William Penn Music Boosters Meeting Minutes

Thursday, August 20, 2015

6:30 pm WP Auditorium

Opening Barb Waltz (President) welcomed and thanked everyone for coming out. She introduced Dr. Erskine,
Principal of William Penn High School.
Dr. Erskine: He introduced himself to everyone and had us go around the room and say who we were. He is a
big support of the Music Program at William Penn. He wishes he could attend all events at the school, however
he has a wife and two girls that he needs to balance his time with.
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He has secured the money needed to have the auditorium refurbished (lighting, curtins, audio, etc).
He has offered to purchase the Charms software (an on line account program used for the Music
Department which tracks students accounts) license for the current school year. Parents will be able to log
into their childs account to view their balance.
This year, the school district will be supplying food at no cost for any student who stays after school for an
activity. Further details will be provided once school starts.
Doors We have a new security system at the school. All doors within the building will NOT be able to be
propped open (alarms will go off if they are left open). They lock when closed.

Presidents Remarks n/a

Secretarys Report The secretary was not present as he was recovering from a recent surgery. No report was
given.

Treasurers Report Karen read the figures on the balance of the Booster account. A copy of the report is
attached (need to get it from Karen)

Home Show Update Saturday, September 26 (rain date Sunday, September 27). The show begins at 3 pm,
however we will need to start setting up earlier in the day (all day event).
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We have capped our show with 21 bands participating.

Lights have been donated for the event.
Don Waltz is in charge of the food concessions. We will be offering hot dogs, hamburgers, French fries (we
have rented 2 deep fryers), soda, water, gator aid.
The ice cream man who works with TOB will be selling ice cream. We will get a percentage of all his sales
for this event (made out very well with him during our indoor show).
Donations are greatly appreciated.
Wilmington Manor Fire Department will be helping out with traffic flow within the parking lot.
We will need to hire Troopers to cover this event.
Also custodial staff will need to me schedule.

Instructors Report
o Donna Fesmire gave a demonstration of the Charms system.
o Mike Archer
Thanked Dr. Erskine for providing food to the students.
September 12 is a big day it is our Night Football game and will be our first performance. During halftime they will be remembering Mrs. Morris who passed away from Cancer over the summer. The Choir
and symphonic band will be asked to perform.
We want to brand the band so we are looking to purchase a tuba cover and new bass heads for the
drums that display ____________________________ (not sure if it is WP or William Penn or what). The
cost is approximately $1200. Mr. Archer asked if the boosters would pay for these covers and then be

reimbursed by the district since the purchase ordering through the district takes so long and he would
like to have them before our home show.
A motion was made, however due to the fact that we do not currently have enough money in the
account to cover the cost it was declined for the moment.
Dr. Erskine said he would investigate to see if the district could pay for it without having to go
through the long drawn out process of purchase orders. If this is not possible the boosters said
they could transfer money into the account to cover so we receive the covers before our home
show.
A motion was made (Barb) and seconded (Pam and Kelley) to transfer the money if the school
could not purchase in enough time for us to receive the covers by the home show. The money
would immediately be placed back in the money market once it has been reimbursed from the
school district.
The black polo shirts for the Marching Band have been ordered (they were purchased with the money
collected as part of the dues for being in Marching Band).
Mr. Archer is hoping to have a pep band join us in the stands this would be students who are not
part of the marching band but would like to play music in the stands with us at the football games and
pep rallies. He will be talking to the students in the symphonic and concert bands once school starts to
see if there is any interest.

Chair Reports
o Chaperone request for chaperones will go out soon
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Hospitality no update at this time

Fund Raising
The Add Book is currently being sold. All ads must be in by September 3.
The Save Around coupon books will begin being sold the week of August 25 ($20 each) and run through
September ______. For every books sold the student will receive $10 in their account, and for every 5
books sold the student will receive 1 book free. If they choose to sell the free book then $20 will be
added to their account for the free book sold.

Pit and Production

Josue has the transportation forms for the new drivers. They need to be filled out as soon as possible
and returned. We need the two trainers and box truck for this season.
We need 6 props build for the show. This will require the purchase of 24 wheels (approximately $144$150), wood for the box creation (not cost estimate provided at meeting)
A motion was made (Pam) for the boosters to pay for the supplies with the Booster Card and then
be reimbursed by the school district so we could get started on the building. It was seconded
(Kelley) and the motion passed.
The construction of the props will more than likely occur during practice nights out in the shed. A flyer
was made and will be handed out asking for help and information on how to contact Josue for more
information.

Sewing of Flags
Details about flag designs need to be finalized soon.
Material must be ordered
A motion was made (Barb) for the boosters to pay for the supplies with the Booster Card and then
be reimbursed by the school district so we could get started ASAP. It was seconded (Pam) and the
motion passed.
The sewing group will most likely meet on the same nights as practice. The timing and location (within
the school) will be determined later. A flyer will be made up asking for help and distributed to the
students.

Open Questions/Remarks
Q.
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Boosteer Table
Baked Good Donations are greatly appreciated for all home football games. It was extremely well
received last year and we hope to sell again.
Items for the table:
- Knit caps with WP on them (sold well last year and we will purchase more to sell this year)
- Foam Fingers (new this year) will have Colonials and a picture of Billy Penn on them
- Baseball caps checking the cost of the item to see if it is feasible
- Hot Cider went over well last year and we hope to continue with selling this year (we can not sell
anything that football concessions are selling)
Help is always needed at the table. We need new volunteers as Kelley will only be with us one more
year (her daughter is a Junior) and she needs to pass on her wisdom to the next generation.
If you have any additional ideas on what to sell at the booster table please contact Kelley.

What is the possibility of getting a new trailer for the Band to transport their equipment. The current
little trailer is old and will need to be replaced.
Dr. Erskine said he would have to investigate with the Transporation department. Also he stated that the
boosters may have to help pay for the trailer. More discussion on the topic is needed.

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Will the Charms software be available for all organizations?

Unfortunately the Charms program is written for the Music Department. However, he would be willing to
pay for software, if necessary, to other organizations to enable partents to view student accounts.

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Will the Charms program allow me to see my childs account at anytime?

Yes, however, it may take a week or so to have the data added to the program. It is not an automated
system the Treasurer will need to have time to manually update each account after a payment is received.
Also, for fundraising, the details on the updating for fundraising will need to be worked out, not as straight
forward as a deposit to an account as we have to wait until all funds are received and the percentage due
to be added to the students accounts calculated.

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Will there be more fundraisers for this year?

Yes there will be additional fundraising opportunities for students throughout the year. However, for the
outdoor season we are only running the add book and Save Around coupon books.

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Have we ever thought of doing a sub sale or car wash?

Yes, however the lack of volunteers to help does not make it a viable option.

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How many fundraisers are we permitted to do?

2 per group. We are ok since we are Music Boosters we have 2 for each of the activities (Marching Band,
Chorus, Indoor Drum Line, Indoor Color Guard, etc.)

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How can we grow the band?

Mr. Archer said he needs to be more visible to the Middle Schools. We need to get more students to want
to come to William Penn.

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Why dont we do band day?

Because the Middle School Instructors have very limited time with the students, it is hard to ask them to
learn music for one day, they need to focus on their concert music. It has been suggested that if we have a
pep band we can invite students who are interested in playing with us to come on up. We will provide
them with the music so they can practice at home and play with us in the stands.

Closing since it was a very long meeting, Barb thanked everyone again for coming out and participating.
Meeting Adjourned 8:45 pm.