March General Membership Minutes

March 5, 2007

The meeting was opened by President Steve Wolff with the Pledge of Allegiance

February meeting minutes were sent via email to the membership, motion to approve as sent made by Anne Connor, seconded by Mike Wyatt.

Treasurer’s Report given by Rose Rossiter

                         Financial Report information available from Treasurer.

We have received the money from the school for student meals and also the profit from Traveling Tracks. Pasta and Pops final profit is still pending until all receipts are in. The Chinese Auction added nicely to the financial success of the evening. Thanks to Maria Muni, Donna Brocco, Tom Liebold, Dave Fiebig and Eileen Mannion for obtaining or donating auction items.

 Audit Report given by Mike Wyatt. Mike and Joanne Tunis performed the annual internal audit of the treasurer’s books. They found everything to be in good order. Some questions that were raised were what became of the photos taken in California that we paid $380.00 for (these were the professional photos taken on the dinner cruise; money was for developing these pictures. Mr. Kershaw has the photos.) The other item questioned was for truck rental. This was the money used to rent an additional truck for the props, since we did not have official BOE approval to rent the truck it became our expense. Mike and Joanne suggested that having a Bank of Gloucester County Corporate Card would make account balancing and tracking much easier. Overall things matched up well and Joanne complimented Rose on her hard work. The Bank now offers online banking for Business Accounts and Rose is checking into this. Motion made to accept the audit report was made by Jackie Wyatt and seconded by Eileen Mannion. 

A question was raised as to whatever became of the photographs sent into school from the California trip. Mr. Kershaw said he had an overwhelming response and received over 4,000 pictures and it was too much volume to put onto one CD. He does have a CD and 2 copies of all of the photographs taken on the dinner cruise.  

Fundraising Report given by Eileen Mannion. There are no bands that have expressed interest in participating in the Battle of the Bands so that event planned for March 24^th has been cancelled. The woman who does the fundraising dinners at Adelphias has been away on vacation and will return on Thursday; Eileen will try to contact her then. The Colnas said that they had recently attended a fundraising event at Adelphias and the food was terrible. They suggest checking menu options closely. Mike Brocco mentioned that Comedy Cabaret at the Holiday Inn in Runnemede had been the site of a successful soccer fundraiser but the content of the show was for adults only. Mr. Kershaw brought up that the kids have been asking him for a fundraising credit item. He has been approached by P&B Fundraising who has offered their equivalent of the Entertainment book. The books sell for $12.50 and a $5.00 credit would be received for every book sold. This book contains more fast food and family friendly coupons than the traditional Entertainment book. No minimum order is required, the students will be given one book to use as a sample, orders will be taken and then the books will be dispensed as ordered. Mr. Kershaw volunteered to run this sale program; no other fundraisers are currently under way at the school. Joanne Tunis made a motion to go ahead with this fundraiser and the motion was seconded by Darlene McKendry. Eileen reported that $62.00 of Spirit Wear was sold at Pasta and Pops. Steve suggested moving toward all Marching Band Logos to help cut down on future inventory needs. The beef stick samples from Pee Jays still have not come in. 

Banquet is scheduled for June 8^th.  Nicolosi’s has been reserved, the price is $17.00 per person, and everyone attending must purchase a ticket. The price includes tax and tip. Several people voiced concern over Nicolosi’s capacity, we are hoping for a great turnout! Mr. Atkinson has discussed this with Nicolosi’s and they feel they can accommodate us. 

Picnic – Mike Wyatt had a follow up conversation with Caps, they have raised their price to $25.00 per person, and it was the consensus that this was too expensive for the picnic. Garrison Lake was an enjoyable place last year and much more reasonably priced, so it was felt that we should contact Garrison Lake to see if they are available again this year. The proposed date is Sunday June 10^th. 

Play Ad Book- We received a letter from Helen Mannion asking the Band Parent Organization to purchase an Ad in the Playbill for Brigadoon, in the past we have supported the musical with the purchase of a full page ad ($100.00) Joanne Tunis made a motion to purchase a full page ad again this year, the motion was seconded by Mike Wyatt and the motion was passed by a unanimous vote of the membership. 

Scholarships – We have received the annual request for information about sponsoring scholarships for the graduating class. According to the bylaws we offer 2 $1,000.00 scholarships and have written in the possibility of a third $1,000.00 scholarship (Director’s Choice). We currently have approximately $7,100.00 available, of this $1,000.00 is required to be set aside for start up costs per the bylaws, and we will need approximately $1,000.00 to support the picnic, leaving approximately $5,100.00 in available funds. Steve proposed that we utilize available funds to give three scholarships this year. Jackie Wyatt made the motion to go ahead with three scholarships; the motion was seconded by Becky Camlin. 

New Officer Nominations- the following members have been nominated/agreed to the nominations for executive offices:

            President-Dee Leonard

            1^st Vice President- Donna Brocco

            2^nd Vice President- Maureen Singiser

            Treasurer- Rose Rossiter

            Recording Secretary- Jeanne Stigale

Corresponding Secretary- Darlene McKendry

There being only one candidate for each office, I recorded a unanimous vote for each candidate. The new officers will assume their duties as of the April meeting. 

Mr Kershaw’s Input- Thanks to everyone who helped with Pasta and Pops, things really went well. Mr. Kershaw thought it was the best performance of the kids to date. It was a long night but it was worthwhile. There will be no St. Patrick’s Day Parades; they would have ended up costing us money because everyone who participates in the parade must purchase a parade patch. The band has been invited to play at the Chili Cook-off on April 21^st at the 4H Fairgrounds. They will play the Star Spangled Banner and a few other songs, they will wear their uniforms. In appreciation for their performance they will receive a $500.00 donation. It should be a huge event with great exposure for the kids. Last year the crowd was estimated at 12-15,000 and this year the expectation is for 25-30,000 people. The Spring Concert will be held on May 22^nd. 

Trip info- Trip dates are May 23^rd – 27^th. The final cost is $585.00 per student and $645.00 per parent. There will be a Trip information Meeting in early April.

For travel into Canada a birth certificate with a raised seal is an acceptable form of identification, a passport is not necessary at this time. 

Fine Arts Calendar- A new calendar has been added to the school web site. To access it got to the main page for the High School \ Curriculum\Staff. The new calendar has band, choir and major school events listed. 

Motion to adjourn was made by Mike Wyatt and seconded by Joanne Tunis. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Lisa Wolff

Recording Secretary