Band Boosters Meeting

Allegany Band Boosters
Meeting Minutes
8/17/09

The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m. by Donna Monteleone, President.

The Treasurer’s Report was presented. We have $35,381.83 in our main checking account. Our uniform account balance is $9,079.24. The trailer account contains $700.00. We have $2,500.00 in our instrument account. We made $4,163.69 from our fair concessions, but final expenses have not been completed. We earned $1,250.00 from fair parking. The uniform rental fee ($25) and the band camp fee ($50) are both past due. Please pay them immediately if you haven’t done so already. New parents, please note that all checks for band expenses should be made out to the Allegany Band Boosters, unless otherwise stated.

Old Business

Donna Monteleone gave an overview of the band booster’s organization. She emphasized that we don’t run the band (Mr. Jackson does!), but we oversee fundraising and logistics. It costs approximately $500 annually to support one band student. The Allegany band has never asked each family to contribute $500; instead, the Boosters work together to raise that money and keep the organization in operation.
Donna emphasized that we all need to work hard on the fundraisers and in our support capacity so that our children will reap the great benefits of being part of the AHS band.

Aside from the monthly direct fundraisers, Donna mentioned several additional ways we make money: 1.We profit from the sale of competition tickets. On the day of a competition, please buy your tickets from Ray Short when you drop your child off for practice. If you buy your competition tickets onsite, the hosting band will realize the profit, not us. 2. Tom Hawk sells 3 x 6 ft. advertising signs that are displayed at the stadium. They cost $300 per season, and are a money-maker for the band. 3. We participate in the Martin’s card sales. A portion of the money you use to purchase the cards goes directly to the band. Ray Short will also be selling Martin’s cards.

Cheryl Nelson talked about chaperoning issues. Students new to the band need to turn in a medical form before our first trip. Veteran students should also turn in a form if their medical situation or contact information have changed since last year. Cheryl is also our email coordinator; please contact her (301-697-2172) if you’re not receiving band emails.

Tom Hawk explained his roles in the band. Please contact Tom (301-722-0815) if you have questions about our finances, statistics, or the advertising signs. Tom is also a good man to find at performances, as he saves seats for our group and organizes our spirited cheers.

Pam Mallow talked about the Preview of Champions, which will be held on September 26. This is a band competition that we host each year at Greenway Avenue stadium. Bands will be coming from out of town, and we need participation from all our band parents in order to run this show smoothly. Pam urged everyone to sign up to work. If you missed the meeting, please contact Pam (301-777-3202) so that you can volunteer.

Julie Courtney will again head up our fundraising efforts. She talked a bit about the current candle sale (money due back by Thursday). She also said we’d be selling Joe Corbi pizza in September, we’d probably do two hoagie sales this year, and we will again sell fruit in coordination with the LaVale Rescue Squad. Julie also offered to donate $1 to the band for every band parent who looks at her Shaklee website, at www.shaklee.net/jbcourtney. She will also make a donation for every Shaklee purchase we make in support of the band. For fundraising questions, contact Julie at 301-777-9084.

Elaine Keane talked about the pit crew duties, and asked for parent volunteers. For the first time, the pit crew will be miked this year, and the new equipment is just now being unpacked and assembled. Parents who would like to help out with the pit crew should call Elaine at 301-722-5420.

In recent years, Helen Shin recorded the band performances, and sold the DVD’s to band members as a fundraiser. Donna asked for a volunteer to carry on this valuable tradition.

Cathy Levitas and Dianne Short talked about the upcoming Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser. The band boosters host two Spaghetti Dinners each season, one in the fall and one in the spring. This year’s fall dinner will be Saturday, September 5 at the LaVale United Methodist Church from 2:30 – 7:30 p.m. Cathy handed out sign-up sheets; both parents and students work this event. Please call Cathy (301-722-4386) or Dianne (301-729-2876) to volunteer. In addition, each band family needs to contribute a cube of name-brand soda and a sheet-cake size dessert. (can be homemade or store-bought; can be cookies, brownies, cake, pie, cupcakes, etc.) In addition, volunteers, please remember to wear a hat (health department regulation), blue shirt and tennis shoes.

Mike Diehl will be in charge of the trailers this year. Mike is looking for volunteers to help with hauling our equipment. If you have a truck, or can help with lifting or transportation, please call Mike at 301-759-3673.

New Business

Larry Jackson talked about the upcoming year. He said that it looks like the Greenway Avenue stadium renovation will be completed in time for us to begin running a concession stand next fall for the 2010 season. This is an opportunity that our group has worked towards for many, many years. As Larry says, “Failure is not an option.” He suggested that we will have to work “in overdrive” for the next few years, doing extra fundraising in order to buy equipment for the concession stand, and perhaps taking out a loan as well. A concessions stand committee has already been formed, and has begun working on all aspects of this project. Overall, Larry stressed that we have the opportunity to make a significant amount of money with the concessions, which could take the band to a whole new level of performance.

Larry briefly discussed plans for an adult trip to New York near the Christmas holidays. This would be an additional fundraiser for the band, if we can get enough people interested. Look for more information about this trip in the future.

Brian White spoke about the new garment bags and uniform care. The new garment bags will belong to the band, not the individual students, and will be used for years to come. Please remember to take the sash off the uniform before taking it to the dry cleaner. Some parents have been washing the white pants in Woolite; Brian discouraged this practice, and would like the pants to be dry cleaned along with the jacket. Please have your student use a sturdy wooden hanger, not a plastic or wire hanger. When the garment bags are being loaded for a competition, students should only put their jacket or pants inside. (no shoes!) Freshmen will be issued standard blue t-shirts as part of their uniform. Now that Kauffman Music has closed, gloves and shoes are being stocked by Ott’s.

Donna encouraged all band parents to attend our monthly meetings. We always meet on the third Monday of the month at 7:00 p.m. in the band room. Please note that next month’s meeting date is incorrectly listed on the new schedule. Here’s the correct information:
NEXT BAND BOOSTER MEETING-
Monday, September 21, 7:00 p.m.

The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

Allegany Band Boosters
Meeting Minutes
9/21/09

The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. by Donna Monteleone, President.

The Treasurer’s Report was presented by Carla Diehl. We have $34,716.45 in our main checking account. Our uniform account balance is $9,544.24. The trailer account contains $800.00. Our instrument account has been paid in full. Our profit from the fall spaghetti dinner was $2,574.40, with just one small bill outstanding. Our final profit from the fair concessions was $3,513.16. In other news, the band has received an anonymous donation of $1,000.00. The first round of Martin’s cards has been sold, netting the band $150. More cards are being ordered, so please continue to buy them from Ray Short. Ray also sells competition tickets before practice on show days. We made $372 in ticket sales from the first competition, so please buy from Ray!

Old Business

We earned $1,330 from the recent candle sale. A sign-up sheet was passed around at the meeting so that parents could volunteer to help sort the candle orders when they arrive. It was decided that candle pick-ups will be at Tina Tettenburn-Miles’ house, with more details to come. Thank you Tina for coordinating this very successful fundraiser!

The spaghetti dinner was a success. Dianne Short explained that an informal hourly counting of customers was done during the dinner. This counting will be done again during the spring spaghetti dinner, and we’ll use the information from both dinners to determine whether we should shift our serving hours. A suggestion was made to ask students to park at a distance during the dinner, so that some of our older patrons can park conveniently near the church.

Julie Courtney spoke about upcoming fundraisers. A spirit night at Bob Evans is being planned. A doormat sale, coordinated with Friends Aware, is under consideration. We will be doing the fruit sale again, only this time the LaVale fire hall will not be doing their usual citrus sale. Julie is trying to find a building with space for us to unload and sort fruit. Please contact Julie (301-777-9084) if you have access to such a building, with enough space for a semi-truck to pull up. We will also be conducting a hoagie sale in late October. Julie is always looking for helpers for these fundraising projects…please consider volunteering!

Bob Schaeffer will be recording all of the band’s performances this year, and selling DVD’s to us. Profits will go to the band booster fund. Bob is working out the details, and an email will be sent to the band booster membership soon.

Elaine Keane praised the members of the pit crew for their performance in Martinsburg. She encouraged pit volunteers to respond to her emails early in the week, as duties are assigned on a “first-come, first-served” basis. She had to turn away some volunteers last week who hadn’t emailed, as all the work slots were filled.

New Business

The stadium renovation is still a work in progress. Dianne Short is working with hospital officials to see if we can use any of their leftover kitchen equipment.

Cheryl Nelson is still updating email lists and medical forms. If you haven’t been receiving band emails, or would like to receive them at a different email address, please contact Cheryl at 301-697-2172 or alcobandparents@hotmail.com In addition, all medical forms must be turned in immediately.

Pam Mallow presented information on our “Preview of Champions”, which will be held Saturday, September 26 at Greenway Avenue Stadium. The show starts at 5:00 p.m., and Pam would like all volunteers to arrive no later than 3:00 p.m. Concession stands open at 4:00 p.m. We will not be selling food tickets this year. Anyone who will be working at one of the outdoor stands should bring a battery-operated light. All volunteers should be prepared for bad weather, so bring a poncho or umbrella. The Allegany band will perform at 8:52 p.m. The awards ceremony will be held at 9:20 p.m.

The meeting adjourned at 8:14 p.m.

NEXT BAND BOOSTER MEETING-
Monday, October 19, 7:00 p.m.

Allegany Band Boosters
Meeting Minutes
10/19/09

The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. by Donna Monteleone, President.

The Treasurer’s Report was presented by Carla Diehl. We have $39,305.15 in our main checking account. Our uniform account balance is $9,859.30. The trailer account contains $950.00. Our instrument account has been paid in full. Our profit from the Preview of Champions (9/26/09) was $1,686.51. Of this total, $1,018.49 was from the food concessions. Our proceeds to date from the fall hoagie sale were $680.00, but we haven’t received a bill yet from Emerick’s Meats. We’ve made $973.00 thus far from competition ticket sales, not including sales from the Musselman competition this past weekend. Please continue to buy Martin’s cards from Ray Short every Saturday morning, along with show tickets. The band receives 5% profit from our Martin’s sales.

Old Business

This year’s Preview of Champions was not as profitable as in the past, primarily due to the dreadful weather we experienced. Attendance was down, and thus all of our sales figures were down. Pam thanked all the volunteers for their excellent work efforts under some very challenging conditions.

We will make a profit of about $500 from the recent hoagie sale. About 1/3 of the students participated in this very quick sale.

The pit crew is operating very effectively this year. We are using about 10 fewer volunteers because there are no props and some of the instruments have been mounted differently.

There were a few candles at the meeting that needed to be picked up from our recent candle sale. We earned $1,330 from this fundraiser. About 20 students participated.

Bob Shaffer was available at the meeting to distribute show DVD’s. You can purchase these high-quality DVD’s for $5 each, or $30 for the entire season. For more information, contact Bob at bshaffer@ibigbob.com

New Business

We will be adding a new competition to the schedule, as we will compete in Walkersville on Thursday night. Plans are not solid yet, but details will be forthcoming.

The New York City fundraising trip is scheduled for December 18-20. The cost will be $440 per person, double occupancy in the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Manhattan. The price includes transportation, hotel, and tickets to see a Cirque du Soleil performance of “Wintuk”. We’ve sold about half the tickets needed to make this a fundraiser; we need to sell about 22 more. Please contact Mr. Jackson right away with questions, or to sign up.

The idea of purchasing raincoats for the band was raised, but Mr. Jackson was opposed. He explained the negatives of having 80 wet raincoats, with limited storage space. Instead, he recently purchased a crate of 250 throwaway ponchos (.50 each) that we will use in place of raincoats.

Andrew Sparber proposed a fundraiser involving a local artist, Richard Shuck, who is currently doing a portrait of Zach Sparber. Mr. Shuck, known as “The Dot Guy”, uses an effect called “stippling” to create his artwork. Instead of brush strokes, he fashions his images with a series of very small dots. Mr. Shuck has offered to donate one-third of his fee to the marching band if parents would like him to do a portrait of their son or daughter. Zach’s portrait will feature a background image of the band, with Zach in uniform in the foreground. It was suggested that Andrew bring Zach’s portrait to the next booster meeting so that other parents can see it. Also, parents requested that Andrew ask Mr. Shuck to come up with a standard background that could perhaps be used multiple times, lowering the cost of the portrait for band parents. If you’d like to see some examples of Mr. Shuck’s work, there’s a sampling at the Maryland Treasures store downtown on Baltimore Street. You can also contact him directly at 301-724-3578.

Kathy Condor suggested that we consider a Pampered Chef fundraiser. The FBLA was very successful with this type of fundraiser. Kathy will look into the specifics, and put a proposal together for us.

Julie Courtney announced the kick-off of our fruit fundraiser, which we hope will be a major source of funding for the band. On Oct. 21, students will receive order forms in their mailboxes, and you may begin taking orders. On Nov. 1, Julie will send out an online status update. Order forms are due back on Nov. 16. On Dec. 3 and 4, we plan to offer the fruit for pick-up at a central location. Our profits will range from $6 to $9 per box, depending on the size of the box. A variety of advertising options were discussed, and the group voted to spend $299 for a series of five newspaper ads. A special AT&T phone line has been established to receive phone inquiries and orders. The number is 301-338-1196. Julie distributed sign-up sheets to elicit volunteers to help with advertising, phoning and fruit distribution. If you didn’t get a chance to sign up, please contact Julie at 301-777-9084. In addition, Julie is still looking for a warehouse-type of building where we could sort and distribute the fruit. If you have any suggestions, please call Julie.

Dianne Short reported that prospects for purchasing concession stand kitchen equipment from the WMHS are looking poor, as they just found out that they must maintain a working kitchen at Memorial Hospital. A suggestion was made to explore the possibility of getting kitchen equipment from ATK.

We discussed the trip on Nov. 1 to Hershey, PA for the Atlantic Coast Championship. We voted not to obtain a parent bus, as there was very little interest in this option. Carla Diehl is looking for a committee of parents to help organize a tailgating meal for the band students. Beverly Class and Erika Bosley will put together treat bags.

Dianne Short announced that the band will be hosting a dance on the evening of November 7 at the Gunter Hotel in Frostburg. The cost is $10 per person, and tickets can be purchased from Kara Short.

The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.



NEXT BAND BOOSTER MEETING-
Monday, November 16, 7:00 p.m.

Allegany Band Boosters
Meeting Minutes
11/16/09

The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m. by Donna Monteleone, President.

The Treasurer’s Report was presented by Carla Diehl. We have $32,922.36 in our main checking account. Our uniform account balance is $7,281.24. The trailer account contains $700.00. Our instrument account has been paid in full. New tires were purchased for the small trailer ($298.20). Tags for the large trailer were renewed ($80.00). Bus invoices are pending. The Board of Education has implemented a stipend of $7,000.00 for transportation costs. After our costs exceed the limit, the band will be responsible for the balance. A new floor and registration fees for the indoor guard program total $1,290.00. The hoagie fundraiser bill was paid to Emerick’s Meats for $929.50; we still haven’t received all our payments yet from this fundraiser for deposit.
Band deposits since last meeting total $11,252.00. We’ve made $450 so far this year from the Martin’s cards. Please continue to buy them from Ray or Dianne Short. Competition ticket revenue stands at $2,761.00 before receiving ACC’s ticket payment. The South Cumberland Business Association gave the band $500.00 for their participation in the annual Halloween parade.

Old Business

Erica Bosley announced that any defects in the student bags given out at ACC’s can be corrected at Arts and Letters on Cumberland Street. She specifically talked about misspelled names or a peeling away of the black at the bottom of the bags. Most of the bags were in perfect shape, but if you note any problems please contact Arts and Letters.

Bob Shafer said that any student missing competition DVD’s should let him know. He also remarked that he was making plans to put together a special end-of-the-year DVD, including commentary from Larry and footage from the public show at Greenway. He plans to give the DVD to seniors. Students who have purchased the season of DVD’s can purchase this special one for $5. Students who didn’t buy the season of tapes can purchase it for $10. You can contact Bob at
bshaffer@ibigbob.com

Donna congratulated all the band parents and students for an absolutely fabulous band season. She particularly noted that more people have been coming to meetings this year, our fundraising totals have increased, and in general the level of cooperation among the membership has greatly improved. Larry added his thanks for a great season, and said that he really appreciated the help from everyone this year.

Larry said the NYC trip is really filling up, but there are a few seats left. Please contact him quickly if you’d like to go.

Work is being done to get ready for our fundraising opportunity at the new concession stand at Greenway Ave. stadium. We need to get a committee formed and start regular planning meetings so that we are ready. Donna advised us to not make any negative comments about the agreement with Fort Hill, and to ignore any we might hear so that we don’t ruin the progress we’ve already made on this project. We plan to be positive and just get the job done!

Cheryl Nelson suggested a fundraiser with Final Touch where we would set up an on-line store to sell band merchandise. Parents could access the website, purchase items, and Final Touch would give us a percentage of their profit every month. Larry and Brian will meet to discuss this idea, and Cheryl will contact Final Touch.

Julie is in the process of tallying fruit orders, and contacting the distributor with our totals. Fruit will be available for pick-up at Wittmer Foods in LaVale at the following times:
Thursday, Dec. 3 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 4 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 5 9 a.m. – 12 noon


New Business

Larry announced that the concert band’s Christmas concert will be held on December 22. He also said that there would be an indoor guard and percussion show on March 24.

The membership voted NOT to hold a booster meeting in December.

The meeting adjourned at 8:04 p.m.



NEXT BAND BOOSTER MEETING-

Will be in JANUARY
Date is TBA