March 2007

OPENING CEREMONIES

We met at the home of Rick and Cathy Thomas. The meeting was called to order at 8:00 pm on March 6, 2007. We did not have a quorum at that time, so we began with the Treasurer’s report, and reached a quorum halfway through it.

Roll Call

Present were Lois DeRitter, Bob Isaacs, Andy Koenig, Evelyn Maurer, Barbara Moo, Bobbie Rosengarten, Mark Schaffer and Jim West (Trustees), Mike Agranoff, Paul Axel-Lute, Lori Falco, Larry Flanigan, George Otto, Brad Pryor, Tom Pylant, Sandie Reilly, Chris Riemer, Pam Robinson, Pat Rolston, Bob Safranek and Rivka Willick (Other Board Members), and Allan Kugel and Rick Thomas (Guests).

Absent were Jim King, Elizabeth Lachowicz and Jean Scully.

Treasurer’s Report:

Chris presented a Balance Sheet Tutorial (see attachments for current Balance sheet). He noted that the new Swingin’ Tern sound system has not yet been added to the Fixed Assets is the only thing now showing in the Fixed Assets register. He will be adding that and the rest of the equipment we own to that category soon in the months ahead. Accounts Payable are the bills outstanding.

Chris had some problems making Barbara the chief signatory on our account at Bank of America. He proposed that we move our accounts to Wachovia in Morristown instead. This could be done gradually so that all the outstanding checks will have time to clear. The change will affect everyone who regularly makes deposits, such as Rick. George would need to readjust our PayPal account. Chris said he would send out an e-mail to see how people feel about it.

Chris also mentioned that we have a credit card that was never activated and raised the issue if we should have one for the organization. Pat said we got it as a result of getting overdraft coverage – we didn’t apply for it specifically. Barbara suggested that Chris look at the minutes archives and see what the thinking was at the time we acquired the card. We tabled the discussion until next time and Chris agreed to send an e-mail summarizing what he finds in the archives.

Barbara said it was nice that our finances are online. Chris gave special recognition to Lois, who went to the library to log in to QuickBooks without having an e-mail address.

Secretary’s Report

The minutes for February were accepted with the following corrections:

• • The first paragraph of the Treasurer’s Report should read: "We received our first report from QuickBooks On-Line (see attached). This was a Profit & Loss statement, which tells us what's changed each month. Next month, we'll take a close look at the Balance Sheet, which tells us where we stand at a given point in time. In the future, both will be distributed electronically in advance of the meeting." Also in the Treasurer’s report, Pat actually sent out five Form 1099s to performers in 2006, not two forms as stated in the minutes.

  • The publicity report says that we are moving away from paper. This should read that we are moving away from paper photos. We are still mailing out paper for our press releases.

  • For Minstrel staffing, the minutes said that Sandie doesn’t keep the web site updated. That sentence should be removed. Instead it should read that volunteers can contact Sandie through e-mail at any time

REPORTS OF THE STANDING COMMITTEES

Minstrel Booking

Attendance has not been as good as expected given the line-up. We averaged 80 per show in February, not including the Valentine show. Last February the average was 124. Last year was incredible with attendance and excitement. The last 12 months we averaged 89 attendance. In the previous 12 months we averaged 99.

We are $163 in the black for this month; $527 in the black YTD. On 6/15 we’ll have Happy and Artie Traum. It’s rare for them to perform together these days. Our low attendance for April Verch may have been due to bad weather.

Minstrel Staffing

Sandie is doing the opening act at the Minstrel later this month.

Swingin’ Tern

Our average attendance at the last seven dances (Dec.2nd through March 3rd, not including New Year's Eve) was 84. For the first two months of this year, per the Treasurer's report, we have cumulative net income of $249.

Horses Sing None of It (via email)

No taping was scheduled in February due to Cablevision enforcing one of their rules about only booking the studio for four dates. Sandie and Ralph met at the studio on 2/28 to edit the two shows taped 1/18, which both needed credit rolls added (due to a graphics error). And in The Rowan Brothers show, we were able to replace an Everely Bros. cover with a Rowan original tune videotaped by Bill Henderson at The Minstrel on 1/19. Upcoming:

3/27/07 Pamela Wyn Shannon & Lisa Gutkin - singer-songwriter-guitarist plays "mesmerizing Celtic-influenced folk" w/ fiddler of the Klezmatics & celtic band, Whirligig www.girlhenge.com www.LisaGutkin.com

3/27/07 Little Toby Walker - accomplished fingerstyle guitarist, adept at blues, rags, hot country picking, and skilled singer and songwriter www.littletobywalker.com

4/23/07 Michael Young - composer & fingerstyle guitarist on 6 & 12-string; driving rhythm & groove, innovative fretwork; compelling compositions to soulful ballads. www.michaelyoungmusic.com

4/23/07 Jez Lowe & the Bad Pennies - best known for his songs describing the mining culture, society and people of his native Northeast England www.jezlowe.com

5/3/07 Peter James - sings eccentric songs of arcane experiences and dark characters. Johnny Walker and Philip Morris were his voice teachers.

5/3/07 Jason Spooner Trio - really caught good attention at NERFA. Great writer, young, on the electric edge of folk; 2X Kerrville New Folk Finalist www.JasonSpooner.com

6/11/07 Zoe Mulford - Award-winning songwriter who tackles big eternal themes — love, death, food, laundry, etc. — with humor, lyricism & honesty that charms www.ZoeMulford.com

6/11/07 Natalia Paruz - impressive credits including performances with renowned orchestras, she plays haunting melodies composed by her husband on musical saw or bells www.SawLady.com

Special Concerts

The Tommy Sands concert on March 16th is moving along. The Independent Press ran an article on the concert.

A Jack Williams workshop will take place in May – Playing the Music you Hear in Your Head.

M Magazine: The Best of Morris is doing a feature on ACMA for its May/June issue and has asked ACMA to invite all the artists connected with the organization to show up for a photo on 3/24. The photo will be an attempt to recreate the feel of the iconic 1958 Harlem photograph of great jazz musicians. We decided to send out an e-mail to all members advising them of the photo shoot.

Festival (via e-mail)

Things are on track for Spring and registration is open. Please sign up yourself and next of kin and their next of kin, etc. Our featured performers for Fall 07 are Aztec Two-Step, John Forester Forster and Annie and the Hedonists. Stay tuned for FP performers.

Storytelling

The committee has put out a call for tellers for the Festival. It will run from 4/1 to 5/1. This information needs to be on the web and in the newsletter. Not everybody will be accepted. Chris asked if Jim Albertson is on the list.

Membership

Under control.

Newsletter

The font was a nice size this time. Tom couldn’t get some of the information from Mark and Rivka into the newsletter because it didn’t fit. Rick asked if we could add another page. Tom said that he had run out of time to do that and it increases postage. But he is thinking about adding four pages. George said that five pages is just under the 1st class mail level.

Tom received a flyer from Pinewoods. He asked if anyone else wanted a complimentary copy of their newsletter. Barbara suggested that if you want one, you should send an e-mail to Tom.

Webmaster

The web hits are somewhat down. Our RSS has almost 90 hits/day and has the schedule for 9 months ahead. For MySpace we have been acquiring more friends and our profile views have increased about 50%. We are experimenting to try to get MySpace looking popular and it seems to be working.

Ralph Litwin would like to sell his DVD on our website using PayPal – he will do the fulfillment.

ACMA allows groups to put their events on ACMA’s website by typing it in. George was able to automate this process by dumping the data into a spreadsheet. They were pleased with this. We should have our events displayed on their website and in their magazine. If anyone else knows of a calendar that we should be in listed in, please let George know.

George described a life-size poster set up on a window shade that Toby Walker uses for promotion. The cost is about $350. George wondered if we might want to do something like that. There might be some places where we could use it. Chris suggested we use the image from the new brochure.

George and Alice sent out the press releases this past month because Jim King was ill. Brad asked why we are not on WFDU. George said he would call them.

Merchandising

We won’t have much for the Spring Festival. We have 12 L, XL, and XXL T-shirts and none of the smaller ones. Brad wondered if people already have two shirts, might they want to buy more? Should he order more? If he orders now, we won’t have them in time for Festival.

Mike suggested that he go ahead and order them. Mike said that the black T-shirt has attracted the most interest from casual passers-by of any T-shirt that we’ve had. Sandie agreed that we should order shirts and said that people have asked for the smaller sizes. Lois said that more long sleeve shirts for the Fall Festival would be good.

Pam asked if new mugs have been ordered and would we have some for Festival. Brad said no to both questions, but agreed to check on them.

Internal Affairs (via e-mail)

Valentine's Day went wonderfully well! It was a very high level of musicianship, wonderful energy in the audience and on stage. Jean would like to thank the members of the jazz combo who opened the show: Frank Sole, Bill Meyer and Mark Schaffer, and the Full Tilt Boogie Band: Dave Sherman, Andy Koenig, Pat Hickey, Dave Kleiner, Joe D'Andrea, Chris Carpenter, Darryl Courtley, Jeff Rantzer and Mark Schaffer, who brought it to a great ending; as well as the Minstrels of Love and all the individual performers who made the evening so memorable. We plowed through 12 dozen pastries and a mountain of fruit salad, and the chocolate fountains were a great but messy hit. Fruit was significantly more expensive this year than last, so she may cut back on the amount of fruit salad next year since we had some leftovers. Jean thanks her stalwart band of fruit choppers and decorators as always who made everything possible.

March EOM will be at the home of Cecilia Zemetz. This will be the first of our evening workshops, and we're very lucky to have Andy Goessling, an amazing multi-instrumentalist and all-round nice guy, to be our first workshop leader. April EOM will be at the home of Bobbie Rosengarten.

Chris said that Jean needs to send him the bill for the Valentine’s show food. The Valentine’s show made $618 without expenses, which came to at least $125.

Community Affairs (via e-mail)

The ad for the NJ Folk Fest on 4/28 has been ordered. Elizabeth needs flyers so that she can have an adequate amount. Rick asked if Tom could send him a pdf file in mid-April for May so that Rick could print off copies. Mike suggested that Tom could include 2 months of shows. Rick said that he’d like Tom to do this regularly.

There was a request for performers for a gig in Jersey City on 3/17. We couldn’t get it, but it may turn into future gigs. Mark and Jeff Loy are doing a teacher appreciation gig. There are 15 performers on the Resource List so far. Elizabeth will run the ad in the newsletter again next month.

We sent a card to Jim King, who is suffering from a heart ailment. We also sent a card to Phyllis, the wife of Dave Heistand, who is in the hospital.

Sound Reinforcement

Under control.

REPORTS OF AD HOC COMMITTEES AND SPECIAL WORK GROUPS

Archive Management

Bobbie said that if you have material from last year for the archives, please get it to her.

THE IN BOX

WNTI-FM broadcast a live program this week and we were in it. Bobbie asked if we can get a copy of the broadcast.

THE GOOD OF THE ORDER

Ken Galipeau’s son, Paul, took 4th place in his college division wrestling finals. Excellent for a freshman. Jim King is home from the hospital, where he was recently treated for the effects of long-term sleep apnea. He will be confined to the house for the next 2-3 weeks and is eager to hear from people via e-mail, phone or regular mail. Rivka Willick’s daughter is going in for throat surgery. Rivka observes that she will be living with a 17-year-old who is not allowed to talk for two weeks. Pam Robinson thanks all the FP members who helped her and her husband, Bob Safranek, with transportation to and from the airport when they made a recent trip to Wisconsin. Lori Falco reported that Doug Heacock and Brian Buckley have announced that they are planning a Civil Union in the fall. Lois DeRitter was very happy to perform at the Valentine’s Day Extravaganza last month. She thanks Evelyn McNally for encouraging her to participate and Andy Koenig, Barbara Moo, Jeff Loy and her daughter, Lauralyn Dyer, “for their support in fulfilling my little dream.” Andy Koenig has been busy lately. He played at the Valentine’s show, saw three plays in two days when Barbara’s sister visited, played a concert at William Paterson University and is starting rehearsals for another concert. Brad Pryor’s son, Gordon, is in Germany, on his way home from Iraq. He should be back in the U.S. soon.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 9:58 pm.

The next meeting will be held on April 10 at the home of Mark and Robin Schaffer. The date has been moved forward a week because of Passover.

Respectfully submitted,

Lori Falco

Secretary