Shepherdstown Music & Dance

Our regular website with information on dances & concerts, is at www.smad.info

Or click for Bylaws. The page you're on is the Minutes of the Board

Click on a date, to skip down to those minutes. If you want to search for a topic, click on the word Edit at the top of your screen, and choose Find.

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Shepherdstown Music and Dance Board Meeting Minutes 2/8/04

Hostess: Becky Lidgerding

Present: Becky Lidgerding, Jeanne Marie McClure, Joanie Blanton, Nick Blanton, Tony Guiffre, Paul Burke and Diane Walker

Minutes from the last meeting were approved.

Treasurer's Report

1. Recommended by the treasurer and approved by the board to close the Vanguard account and transfer funds to our main account at Jefferson Security Bank. The rationale for this is to generate higher interest through a CD and to simplify our finances. We will then invest in a CD in order to generate higher interest.

2. A copy of the 2003 tax report was submitted and has been filed.

3. A copy of the SMAD equipment inventory was submitted and reviewed. The number of microphones was amended to be nine, per Nicks' recall.

4. The treasurer's report which included Balance Sheet previous year comparison, Profit and Loss Previous Year Comparison, Transactions report, and Income and Expenses accounting were all submitted and reviewed by the Board.

5. Liability Insurance Policy with Merkel is due for renewal. Tony is pursuing this.

Equipment Storage: The board requests that extraneous equipment owned by Don Moore be removed due to construction and liability concerns.

A recommendation was made to write a letter to Shepherdstown Men's Club requesting to store heavy equipment in the new storage closet on the ballroom floor. We would need to build a storage shelf for it. This would provide added safety in not having to haul heavy equipment up and down the stairs, especially during the current building construction. Becky will explore this verbally, and then Paul and/or Nick will write a letter to the Men's Club to formalize our request.

March Mailing

Joanie will do a newsletter layout. She is soliciting articles. We will need volunteers to fold, staple and stamp. Ideas for information to be included: May Day Activities, elections, advertise upcoming dances, dance safety: supervision of children, especially during construction, calendar at a glance, helping hands, golden spoon, and change of address for Jefferson county residents.

Concert Series 2004-2005

Joanie is working on contracts and would find it useful to borrow a fax machine for a few weeks while receiving contracts. She would appreciate any new letters of support for our grant. The grant is due March 1^st. The focus this year is on more community outreach.

The next concert is March 13^th.

October 25^th, 2004 Anniversary Dance

Becky is working on finding out whether the hall is available. Joanie will hair the committee and has asked Tara and Richard Bell and Bruce Appelgren to join the planning committee. Jeanne Marie, Becky and Diane also volunteered to help.

The band will be the Mighty Possums. The program will be Dances Through History. We will need to hire a caller. The dance will be a special, fancy dance. Tickets will be required. There will be a higher than normal admission price, and scholarships will be considered. It will be a fundraiser, with a small, silent auction following the dance of memorabilia. There may be a commemorative T shirt as well.

May Day, 2004

Saturday, May 1^st: The parade could use more people. Joanie would like to see more participation from SMAD. We need to identify groups that may be interested, invite volunteers to participate, and advertise in the paper. The time of the parade is 12 noon, and culminates at 1:30 pm. We need to let Laura First know that we are providing support for May Day activities.

Men's Club Building

Discussion continued on observations made by several of our members regarding the Men's Club physical plant. Paul provided a written summary of concerns and observations. Paul will take care of relaying these observations to Dick Super, Men's Club Board of Directors and architectural engineer. Our goal is safety for our dancers.

Next Meeting: Sunday, May 16^th, 4 pm, Diane's house. Potluck following the meeting.

Minutes respectfully submitted,

Diane Walker

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Shepherdstown Music & Dance Board Meeting 11/29/03 in Men's Club kitchen

Present: Jeanne Marie McClure, Joanie Blanton, Tony Guiffre, Paul Burke, Sarah Stickley, Becky Lidgerding, Nick Blanton.

Web Page: Becky S is working with Jim Hoyt on updating contradancers.com

Contras

House Manager rotation includes:

12/5/03 Jeanne Marie

1/4/04 Sarah

1/31 [Paul]

2/7 Tony

3/6 Becky L

4/3 [Diane]

5/1 Jeanne Marie

6/5

Still to sign up are: Diane, Becky S, Paul

When there is open construction, House Managers need to put up signs to keep people away. Even when there is no construction, house managers need to be aware of any dangerous play by children.

Announcements will be made only by us.

5^th Saturday dances:

1/04 preceded by Hambo workshop.

5/04 cancelled to avoid conflicting with Almost Heaven.

7/04 will probably announce a place & time to meet for boating before the dance.

10/04 25^th anniversary dance is still tentative, pending whether the Men's Club is available.

Concerts: We will co-sponsor 3 concerts next year with Upper Potomac Dulcimer Festival, instead of two. At each of these, two groups perform, at slightly over the cost of one group in a regular concert. Festival participants get in free, and in return the festival guarantees to make up any loss on the concert.

Sound: We will continue periodic thank you gifts for sound techs in the $15-20 range.

We now have 2 new powered speakers for downstairs and concerts, and a total of 10 mikes including the cordless

Piano tuner will come 12/18, and if all goes well every 6 months after that, sending us a bill.

Nick will ask the Men's Club if they are willing to have the piano keyboard locked, with a copy of the key on all key rings, so any renter can use it, but it will get less casual banging.

A brass plaque on piano will say "This piano was purchased in 2002 by the Shepherdstown Men's Club and Shepherdstown Music and Dance. If you notice a problem with it, tell the Club or write piano@smad.info"

Finances: Tony as treasurer & Joanie as concert chair will clarify concert income & deposits before the next meeting.

Musselman Latin Club may help out at the Musselman Contra dance, and sell refreshments as a fund raiser.

Size of events is estimated at:

Next Meeting Sunday 1pm 2/8, at Becky L's house

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Shepherdstown Music and Dance Board Meeting Minutes

Sunday, August 10^th, 2003

Present: Jeanne Marie McClure, Joanie Blanton, Tony Guiffre, Paul Burke, Sarah Stickley, Becky Lidgerding, Diane Walker. Laurel Hackley & Nick Blanton joined us for discussions just before & during dinner.

Meeting and dinner were hosted at Jeanne Marie and Ron's home. Thank you for the gracious hospitality.

Amendments to the last minutes: Laurel Hackley rather than Laura. The minutes were otherwise approved.

The grant for concerts was funded to the fullest extent that any organization received funding this year. We received $4995.

The Upper Potomic Dulcimer Fest will be having a midwinter workshop and café concert on February 14^th, 2004. There will be an all day workshop on dulcimers and then the café concert with room for dancing. Joanie would like to include this in the upcoming mailing. All were in agreement to announce it in return for SMAD members getting a discount, though it is not part of our series, since it is not handicap-accessible.

Paul introduced discussion regarding whether gift certificates should again be given to the Jefferson county music teachers. Joanie will do a letter with coupons for concerts to be distributed to Jefferson & Berkeley music teachers by the school boards, and by us at schools where we have contacts.

Sarah would like to have contra dance at her high school: Musselman High School (sp?) We discussed pointers for planning and how Sarah could begin this process. Suggestions were made for callers & musicians to consider. Publicity suggestions included lots of posters in places where they would be noticed, like the bathrooms. It would be open to the community. Sarah would need to consider inviting younger classmates as "understudies" to the organizational process so that it could continue after she graduates next year. SMAD agreed to provide the remainder of a $400 guarantee if the door take did not cover that much for the first dance. After the first dance we can decide what help is needed for additional dances.

Diane reported that the large industrial sized fans used at River Rendevous worked very effectively in a closed, air-conditioned space for moving air and keeping dancers cool. We discussed fan placement at Shepherdstown. It would be challenging because every square inch of space is being used.

Paul reported on the engineering building inspection process. He spoke to one of our members, Suzanne Grobbel, who recommends consulting a historic architect or building conservator. Paul has also spoken with Bill Ayres and Dick Super, from the Men's Club. A Men's Club member who works with the National Parks Conservation lab may also be a useful contact. Paul would like to ask Suzanne to pursue this, and we agreed that was a great idea.

Becky mentioned that we have a very small pool of sound technicians 2-3, and we need to broaden the pool. She mentioned that Glen Echo compensates their techs. We agree that in addition to free admission for themselves and their guests at a dance, in which they are not working, we would periodically purchase a gift to express our appreciation. Becky will start shopping.

Joanie will send out a fifth Saturday notification via email, as it is Labor Day weekend and attendance may be down.

Fifth Saturday dance in 5/04 may be a Ceili/Contra/English dance or some combination thereof.

Reunion Dance will be 10/04, and Joanie will be looking for help in planning that.

Website: There is a lag of several months now with getting things posted to the web. Paul will address this by making alterations to our links on smad.info. Becky L. is able to keep info updated on the Ted Crane site.

The waltz teaching at the 8/2/03 dance was a start, and we agreed to ask callers to continue the idea of a waltz mixer to give people practice waltzing with different partners. We will also, when possible, teach waltz specifically before the dance starts.

Jeanne Marie has been perfecting the "Hippie Barbie" design. We all agreed that she was on the right track. Since it will likely be a topseller, we should probably keep it under wraps until she consults with Hassbro or Matel about having all proceeds go to SMAD. (Just kidding!)

Next meeting: Saturday, November 29^th 5pm, place to be determined. May not be able to be the Men's Club as it is Christmas in Shepherdstown then.

Minutes recorded by Diane Walker

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Shepherdstown Music and Dance Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

Saturday, July 5, 2003

Present: Joanie Blanton, Jeanne Marie McClure, Becky Lidgerding, Paul Burke, Sarah Stickley, Laurel Hackley, Tony Guiffre, Diane Walker

Guest: Melanie Climis

Minutes approved from March 2 with one correction.

Officers and committee chair positions reviewed. We still need a fifth Saturday dance chair. We also agreed to solicit other interested members of the dance community to become a "Member At Large" board member.

We need additional volunteers for house managers. Paul will solicit volunteers for any unfilled positions.

We agreed it would be useful to have a (laminated) card for callers with a few pertinent suggestions. Becky L. will create this with these pointers.

· Callers may judge how many beginners there are and chose to do a mixer at or near the beginning of the dance.

· Callers will introduce themselves and the band at the start of the dance.

· Callers are encouraged to give style pointers.

· Workshops will be from 7:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., generally downstairs.

· Announcements are made before the last dance of the first set.

· The break is generally 15 minutes between 9:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.

· Callers may need to announce overcrowding and encourage people who are leaving to let them know at the door so that those who are waiting may come in. There may be dancing set up downstairs if there is a large crowd.

Paul raised the question of whether any board members had noticed any additional "give" to the floor, as someone had mentioned this to him. No one present had noticed this. We discussed the fact that the last structural engineering report was eight years ago. The question was raised of how often these inspections should be done in an older building. Paul will pose this question to the person that completed our previous report and get an estimate for an update. It was also recommended that the person doing the inspection should be encouraged to be present during a dance to observe, if at all possible. Paul will notify Bill Ayres of the Men's Club of our intentions and ask if he would like to be present should an updated inspection be recommended.

Joanie will be preparing a mailing about the concert series. Do we want an insert about upcoming dances?

Joanie brought up an interesting twist regarding paying the bands. Apparently, the word is out amongst the musicians that Shepherdstown pays better than any dance around the area. This has contributed to Becky getting a lot of requests to play here. The topic was whether we should put a cap on payment of musicians.

Our consensus was that having bands wanting to play in Shepherdstown was a wonderful gift, and that this could be managed by creating a time frame that we do not book past, (e.g. one year, or whatever Becky recommended). Becky said that she thought it fair not to book one band more than once in two years.

Special events: Joanie would like to see a special celebration of 25 years of dancing in Shepherdstown on October 30, 2004. She imagines that this dance could be a fundraiser, with pre-sold tickets and invitations extended to all the musicians and callers who have ever played here. It would include a potluck. The Mighty Possums would be invited to play as they were one of the earliest bands to play for us in Shepherdstown.

Waltz instruction: it was suggested that since many of our newest dancers would benefit from waltz instruction that a brief workshop be conducted at intermission just before the first waltz. Becky will ask Ann Fallon if she would teach this at an upcoming dance. This could then be followed with three short waltzes and then the break.

Tony presented the treasurer's report in the form of a written report that was briefly reviewed due to time constraints. Any questions may be directed to him.

Next meeting: Sunday August 10^th, 4 p.m., potluck at Jeanne Marie's house.

Minutes Respectfully Submitted,

Diane Walker

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Shepherdstown Music and Dance

Board Meeting Minutes March 1, 2003

Present: Paul Burke, Tony Guiffre, Joanie Blanton, Nick Blanton, Jeanne Marie, Becky Lidgerding, Becky Stephenson, Diane Walker.

Guest: Sarah Stickley

Minutes from the January 12^th meeting were approved with the correction to the microphones to be purchased.

Discussion ensued regarding insurance. Tony will do some further research on policy limits and inclusions.

Discussion on the Morris Minors. They are a subset of Shepherdstown Music and Dance that have one event a year at the May Day festivities. Joanie read from her grant describing their inclusion. A member of the Morris Minors will be invited to be on our Board.

Sarah Stickley has volunteered to be on our Board. The Board voted unanimously to accept her offer to serve. Welcome Sarah!

There was then a discussion on other creative solutions to our popular dances with people driving long distances and being turned away at the door. Prepaid tickets were discussed, but no resolution was reached.

A motion was brought forth to consider pre-paid tickets and the vote failed with a tie.

A motion that board members and staff plus one guest may pre-reserve by contacting the house manager passed. The rationale is that this is fair in light of the volunteering time served.

Nick gave a report on the sound shopping. The powered speakers were more expensive than anticipated. Nick will be trying out some borrowed equipment at tonight's dance downstairs.

Report on the Waltz Weekend was presented. Numbers registered are down from what was anticipated. A duty roster of tasks needing to be completed was distributed. We will hold partial registrations to 10 above 90 full registrants in order to give preference to those registering in full for the weekend. As the deadline approaches, we may open this up.

Meeting adjourned at 7 pm. No date set for upcoming meeting yet.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Diane Walker.

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Shepherdstown Music and Dance Board Meeting

January 12, 2003

Present: Nick and Joanie Blanton, Paul Burke, Becky Lidgerding, Jeanne Marie McClure, Tony Guiffre, Diane Walker

Minutes from November 17^th were approved with the correction of maximum guarantee being substituted for minimum guarantee for payment of the band.

Treasurer's report was given by Tony and reviewed by the board members present. Modifications to the dance balance sheet were suggested by Tony regarding adding a line for membership. He also suggested that on fliers for events where the fees are totaled, that a line be included for tax deductible contributions.

Weekend report from the meeting earlier this afternoon was given. A report of those minutes is attached to this report.

Concert 2003-4 planning: Joanie says to expect funding cuts. Joanie may approach a private donor who has helped in the past to help offset the reduced funds.

Concert Report: December 14, 2002, there were 80 attendees, and a slight profit. Joanie will need help with the 1/18/03 concert and the February concert.

Grant for the upcoming year is due March 1^st.

There will be a fundraising concert for Don Oehser who suffered a traumatic amputation of 4 of his fingers.

Resignations from the board: Gordon Cassells, Carla McAdams and Karin Stine.

Discussion of overcrowding: We will set up sound downstairs. Joanie will get a stamp so that everyone who has paid gets a stamp. Those who are dancing should inquire as to whether or not a person has paid if their hand is not stamped. We will maintain a waiting list.

Discussion of sound equipment: Nick made several recommendations on equipment that we could purchase. A motion was made and carried that we accept the recommendations of Nick on what sound equipment to purchase, and he will pursue this. Specifically, one SM 58 vocal mikes at an approximate cost of $105 each; three Beta 57 instrument mikes at $140 each, padded bag for mikes, and a powered speaker.

Tony will look for a locked cabinet to keep equipment more secure.

List of equipment inventory should be sent to Tony.

Becky Stephenson is working on etching the equipment with ID numbers.

5^th Saturday dances: Need a coordinator. August is the next 5^th Saturday dance.

Next meeting is Saturday March 1^st at 5 pm at the Men's Club. Becky will call to rent the hall for the extra time. Bring your own dinner. We will have a waltz committee update at that time.

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Shepherdstown Music and Dance Board Meeting

Sunday, November 17, 2002

Board Members in attendance: Paul Burke, Tony Guiffre, Rebecca Stephenson, Jeanne Marie McClure, Joanie Blanton, Clay Herzog, Becky Lidgerding, Diane Walker.

Meeting called to order at 4:15 pm. Minutes from the 8/18 meeting were ammended and accepted.

Discussion opened with whether a business registration certificate is necessary for the sale of CD's. The band members have conducted their own sales of CD's generally, so we have not seen need to obtain one. Joanie has one for the concert series as they do CD sales for the performers. It is located in the cash box. Tony will investigate whether we need to purchase one as well.

Treasurer's report: Income taxes for 2001 have been filed. Tony will send a copy to CDSS. Tony provided a profit and loss detail report and balance sheet detail report. Discussion ensued regarding specifics of these reports with a few suggestions made for clarifications.

The board commended Tony for the extensive time and effort spent on these reports.

Waltz Weekend: March 29-30, 2003. Band will be Spare Parts. Becky has reserved the Men's Club. Joanie will work to obtain a caller for the Saturday night contradance and Diane will work on finding workshop leaders. This dance will be announced at the upcoming two Shepherdstown dances and Rebecca will add the information to the website.

Joanie will contact the Day's Inn, Shepherdstown about holding 10 rooms for this event.

Diane will do registration. Jeanne Marie will do housing.

We could use a volunteer to obtain an updated Bed and Breakfast list for the area.

Concert Report: The concert series has been offered the opportunity to hold some events at the Frank Center at Shepherd College. These would be co-sponsored with the college and the center can seat 450 people. The series would be able to invite some higher profiled performers.

Joanie discussed with the board the numerous exciting possibilities for upcoming performances in the 2003-2004 year. She is planning on 6-8 concerts for the next concert series.

Paul will call Adelphia cable to request that they add information about the Shepherdstown Music and Dance website when they run the interview with Rachel Meade and Cecilia Mason.

Joanie welcomes any input from the board on suggestions for the next concert series.

New Business: Diane raised the issue of payment of musicians. The payment for contradances is considerably less than for other venues that our musicians play for. We are, in fact, asking the musicians to subsidize our contradances by not paying them a fair wage. There are inherent costs of travel, depreciation of equipment, time for set up and take down, and practice time which are not included in the fees.

After discussion, a motion was made by Diane and seconded by Jeanne Marie to raise the admission to the dances to $6 for members of Shepherdstown Music and Dance, $8 for nonmembers, starting January, 2003, with re-evaluation of this in 6 months. Admission for those under 12 will be $4. This was passed unanimously by the board. The board also agreed to raise the minimum guarantee paid to the musicians and callers to $100, with a $300 maximum guarantee per band. This is an increase from $75.

Joanie will write a cancellation policy.

Gordon has resigned from the Board, effective immediately.

Next meeting is Sunday, January 12, 2003 at 4 pm, at Paul's house.

Thanks to Joanie for hosting this meeting.

Minutes submitted by Diane Walker.

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Shepherdstown Music and Dance Board Meeting Minutes

August 18, 2002

Present: Tony Guiffre, Becky Lidgerding, Rebecca Stephenson, Paul Burke, Jeanne Marie McClure, Joanie Blanton, Carla McAdams, Diane Walker

Meeting was called to order at 4:15 pm.

Minutes from the previous meeting were reviewed and approved as ammended.

Finance: Tony has met with Bruce Appelgren and obtained necessary information from past years. Tony has also obtained bank signature cards for the new officers for the bank account.

The West Virginia tax bill and annual license has been paid. The CDSS membership dues ($75.00) plus a late fee ($50.00) has been paid.

We discussed our views on access to the finance report. We agreed that the finance report is open to anyone who asks. It will not be published or put on the web. A written finance report will be tabulated monthly on our cash flow. A finance report will be given each board meeting.

Becky is working on the rental contract with the Men's Club.

Email notification will be sent out for the 8/31/02 dance. This dance needs to be advertised. The teenagers will be doing a Shakespeare event concurrently, so we don't expect their attendance. Bruce and Becky will send email lists to Genevieve.

For the 8/31 dance, there will be a Hawaiian shirt contest. Jeanne Marie has purchased 144 leis to distribute at the door. Volunteers are asked to bring deserts with a tropical theme.

Nick Blanton is doing sound for the 8/31 dance.

On the fifth Saturday dance, there will be no beginner's workshops. It will be advertised as "Some experience recommended."

Theft: The theft of equipment owned by Don Moore was estimated to have a worth of $359.00. We approved reimbursement of this amount to Don Moore. Paul will complete a police report. The police report needs to be completed before the insurance claim is filed.

There is currently no one assigned to book 5^th Saturday dances. This will not be a problem in the near future, however, as November is booked and March, 2003 will have a waltz weekend.

The Waltz Weekend will be planned for March 29-30, 2003. Committee members are Jeanne Marie McClure, Carla McAdams, Joanie Blanton and Diane Walker. Diane will serve as chair. Joanie will check on a band for the waltz weekend.

Frederick dance voted to not share the money from the gate with us in their May, 2003 dance on a fifth Saturday as had originally been suggested.

House Manager instructions: The box with the fliers in it is kept in the attic. The moneybox and the keys are to be obtained by the house manager at the dance the preceding month. There is a back up key to the Men's Club at the library. Burt Lidgerding also has a key to the Men's Club. Paul has typed up instructions.

Beginner's workshops will start at 7:30 pm instead of 7:15 pm.

WV Music Teachers workshop is Saturday, October 5^th. They would like to learn how to teach Morris dance to their classes. Paul will ask Susan Wisniewski to assist.

Concerts

State of funding: Joanie applies for a grant from the State of West Virginia by March 1^st, which includes one half of the artist fees. Decisions are made on the grants by the end of June. Each year, some portion of her request is not funded. In September, local businesses are approached and solicited, and those who donate money are listed as sponsors, This provides a tax advantage for the sponsor as the donation is tax deductible.

The state grant funding for the year 2002-2003 has provided funding for all except one band.

Now, local sponsors need to be solicited.

Joanie estimates that she spends 200 hours per year working on the concert series. We discussed how we as an organization could help share the workload. Specific tasks are as follows:

· Solicitation of local sponsors

· Publicity: creating fliers, distribution.

· Help at the concerts. Leo may be available to help, as may Melanie Climis.

Specifically, Joanie identified that it would be helpful to find a coordinator of local fundraising. Could the SMAD schmoozers work on this? (SMAD schmoozers= board members who solicit help of dancers as they are entering the dance). Joanie requests that local people with connections help with making packets for distribution to the sponsors.

It was decided that Joanie would be the coordinator and make up the packet. She will recruit additional help at the dances and concerts for specific tasks that she would like to delegate.

Attendance at the concerts averages 200 people.

Fliers are due to be mailed in early September. Putting up fliers should be done intensively. Leo will be asked by Paul and Joanie to check with the Visitor's Bureau and Chamber of Commerce.

Tony will review the insurance coverage.

Rebecca is trying to get in touch with Jim Hoyt about the web site.

Next Meeting: 11/17 @ 4 pm at Joanie's house.

Meeting adjourned 6:45 pm.

Minutes submitted by Diane Walker

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July 24, 2002

Present: Karin Stine, Becky Lidgerding, Paul Burke, Jeanne Marie McClure, Tony Guiffré, Rebecca Stephenson, Joanie Blanton, Carla McAdams, Diane Walker.

Meeting called to order at 7:15 pm.

Past minutes were accepted of the general membership meeting and board meeting on June 29^th, 2002.

Joanie provided an overview of where the organization is financially.

Tony will meet with Bruce Appelgren regarding transfer of financial records.

Assignment of the remainder of positions:

Volunteer coordinator: open

Publicity: Carla

House managers: Clay, Diane, Becky Stephenson, Paul, Karin Stine, and Tony. Genevieve will help open.

Hospitality: Jeanne Marie

Discussion on house manager rotation followed. We agreed that the house manager had the option of sharing the position with another person so that one could open and the other close.

The following fifth Saturdays have bands booked already: August 31, 2002; November 30, 2002. There are no fifth Saturday bands booked yet for 2003.

The publicity chair responsibilities were divided as follows:

Fliers: Carla

Web page: Rebecca Stephenson

Newsletters: Joanie will do a quarterly concert newsletter. Carla will proofread. The dance fliers will be stuffed into the newsletter.

Membership: Genevieve O'Loughlin

Email list: Will inquire if Genevieve will do this.

Concert press release: Will inquire if Melanie Climis will volunteer for this.

Rebecca will look into SMAD's own website.

SMAD smoozers: When board members come early, they will actively seek volunteers.

A motion was put forth by Becky to rescind free admission to board members. Jeanne Marie seconded this. Discussion followed. It was decided that admission would be free for the holder of the Golden spoon, the house manager, and the sound crew would be entitled to a coupon for two free admissions. Jeanne Marie will create these coupons.

Announcements: Jeanne Marie will continue to make the announcements at the dance.

Finance

Check signers: Tony, Paul, Becky, Joanie, and Jeanne Marie.

Vanguard account signers: same as above. Require two signatures and the vote of the board.

Tony will formulate a plan for deposits.

Gen will collect mail & send financial statements to Tony.

Discussion then followed on the Frederick dance committee request to have a fifth Saturday dance in May with Swallowtail. We agreed to be responsible for the refreshments or whatever help they may need in order to get a percentage of the income from the gate.

Becky will find out if there is a guarantee to the band that we would be responsible to pay.

Paul proposes that we establish a written cancellation policy. Joanie will email us the written cancellation policy that the concert series uses.

Next meeting: Becky's house, 4 pm. Becky will send directions.

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Shepherdstown Music and Dance

Board Meeting Minutes

June 29, 2002

Present: Becky L, Jeanne Marie Clure, Clay Herzog, Rebecca Stephensen, Paul Burke, Nick Blanton, Gordon Cassells, Tony Guiffré, Diane Walker

Officers and committee chairs were agreed upon as follows:

President: Paul Burke

Vice Presidents: Jeanne Marie McClure and Clay Herzog

Secretary: Diane Walker

Treasurer: Tony Guiffré

Concert Chair: Joanie Blanton

Dance Chair: Becky Lidgerding

Sound: Nick Blanton

Publicity: Nominated Carla McAdams

Membership: Genevieve O'Loughlin

Hospitality: open

House Manager: open. Jeanne Marie will participate, but has done this for two years and would like some relief.

Genevieve O'Loughlin is voluntering to serve as membership chair, but prefers to not be on the board.

Gordon Cassells was added as a board member by the present board.

Meeting times preferred by those present were Monday or Wednesday evenings for future meetings.

Next meeting time to be arranged by Paul via email.

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General Membership Meeting

Shepherdstown Music and Dance

June 29, 2002

Meeting called to order by Bruce Appelgren, outgoing President.

The changes to the bylaws were approved as submitted in the ballot by voice vote.

Board members were approved as listed by a voice vote. Rebecca Stephensen was added.

Board Members are as follows:

Nick Blanton

Joanie Blanton

Paul Burke

Tony Guiffré

Clay Herzog

Becky Lidgerding

Carla McAdams

Jeanne Marie McClure

Karin Stine

Diane Walker

Minutes recorded by Diane Walker

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The Coordinating Committee met 6/1/02 at the Men's Club at 6pm

Present were Carla McAdams, Karin Stine, Paul Burke, Diane Walker, Tony Guiffré, Joanie Blanton, Nick Blanton. Becky Lidgerding arrived near the end of the discussion.

The Coordinating Committee Members who were present went through the draft of Bylaw changes prepared by Bruce & Carla, along with extensive comments from Joanie and from Paul. Majorities settled on changes to propose, which were summarized by Paul and sent out as follows:

Please let me know by Monday evening if you see any problems, or if this is ok to send to members.

Paul

Check www.smad.info, to see how

(a) I summarized the changes. the same summary will be on the mailing if you all think it's OK

(b) I tried to put all yesterday's changes into the document. Some areas I want to check with you particularly were:

-I moved the old article 8 on how the members elect the board, and article 9 on amending bylaws to right after article 4, on membership meetings, so all the members' info is together.

-we talked about the Board filling vacancies between elections, when we can find people, up to the limit of 12 board members. I put wording in the beginning of the article on duties of the Board, now article 9

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The mailing will say the following. The nominees' names will be single-spaced, but otherwise this is pretty much how it will look:

Shepherdstown Music & Dance

P O Box 1293

Shepherdstown WV 25443

Dear Member of Shepherdstown Music & Dance,

Shepherdstown Music and Dance will hold an annual meeting on June 29, 2002 after a potluck supper at 6 p.m.at the Men''s Club, and before a special fifth Saturday dance. The meeting will include an election for a Board of Directors and a vote on revisions to our bylaws. We are sending you a ballot for the election and the changes in bylaws for you to consider. These are pieces of official business that the current Coordinating Committee feels will help strengthen and preserve Shepherdstown Music and Dance in the years ahead, and we urge you to vote.

Shepherdstown Music and Dance offers a remarkable number of high-caliber events throughout the year. We are an all-volunteer organization and we depend on your good will and your efforts to help us maintain our programs. With these ballots and bylaws, we hope to involve more of the membership in our activities. Please volunteer and donate some of your time to Shepherdstown Music and Dance. In my view, as a community, we are only as strong as our dances and concerts, and these events deserve your support. Thank you.

Bruce Appelgren, President
Shepherdstown Music and Dance

P.S. Barb Groh will be calling this special dance, with from Laurie Fisher on piano and David Knight on fiddle.

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Renewal and Ballot. You need to be a member to vote, and we want you as a member anyway. The label shows your expiration. Renew for any

number of years at $12 per year individual, $18 family, or $50 folk hero! If your membership has already expired, we'll renew it from now, not from when it expired. Please include your email address so we can save postage in the future.

We hope you''ll come in person. In any case please send in your renewal. If you mail in your ballot, you can withdraw it and vote in person if you get to the meeting. Please mail to: SM&D, Box 1293, Shepherdstown WV 25443

			ELECTION: Vote for as many as you wish. Bruce is stepping down, so he''s not listed. If the Bylaw changes pass, up to 12 candidates with the majority votes will be elected to the Board. If the changes fail, 5 candidates with the most votes will be elected to the 5 current offices; others will be Committee Chairs.
Name: $12 per year individual, $18 family, or $50 folk hero: $_______ US Mail address if changed: email address: BYLAWS Vote: [ ] for all proposed changes [ ] against all changes or mark specific choices below:			[ ] Becky Lidgerding [ ] Carla McAdams [ ] Clay Herzog [ ] Diane Walker [ ] Jeanne-Marie McClure [ ] Joanie Blanton [ ] Karin Stine	[ ] Nick Blanton [ ] Paul Burke [ ] Tony Guiffréé [ ] Write-in: [ ] Write-in:
Summary of changes (full text at www.smad.info. If you can''t get to the web, the Secretary will mail a copy: 304-876-2227
YES	NO	BOARD ISSUES
		elect 12-member Board, which then elects officers & fills vacancies, rather than electing 5 officers, who then add committee chairs to the Board
		define only 4 officers in bylaws, others defined as needed by the Board
		Board member can be removed for absences by 2/3 vote of Board
		define quorum as majority of Board
		re-word authority of Board; it still has all the authority except amending bylaws & dissolving the organization
		MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS
		encourage mail ballots & remove rule on when to have voice vote or ballots
		define a quorum for membership meetings (10% of members; membership is typically about 100)
		require 3 weeks instead of 2 weeks notice of membership meetings, & clarify the notice must be written
		require 2/3 vote of voters (and 20% of all members) to change bylaws, not 1/2
		require 2/3 vote of all members to dissolve organization (no provision now)
		ADMINISTRATIVE
		use the term Board of Directors instead of Coordinating Committee
		fiscal year & terms start July 1, not June 1

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4/6/02

The Coordinating Committee met at 6:15 pm 4/6/02 at the Men's Club. Present were
Bruce Appelgren, President
Becky Lidgerding, Dance chair, Morris Squire
Joanie Blanton, Concert Chair
Paul Burke, Secretary
Carla McAdams, Morris Foreman
Karin Stine, Swing

NEXT MEETING is 6/16 from 4-6pm. Topic is to discuss bylaw changes, based on proposals from Bruce & Carla. Send them your suggestions.

FINANCIAL DECISIONS

We approved $25 to Jefferson County Public Schools, towards a $1,000 scholarship for a Jefferson High School graduate. They requested money from business partners, of which we are one.

ELECTIONS & ANNUAL MEETING

We agreed that nominations for the Coordinating Committee are due to the mailbox by 5/15. This was announced in the current newsletter. Paul will send another mailing right after 5/15, saying:

a. please renew

b. please come to potluck (6pm) & annual membership meeting (6:30pm) 6/29/02, before the dance

c. attach list of nominees for the Committee and proxy form to be mailed back by those who cannot attend meeting (If there are less than about 15-20 nominees, Committee will expand to include them all. If more, we'll need election)

d. other business at annual membership meeting will be to vote on revision of bylaws

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3/10/02

Coordinating Committee met Sunday 3/10 4-7:30 at Men's Club, including a pot luck
Present were:
Bruce Appelgren, President
Jeanne Marie McClure, Dance house manager
Clay Herzog, Chair of 2nd dance exploration committee
Carla McAdams, Morris Foreman
Tom Connelly, guest
Becky Lidgerding, Dance chair, Morris Squire
Joanie Blanton, Concert Chair
Nick Blanton, Sound
Paul Burke, Secretary

NEXT MEETING is 4/6 from 6-7pm, after the Arna Dresser workshop & before the regular dance.

Topic is to schedule & plan the annual meeting & elections. (Bylaws were originally a topic of this meeting, and have been postponed to a longer meeting. Send your suggestions)

FINANCIAL DECISIONS

We decided we need to be more formal about votes to authorize money, so minutes will put those decisions first, for easy reference. We unanimously approved:

1. changing the age limit for youth price ($4) from 26 and under to 12 and under, so teenagers and above are encouraged to become members and pay the $5 member price. The youth price for 13-26 year-olds has served its purpose of encouraging young people, and is not needed at the moment. It could be brought back if needed.

2. up to about $800 for sound equipment , including $500 for two 8" speakers with stands & cables, for downstairs at Saturday dances; mixer to be borrowed from Don Moore for next few months
2 mikes to replace missing ones @ about $130
power cable & extension cord for downstairs, about $30
any parts needed to make a lockable box with marked spots for small things (so missing items are obvious) to be made by Nick & a volunteer. (all items will also be marked SMAD)

3. about $300 for a button machine, needed primarily by Morris & dance weekends

4. unspecified amount for accountant for IRS form 990

5. about $600 regular premium for insurance (we still need volunteer to check for best insurance policy)

SATURDAY DANCE OVERCROWDING

6. Crowding has caused several problems:
-youths out of control
-loud talking during teaching, resulting in someone shouting "Shut up"
-someone pushed a friend into the hall, into the middle of the Hambo
-two young women pouring water pitchers on each other's heads
-hard to hear caller & announcements

7. People noted there have been some nice dances downstairs, with the loudspeakers set up there.People appreciate that new young dancers are interested, and recognize that we need to teach them the traditional ways we interact. In March there were no chairs on the sides of the hall, which made more room for the dance lines.

8. Solutions include:
-continue beginners' workshop before dance (& not change its name to "lesson")
-tell volunteers and experienced dancers who arrive early that they're needed in the workshop
-when crowd gets noisy, all of us start saying "shhhh" until hall gets quiet, BEFORE someone shouts "shut up"
-dance in (infiltrate) any set that has many beginners
-be parental/community builders, ask people who act up, to behave differently.
-if there's a group of new dancers early, Bruce volunteered to talk to them about expected behavior before the dance
-reprint handout on dance style
-have announcements started by experienced announcer, who will get crowd quiet
-ask people to sit on the floor during announcements
-announce that hambo is starting
-continue minimal publicity of dances

9. ask callers:
-to take more control,
-return to the tradition of first 2 dances being easy, with strong instructions
-make comments on style,
-one or more mixers early in evening, to mix new dancers with older ones
-when crowded, tell dancers to take their group of 4 downstairs, especially experienced dancers

10. On other matters related to dancing downstairs, we decided to
-put a traffic cone on a rough area of the floor,
-consider padding the posts,
-pay rent for downstairs (this will be reflected in cost sheet)
-no change in payment formula (except higher hall rent), specifically no maximum for artists

SOUND

11. At the March dance, sound downstairs worked more easily than in January. Simplifications included taking speaker cables through windows, to an amp downstairs that controlled only volume, not mix.

12. We need a sound assistant whenever we set up sound downstairs: too much work for one, especially sending cables downstairs, adjusting volume, & carrying equipment

13. Nick will set up sound downstairs 4/6, and show Peter Adams how it is done. (Jim Hoyt can't come that weekend. he'll need to be shown another time)

14. Besides the labelled box (mentioned under financial decisions above) we decided each piece of equipment should be labelled.

VOLUNTEERS

15. Jeanne Marie has prepared a list of volunteer positions to post at the door. There is a similar page for each month, with 3 months to be posted at once. Announcer will thank this month's volunteers, and ask that everyone try to sign up for some volunteer task over the coming 3 months, to build community, future leaders, and share the work.

16. None of the volunteers gets a discount, except sound technician and food volunteer (golden spoon holder). We discussed paying sound technicians, and decided not to, for now.

17. Paul will show Genevieve how to maintain the membership list

NEWSLETTER

18. Joanie & Carla volunteered to compile a newsletter, based on about 2 paragraphs from each of the following:
Bruce
Becky on upcoming dances
Joanie on upcoming concerts
Carla on May Day and Morris
Jeanne Marie on volunteers
Clay on possibility of another dance each month
Tom on renewing membership & extra donations
Paul on dance style

all text to be sent to Joanie, preferably in RTF format (rich text format)
due 3/24/02

EXTRA DANCES

19. Clay will explore a second monthly dance (Sunday after 1st Saturday, or another time). in the meantime he will help with 5th Saturday dances & try to get volunteers to work on that, to build a new core team to handle second dance series

BYLAWS

20. We mentioned some issues on bylaws, and deferred discussion to another meeting. Issues mentioned include:
titles & job descriptions of officers
whether & how to adopt term limits
amount of detail on meeting & election timing
quorum needed for membership action

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10/28/01

The Coordinating Committee met at the men's club 4-6pm 10/28/01, with a potluck.
Present:
Bruce Appelgren, President, Flyers
Becky Lidgerding, VP-Dance Booking, Squire
Carla McAdams, Foreman
Joan Blanton, VP-Concerts, Membership

FIFTH SATURDAYS: We discussed various themes for the 12/29/01dance & chose "Not New Years". Karin is organizing a swing dance for 3/30/02. Diane is willing to do a waltz weekend for 6/29/02. We discussed whether August is too slow for a 5th Saturday dance & people noted that August has been one of our highest attendance dances recently, so we probably will do a dance 8/31/02 (Labor Day weekend). The next would be 11/30/02 (Thanksgiving weekend).

JOB DESCRIPTIONS Carla repeated her call for people to write job descriptions & send them to her, to keep an institutional memory. [I finally sent her my old description of Sunday Dance Chair today]

GUARANTEE Becky got agreement for a guarantee for Mando Mafia of $400 musicians & $100 caller.

CONFERENCE: Joanie got agreement for SMAD to support her registration fee at a conference in Florida.

DUTIES: Bruce wants to get someone to give us a workshop on legal issues in January.

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2/18/01

The Coordinating Committee met at the men's club 4-6pm.
Present:
Bruce Appelgren, President
Becky Lidgerding, VP, Dance Booking
Carla McAdams, Morris (Squire?)
Don Moore, Sound
Joan Blanton, VP Concerts
Marcia MacNiff, Cajun
Nick Blanton, (Guest? Sound?)
Paul Burke, Secretary

Next meeting is not yet scheduled.

MORRIS May Day events conflict with Quail Ale, though we had checked to try to avoid conflicts. Will try to invite teams that aren't going to Quail Ale, so both can be good events. Discussion of costumes.

WALTZ Weekend inquiries have been received. Decided on 6/30/01, possibly with canoeing & picnic 7/1, either with outfitter taking us point to point, or just canoeing upstream & drfting back to starting point, such as Princess St boat ramp (or Paul's subdivision). People invited to be on committee will be: Carla, Bruce, Joan, Nick, Jackie+Clay, Rebecca Cott+Mark, Diane Walker. Will meet before dance 3/301 at 5:30pm

CONCERTS: Don & Joan noted need for concert organizers. Joan pointed out they need a definable task, that happens regularly. Otherwise they drift away. 3 possibilities are: (1) putting up posters, (2) putting together press release from artists' material, (3) sound. Joan will ask for volunteers at concerts.

Don noted need for sound volunteers. He'll approach Shepherd College contacts. Maybe some students can learn & get credit.

Concert advertising will show the fact that there's a student price.

WEB PAGE: Joan, Bruce will ask Mark Dorosh (or if not him someone else) to give Joan some consulting on organizing her web files. They'll ask Marguerite to link to SMAD pictures at Karl's site.

Bruce wants as much advance schedule info for next year as possible to have a combined brochure published in July or August.

WORKSHOPS, FESTIVAL. we decided we have enough to do without that, for now

SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP: Paul will approach school system to see about offering gift certificates to music teachers, so they're more aware of our events. We don't have expertise to write grant applications to pay artists to go to schools, though we could work with a teacher if they wanted to apply for grants.

VOLUNTEERS we plan a potluck for volunteers before the 8/4/01/ dance. No free admission, but Joan offered some prizes from her grab bag of CDs.

Becky complimented the group on moving briskly through & sticking to the topics we needed to discuss.

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1/28/01

The Coordinating Committee met, with all members invited, at the men's club 3-6pm.
Present:
Bruce Appelgren, Jeanne Marie McClure, Becky Lidgerding, Joan Blanton, Paul Burke, Carla McAdams, Karin Stine
Bill Walton, Diane Walker, Nick Blanton. Bruce+Barbara Barth
Next meeting is Sunday 2/18 from 4-6pm.

Bruce summarized that we have accomplished a lot. Good activities, financially sound, good friends & welcoming atmosphere, charm.

It's a time of transitions: Shep NW Morris very active; Dance often crowded; many young people.

Needs:

Bruce noted fire limit of 120. (we'll encourage Men's Club to expand fire escape - he's applying for grants; we'll encourage Men's Club to design table storage to minimize loss of floor space; at our dances we'll advertise other area dances, such as Boyce, Bluemont, Frederick; we'll have 5th Saturday experienced dances, see below)

Glen Echo Spanish Ballroom is closing for repair, maybe in June, so we'll get more dancers.

Bruce is interested in a large weekend event. (No decision to proceed.) He raised the question of term limits, since people have mentioned that other groups have them (We decided against term limits, since we are too large for frequent changes in major positions. When an officer wants out, we'll try to have someone understudy for a few months or a year to learn the job.)

Carla thinks the energy of the group is strong & rising, and we need to nurture it. She also volunteered to compile our self-written job descriptions, to have available for members to see if they're interested & to ease transitions.

Joan wants more help on concerts & publicity for concerts. Grant application deadline at beginning of March. She also wants letters of support to include in grant package. Paul said to send the letters to local papers if author consents, to raise awareness of SMAD.

Barbara Barth wants a longer workshop (we resolved at least to be sure it starts promptly at 7:15, to get full time. Not re-starting for latecomers. Emphasize promptness in publicity.) Good workshop gives people confidence to overcome the occasional dancers who don't welcome beginners.

Becky raised:

A. the web page of officers is out of date (decided to drop it: contacts are listed on other pages);

B.5th saturday dances (decided on "experienced contras" starting 6/01; Joan books, Nick does sound if in town, Paul as backup sound, Carla door, presumably Leo press releases) goals are to have fun & decrease attendance at the 1st Saturday dance the following week;

C. special weekends (we discussed a waltz weekend for spring 2002 - no final decision, except that it would be kept small enough to stay in Men's Club. Best alternative discussed was TA Lowery, with good spongy floor & carpeted walls for decent acoustics, but still a gym feel & far from restaurants)

D. Some callers want to give free workshops on special topics before a dance (decided no, not enough attendance in the past. Work involved in opening, setting up sound, pulicity, even if workshop itself is free)

E. Guarantee has been $65 per musician, up to 4. (decided $75 each for up to 4 musicians, we'll tell them also they get 90% of door after expenses, so musicians that draw a good crowd usually get about $90 each) Guarantee payable if they show up & we cancel or have small crowd, not if they cancel for weather or any other reason. If we cancel before they leave home, we discussed paying a smaller amount, like $50, but no one remembered cancelling either concert or dance on that basis; Becky may check other dances' policies, but it seems a non-problem. If they cancel for any reason, they get no guarantee.)

F. youth price currently $3 for under age 26 (voted $4, same age limit for now, proposal of $5 failed to pass: don't want to risk losing the new young dancers who've come in with that price)

G. Permission for Morris demo at break 2/3 & 5/5 (agreed)

Bruce Barth interested in shape note singing (Joan & Becky eager. nothing decided)

Paul requested cross-advertising: eg dance flyers to mention concerts & Morris events; concert flyers to mention dance & Morris. (agreed) Suggested providing concert youth price for people under age 26, like dances, to attract people in early 20s (no one agreed) Youth price stays at age 13 for concerts.

Karin has no swing dances scheduled. Most bands not high enough energy to draw & have a good time. She has one lead. Joan recommended another, which could also do a concert.

Jeanne Marie complimented group on ability to work together. And we ended on time.

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Shepherdstown Music and Dance Quarterly Meeting - 11 May 1998 7 pm.

Present: Bruce Applegren, Jean Marie McLure, Becky Lidgerding, Paul Burke, Joan Johnston

Old Business

- - financial report

With the February fund raiser and the April yard sale, we have taken in as much as we did at Waltz Weekends. We have bought new monitors and the "snake". The Saturday P.M. tea dance did not break even, perhaps due to too beautiful a day.

Job Descriptions

- - Members of the SMAD Coordination Committee should write a description of what they do, so that, when the time comes, new members taking over would have a complete guideline.

Membership Directory

- - Leo and Doreen have received (out of 130-140 mailed out) 50 completed forms for our new directory. We hope for some new volunteers from this mailing.

New Business

. . Discussion on Special Events

- - Jean Marie proposed a cap of no more than three events a month - which could mean the 2 dances (1st Saturday and Sunday Community Dance) plus Joanie's event. But we also do not want to give up the 5th Saturday Dance. Bruce wants to attract more people by having a few dances other than contras. Paul suggested that in order to spread the load of additional dances, no committee member work on more than 2 events a month.

. . Publicity for our Multi-events

- - Presently the newspapers would like a monthly run-down of what is happening with photos, radio interviews, etc. The same with "Dance planning" on the computer. We should provide a description and times for dances - workshops, etc. We will hope for a new volunteer to work on this - otherwise we will go on as usual, or coordinate with Marguerite, whose Frederick website is active.

. . Donations and Fund Raising

- - Bruce has asked Shepherdstown for funding for a Fall Festival, Saturday Dances and May Day. We are considering donations (1) to the Entler for their new floor and wall paper, $ 50-100; (2) to the Men's Club for their air-conditioning fund or floor maintenance, a gesture of good will and kinship with the place, somewhere under $ 1000; (3) CDSS October dance could be a recruitment dance for them, as well as a check from us.

. . Banner

- - Bruce wold like to have a banner made to say "Community Dance Today", for posting outside the hall. It would probably cost $ 100.

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16 March 1998 Meeting of Shepherdstown Music and Dance

Present: Bruce Appelgren, Becky Lidgerding, Jean Marie McClure, Paul Burke, Joanie Blanton, Joan Johnston

Discussion of Up-coming Special Events

1. The Tea Dance - April 11: Bruce is looking into caterers - or we could break it up into jobs for a bunch of people. Tables to be set up downstairs.

2. Yard Sale - April 25 (rain date April 26) in front of the Dollar Store: Jean Marie in charge. For publicity there will be a press release as well as sandwich boards at the Food Lion. Tables will be set up at 7 a.m.. We will bring pre-priced items.

3. Street Dance for the Bikers - June 22: With around 1000 bikers in town, at the request of Vince Parmesano, Joanie is organizing the Morris Dancers to entertain and then get something like a Caley going - 3 or 4 musicians and a caller.

Paul's Sunday Dances: On May 10 (Mothers' Day) Beth Molaro will call. There will be only one over the summer - July 19 at Morgan Grove Park. In September the dance will be on the third Sunday.

Becky's Line-up for Music and Callers Reviewed: Becky suggested that the entry charge for regular dances be waived for SMD committee members as a recompense for work done. It would be a nice reward. The group agreed, except - as Joanie cautioned - in the rare case where this would jeopardize adequate receipts for caller and band.

Bruce's Agenda: He plans to:

1. Establish a contact with Shepherd College so that we can tie into the college crowd and arouse some interest there.

2. Consider a new Public Relations Committee. For example, it would be nice after the Tea Dance with Bob Pasquarella and Sue DuPre to give a donation: possible recipients for this time or another could be the Men's Club, the Entler, CDSS.

3. Send thank-you notes to bands and callers after each dance. Hospitality could do this. Jean Marie agreed.

4. Have SMD committee members consider their present jobs before the May elections, and write a job description of what they do, so that when jobs change hands the new member will have guidance.

5. Arrange an International Dance Week-end for June of 1999.

In Addition:

1. The Sound System: Bruce suggests managing it in a more definitive way. He will appoint two people to chair. He suggests that many of us take the Peer Advisory Training in Sound Systems offered by the State of West Virginia. Bryce Williams of Berkeley Springs does the workshops. It will also be helpful to have George Marshall's book permanently with the Systems. We need one person to whom complaints can be channeled.

2. Finances:

Bruce paid insurance for the sound system, $150 per year and for the dances $500 per year for liability for large groups, including the Morris Team.

Joan Johnston, April 8, 1998

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Shepherdstown Music and Dance, Quarterly Meeting

Sunday, January 18, 1998

Present: Bruce Appelgren, Becky Lidgerding, Jean Marie McClure, Joanie Blanton, Paul Burke, Don Moore, Joan Johnston

Bruce summarized briefly the SMD's first 6 months indicating a $ 700 profit (income $ 8300, outgo $ 7600). The heavy attendance at Saturday dances has thinned somewhat. Joanie's concerts have turned a profit. Plans for celebrating 20 years of SMD are well underway (noted in the SMD newsletter along with a brief history). We considered SMD's direction for the next 5 years so that we can make a more complete "Mission Statement" to this end:

- - Bruce would like (1) to build "a dance village" and put on 3 day events - even week long sessions and (2) to think always of expanding our reach even to encompass eventually environmental awareness and art.

- - Joanie would perpetuate our music and dance in a small setting - noting that this kind of sense of community has great appeal these days. She would reach out into the community by: (1)seasonal events like May Day - which attract young and old, dancers and non-dancers, musicians and non-musicians (Town business likes it too.), (2) dovetailing events as a concert and a dance together, and (3) minifestivals - small scale - one day, with several bands, many workshops, concerts, dances.

- - Paul would continue capitalizing on the use of our small intimate hall. He would like to see an expanding group of managers and volunteers, so that we have a number of self-sustaining groups under the umbrella of SMD, as we now have, in addition to the first Saturday dances, Paul's Sunday community dance, Joanie's concerts, Shepherdstown North West Women's Morris Team.

- - Jean Marie likes the idea of fewer events - but more encompassing ones, as 2 nice events, rather than 4 spread out.

- - In ending with our "where we are going" segment, we commented: (1) that as we pick up board members, we may have to work harder to reach consensus - and may eventually want to look for help with this taking advantage of a facilitator, and (2) that more and more we will need a Master Calendar, and this brought us to the more current business of SMD.

C Don Moore had thoughts and wants for completing our new sound system:

(1) monitors - to provide instantaneous feedback to players. Becky has had frequent demand for these. It will probably be worth getting light ones even at some extra expense, price range > $300.

(2) a snake - to allow the sound person to sit away from the stage - this will be in the range $ 500 - $ 1000.

He and we will consult with Ralph Gordon and Nick Blanton and on the basis of their advice we will vote on how much to spend.

C To keep our calendar not overly crowded, but first quality:

C . . (1) limit ourselves to 3 events/month, i.e. one event in addition to the 2 regular dances.

C (2) change Sunday dance to 3rd week rather than 2nd.

C (3) a master flyer to include all our events chronologically.

C (4) continue the SMD newsletter (Bruce will figure out these last two.)

C Joanie will book 4 bigger concerts rather than 6 smaller - 2 possible themes: greater reaches of Celtic Realm and the dancer faces the music. (Dulcimer event will be written separately from SMD.) June dulcimer fest may produce "open band" for Sunday community dance.

C Paul wants to work on:

C (1) guarantees for caller and musicians: caller $ 35 and % of door, band $ 40-60.

C (2) Master SMD flyer

C (3) an outreach group

C (4) not overextending - more managers

C (5) prefers being self-sufficient rather than depending on grants

C Becky has been pleased with publicity boosts for SMD from Shenandoah Coffeehouse and others - not necessarily music and dance, who may accept our flyers as well as being willing to make announcements. The January 14 meeting at Becky's - special planning for the February 7 celebration dance - very much in hand for quite a gala time.

C Bruce has in mind a June '99 event of 2 or 3 days which would include river events, elder hostel and international embassies.

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Minutes of the Quarterly Meeting of the Board of Directors of Shepherdstown Music and Dance, November 19, 1997, at the Mens Club

Present were: Bruce, Paul, Jean-Marie, Becky, Joanie and Joan

Becky produced her line-up for callers and music, which looked good to the Board.

Bruce presented a budget for FY 1998 and will do a budget report after the first half of the year.

On raising income:

. . 1) a short discussion on Refreshments income. On Saturday nights we will now do as Paul at the Sunday dances: charge $0.50, and we will put a note in the monthly SMD flyer suggesting that people bring food to share.

. . 2) Yard Sale: We set the date at Sat., April 25, probably at the parking lot of the old Potomac Market, currently Antiques. We could put notices in the SMD flyers in Jan., Feb. and March, asking for donations for the sale.

The 20th Anniversary February Dance:

- Put a ceiling of $500 on the band and caller in order to make some profit.

- A dressy event with a candle light desert.

- No reservations. We'll hope for reasonable attendance.

- $10 for members; $12.50 for non-members.

- SMD flyer will say there is a list of B&B's.

Joanie Schedule for Next Year:

- Wants to get plans underway as grant application deadlines are March 1.

- Will have a meeting right away, perhaps fewer concerts this time - 3.

Sunday Dances - Paul:

- They are going well; 25-30 people, often extra women, wants to get attendance up.

- Has done a mailing to the churches, as well as a press release and posters in stores.

- Bruce says it should be known as a teaching dance.

T-Shirts ? to commemorate 20 years; Ralph Gordon's idea, name of all the bands that have played in Shepherdstown - in an image.

Morris Team in good health. Joanie also mentioned the AHA fund raiser, on Sat., Jan. 24th - dinner and evening entertainment - $20.

Next Meeting - Wednesday, January 14 to finish plans for February gala.

- - . . Joan Johnston

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SMD Coordinating Committee Meeting

19 February, 1997 . . Mens Club

Bruce, Becky, Mike, Jean Marie, Joan, Joanie

1. Old Business

- - A. Minutes accepted

- - B Northwest Morris

- - . . Joanie indicated that;

- - 1- They would write into the SMD Bylaws the pertinent information on Northwest Morris.

- - 2- NW Morris, though merged with SMD would remain a sub-group with a separate treasury.

- - 3- NW Morris members currently about 12 , paying about $60 per annum in dues. Many are already SMAD members. We moved, seconded, and unanimously approved to accept NW Morris under the umbrella of SMD until such time as we bring it up again.

2. New Business

- - A. Waltz Weekend evaluation.

. . We agreed that:

- - . . . . 1- the weekend went off wonderfully well, amazing even ourselves, and that it was much appreciated by attendees.

- - . . . . 2- the level of expertise in the attending dancers was quite high (could have scared off some who were less skilled)

- - . . . . 3- the work schedule for the committee was pretty intense.

- - Another year we could:

- - . . 1- Spread the work out with more volunteers.

- - . . 2-have the brunch catered.

- - . . 3- have dancers stay at homes of nondancers as well.

- - . . 4- use Claymont (more appropriate for warm weather, floors not great)

- - We then agreed that we were ready to put the Waltz Weekend on hold for a year ar two, In the meantime we could consider a mini festival for the spring of '98 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of SMD (formerly Western Maryland Folklore Society)

- - B.The Fiscal Year '97 Financial Report shows us in very good shape. We plan to go ahead with the purchase of a new sound system and have it in place by July. Bruce supplied us with a Waltz Weekend '97 accounting and a SMD Summary Financial Report for the period 7/1/96 through 12/31/97.

- - C. Future of SMD

- - Having courted the DC dancers for some time we agreed that the dances have become almost too well attended, and that now we should focus back into our own Shepherdstown Community. The second Sunday community dances have been getting good attendance, and, realizing that local participation is important for our future, we will continue on local advertising while cutting back on DC advertising.

- - With the general idea of attracting more volunteers to SMD we will consider using new volunteers running the second Sunday dances. Sharon Hall and Bill Snyder have expressed interest. Paul Burke has shown interest in Membership and Community Dances. Shelly N. in publicity. Ralph Gordon in helping to choose the sound system. Melissa has volunteered to do a news letter. Bruce would like volunteers to take responsibility for the Saturday night dance.

- - D. Preparing for SMD elections

- - Mike Pratt said that he would be off the Committee for the coming year. We all will miss his capable and affable presence. Others on the Committee are willing to continue on in their present posts. We hope that by involving new people we will build a strong community of active participators.

- - E. Bruce has applied for a new Insurance Program sponsored by CDSS. We pay $500 for $500,000 coverage.

- - F. Joanie presented concert plans for '97. The theme will be Fiddlers - of all kinds. The concerts will be on second Saturdays if possible and some times might tie in with a Community dance the following day. She is applying for grants for all of these in about the same amount of funding that she received for '96.

= = = = = = = = = = =

December 16, 1996 SMAD Meeting at the Men's Club

- - Bruce, Becky, Mike, Paul, Joanie B., Joan

Discussion on buying a new sound system and raising money for it to add to Melissa's gift of $1000. We decided to not necessarily buy one before the February waltz Weekend but to look for a good system and a good price (with help and advice from Sandy and Ralph).

The first possible time for a fund raiser would probably be June 1. Could have a spaghetti dinner before the dance:

- - .look for a band to donate their playing for the evening

- - .charge $10-$12, or keep usual price for dancers and have donation pots on tables

- - .feed 100 people max., with reservations necessary

- - .invite Shepherdstown community through the Men's Club

- - .Menu: get an ok on serving wine

- - . . 3 different sauces

- - . . bread

- - . . extravagant desert

Enlist more local helpers for this event and for the SMAD community in general.

Sarah Byrne, Susan Wizniewsky, Paul Kohler, Paul Burke, Don Berry, others

Other fund raising possibilities

- - .The November 5th Challenging Contras

- - .The silent auction at Waltz Weekend

- - .Something at the May 3rd Mayday Festivities and Dance

Becky's Calendar (copies given out) well filled through May '97.

The Community Dances so far have been good; formerly discouraged people report new enthusiasm. A nice mix of experienced and novice dancers; comfortable low key atmosphere, not crowded.

Discussion on Northwest Morris Team becoming part of SMAD thereby getting tax-free status and the ability to apply for grants. They can also get donations from businesses who will then benefit from a tax write-off.

They plan further money raising: yardsale, T shirts, postcards.

Generally agreed that such an alliance would be good for SMAD - an added folk tradition makes more of a multi-reach organization.

A final decision on this at next January meeting.

Must check on the category of non-profit organization we're in to see if addition of NW Morris would put us in a higher one.

Finances SMAD in good shape - as result of continued heavy dance attendance. In the year to date July 26 - Dec. 1 '96 gross from regular dances up 16% . If added the special dances it's up even more.

Sign up for Waltz Weekend at 32 - ahead of last year at this time.

General comments from Mike

- - Encourage improvement in consideration and good etiquette at the dances , which includes listening to the caller.

- - Keep regular scheduled events without adding too many extra things.