LHSGB&OPC General Meeting – 9/12/23
Board Members in attendance : Allen Frank, Bill Lennox, Tina Martucci, Jacqui Fortsch, Cory Dailey, Jeanette Dennis, and Joyce James (zoom)
Reminder for those on Zoom…Questions can be thrown into the chat at any time. Reminder to speakers…Repeat questions from zoom and band room prior to answering so that everyone can hear.
Tina opened the meeting welcoming everyone present and on zoom. She asked for approval of last month’s minutes.
Motion to approve: Sue Testa. Second: Tom Snyder
Cory thanked the parent volunteers who have helped out so far this year and mentioned how nice it was to see new faces join in. There are many opportunities to help out and all help is greatly appreciated.
Upcoming band general fund fundraisers:
Bingo is being moved to the 5th of November
11/5 – 11/11 Jewelry from Kendra Scott at the Lehigh Valley Mall. We will receive 20% and they are specializing some colors for us.
Dine to donate –
10/12 Buffalo Wild Wings Easton
11/19 Mod Pizza Airport Road
12/7 PJ Welihan’s
Jan 2024 Flying Pig – Date to be announced later
Jacqui discussed the Charms system informing everyone that Charms can be utilized for fundraiser announcements, fair share payments, accounting of all funds for students as well as another means of communication with parents. Instructions for accessing Charms were put into the chat. If anyone had a Charms account before, an E-mail link was sent to the parent E-mail address on file. For new accounts, an E-mail was sent to the student’s BASD account. This is only good for 24 hours. If beyond 24 hours, E-mail Jacqui for a reset. If families have more than one student, let Jacqui know because the students’ accounts can be linked.
Questions were asked about Charms:
Balance in accounts can be used to pay fair share. After sign in on main screen, request to transfer funds and an E-mail will automatically be sent to Jacqui.
Credit cards can be used. Charms was bought out by another company. Currently the credit card function still works. There is a fee involved (3.5%?).
Charms login info is on the LHSGBOPC website.
Jacqui will resend e-mails to student accounts if needed.
Mr. Frank will screenshot if needed to show step by step.
Anyone having issues, send a screenshot to Jacqui, be patient and give her a chance to research and respond.
Current and upcoming individual fundraisers:
Maddie’s Strudel – orders due 9/24
Flowers are 3 times a year
Mums (fall)
Poinsettias – need a coordinator for that as Cory is unable to do delivery
Hanging baskets (spring)
Jeanette presented the Treasurer’s Report. There were issues with carwash purchases. The ordered hoses didn’t get delivered in time, so we purchased from the store directly. There will be a credit on the Treasurer’s report in September. We were not billed twice for the same thing.
Motion to approve Treasurer’s report: Sue Testa Second: Joe Testa
Mr. Frank reminded everyone that open house is tomorrow at Liberty.
We lost a rehearsal with the power outage today. So we are going into Saturday’s game with one rehearsal. We are the visiting team against BeCa. We will not perform our standard pregame. We may do our halftime show in the pregame slot in order to extend the courtesy to BeCa for their halftime show. We will send communication through the band app once confirmed. If so, step off will be 6:45.
Snow day information – When there is a snow day, the district gets off the standard 6-day cycle. Mr. Frank and Mr. Lennox will keep students informed of which day of the cycle we are on. When there is a snow day or a delayed opening, there is no 7am rehearsal.
All events currently scheduled for the band are on the calendar. For the orchestra, the calendar is not yet up to date.
Pep band gigs are popping up all the time. They are often last minute and may not make it to the performance calendar online. The first pep band is the “Pink Out” with volleyball on Wednesday at 6:30. Students are encouraged to participate whenever possible. Street clothes are worn and not uniforms. It’s fun to do, shows school spirit, is a great opportunity to play more often, the more the merrier.
The band is growing!! Since the beginning of the year we have had 3-4 new members join. We also have a need for instruments. The BASD is seeing there are needs and is really great about helping out and maintaining a sense of camaraderie. Having more kids than instruments is a great problem to have. All of the middle schools have been donating their extra instruments for our use. We have even borrowed from Freedom High School. We are still in need of piccolos.
Parade time is fast approaching. We kick it off with the Celtic Classic parade on the 23rd. Step off will be at 11:30. After that we will have the Hellertown and Bethlehem Halloween parades at the end of October. We do not throw candy at the parades and while we do not have parents walking directly behind the band, they walk on the sidewalks near the band to help with any issues that arise. A few other things to note about the parades…
The Hellertown parade ends on a hill. Make sure students eat breakfast on the 23rd for the Celtic Classic parade. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Get out and keep moving to get used to the constant movement of parade marching. Some years the weather cooperates and it’s beautiful parade weather. Other times, it’s still hot. We will be notified by the city of any weather cancellations.
Security concerns still exist for drop offs. The doors do not open until 6:40. Please don’t drop off until after that point. And please don’t drop off in the athletic or teachers’ lot. Too many cars. Drop off points are Grenadier Blvd or in front off the school, but not in the bus channel.
Mr. Frank then introduced Mr. Kenn Miller who has been taking some wonderful photos of the band kids in action, as a whole band, and close ups. He has been posting them online for everyone to view. Thank you Kenn.
Christmas City studios will be rescheduled for a time during first block for the whole band photo and certain sectionals. In prior years individual photos have been taken, but there is not enough time this year.
Mr. Frank will have seniors report a little early for the game the weekend so Cory can take their photos for the posters we hang at the Liberty/Freedom game.
Mr. Lennox wrapped up the meeting by mentioning some extra stuff that happens at the end of the day. There are scale rehearsals Tuesdays and Thursdays. This is mostly necessary in order to participate in PMEA. If your child has plans to try out for PMEA, they should have already been practicing scales. These after school practices are to enhance that. There will also be low brass sectionals and percussion sectionals after school. First company is leading sectionals on the fly.
To stay informed, check the website, subscribe to the calendar, join the band app.
Motion to adjourn: Marilyn Kelly-Cavotta Second: Tracy Luisser