November General Meeting Minutes 

November 5, 2007 

The meeting was opened by President Dee Leonard with the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Dee also congratulated Mr. Kershaw and the band for their wonderful performance and championship at the TOB Chapter competition on Sunday.  

October minutes were sent out via e-mail to the membership, motion to approve as sent made by Donna Brocco and seconded by Rose Rossiter. 

Treasurer’s report given by Rose Rossiter. 

Concession stand sales have been slow - we have a home playoff football game on Friday night, Nov 9 - we may want to have people take food into stands to increase sales. 

Donna Brocco gave fundraising report - cheesecake sale is over, delivery will be on November 20^th at 2:30 - pick up will be until 6:00 PM. Dee will send out e-mail for volunteers to separate cheesecakes and remain until orders are picked up. We need to check the booking software to book the cafeteria that day for the delivery and pickup.

We will take Premier Jewelry orders until Friday.  

Cindy Thomas presented a possible fundraiser - knit hats and scarves with WD logo on the hats and West Deptford monogrammed on the scarf. The hats are available in white, green, and black with the WD logo, or a striped green and white hat and scarf with West Deptford on them. The hats cost $8, we could sell them for $12, the scarves cost $10, we could sell them for $15, and the striped set costs $18 and we could sell the set for $25. Orders rec’d by the beginning of December would be in for Christmas. Items can be taken back to the monogram shop in Woodbury for personalization (music notes, band instruments, sports logos, etc at a cost of $5) Discussion ensued on how much to sell these items for and whether the profit should go into individual accounts or general funds. Rose advised that the profits could also be split evenly between the individual and general accounts. Motion made by Kim Monsu, seconded by Mike Brocco and Sue Dawson to sell the hats for $12, scarves for $15 and the sets for $25 - profits will be split. 

Playoff football game Friday night - need help in concession stand.  

Sunrise will provide brownies for Dover. 

Parents bus for Dover - seats still available - $20 - bus leaving at 6:00 PM. We will feed kids light lunch and dinner on Saturday. Dinner at 4:30 - need donations for food - we have a set menu - sign up sheet sent around. Discussion ensued on whether parents wanted to come and eat with the kids - it was agreed dinner would be open to the parents.  

Dee and Mr. Kershaw both stressed how important it is for the parents to all sit together at Dover - Mr Kershaw stated that the crowd response is very encouraging for the kids as they are coming onto the field and how it makes them want to stand tall and do their best.  

USSBA championships - Saturday, November 17^th - Baltimore - not feeding kids per se - possibly ordering hoagies for the kids from the Verga VFW to help support the VFW. In turn, maybe the VFW and other businesses will support the band. We will be sending out request letters for donations to local businesses. The buses will be leaving @10 AM, performance time is @1:50 and the awards are @ 5:00 PM. If hoagies are ordered, discussed the possibility of charging $4 or $5 and including chips and a drink.  

On December 1^st, they are in two parades - Salem Christmas parade in afternoon and Cape May in evening.  

Dee advised of ad patron approaching her at the Deptford competition - had placed a $30 ad in our cavalcade book and was very unhappy she did not receive a thank you. We do have extra books we can give to ad patrons. Discussed the possibility of making up a general thank you letter with outline of how the band did over the season for kids to use as a guideline.  

Mr. Kershaw thanked everyone for Sunday, the response from the crowd was awesome. Their score placed the band 1^st in New Jersey and 3^rd out of 27 group III bands at Dover.

Performance time has been moved to 10:58 with the last band performing at 11:22 and then awards. Report time for Saturday is 10:00, rehearsal 10-12, lunch, rehearsal 1-4, dinner, leave at 6:00 PM, arrive 7:30-7:45, will watch some bands perform and relax before warm-ups. Delaware State University football stadium has large stands, parking could be an issue, limited facilities, aluminum bleachers, bring chairs and blankets, dress warmly. Will try and leave by 12:30 AM to return home by 2:00 AM. Tickets are $14 for adults, $12 for students & seniors. At gate they will be $20 and $15. Please buy tickets early, try not to wait until Saturday.  

Christmas parades may change if the football team makes it to the championship game. Stepoff for Salem parade is 11:30 AM and West Cape May is 6:00 PM. Cape May is a great parade, string bands, high school bands, houses are all decorated, lots of fun.  

Baltimore - Saturday Nov 17^th - USSBA Nat’l Championships - performance time of 1:54, there are 18 group IV bands, we are the 6^th band to perform, awards are at 5:00. This gives the kids an opportunity to perform in a large stadium, will either stop for dinner on the way home or have the kids eat on their own before awards. Also, SJ choir auditions are the same day - Tom still working out details on how to handle that.  

Tom also brought up the topic of student health - some students have sustained injuries of some type and are not telling anyone until it is too late - he is looking for re-enforcement from parents and asking parents to notify him of any aches, pains, etc their kids complain about and staff will keep an eye out as they do not want the kids to push themselves too hard. Also discussed kids sharing water bottles still, looking for parent re-enforcement again to discourage this.  

Monday November 12^th the music dept will begin their fundraiser - S. J. “Enjoy the City” books, will sell for $20, kids get ½ profit. Each student will get a sample book, for every 5 books sold, they will get a 6^th book free and will receive total profit from the 6^th book. The school/music dept will track for individual accounts. Orders can be rec’d in a few days. Fundraiser will run until 12/7, books will be in for Christmas.  

Gretchen Segado also discussed the choir fundraiser that is available to the band students also - WaWa hoagie coupons - cost is $3.50 and the kids get $1 for each coupon sold. The coupon is good for a regular shorti hoagie - specialty hoagies will cost more - some WaWa’s will allow coupons to be used for any item costing the same ($3.69). Orders can be turned into the music dept teachers. Another choir fundraiser is being held Friday November 30^th at the Verga Fire Hall - it is a cash and carry fundraiser from various vendors - orders can also be placed. Santa will be there and refreshments will be available.  

Motion to adjourn was made by Kim Monsu and seconded by Amy Stewart. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Darlene McKendry