Minutes
of the Meeting of
the Board of Directors
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SEPTEMBER 8, 2009
The meeting of the Board of Directors of the Hopewell Valley Chorus was held at Kate's house on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. It was called to order by the president, Marilyn, at 7:30 pm.
Present: Marilyn Licciardello, Christina Rowntree, Lynn Ebeling, Sandy Stein, John Kling, Carole Woodford, LuAnn Wood, Chris Piatek , Marcia Snowden, Kate O'Neill, and director, Marjorie Herman.
The minutes of the last meeting were approved.
TREASURER'S REPORT:
Christina reported that she had approximately $8,200.00 in CD's; she moved $3,200.00 into the savings account and kept $5,000.00 in the CD account.
There is approximately $5,500.00 in checking, $9,300.00 in savings, $5,000.00 in CD's, for a total of approximately $19,800.00.
MEMBERSHIP REPORT:
Chris reported that so far 30 people have pre-registered for the fall semester. There have been several phone inquiries. Several members have dropped out for this season, among them are Keith Swango, Carol Southard and Lucy Alexander.
Joel May had set up the database that Jackie used for membership, but Chris is having difficulty transferring the database to her own computer.
FINANCE REPORT:
Sandy reported that she is waiting to hear back about the license for the calendar number raffle, which she expects will come by the end of this week. Tickets will then be printed and given out to members to sell in October. The first drawing will be at the end of December.
Sandy is working on the Pennington Day Grant application, which is due by the end of the month. She is requesting $900.00. We satisfied the terms of the grant we received last year by performing a concert at the Stony Brook Assisted Living facility, and she proposes that we will present another concert there, perhaps in October or November.
Sandy is also working on applying for the Horizon Grant, asking them to support Spring Into Song.
LIBRARIAN'S REPORT:
Carole reported that the music for fall is ready to be put into the packets, which she will be doing this week. She is searching for a five-drawer lateral legal size file cabinet, and LuAnn suggested checking with Mercer Corporate Interiors. John suggested trading a file cabinet for a free advertisement.
CONCERT MASTER'S REPORT:
Marcia is hoping that we will be able to use the Princeton High School Performing Arts Center for the Anniversary concert, but as yet not received approval. It would cost approximately $3,000.00 to use the facility. Marjorie said that she has spoken to the coordinator of the facility, who sounded enthusiastic about our using it. She suggested that Matt Harris present a workshop for the high school choral department and that we offer free tickets to the concert to PHS students in return for use of the facility at perhaps a reduced rate. Marjorie is hopeful that the coordinator will try her best to accommodate HVC in this matter.
In the case that approval is granted for the use of the facility, the Board authorized Marcia to send in an immediate deposit of $250.00.
Marcia urged the Board to begin thinking about how to organize a reception after the concert.
Marcia reported that all rehearsal space is reserved for the winter season at the HVHS music room and at the UU Church.
The total cost to use the UU Church this year will be $750.00. They will charge an additional $300.00 to use the facility for SIS.
PUBLIC RELATIONS REPORT:
There was an extensive feature (9/3/2009) in the Hopewell Valley News about the chorus's 50th anniversary year. A previous feature, in the PACKET'S August Back to School Magazine, gave extensive coverage to the chorus.
Jane is updating the website. In spite of the fact that she is moving in October, she will continue for the time being to do the website.
Our online presence now includes a Facebook page in addition to the already-existing Facebook group.
We have posted links to HVN article on our Web set and on Facebook pages.
Mugs have been selling very well at the Boro Bean in Hopewell, thanks to the efforts of the Woodfords. At the beginning of the mug campaign we started with 300 mugs and have sold 230 to date. Kate asked the Board to consider whether or not to re-order more mugs.
Mugs will also be carried in the Viva Gelato Cafe, 12 Main St. in Pennington.
Carole will talk to the owner of Nomad Pizza in Hopewell about selling mugs at his establishment.
LuAnn suggested selling mugs at the Pennington Farmers Market on Saturdays, or the Hopewell Farmer's Market on Wednesdays.
Kate reported that the PR committee had met in mid-August and laid out a year's plan of action concerning activities related to the 50th anniversary.
Valerie is writing proclamations about the 50th anniversary to be issued by governing bodies at the local, county and state levels.
Kate is hoping to have a HVC table again at Pennington Day. She asked Board members to think of other venues (eg: other groups' concerts) where we might host a hospitality table.
Kate will check into participation in - and finding volunteers for - the Hopewell Harvest Fair and the Pennington Harvest Festival, both of which are held in October.
MUSIC CONSULTANT'S REPORT:
Marjorie announced that the theme for the spring concert is "In Praise of Singing."
The name of the commissioned piece of music, by Matthew Harris, is "To Music."
Marjorie said that it is possible that Steven Schwartz may be writing a piece for us as well.
Kate suggested that Chorus members be given an opportunity to make suggestions as to music that we could include in the spring concert, but Marjorie felt that it is not a good idea, and would make music selection too cumbersome.
Music selection will be up to the director and the music selection committee, composed of Marjorie, Mike Nolan, Valerie Nelson, Carole Allison, Erica Sheig, and John Kling.
Marjorie said that, because of the special nature of the Anniversary concert, she would entertain members' suggestions for pieces we might perform at that event. Proposed pieces should adhere to the theme. Suggestions should go to John, as chair, or to Marjorie.
Kate suggested that alternate names should be available for the music selection committee in the event that any of the members cannot continue to serve on the committee.
50TH ANNIVERSARY CHAIR'S REPORT:
LuAnn reported that Cabaret and Cabernet was a success. 135 tickets were sold. $2,178.00 was made on the event, and $600.00 on the raffle sales. It was a great deal of work, but well worth the effort.
Carole Allison has planned to meet with the Events Committee in a few weeks in order to plan other events for the coming year.
The PR Committee will be doing press releases, feature articles, and interviews concerning the 50th anniversary.
Kate hopes to find a volunteer who will create a display from the scrapbooks that will highlight HVC events of the past 50 years. This display will be shown in the local libraries. Alto, Kathy Doyle, head librarian in Pennington, will be a contact for this.
OLD BUSINESS:
Marilyn asked for the digital file for the 2009-2010 contracts and Christina said that she will send them to her.
NEW BUSINESS:
Rehearsal CD's - The Board and Marjorie agreed that rehearsal CD's are an excellent tool for chorus members to use to learn music, and it was decided that we should make and distribute such rehearsal CD's to the membership.
Kate made a motion that the Board purchase the CD's and make them a part of the music folders. Lynn seconded the motion. After discussion, the motion was denied.
It was decided that the CD's should not be sold as a fundraiser. Marcia suggested using the honor system and asking for a donation for the CD's in the hope of covering their cost.
Sandy moved that the Board purchase the CD's but ask for a suggested monetary donation from any members who want to have them. Marcia seconded the motion and the motion was carried.
Kate hopes that a chorus member who is knowledgeable about Web site editing, will work with Jane Dashfield, who is moving but has agreed to continue as Web site coordinator.
We also need a replacement for Carole Allison, who has been the paper manager for many years. She will continue to do the tasks until after the 50th Anniversary.
The Board meetings will be held the first Tuesday of every month.
The next meeting will be on Oct. 6 at 7:30 pm at Christina's house.
The meeting was adjourned at 9 pm.
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Hopewell Valley Chorus home page: http://www.princetonol.com/groups/hvchorus/index.html
PO Box 93 - Pennington, NJ 08534 - 609-737-2468 (membership) - 609-737-3177 (information)