South Po= rtland Music Boosters

Meeting = Minutes

9/13/11<= o:p>

Connie Gray opened the meeting along with Cindy Fletch= er and Rusty Quinn. The Board and members= sent their condolences to Mike Fletcher.

Secretary: Ma= ggie reported that the minutes are ready for approval, and are on the tables and website for members to read. Susan Kramer made a motion to accept the minutes, Rusty Quinn seconded, the motion passed.

Connie introduced the Board and the members-elect.

The music teachers introduced themselves and gave a report. Craig Skeffington reported= that the school year is off to a good start. The Marching Band is working hard (we could hear the percussion sect= ion practicing). The first show is this weekend in Lawrence. Many people a= re involved. The US Army Jazz Ambassa= dors are giving a concert in October. W= e have a reputation for putting on good events.

Sandy Barry shared that the year started off really we= ll and things are going smoothly. We have= a new Principal and Assistant Principal at Mahoney. Beginner band starts next week, some of the students will be holding instruments purchased by the Boosters. Instrument day for 5^th graders is coming up.

Jean Quinn reported that Memorial has a new Assistant Principal, things are going well.

John Furman visited the elementary schools last week w= ith Mahoney and Memorial students to give instrument demonstrations. 125 students have signed up for band, pre-band begins this week, the Instrument Fair is on September 24 from 9-12, and on September 26 the students start playing.

Bev Hosic: noted that there are two sections of ch= amber singers (37 students), 40 in the chorus. District 1 audition registration is at the end of September, auditio= ns take place in Sanford in mid-October. Preparing for a new concert on October 12 for some solo and s= mall group work. Auditions for the musical are coming up, preceded by a masterclass next Wednesday night (preparation).

Jamie Swenson, Rosemary Osan and Nancy Curran are unable to attend. John Rimkunas reported on elementary music. Kindergarteners just got started, and a= re learning to march in a straight line. (Getting them ready for Marching Band!) Looks like it's going to be a great year for chorus. Starting handbells= soon, and he thanked the Boosters for the handbells donated in the past years.

Bingo: Lisa Fitzgerald reported that Bingo is going well, she will pass aro= und the calendar, reminded people that they need 2 shifts of bingo for their ch= ild to get a music camp scholarship. C= onnie added that the South Portland Bingo Hall is our primary source of income. Everything we do is based on the money = we get from the Lamson family and their bingo business= . We need to support that Saturday night = with 5 workers each week. It's so much mo= re efficient than car washes, bake sales, etc. Working helps support the entire music program, elementary through h= igh school.

Brochure: Rusty shared the new membership brochures, and the entire schedule of events is listed on the back.

Publicity: Beth Doane reported that there are so ma= ny SoPo events to promote that publicity could be a big job! US Army J= azz Band, Marching Band Final Show (trying to get local vendors to promote it on their signs). The Maine = Today page is a great resource for events (Go Section). Excited to take ove= r the helm from Chuck Igo, and to make him proud. Encouraged people t= o send her information.

Membership: Rob SanGiovanni reported that this is his second year as a Membership Coordinator. He loves to interact with the public, the students and the teachers. The biggest thing we do = as far as membership goes is to promote events, what students are doing, and paren= tal involvement. He will be at the Fifth Grade Instrument Fair and may need a volunteer that morning.

Special Events: Rusty Quinn reported that several big e= vents are coming up: The US Army Jazz Ambassadors will play on October 25. Three of our students will get to play = with them! This is the top Jazz Band wi= th the Army. We will need volunteers to p= ass our tickets, help people find their seats, etc.

State Marching Band Finals are October 29, (rain dates= are 10/30 and 11/5). This is a HUGE event. At the last home show (not finals) we had 75 volunteers participate, and this is much bigger. Rusty reviewed the various jobs, and as= ked volunteers to sign up on provided forms. Thir= teen bands from Maine and NH, Sacred Heart from CT. Sandy asked for a signup sheet for Middle School parents. Parents of students performing will be = able to watch South Portland perform. J= ean asked about a shuttle for Middle School students from Dyer to the High School. Shuttle riders get in for = free.

Rusty reviewed some additional events in the spring an= d a date change on the back of the brochure for the All-City was noted.

Someone mentioned that the next membership meeting is = on Election Day, do we want to change the date?

Connie pointed out Angela Lemelin= , and suggested people contact her and Rusty with questions about working at = the finals. Noon u= ntil 7 or 8 p.m. She added that la= st time she worked, parent “alumni” helped out so parents with students in the band could watch. Great camaraderie. Westbrook pare= nts even helped out.

Fundraising: Cindy Fletcher reported that most of our fundraising is done through Bingo, although occasionally other possibilities occur. The Maine Cancer Foundation asked the Boosters to be a vendor at the Tri for a Cure in July. They had a gr= and time, supported Beth Doane, but we made no money because another organization was giving away huge amounts of food. The event was good PR for the Boosters.= Cindy reminded members that we have an account with Clynk bottle funds. The Board recently allocated funds in s= upport of the Andy Gerke scholarship fund (just over $500).

The first South Portland Music Festival, organized by = a 2010 graduate (Sam Ouellette), showcasing recent graduates, played a concert on August 14, and donated the proceeds to the Boosters. They were very proud to be able to give= back to the Boosters ($500). Congratula= tions to them on their effort. Enthusiastic but small audience.

Cindy thanked the new members for attending tonight. Great email list. Between our website and communication w= e give parents everything they need to know about events, what's happening, etc.

Cindy asked Mr. Skeffington to speak about the proposed Florida trip this spring (during February vacation, Tuesday-Saturday). Craig has been teaching for 18 years, a= nd has traveled 7 times with the band. Th= ey went 3 years ago to Orlando, had a clinic at Epcot, played at downtown Disn= ey, and had a great time (85 kids and 20 adults-- all volunteers). When we went= the last time, the price-tag for each person was $1,100 and change and the Boos= ters sponsored half of that. This year,= the proposed subsidy is 20%, so the kids would pay $900 each. The trip would be open to kids in Conce= rt Band or Wind Ensemble, and he is hoping for 45-50 kids. Cindy Fletcher added that last time the= re were 110 people, and although 20 people were stuck in a blizzard in NY, and didn't get back until Tuesday, the rest of the trip was smooth. The Boosters are tremendously involved = in the trip, to support them financially as well as logistically. She discussed the history of Booster su= pport: In the past the Boosters had a lot of money to spend. We ran Bingo for 24 years, and did everything, bringing in approximately $150,000 per year, so we could easily support each student and chaperone. When our bingo contract ended, fortunately the Lamson family gave us a volunteer contract, for 5 volunteers a night, but our inco= me was reduced. The following year Be= v Hosic took a trip to NYC, and we supported them with = $100 per student. Mike suggested we sup= port 20% per person. We would love to s= ee it be 50%, but we have to be realistic. It is hard to know how many students will go. The members can decide what we want to do about this. Would like an answe= r about our opinion about a level of support tonight. Cindy has 4-5 ideas of fundraisers for students to do as well. The cost is $1133 per person (roughly), which covers flights, hotel, breakfast, dinner, workshop, performance, park admission, day at Universal Studios Harry Potter. It's a lot of fun, and a L= OT of work.

One Booster noted that his family went to Disney on va= cation when our kids played, and people thought we were a college! Suggests possibly 25%, sounds a lot better. Beth Doane = said we also looked at equality between band and chorus events. You can never anticipate what the futur= e will hold. Our Bingo contract decreased= each year since 2008, about 10%.

The proposed additional fundraising would be above and beyond the amount we decide to donate to the trip. Susan Kramer: 20% for 50 kids is $11,000. 25% would be $14,000. The NYC trip was= $650 cost.

SHOW OF HANDS: Rusty asked for a show of hands to chang= e the amount of support to 25%, and most Boosters were in favor, if the Board and Mike felt the budget could support that amount.

MOTION TO SUPPORT the Florida Trip made = by Mary Linneman, seconded by Glen Eckholm, motion passed.

Website: Dewey has changed the date of the concert on the website. All Board members' email addresses, the= Bingo Schedule and the brochure will be on the website. The webpage posts all the information, = photos and videos of all SoPo events. Please give Dewey information so he can= keep it current and up to date. Dewey w= ill be retiring this year, so the Boosters will need to find people to show up and take videos of events. He offered to let people visit with him, look at the Boosters' video camera, watch him take photos, etc.

Treasurer's Report: Christina presented a statement of the t= otal of our fundraising income from last year available for this year's budget.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> The proposed budget for 2011-2012 year = was based on our income, some budget cuts were necessary to balance the budget. She reviewed the Profit an= d Loss Budget Performance and explained how the $84,196 budget was decided upon. She reviewed the itemized departmental music/choral budgets. She then exp= lained that money raised this year is deposited for NEXT year's budget. If we continue to raise $7,000 per mont= h, we will get $84,000 for next year's budget. This is less that this year, and t= his is a trend. We are hoping we get $84,000, but in January that could change with the new Bingo Contract. Other fundraising events are hard to predict. This year so far we have = raised $14,000, so we are on track. She reviewed each department's YTD expenditures, including administrative funds/fees. Christina will have an updated fiscal report every two months for the teachers.

MOTION TO ACCEPT THE BUDGET as proposed by: Michelle Powell and Jean Quinn, the mot= ion passed.

Announcements from Mike:

The new Marching Band banner is ready and a photograph= is posted on the website. It will be = hung at the home show and in the Music Room. Thanks to Steve Laberge, Mike, and Tap Fitzgerald.

Cindy noted that scholarship forms for this year (Summ= er Music Camps and Senior) are on the website. The senior scholarship form is quite comprehensive, including everyt= hing from 6^th grade to senior year. On page 2 there is a change to the Andy Gerke Scholarship, (offered by his family to a student involved in music, scholar= ship and community service). Applicants= ' GPA and Community Service involvement will now be considered for this scholarsh= ip.

Rusty Quinn reported that the Home Show and Masterworks events typically make a profits, and said there was a proposal that the pro= fits might be allocated to the group that was featured in the event. Masterworks money to choral, Marching B= and finals would go to Band. Jean Quin= n said it would be really difficult to divide up the funds, for example: the marching band event, middle school parents will be helping, will it be considered a High School Event?

Michael is thinking that this year's budget is the sec= ond year we have had a fixed budget. C= uts had to be made. Seemed rather lopsided from vocal to instrumental. He was thinking of a way= we could give back to the department, to use as they see fit. Funnel the funds a little bit more clos= ely to the group that would be hosting the event. People were concerned that if an event loses money, will it come out= of their budget, and also concerned about the diversification. We have spent a lot of time trying to b= ring all the groups and volunteers together, wouldn't this be devisive?

Sandy Barry noted that in the past a lot of that money= went into general funds because we needed it for administrative emergencies. When the HS renovation begins, we will = not be able to host events, the middle schools can't ex= pect a lot of income from events. In the = spirit of “we're all one big group” money wouldn't be accessible for a program that had a big need. Christina: We can always make decisions to change things. Whatever we make is for ne= xt year's budget, not this year's.

The discussion will be tabled for the time being.

Motion to adjourn. All in favor. The meeting was adjourned at 8:20.

The next meeting is on Tuesday, November 8 at Memorial Middle School.

Respectfully submitted by Maggie <= span class=3DSpellE>McNeice, Secretary, and Susan Kramer-White, Secretary Elect.