October 2008

MOTIONS THIS MONTH

The board agreed to hold the annual general meeting at the Chimney Rock Inn; the maximum fee paid by participants will be $15, with the Project picking up the remainder. Seventeen in favor, one opposed, one abstention.

OPENING CEREMONIES

The meeting was called to order at 8:02 PM on October 7th at the home of George Otto, by Vice-President Evelyn Maurer, in the absence of President Mark Schaffer.

Roll Call

Present were Lois De Ritter, Jim Gartner [by telephone], Jim King, Ed Roffman, Bobbie Rosengarten and Jim West (Trustees), Mike Agranoff, Connie Crawford, Lori Falco, Andy Koenig, Elizabeth Lachowicz, Evelyn Maurer, George Otto, Brad Pryor, Sandie Reilly, Chris Riemer, Pam Robinson, Pat Rolston, Bob Safranek, Jean Scully, Rick Thomas and Rivka Willick (Other Board Members) and Judy Bubar, Tom Pylant and Carl Croce (Guests).

Absent were Ken Galipeau, Liz Pagan, Mark Schaffer, Scooter and Ruth Wolfish.

Note that we did not have a quorum of Trustees present, but Trustee Jim Gartner was able to vote by telephone on those motions that had to be acted upon in a timely manner. Counting Jim, we had a full quorum.

Secretary’s Report

The September minutes were accepted without corrections.

Treasurer’s Report

Chris pointed out the new report (organized month-by-month, rather than by committee). A member noted that the old report was also useful, and suggested that Chris arrange to send out both reports – “If you don’t want it, don’t read it!” There was general agreement. Chris said that was fine with him.

Chris reminded us that, in reading the reports, the last month’s returns are always a bit ragged, due to last-minute entries not having been made before the cutoff-date. Previous months, on the other hand, are usually solid.

BUSINESS ITEMS

November Meeting

Lori had wanted to host the November meeting, but will not be able to after all. Chris Riemer volunteered to host instead. Note that this will be November 11th (second Tuesday) to avoid conflict with Election Day.

December Meeting Site

The December meeting will be at the Chimney Rock Inn on December 2nd. The price will be $18/person plus tax and tip – in round numbers, call it $20/head. The usual motion was passed (17 yea, 1 no, 1 abstention), after the usual discussion, that for the Annual meeting of the General Membership, the maximum fee to be paid by attendees be held to $15.00/person, with the balance to be paid from the FP general fund.

Nominating Committee

It was moved and passed (19 for, 0 against, 0 abstentions) to accept the Committee’s report. The report is published elsewhere in this newsletter.

Woodsongs

Mark reports via email: Please check out the music web site Woodsongs.com. They are beginning an association with Clearview Cinemas where a live local show will open for premier concert films of a national act. We have been contacted by the Hackettstown Clearview manager to supply talent. Davids Kleiner & Sherman will perform at the first show on Wednesday, October 22.

Subject to Board approval and some negotiation of details, the shows will be monthly, but if they are successful they may go to twice a month. This is an approximately 225-seat theater. The Project and/or the performer will receive a third of the gross proceeds. This is a new program, so no one knows how it will fly.

REPORTS OF THE STANDING COMMITTEES

Finance

Andy made two observations and one recommendation: (1) The price of a security matters on only two occasions – when you buy it and when you sell it. (2) Over the long term, stocks go up – the endowment is a long-term investment. With that in mind, while acknowledging the current turmoil in the financial markets, the Committee makes no recommendation for action at this time.

Minstrel

After a long suspension, the “After Minstrel” get together has found a home again – discovered by Nancy Haslam. Thanks, Nancy! A very nice place called Coco Pazzo in Morris Plains near the train station. They have beer for those who like beer, and they have ice cream for those who prefer that. The kitchen is open late, so we can order real food too.

Minstrel Staffing

Amy Livingston will be helping Sandie with the Volunteer Coordinator duties. They have set up an online calendar at Yahoo groups. If you have suggestions for more ways to simplify this job via computerization, talk to Sandie and/or Amy.

Swingin’ Tern

Connie reported that attendance has been down and they’ve been losing money recently. Some of this has been due to a string of fantastically bad luck with weather (100+ degree heat, hurricanes – plural, flooding, etc...)

They are exploring options to recruit new dancers and appeal to the “under 30s”, including joining Facebook. They are also looking at ways to cut costs.

The “Harvest Hoot” is coming soon – November 15th. Bob’s caller workshop has started up with 13 registrants. A graduation “Open Mike” is scheduled for December 20th. Mark your calendars for the New Year’s Eve dance on December 31st, and the Swing Dance on January 31st, co-sponsored with the Special Concerts Committee. Ogden Memorial will be refinishing their floor on the 18th, so S’n’T for that date will be moved to the First Presbyterian Church of Hanover, where Margaret Crowl is pastor. They are exploring lots of options for dancing at Festival at the new location.

Horses Sing None of It

Ralph reports that they will be taping Folk Project members Jean Rohe and Pete Fischman & Deb O’Hanlon. Stefan reports that the John Jackson project is proceeding “full speed ahead.”

Special Concerts

Upcoming is a Halloween story concert followed by a musical jam with Buck P Creacy on October 25th, and a swing dance/concert jointly with S’n’T on January 31st.

Storytelling

Rivka reports that the rain limited attendance at Grounds for Sculpture to 362 (they had about 1000 last year). They moved things inside and everybody had a great time. Despite the lower attendance, they expect to make about the same amount as last year. They are looking for a Northern NJ venue for a second annual festival. The Halloween event with Buck Creacy should be lots of fun.

Membership

Pat reports that we sent out about 100 e-Newsletters. They will be sending email renewal reminders for those who are not getting paper reminders with their paper Newsletters.

Newsletter

Eddie would like to see even more people sign up for the electronic version.

Publicity

The web pages to sign up for the electronic newsletter are almost ready. George needs as much long-term scheduling information as he can get for the web pages. Pictures help to make a website interesting. George is especially interested in pictures of performers and of audiences/dancers having fun.

Internal Affairs

Jean reports that the September EoM was moved to Mark’s house due to rain. The October EoM will be at Dave & Liz’s house.

Community Affairs

Elizabeth reports that her computer died, so she’s having trouble with updating the performers list. Bob Safranek is looking into a suitable replacement.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 10:42 PM.

Next meeting will be at Chris Riemer’s house on November 11th.

– Rick