NORTHWEST CHORAL SOCIETY
MEETING MINUTES
May 14, 2013
CALL TO ORDER:
The May 14 Board Meeting of the Northwest Choral Society was held at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 1095 Dempster/Thacker, Des Plaines, IL. The meeting was called to order at 6:35 PM by NWCS board vice-president Mary Jane Matecki. The following board members were present:
David Hitch John Schindler
Noreen LaValle Diane Szuberla
David Martin Ruta Veitmanis
Mary Jane Matecki
Also present: Alan Wellman, Artistic Director, and Greykell Dutton, chorus member.
MEETING MINUTES:
The meeting minutes of the April 9 board meeting were reviewed and no corrections were needed. David Hitch made a motion to accept the minutes. The motion was seconded by Diane Szuberla. The motion passed.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
Noreen presented the treasurer’s report for April. Cash disbursements totaled $4,710.01. Cash receipts totaled $4,277.60. Our regular account balance was $14,562.02. Including the J. Melcher Memorial Fund and petty cash, our final total was $17,634.02. Ruta Veitmanis made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report. David Hitch seconded the motion. The motion passed.
David Martin suggested that under disbursements we change the word ‘rent’ to ‘facilities’. The board members agreed.
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR:
Alan Wellman announced that everything is set for the June concert. On the day of the concert we can get into the concert hall at the Schaumburg Prairie Center at 2:30 PM. The Saturday rehearsal will be here at St. Martin’s with the band that will accompany us. The band consists of 5 musicians at a total cost of $800.00. We will probably not record the concert since there may be copyright issues.
PROMOTIONS:
Diane Szuberla stated that the tickets, postcards and posters for the June concert are ready. Geoffrey Green is still working on the Early Bird postcards for next season.
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE:
David Martin announced that we have a new tenor, Richard Blake. We also need to add several new members to our program book.
PUBLICITY:
The press release for the June concert has gone out.
Mary Jane will send our information to TribLocal.
Alan will release tickets to Goldstar to sell.
WFMT has already given out our tickets to contest winners. Diane has their names.
SUNSHINE COMMITTEE:
Chorus member Jeff Rayner is recovering from open heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. He is doing well. Chris Stukel will get an appropriate card for us to sign and send to him.
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL CHOIR TOUR:
23 people have signed up for the trip: 6 sopranos, 8 altos, 4 tenors, 2 basses, Alan, Lori Mackie and David Hitch’s wife.
We will be singing at the Cathedral of Saint Paul on Sunday at 5:00 PM, the last day of our trip.
Group Travel Planners will not start planning the trip until late August so there is still time for additional members to sign up.
OLD BUSINESS:
The Nominating Committee reported that the following board member’s terms are expiring this month: Noreen LaValle and John Schindler (both will run for reelection) and Geoff Green (we still need to ask him if he will run for reelection). David Martin will not be returning to the board to finish his full term.
Greykell Dutton has agreed to run for election to the board.
NEW BUSINESS:
The Annual Meeting of the Whole and Election of Board Members Meeting will be held May 28th. Board members will present short reports on our budget, ticket sales, membership and the Annual Support Fund. Alan will also give a report.
Chris Stukel has made three proposals for our post-concert season party: a concert/picnic at Ravinia or at Lake Opeka in Des Plaines or our usual dinner at an area restaurant. At Alan’s suggestion, we will leave the decision as to where to have our party to Chris.
The Des Plaines Summer Fling is July 19-21. David Hitch will arrange a booth for us and organize chorus members to work it. Alan emphasized that working at the booth is an opportunity to involve non-board members, especially those who have not been able to support us financially, or by ticket sales, etc. John Schindler made a motion to authorize David Hitch to rent the booth. Diane seconded the motion. The motion passed.
We will give a $5.00 gift certificate to our donors who attend the June concert. It will be redeemable at either that day’s bake sale or our December bake sale. Greykell will make the certificates.
NEXT MEETING:
Our next Board Meeting will be Saturday, June 1st, immediately after our rehearsal at St. Martin’s.
JULY MEETING:
The July meeting will be an all-day retreat, Saturday, July 20, time and place TBA. The main purpose of this meeting is to implement a governing Board of Directors of non-chorus members and restructure the working committees under it. The Board of Directors would be community leaders/members who must be passionate about choral music, support our Mission Statement and can write a check for major expenses or as needed. They would provide us with financial stability, set policy and review our work and our handbook. Alan asked members to start looking for such community leaders and bring them to the July meeting.
AUGUST MEETING:
The August meeting will be the 13th at Mary Jane’s home.
ADJOURNMENT:
The Board Meeting was adjourned at 7:20 PM by a motion from Noreen and a second from Mary Jane. The motion passed.
Ruta Veitmanis
Recording Secretary
Northwest Choral Society