November, 2014

NORTHWEST CHORAL SOCIETY

MEETING MINUTES

November 11, 2014

CALL TO ORDER:

The November 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 President Penny Perles.  The following board members were present:

Meredith Bechtel                   Mary Jane Matecki

Greykell Dutton                    Penny Perles

Kelsey Green                       John Schindler

David Hitch                          Diane Szuberla

Noreen LaValle                    Ruta Veitmanis
                         
Also present: Alan Wellman, Artistic Director.


MEETING  MINUTES:
The meeting minutes of the October 14 board meeting were reviewed and two corrections were needed: 
◦  Under Facebook, the sentence should read: “Kelsey will publicize that we sang at Northwestern Memorial Hospital on our Facebook page.”

◦  The meeting minutes should be signed: “Mary Jane Matecki, Corresponding Secretary.”

Meredith Bechtel made a motion to accept the corrected minutes.  The motion was seconded by Mary Jane Matecki.  The motion passed.
The meeting minutes of the October 28 informal board meeting were reviewed and one correction was needed: Rodney Holmes’ last name will be inserted in the heading and under ‘Also present’.
Noreen LaValle made a motion to accept the corrected minutes.  The motion was seconded by David Hitch.  The motion passed.

TREASURER’S  REPORT:

  • Noreen LaValle presented the treasurer’s report for September.  Cash disbursements totaled $3,004.00.  Cash receipts totaled $4,562.66.  The money from the J. Melcher Memorial Fund, $2,997.00, was transferred to our checking account and the Memorial Fund account was closed.  (A part of that money had already been designated for the purchase of our keyboard and stand.)  Our regular account balance now was $4,911.58.  Including petty cash, our final total was $4,946.58.  
  • Noreen also presented the treasurer’s report for October.  Cash disbursements totaled $1,122.00.  Cash receipts totaled $4,111.20.  Our regular account balance was $7,900.78.  Including petty cash, our final total was $7,935.78.  
  • Mary Jane made a motion to accept the September and October treasurer’s reports.  Kelsey Green seconded the motion.  The motion passed.

CORRESPONDING  SECRETARY:

The corresponding secretary and her helpers will send thank you letters to our donors.  Board members will send thank you letters to chorus members for their donations.

ARTISTIC  DIRECTOR:

Alan Wellman has sent out all the music to the musician accompanying us in our December concert.

PROMOTIONS:

  • Diane Szuberla has received four ticket orders for the December concert.  Free tickets have been sent to WFMT.  Alan will look into selling tickets on Goldstar.
  • We have received $4,118.00 in donations this fall.  This includes 31 chorus members who have donated $2,982.00.  We still need donations from about 20 more chorus members to make this members’ giving 100%.

ADVERTISING  COMMITTEE:

Kelsey reported that we have received $1,275.00 in advertisement ads for our program books.  Several advertisers have asked to be billed for their ads.  Noreen will look into a form we can use for billing.

DEVELOPMENT  COMMITTEE:

  • David reported that Glenview State Bank donated $250.00 with a promise to donate more in the future.  He gave them two gift tickets.
  • Penny Perles suggested that we approach the Daily Herald as a possible corporate donor.

PUBLICITY:

  • Penny has prepared the press release for the December concert.
  • Mary Jane’s husband has prepared an ad for St. Raymond’s church bulletin.

FACEBOOK:

Kelsey will start publicizing our December concert as soon as she receives the graphic for it.

GRAPHIC  DESIGN:

  • Our program books are being prepared.  We will pay the printer an extra $75.00 to have our donor envelopes attached inside the program books.
  • Jerry Borek sent a possible graphic for our Annelies concert.  The board suggested two changes:

The name Annelies should be horizontal, not slanted.

Since most people may not recognize this as Anne Frank’s given name, a phrase should be added, such as: “The first musical setting of the Diary of Anne Frank”.

50th  ANNIVERSARY  COMMITTEE:
The committee has suggested a silent auction or raffle at our anniversary dinner.  They will meet again in January.

2016  CONCERT  TRIP:
Penny is still gathering more quotes for our trip.  Based on our survey of chorus members, the three proposed tours are: 

  • British Isles
  • Austria and Germany
  • Austria, Germany and Prague

OLD  BUSINESS:

We are considering using Kickstarter.com to raise funds for our chorus.  Since it can take months to get a project going, we will aim to raise funds for our 2016 concert trip.  Greykell Dutton and Kelsey are most familiar with this website.

  • We have been accepted for the CSO Welcome Yule Pre-concert and Intermission Singing
    Sunday, December 21, in Granger Hall at the Symphony Center.  We begin singing at 2:15 before the 3:00 concert and them again during intermission.  Our arrival time is 1:45.
  • We have two extra concert dresses for new members who did not continue with us (sizes 8 and 3X).  We will keep the dresses for possible future use.  One of the women has indicated that she may be back.

NEW  BUSINESS:

  • Our Christmas party will be December 9th, 6:30 PM, at Andrew’s Open Pit & Spirits, 2610 Dempster, Park Ridge (near Dempster and Potter).  For $20.00, including tip, we can get a combo chicken and ribs dinner with soup, salad, potato, vegetable, dessert, coffee, tea and soft drinks.  With 25-35 people, we can have a semi-private room.
  • Because our Saturday rehearsal will be long and will be followed by a rehearsal for the LGH outreach concert, a lunch will be needed.  The board will provide wrap sandwiches and salad greens from Costco and then ask chorus members to contribute the rest of the food.
  • A raffle was proposed after the Annelies concert, but board members did not think this was appropriate for that concert.
  • We will begin recording for our CD with the Gargoyle Brass on our concert day, December 6th.  Chorus members must arrive at 4:00 PM in concert dress. 

NEXT MEETING:
Our next Board Meeting will be Tuesday, January 13, 2015, 6:30 PM, before rehearsal at St. Martin’s. 

ADJOURNMENT:
The Board Meeting was adjourned at 7:24 PM by a motion from Noreen and a second from Mary Jane.  The motion passed.

Ruta Veitmanis 
Recording Secretary
Northwest Choral Society