MINUTES

WHS BAND BOOSTERS MEETING

15 October 2008

The October meeting of the WHS Band Boosters was held on Wednesday, 15 October, at 7:00 pm in the Band & Drama Rooms.

Director’s Roar: Ms. Neal reported that after making suggested revisions, her proposal for the Disney Trip has been submitted to the school administration and is currently in Becky Koontz’s office. Meanwhile, Frank Lazire, the travel coordinator, has made several calls to Ms. Neal about the $300 (nonrefundable) deposit that needs to be submitted, but has not. Ms. Neal does not want the Band Boosters to lose the $300, if the trip is not approved by Ms. Koontz. Mark Smith told Ms. Neal to go ahead and send the deposit in anyway.

The Homecoming parade is coming up on Thursday, October 30^{th and} will start at 4:00. The band will play Friday during the pep rally, which starts at 1:30. The football game is on Friday night, October 31^st (Halloween) and the Homecoming dance is on Saturday, November 1^st.

The band will be required to stay for the entire football game and will be wearing their uniforms instead of their warm-up suits. The band will only have 4 minutes to perform, so they will play the Malaguena.

Ms. Neal discussed some options available to band members who would like to attend the Homecoming dance, which is the same night as our Chapter V competition. Interested band members will be allowed to attend the dance for free and have been offered the option to use the locker rooms to change into their formal wear between events.

The students have asked for extended practices to get ready for Chapters, however, 25% of the band students are in danger of failing one of their classes. Ms. Neal would rather have practice start earlier than have it end later.

Administration’s Report: Assistant Principal, Mr. Mark Smith, was unable to attend the booster meeting. So there is no Admin Report this month.

President’s Report: Mark Smith agreed that there should be no extended practices. Grades will be coming out just before Chapters and we could potentially lose 25% of the band, due to poor grades. The students need to be aware of the importance of keeping up with their studies and earning good grades. They also need to know the consequences when grades are poor and how they will affect the band. Ms. Neal cannot notify parents, if their child is in danger of failing a class, unless the student is in one of Ms. Neal’s classes. Most of the boosters agreed that it is the parents’ responsibility to monitor their child’s grades.

Secretary’s Report: The minutes for the September meeting were approved.

Treasurer’s Report: Debbie Stevens reported on account balances. Account balances include:

$19,837.45 in the general account

$4100.33 in the scholarship account

$15,459.41 in the reserve account

$4,217.24 in the student account.

She still needs to write a check for the Yankee Candles fundraiser for $1300. And as of today, we have yet to receive any bills for transportation expenses (school busses). Mark Smith discussed some other budget information. We have received $28,000 in revenue (net) this year and have spent $13,600 so far. Staff salaries and transportation costs will consume major dollars. However, the unexpected money that was raised by participating in the July 4^th parade and the extra money collected with two Tag Days will be a big help.

The proceeds from our miscellaneous fundraisers have earned $850 from Yankee Candles and $547.74 from Dutch Mill Bulb sales. This money was designated to go toward the participants’ Disney trip accounts.

Mark explained the difference between the band fee and the fundraising obligation. There was discussion about Indoor Guard for the coming season. Ms. Neal is concerned that parents will not be able or willing to pay $300 for the indoor guard season and $650 for the Disney trip. Plus, the Disney trip is scheduled for the weekend of the final big indoor guard competition.

At this point, the meeting was moved to the Drama Room because band practice over and the drumline needed to continue their practice indoors.

Everyone agreed that they would like to continue to receive Mark’s budget spreadsheets.

Committee Reports:

Ways and Means: Betsy Kobbe gave the Ways and Means report.

Wal-Mart: The band has been told that they are not allowed to participate in the Wal-Mart raffle card sales because it is considered “gambling”. Apparently, the band’s request to participate never made it past Ms. Manges’ desk. Several parents wanted to know if the band boosters could do the selling instead of the kids. Wal-Mart said that they would set up another raffle card sale for us after Christmas, if we get this issue resolved.

Kris Woolley is going to send an email to Ms. Manges and ask for clarification because other parents mentioned that the cheerleaders just finished selling raffle tickets to a Baltimore Ravens’ football game. It was not clear if the girls or their parents actually sold the raffle tickets. Someone also mentioned that TJ and Catoctin sell raffle tickets for Wal-Mart. Mr. Kehne and Mr. Smith (AP) would be copied on the email.

Sub Sales: Sub sales have been scheduled for November and December with Shultz’s Deli. After that, Betsy would like to find someplace closer to order subs from in order to cut down on the driving distance, which is one hour each way right now. The next sub sale is scheduled for November 4^th, but school is closed that day. Betsy asked that any sub orders are emailed to her or called in and she will collect the money from the white box later in the week.

The Basket Bingo with Junior Fire Company is set for Saturday, November 22^nd. The fire hall can only hold 150 people. Since we have baskets that were purchased several years ago, our expenses so far have only been about $750. We will need to ask Vivian about advertising. She is not here tonight. We will need to provide some “Vannas” to show off the baskets and bags that are being offered during each bingo game. Junior Fire Company is handling everything else, because they don’t like the way FCPS treats the county marching bands by making us raise all of our own funds. Parking will be in the fire hall lot on 6^th Street. Ms. Neal submitted a reminder about the bingo to the Parent Pipeline.

Bake Sales: We need baked goods for the bake table at Battle of the Bands. Also, the band boosters will sell baked goods and cold drinks to voters at the high school on Election Day. Help is needed to man the table from 8 to 8. Don’t forget to put your baker numbers on your goodies.

Black Friday: We will not be selling hot dogs at Wal-Mart on Black Friday.

Breakfast with Santa will be held on December 13^th. Suzanne will make up the flyers. We will also be having a bake table and will need more goodies.

Winter Concessions begins on Friday, December 5^th with a Girls’ Basketball game. There may be some trouble that night because the Drama Department’s play (Annie) begins that night, too. Betsy would like to have a co-chair to help with winter concessions. Kris Woolley volunteered. The Auwarters will provide guidance and help. There are 14 home games. After last year’s experience and the cost of the Food Services’ worker, the Boosters have decided not to sell hot foods this year. Water will be the only beverage offered, along with the usual prepackaged food items. The Boosters made a profit of approximately $2300 last year.

Uncle Ralph’s Cookies fund raiser started yesterday. Orders and money are due October 24^th. Delivery is scheduled for November 6^th.

Battle of the Bands: Brunswick has moved the start time for their show to 12:00 (from 11:00). They have 10 bands scheduled to perform. Our start time has been moved to 6:00pm (from 5:00pm). We only have 5 bands signed up for our show, not including us. The same judges will work both shows. Our final BOTB meeting will be Wednesday, October 22^nd at 6:30. The Woolley’s are looking for sponsors for trophies. Sponsorships are $20 per trophy. Seniors will have first choice, followed by juniors, etc. There are 20 trophies total. Please email Kris Woolley if you are interested.

Band Banquet: The band banquet will be Friday, November 21^st, from 6:00 to 9:00 at the Morningside Inn. The menu will be selected by the staff. Band members get in free. The price for all other guests is $15. Debbie Stevens needs to turn in a head count by November 5^th. Debbie handed out flyers to help advertise the event and she asked for help organizing the program for the evening. Mark Smith will be in charge.

Old Business: None!

New Business:

Monogramming for the warm-up suits will be done by Glade Valley All-Sports for anyone interested. The cost is $7.50. Ms. Neal has selected a logo, which will be kept on file for future use. The Boosters will not pay for monogramming. Kris Woolley volunteered to coordinate the collecting, washing! and transporting of jackets. If you decide to do the leg work yourself, ask for Dawn. She is the person familiar with our order.

Elections for the Band Boosters Board will be held in December. We need to have as many parents as possible at the December meeting, so that we have a quorum, or else we cannot hold our elections. There are several “graduating” parents on the board this year and they will need to be replaced. Debbie Stevens and Suzanne Clark will serve as the nominating committee. Please see one of them if you are interested in serving as a Board member. Mark Smith would like someone else to take over as President, as he plans to become Director at Large. You can still be involved with the Band Boosters if you do not have a child in the band. Even though you may not be a member of the Board or be eligible to vote, you will still be able to enjoy all the great times and excitement that you have experienced over the past years! Honestly!

Lucy Rivera asked about recruiting. Since we will be losing 17 seniors, we need to find a way to recruit new members. Technically, Ms. Neal is the “recruiter” for the band when it comes to Walkersville Middle School students. However, she wants to make it clear that there will be no 8^th graders in the marching band. Currently, Ned Ferris is doing his student service learning at the middle school with Mr. Musser. The band will not perform at WMS this year because of a conflict. Last year, some students volunteered to perform at the middle school, but were unable to follow through because teachers would not excuse them from testing which was required during the same time frame. Mark and Windy will talk about this off-line.

Rod Auwarter asked if Lucy Rivera would be willing to make a skirt for the pit cart before Battle of the Bands. She said ‘yes’ and will use the leftover fabric from the podium skirt. Rod said he would provide measurements.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, November 13th at 7:00 pm in the Band Room.

Meeting adjourned at 8:15pm.