Welcome to the first general meeting of the LSHGB&OPC.
Tina Martucci is back for her third year as board president. Other board members at the meeting were Jacqui Forsch, Cory Dailey, Joyce James as well as Mr. Frank and Mr. Lennox.
The minutes from the May general meeting and the June budget meeting were presented for review. Tina asked for the group in the room review and move to accept since the file was not able to be loaded to the website. It was attached for those on the zoom call. Even though it said April, it was the May meeting minutes. A motion to accept the May minutes was made by Tracy Lucier and seconded by Paolo Mentes. A motion to accept the June minutes was made by Paolo Mentes and seconded by Sue Testa.
The first fundraiser happening his week only, we have Rita’s coupons. Bring a coupon to the Rita’s on Stefko Blvd and we will receive 15%.
Cory spoke on the need for volunteers and the many ways to do so. She has created a Google form to fill in or there are sign up sheets at the meeting tonight. All volunteers need to have their clearances on file at the main office as well as a copy given to Mr. Lennox. Bus volunteers will be tough to get this year because we have fewer away games where a bus ride is required. Preference will be given to senior parents. Volunteers are needed for the “Roadies” crew. We could use a lot of roadies since two of our away games are still in BASD stadium. We also need equipment people for loading / unloading at away games. Details of the volunteer positions are on the clipboards and the website. Cory is also able to answer volunteer questions.
Jacqui our student accounts VP introduced the Charms system for record keeping. We still need to close out last year’s books before we can load the new school year information. Jacqui needs to have an end of year meeting with the Charms people but is hopeful to have everything up and running by next meeting. Karen asked if returning students will need to re-register in Charms. Jacqui stated that it shouldn’t be necessary to do that (maybe just reset the password). Jacqui then explained that once Charms is set up for this year, she will send out detailed instructions. Any questions on Charms should be directed to her for now.
Jacqui also talked about fundraising. In addition to Rita’s, our fall mums fundraiser has kicked off today. All fundraisers currently running will be found on the band website. Jacqui explained how to place orders. If there are fundraising questions, you can E-mail Jacqui or ask any board member. Jen Roan was introduced as our contact for WaWa cards and grocery coupons and Nicole Lockhart was introduced as our contact for Gertrude Hawk. Tina reminded everyone that you don’t need to wait until Charms is set up in order to fundraise. We are always looking for new fundraising ideas. If you have an idea or want to chair a fundraiser, let us know. We are here to help.
In Jeanette’s absence, Tina presented the Treasurer’s report and explained that Jeanette has been working diligently to make it streamlined and more transparent regarding expenditures / additions.
Our car wash was quite successful considering there were several around town that same day. And even though it was windy, we did about $1,111 from the car wash and $180 from the bake sale.
A question was asked about student account refund delays and was told that there were no longer any delayed for pick up.
Sue Testa made the motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report. Second was made by Christine D’Annibale.
Mr. Frank thanked everyone for coming out on a Monday. He explained that in order to try and get more parents to be able to attend meetings, we are going to stagger them and alternate days. A zoom link will also be provided. A listing of meeting dates will be forthcoming as soon as the dates are set.
At the beginning of the school year, it’s so easy to be overwhelmed with information. The band app is the main source of communication. It is relied on heavily. Comments are disconnected, but it is still the easiest way to reach out to everyone.
A weekly bulletin will be sent each Sunday. It will contain the upcoming calendar as well as key points for the week. Mr. Lennox has been updating the calendar and it is current. Any changes will be included in the weekly bulletins and posted through the band app.
If you need to reach out to the directors, you can do so through the band app or through an e-mail. But please reach out to both so everyone is on the same page.
The football schedule for this year is really different from other years. Main differences to note are two Thursday night games as well as more Saturday games. The August 31 game is now against East Stroudsburg North. It’s also important to note that the week 9 game against Whitehall will begin at 6:00 instead of the usual 7:00. The schedule changes things up, but with the Aug 31 game being on Thursday, it sets up for a nice holiday weekend.
Tomorrow is the last full day rehearsal of camp. On Wednesday and Thursday, they will be from 6-8:30 pm. The exhaustion is real. This one’s been the toughest year for all members to be here. We have many students involved in sports which is wonderful, but coordinating practice to be fair to all is difficult.
Once school starts we will have no rehearsals after school. August 30 is our first 7:00 am practice and we will do that through football season. Every other day is a band day so we rehearse from 7-9. Off band days we still have early morning at 7:00. Once football is done, we begin concert rehearsals and at that point early morning will be used for sectionals.
Please don’t park in the teachers’ lot. Please be respectful of traffic and flow and drop off on Grenadier Boulevard.
Pipes and drums are a bit of a separate entity from the band of as well as First Company. They have their own gigs to play at separate times from the band but as representation for the full band. Pipes and drums will play at convocation Wednesday morning. They will also play along with First Company on the first day of school to welcome the freshman and at Thomas Jefferson to welcome them back to school as well. School for upperclassman begins at 10:30 on the 28th.
Uniform Distribution was delayed. Pipes were fitted this morning, hems are being done, but, everyone will be dressed and ready to go by Friday. Picture day still need to scheduled. We have new bearskins ordered and they are in transit, new pipe uniforms and other supplies from England that we are waiting for.
Please do not wait until game days for uniform repairs. As soon as you notice that somthing is wrong, please bring it to be fixed. Last minute stuff happens but the more that can be done ahead of time the better.
For sports and band, we try to work with the coaches to allow participation in both activities. A basic rule of thumb is that performances trump practice and games trump rehearsals. If your child plays a JV sport on a band game day, they should be at band because band is a Varsity activity. If your child plays a Varsity sport, try to do both if possible. There are parents willing to drive tea members from one activity to the other. We play half time at away games. We play pregame and half time at home games. As long as you are here for the performance and ready to go, you can march.
There is no trip planned for this year since we just went to Norfolk in April. We may take some students to New York, but that hasn’t been determined yet. There is no magic formula for trips. We plan to do what we can tripwise in ways that work within the program. We are trying to make them music dept wide trips.
Plan ahead for fundraising. Senior fundraising money can be donated to other students or to the general fund.
Fair share this year is $170 for band and band/orchestra. And $85 for just orchestra. It is due by Oct 1 and you do not need to be set up in Charms to pay fair share. Jeanette will keep track of payments and will update in Charms.
Mr. Lennox is maintaining all of the technology used in communication for band. The calendar is updated on the LHSGBOPC.org website. It is the same calendar as on the band app. The band can be followed as well on Facebook and Instagram. Not on Twitter/X so much anymore. He is hoping to hand off website updates to the students to do. If you want to use your phone to access the calendar and get the updates, you can go to LHSGBOPC.org,click on calendar and then click on subscribe.
If your student received a liability waiver for a school instrument (mostly woodwinds), please fill it in and return it. If there are simple issues with instruments, please see Mr Lennox to address. More involved repairs can be taken to and addressed by Nazareth Music Center. As tempting and as easily as it seems, please don’t buy instruments from Amazon. Facebook Marketplace is a good source for instruments. We currently have a shortage of instruments – no alto saxes, but we have tubas.
Tuesday, August 29 will be an orchestra day and school issued instruments will be distributed that morning.
Tina elaborated on the benefits of fundraising. If parents are willing to put in the effort, trips and fair share can all be taken care of through the fundraising opportunities we have throughout the year.
Charms has not yet been updated for fair share. Jacqui mentioned that once the meeting with Charms is held, we will move to the new year. She also mentioned that Charms has been bought by another company, but currently what we use Charms for doesn’t seem to be affected. Jacqui will give a Charms status update at the next meeting.
Clarification to Rita’s fundraiser. You need one coupon per visit/payment, not per person. So if a family of 5 goes, we get 15% of the total bill.
Football game protocol was discussed with the students. No jewelry or nail polish is to be worn with the uniforms. Students will get a break during 3rd qtr to visit the snack stand so they should bring money along if they are planning to get food. At home games, we have a stand with hot dogs, pretzels, snacks and drinks available for purchase by the band kids only. It is not available to the public. This cuts down on the amout of time the students need to stand in line during 3rd qtr.
Report time Friday is 4:15. We should be back around 9:30-10:00.
A reminder to please sign the clip boards to volunteer and for attendance at tonight’s meeting.
Move to adjourn the meeting was made by Julie Bailey and seconded by Annalisa Kelly-Cavotta.