WEST DEPTFORD BAND PARENTS

GENERAL MEETING MINUTES

April 3, 2006 

Meeting was opened by President Steve Wolff; he thanked outgoing board members for their work and welcomed the incoming board members 

Minutes from March meeting are posted on the band web page, motion to accept as posted made by Steve Keen and seconded by Estena McGhee 

Fundraising report given by Eileen Mannion,

Still some outstanding Spirit wear Funds due, seniors will not be eligible for graduation until all monies are paid.

Upcoming Events: Ladies Night Out ~April 17

                               Hollywood Night ~ April 25 

Steve read a message from Ed Houghton regarding enforcement of Board of Education policy on fundraising

Estena said that a list of fundraisers used to have to be submitted at the beginning of the year but had not been required for the past few years. 

Treasurer’s report given by Rose Rossiter

            Current balance $$$

                        Sunoco donation $$$

                        Pasta & Pops proceeds $$$ (split with Choir Parents ~ $$$ each)

            Student Credits $$$

            Available balance $$$

            Concession Stand Account $$$ 

Sunoco funds to be placed in concession stand fund after all payments for California trip are received, at this time approximately $11,000.00 in outstanding trip payments due and check needs to be sent to Performance tours by Friday April 7, 2006. 

Discussion of whether or not the Band Parent Organization would be held responsible for unpaid balances. Overall opinion was expressed that Mr Atkinson has always been able to handle delinquent accounts in the past and there should not be an impact on our account by the time of the trip. It was also felt that it IS NOT an acceptable expense to be absorbed by the organization, if people signed up for the trip, they are responsible for payment in full. London trip was a different situation because we had to reimburse penalties and deposits in addition to trip payments. 

Returned checks remain a problem, Rose is adding fees we are charged to balances due for the trip. Rose is dealing with Mr A. when it comes to problems with payments due and returned checks and he is taking responsibility. 

Eileen Mannion made the suggestion that we take turns with the choir parent organization for funneling trip monies through our accounts. The consensus was that they don’t have enough involvement to have a bank account that could manage to cover late or incomplete payments. 

Ladies Night Out ~ Barb Angelini said there are 16 vendors lined up to participate

            Sign up sheet passed around for food/beverage donations

            Set up to begin at 5 p.m. Vendors arrive at 6:30

            Will need tables picked up from the concession stand (Steve will be available on Wednesday evening for items that need to be picked up from the stand)

            Volunteers needed to set up and serve (Men preferred)

            Tickets are $5.00

            Posters and signs available (Thanks to Yvonne Mucci) to take along to post 

Woodbury Relays ~ to be held at WDHS on either the 8^th or 22^nd of April, awaiting date confirmation from Mr Cammarota.

            Ed Houghton has said that there will be a lock on the storeroom door before Woodbury has access to the stand 

West Deptford Relays ~ April 15^th

            Darlene McKendry suggested a healthy menu ~ discussion about last year’s top sellers being junk food

            Steve W. proposed purchasing a griddle prior to the event and selling egg sandwiches

Last year we purchased bagels and donuts from GCIT, they will be closed this year due to the Easter holiday. Suggestions offered for alternate bagel purchases were Bagelicious and Manhattan Bagel.

Steve W. suggested we form a committee to discuss the menu and set pricing. Louise Marzin, Darlene McKendry, Rose Rossiter, Steve and Lisa Wolff volunteered. The committee will meet Monday April 10^th at the HS. Anyone else available is welcome to attend.

Steve W. will contact Bill Moore, Girl’s Track Coach to finalize details of event.

We will be needing shifts of help throughout the day beginning at ^ a.m. Sign up sheet passed around. 

Hollywood Night ~ April 25

            Tickets are $15.00 and may be purchased from Eileen Mannion, Mr. Kershaw, or Lisa Wolff.

            Last year we had a 50/50 during the dinner, will try again

            Mr. Kershaw will check with Hollywood to see if some of the band might be able to perform. Eileen M. Raised the question whether it is a conflict with school policy to have the kids perform in a bar setting.

            We must pay for 75 people minimum to hold the event at Hollywood, advance ticket sales encouraged! 

Concession Stand

            ~Ice machine is to be installed Wednesday April 5^th.

            ~Committee on concession stand furnishing has come up with a wish list (copy to be attached) some pricing already obtained.

            ~Pat Perry mentioned that one of the choir members may have a dad who is in the restaurant supply business, perhaps we can check with him.

            ~Discussion of heaters ~ can use either a large wall hung or smaller units. Major concern is prevention of frozen pipes, worker comfort also important, but due to stand design may be difficult when all doors are open.

            ~Coke issues – we are no longer going to be able to have a workable relationship with Coke fountain products. They are changing to a new system “bag in a box” and we do not do enough volume in our limited season to warrant them keeping us as customers. This has been discussed with Mr. Cohen, the school has a contract with Coke and therefore we cannot sell non-Coke products (i.e. Pepsi) on school grounds. It is also a policy that canned or bottled soft drinks can’t be sold at football games to problems in the past with cans/bottles being dropped from the stands onto passersby below (potential injuries). We have received permission to sell them in this form for the Relays only.

            Steve W. has done some investigating into other options. He has found a soda gun type system that would cost about $3, 000.00 to purchase or could be rented/leased. Leasing comes with service and warranties, purchase would not come with service. Multi-Flow has the best pricing thus far on the soda system and offers a variety of soda brands and flavors. Price per gallon of soda is much more economical than the old system, ($4.00 per gallon vs. $1.00 per gallon). Ed Houghton said that you can definitely taste the difference between name brand and “value” brands of soda. The system may be more cost effective to lease than buy. However, we only have four scheduled home games this year, one of which is the Paulsboro game.          

            With our Coke contracts we had always purchased Dasani water from Coke and sold that. If Coke is no longer our fountain provider, it may be more cost effective to purchase water at Sam’s and do away with our Coke contracts altogether. They have already removed the water refrigerator from the stand and were to return it prior to the fall season. We would nee additional refrigeration if we are to purchase water from another source. A suggestion was made (by Jackie Wyatt?) that we purchase our own glass doored refrigerator. Ed H. said he may be able to get another free refrigerator through Woodbury Appliance.

            ~ Mr. Kershaw said that he had talked with Ray Kirchner and it is possible to run live feed to the stand from the box. The feed would be video only so that no background conversations are broadcast. If this is to happen, we would need television sets to be installed in the stand. 

New Business

            April 29, 2006 ~ Jazz lab will be performing at the Senior Citizen Prom           

            Picnic vs. banquet ~ Mr Atkinson and Mr. Kershaw are exploring opportunities and dates

            Senior Plaques ~ There is a possibility that these may be funded by the BOE this year. Mr. Kershaw will investigate 

Mr. Kershaw’s corner

            Spring schedules have been posted

            It is necessary to hold rehearsals prior to the different upcoming events

                        California trip

                        Marching band for parades

                        Spring Concert

            Please check the schedules and make sure your child attends appropriate practices 

Ed Houghton

            ~ Reminder that the School Budget/ School Board Election is coming up on April 18^th. One of the candidates for school board is a former band parent – Jim Crawford. 

Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Judy Densten and seconded by Louise Marzin.  

Respectfully submitted, 

Lisa Wolff, Recording Secretary