2,000 per year, Rich said.

The society is also facing several deposits to get utilities connected to the building under the society's name, and will have to buy display cases for the artifacts or the materials to build them, Rich said.

Rich said Lincoln County supervisors appropriated $5,000 for the museum out of their fiscal year 2010 budget, but Brookhaven aldermen did not make a financial contribution.

The first step toward raising money will be to sell the seats that once seated the Jewish congregation of the temple. Plans call for the seats' honor markers to be removed and saved for the museum, but the seats must go to make room for future exhibits. Thursday's meeting will be the last time the seats remain in the former temple.

Rich said the society is hoping to solicit donations from local businesses and hold a silent auction in early December to coincide with the annual Tour of Homes.

"Right now, we've got money to do what we need to do, and hopefully we'll raise more, but I don't know how much we're going to have to be able to open the museum as much as we would like," she said. "It just depends on what kind of support we get from the public."

The society is always open to tax-deductible donations, Rich said, and interested people may join the society for $10 at Thursday's meeting. Annual dues will be renewable for $20 in January, she said.

Aside from financial discussions, the society will also share its vision for the museum at Thursday's meeting. Work on setting up the artifact selection committee is almost complete and board members will begin reviewing items soon, Rich said.

"There's a lot of work to do as far as planning," she said. "We're just now beginning with the work of actually setting the museum up as a museum."