Friends of Music
September 16, 2008
Minutes of the Meeting
A. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 7:38 p.m. by Kathy Echevarria – Pres. FOM
B. Faculty Report
1. Ms. Allison Lucas- Orchestra – Not in Attendance
2. Mr. Kafer –Band Director
He will give a report later when he arrives.
C. Treasurer’s Report – Harry Zarrow (Treasurer)
Harry provided the historical schedule of fundraising last year 2007 and the projected budget this year 2008. He reported that there are 17% more kids this year in the Marching Band than last year so he does not see any reason why the budget cannot be met for this year.
D. Publicity Report- Russ Mensch (Publicity Chair)
1. He made arrangements with the Shopper News that there will be a weekly story on the marching band leading into the competitions. There were already 2 articles published (during band camp and last week).
3. He is requesting for anybody who has pictures of the marching band, competitions, football games, music programs, and any other activities bi-weekly and weekly, to e-mail him at www.fflom.com. He wants overall shots so he can send it to the newspaper.
E. Marketing Report
1. Since Joaquin Echevarria (Donations and Marketing Chair) is not attending, Russ Mensch discussed the plans of the Marketing Committee as follows.
a. They are looking to bring in extra money into the program to help offset some costs this year by looking for donations from local companies and other businesses.
b. They can provide packets of information about what the program is all about to the businesses interested in donating. They will provide publicity for these businesses by posting them on the website, do a story line on their contribution, and provide a photo opportunity.
2. Russ stressed that everybody needs to support the music program. It is important that everybody gets involved and help run the different committees.
3. It was also reiterated that the e-mal addresses of the officers and committee chairpersons are posted on the website, since there were some parents requesting for the information.
F. Faculty Report – Mr. Kafer
1. He welcomed everybody and began with the issue of help this year for the show. He needs a lot of people to help with the giant props this year. He emphasized that we’ll lose the show if there are not enough helpers to put the props on and off.
2. He discussed the FOM Profit Proposal for this year.
a. Purchase Sound Equipment for Graduation, Concerts and Outdoors- He was requested to set up the sound equipment for the graduation this year and the sound
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system was really bad. He gave a breakdown of the different equipment that would cost $1,732.49
b. Purchase of Sound Equipment for Room B-111-Orchestra Room-There are smart boards in this room, but a bad stereo system. The existing sound equipment came from his house and the speakers came from a garage sale. He got concerned when he saw spiders crawling out of the speakers. The total cost is $ 848.96.
c. Purchase of Software and Accessories for B-111,D-102 – He needs to update the ear training program which is 10 years old. The outdated program had so many bugs that the wrong chords and notes were being played. The cost is $416.97.
d. Purchase of Yamaha Pocketrak 2G Stereo Recorder- Every time he had rehearsals, he had problems hooking up the microphones, plugging in the music boards and amplifiers. This little recorder is hand held and could be used in any rehearsal for the marching band and the color guard to listen to and could be played in any format (mp3,cd), and could just be downloaded from the computer. It plays back from the recorder to the stereo system. It’s very flexible. The cost is $299.00.
e. The grand total for these purchases is $3,292.42.
f. If this proposal is not agreeable to FOM, then he could purchase a marimba that would cost the same thing.
3. He wanted this proposal to be discussed and that he knows that Ms. Lucas has a proposal too.
4. He said that there is a dress rehearsal on Thursday to see if they can put up the props on and off in 2 minutes each time.
5. He has a lot of trinkets that he has purchased for the sofa. Props are expensive this year. He has been paying out of pocket, but all the expenses will balance off later. He stressed that if we don’t do well this year with props, he does not know what to do.
6. Other concerns that he mentioned are the following:
a. Trenton Regional is moved to Sewell which is 35 to 45 miles down because there is a homecoming in the previous venue.
b. Nationals- They
decided to change the order of the program. Instead of performing in the
afternoon, be over at 5:00 p.m. and be home at 11:00, they decided to change it
to 9:00 a.m. The band has to leave at 1:00 a.m. to make it. This would be too
much for the kids, so he is looking for a cheap motel for them to stay
overnight. He is concerned because it is a
c. Next Saturday is a big show with 6 other good schools that will compete in Group 4. We will play at 8:00 p.m.
G. Additional Explanation on the Profit- Since some new members were questioning how the monies from the fundraising were being used and the reason why it has to be used, Kathy further discussed how it is applied.
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1. Each year we do fundraising throughout the year and that money is put in our account and not touched for anything else. We take the total from last year and we ask Mr. Kafer and Ms. Lucas to come in. We ask them to give us things- what they feel the program needs. They are tangible items, all within our by-laws, that will affect as many students within the instrumental program. So, we are not going to spend $3,000.00 on just one instrument. That is why there are many items this year- the most comprehensive one so far. What was done in the past is, since Ms. Lucas has 24 kids out of the 180 kids in the music program, equaling approximately 13% of the students. The total profits were $3800. – Ms Lucas will get $500 to spend on her program (13% of $3800). Mr. Kafer ‘s proposal also benefits her students as well. The remainder is in Mr. Kafer’s 6 programs.
2. According to our by-laws, we are supposed to discuss the budget and take a vote. We can take a vote now, or in October.
Note: A clarification as to who Ms. Lucas is was brought out. Another question was if Ms. Lucas is aware of this arrangement. Kathy explained who Ms. Lucas was, and confirmed that Ms. Lucas was aware of the arrangement.
3. Kathy explained how the monies are allocated. She takes the ratio of kids from the programs and allocates the monies accordingly. In June, there are also some monies raised (from tag days) that are gifted to both Mr Kafer and Ms. Lucas to spend how they see fit for their programs.
Note: A parent asked why we have no water cooler carrier. She went online and checked the price ($250.00). She suggested that we get one so we don’t have to keep carrying the water in the field.
4. Also, there was another question regarding the Sound System was brought out. Shouldn’t the school district pay for this, instead of the FOM?
5. Per Kathy, motion could not be passed to vote for the proposed budget tonight. What she will do is bring the cooler suggestion back to Mr. Kafer because according to our by-laws, we cannot decide to give him something that he did not propose to us.
H. Roadie Report (Jorge Vasquez)
1. They did a dry run unrolling the panel on the football field, but had no time to bring it to the field. They will try to do a dry run on Thursday at 7:00 p.m., so he is asking the roadies to come and help. He will try to do final adjustments on the six panels, which are not heavy, but are 10 ft. long and 15 inches wide.
2. He has to appoint section leaders because there are a lot of things going on at the same time. He needs roadies for the pit, chair, panels, water, and other equipment. He only has a total of 7 minutes to set up, and break down the props, and get off the field. For every show he needs a minimum of 16 roadies.
3. They are not taking the props at home games.
4. One concern brought out by Kathy is that there are not enough passes in some competitions. They will try to be more creative on the passes.
I. Quartermaster Report (Debbi Packer) - She fitted all the uniforms this year.
1. She needs help in handing out the plumes. We lose points on incomplete uniform. Each plume has its own case. She wants to take care of them because they cause $ 20.00 each and they are fragile.
2. There is a signing sheet for the volunteers. You don’t have to be in all the competitions.
J. Correspondence (External) - Debbie Stadler
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We received 4 thank you cards from some kids who were awarded scholarships and they are: Julia Verno, Ryan Metzler, Kevin Moser, and Samantha Gordon
Note: Kevin Moser made the cut for the first trumpet for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Band.
K. Membership – Merryl Ehrich
1. If you have not sent the membership application and fee, you can give it to her tonight or mail it.
2. This year there are 180 plus student, and she is trying to get as much membership as possible.
3. Kathy Echevarria said that normally membership is open all year long. But this year pending a by-law repeal she wants to change the date to Dec. 31, 2008 because the money is going to be used for the following:
a. part of scholarship fund – minimum of 3 years membership and do 2 tag days each time for a total of 4 hours (2 hours/time), and must stay with the program as a senior.
b. used as operating money for this year
All these rules are in the website.
L. Website – Gary Ehrich
1. If you take any pictures in the competitions bring the camera to his house if you don’t know how to burn a disk, or burn it to a disk and he’ll put it on the website. If you get an e-mail, don’t reply to Kathy, because he will get it.
2. Kathy said
that she received an e-mail from a freshman parent who does web. His name is Vernon Web and he sent her a link
with some pictures of the kids. She’s hoping that he could be the possible
webmaster next year, since this will be
M. Current Fundraising
1.
Mum
2. Giants Raffle- Kathy finally got the license from this town, so she can get the raffle tickets printed. This is a big fundraiser for FOM, and we normally get $1,000.00. Each family sells a booklet of $5.00 (5 tickets). The price is 2 tickets plus a parking lot. We already sold 25 tickets at the football game last week. We did not have to pay for the tickets this year. Joanne Legrand will receive the stub and the money. A memo will be sent out.
3. Honey – Kevin Moser’s father is a beekeeper and he donated the honey last year and this year.
4. Hats - Kathy said that there are 2 types of hats that will be sold. There is no final cost yet. It will be a generic hat because we are not allowed to sell with the school logo. Baseball caps will also be sold. (Logo permission to be checked)
5. Bake
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for the NHS, confirmation, etc. It is part of a community service. It is suggested that we stay away from bringing goodies with nuts.
6. Tag Days- This will be discussed next meeting- The Comellas will be in charge of this fundraising.
7. Dining to Donate – Robin Leavy
a. We will be doing the Panera night on Thursday, Nov. 6, from 4-9 p.m. and Panera’s will be donating 10% of all the profits. We’re hoping that the kids will be going because it is the night before the Nationals. Flyers will be passed out to the kids and to friends and families. Flyers are linked to the school website.
b. Giovanni’s – Tracy Comella will be running this. It is
right on
8. Collecting print cartridges, telephones and video cassettes
N. Marching Band/Color Guard Dinner - Dawn Grecco is working on the dinner at the Fair Lawn Athletic Club. Tentative date is Friday, December 12. She will finalize it for next meeting.
O. Marching Band Jackets – Drop dead date is this Thursday the 18th.
P. Old t-shirts red tag sale – Mr. Kafer has old t-shirts that will be sold for $ 3.00 clearance at the football game.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:04 p.m.
Respectfully submitted: Mary Lou Garcia