Embedded Files
FULL MINUTES
DECEMBER 2014
The December 2, 2014 Annual Meeting was called to order at 8:00 pm at the Chimney Rock Inn in Gillette, NJ.
PRESENT: Paul Fisher, Rachel Streich, Barrett Wilson, Dave Sherman, Jim Gartner, Alan Kugel, Joanne Cronin, Grover Kemble, Elizabeth Lachowicz, Eddie Roffman, Lindsey Meyer, Pat Brangs, Mike Agranoff, Lois DeRitter, Mark Schaffer, Robin Schaffer, Bob McNally, Scooter Ferguson, Sandie Reilly, Bill Henderson, Jean Scully, Leigh Walker, Ken Brody, Lori Falco, Mike DelVecchio, George Otto. ABSENT: Gloria Friedman, Steve Humphreys. GUESTS: Gloria Fisher, Deborah Graham, Cecilia Rowedder, Pam Robinson, Bob Safranek, Andrew Hines, Barbara Moo, Andrew Koenig, Mark Levanda, Loretta Brooks, Alex Adams, Christine DelVecchio, Dave Heistand.
ADMINISTRATION:
November 2014 minutes were accepted with corrections.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
Bill reported that to date (11/30/14), we have $3,590 in the Money Market and approximately $6,000 in Checking. We spent about $13,000 more than we earned in 2014 and will need to transfer money out of our Vanguard investment account to replenish our cash. Major Expenditures: we spent $53,400 in Performers Fees, $51,000 in Rent including Getaway camp fees, $4,000 in Insurance, and $4,280 in Food. Total Expenses: $126,131 through November 2014. Total Income from all sources: $112,536. Andy Koenig reminded us that in April 2009 we invested $74,000 from Mike A’s endowment into the Vanguard Wellington Fund. Andy chose the Wellington Fund due to its reasonable level of risk and low fees. The intent was that for each Festival we would allocate 1.5% of the Fund balance to Festival to be used towards the performer budget. Andy reported that as of November 2014, our investment has grown to $122,430 – a 10.2% increase for 2014.
NEW BUSINESS:
STEVE HUMPHREYS RESIGNATION:
Elizabeth told us that Steve will be unable to continue as a trustee on the Board in 2015 as originally intended. The Nominating Committee will reconvene in January to recommend a replacement.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
MINSTREL BOOKING: SEE WRITTEN REPORT
Mike A. recapped the year: we raised our door price from $8 to $9 in July because our rent went up from $280 to $319 per show. Average paid attendance was 88 people per show. We canceled many Open Stages in 2014 for other events but we will try to avoid doing that in 2015. Our relationship wth MUF is very good, especially after the success of their recent fundraising auction, to which we contributed music and donated various auction items. MUF’s building renovations will begin June 19, 2014; while renovations are in progress we will move to the Sanctuary Concerts space in Chatham.
MINSTREL STAFFING:
Jean reported that they have been getting a number of new volunteers, approximately 1 per month. Many thanks to Amy Livingston for all of her hard work! There is a Yahoo Group where Minstrel volunteers can see what spots are open and sign up. And Jean is stepping down as Committee chair.
ACOUSTIC GETAWAY: SEE WRITTEN REPORT
Both Acoustic Getaway Weekends were a lot of fun and made money, said Mark. And we’ll do it again next year, said Robin.
SPECIAL CONCERTS: SEE WRITTEN REPORT
Scooter noted that they “lost more money than any other venue”. If 50 more people had attended Special Concert events over the year, they would have broken even: UkeFest II needed 27 more attendees (we lost $1956), and the Edwards/Kaplansky concert was short 23 attendees (we lost $711.78), while the Sycamore Slough concert earned $93 profit. Everything was an artistic success, however. Scooter promised that in 2015, he will work to get Publicity out earlier for future events. UkeFest III will be at the Sanctuary Concerts site in 2015, on the weekend BEFORE Labor Day.
SWINGIN’ TERN: SEE WRITTEN REPORT
Leigh reported that they featured excellent bands and callers in 2014 but it was “not a good year financially”. Their volunteer group is strong. The “big” dances were usually successful however – 3 double dances and the techno contra dance. The upcoming December holiday dance and the New Years Eve dance should do well.
PUBLICITY: SEE WRITTEN REPORT
Paul thanked the 4 groups making up the committee – the Web group maintaining the FP website; FaceBook (now over 1000 “likes” – thank you Pam!), Twitter (thanks Jean!); and media outlets. We did more radio spots this year, especially to publicize Acoustic Getaway (thanks Susan Lembo!), and more print and web media as well.
COMMUNITY SERVICES: SEE WRITTEN REPORT
Pat explained what her Committee does: send cards to FP members who have a death in the family, have a baby, etc; maintain a Performers Resource list to connect FP members to people looking to hire musicians. In 2014 we hosted a FP information table at Wayne Day, the Bloomfield Harvest Festival, and other community events.
NEWSLETTER: SEE WRITTEN REPORT
George took over as NL editor this year, took courses to familiarize himself with the required software, created various programs to speed up the newsletter assembly process, and created a database for Member Gigs. He thanked his staff of proofreaders – Pat, Nancy, Liz, and Bill – and a special nod to Mark Schaffer for having the most frequently misspelled name :-).
MEMBERSHIP: SEE WRITTEN REPORT
Eddie reported that as of 12/1/14, we have 370 families, or 553 people as members. The number has stayed pretty steady over the last few years. While many other membership based organizations have been losing members in recent years, “We’re holding our own”, says Eddie.
HSNOI: SEE WRITTEN REPORT
Sandie reported that they taped more than 28 shows this year and uploaded 300 episodes to YouTube. It takes an average of 7 people to record a show, for a total 1120 manhours of volunteer time this year.
MERCHANDISING:
Gloria Friedman absent, no report.
INTERNAL AFFAIRS: SEE WRITTEN REPORT
Dave recapped the year: we changed the name from “Evening of Music” to “Home Made Music Party”; we tried including a min-concert with a paid performer for 4 months before deciding it was too disruptive to the evening’s jamming. Thanks to the Roffmans’ for hosting the 4th Saturday Music Parties and the July 4th Picnic. The Committee hosted two successful concerts – the Valentines Day show and a Halloween show. The 2015 Valentines Day show will be on Feb 6, 2015.
SOUND REINFORCEMENT: SEE WRITTEN REPORT
Mike D. thanked his Sound crew for all their hard work this year – 48 Minstrels, 2 Getaway Weekends, UkeFest, One-Day NERFA, SCAN Concert, MUF Benefit Concert….
E-COMMUNICATONS: SEE WRITTEN REPORT
We have 3605 contacts in Constant Contact and are Constant Contact “All-Stars” this year and for 2 years running, in the top 10% of CC users.
ELECTIONS:
TRUSTEES (3) FOR JAN 2015 THRU DEC 2017:
Barrett Wilson, Deborah Graham, Lois DeRitter -- elected by unanimous vote
OFFICERS:
President – Barrett Wilson
Vice President – Elizabeth Lachowicz
Secretary – Andrew Hines
Treasurer – Chris Reimer
- by unanimous vote (9 Trustees)
-
NEW COMMITTEE CHAIRS:
HSNOI Co-Chairs: Sandie Reilly and Ken Brody
Community Services: Pat Brangs
Internal Affairs: Christine DelVecchio
Minstrel Staffing: Barrett Wilson
Membership: Eddie Roffman
- by unanimous vote
All other Committee Chairs continue from 2014 to 2015.
SPECIAL RECOGNITION:
KUDOS TO: Tom Picard and Shari Korenstein for running Zed Music
Jim Gartner for his many years of service
Suzanne Patnaude as Swingin Tern booker who recently moved to Florida
Jean Scully for her years of service as Minstrel Volunteer wrangler
Dave Sherman for his work as Internal Affairs Chair
…….and THE FOLK PROJECT was recognized by the Morris Arts Council for 40 years of successful operations!! Yay us!!!
Meeting adjourned, 10:10 pm.
Next Meeting, January 6, 2015, at Frank’s Pizza, Flanders, NJ.
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