Patuxent High School Band Boosters

Regular Monthly Meeting Minutes

February 4, 2013

The regular monthly meeting of the PHS Band Boosters was called to order by Andy Ritenour, Band Director, at 7:00 PM on Monday February 4, 2013, in the PHS band room. Andy Ritenour, Sandy Brady (President), Rich Henrichsen (Vice President), Anne Hobbs (Treasurer), and Barb Pudlo (Secretary) were present. 

Additional Members Present:  Mary Baugher, Chantelle & Chris Kern, JoAnne Henrichsen, Alicia and Libby Berti, Colleen DeVires, Anne Rickwood.

Handouts:  Five Guys fundraising flyer fundraisers.

Topics Discussed

Restaurant Fundraisers -  Next fundraiser is to be held at Five Guys in St. Marys on Monday, February 11th between 5-9 pm.  The band will receive 20% profit of all purchases made with the flyer.  It is prohibited to hand out flyers inside the restaurant or in the parking lot.  For additional flyers, an email will be sent with the flyer attachment.  Planned for April is Panera Bread who offers a return based on a tiered percentage of total sales.  Moes is no longer a possibility as they offered no return profit while Ledos' drawback is we cannot linger in the restaurant to socialize.  Other future possibilities include Chick-fil-A and Happys Diner.

Marching Band Leadership Applications -  Andy announced he will have applications available within the week and all students interested in being sectional leads or drum major should apply.

Mulch - Chantelle shared details of the amended mulch flyer:  2 cu ft bags at $4 each, free delivery with 20 bag minimum within PHS zoning,  3 ordering options (by dedicated email address, thru band student, or calling band office), March 15 order deadline, payment required at time of order, pick-up on March 23, 8am - 1:00pm.  There will be one completed form per order.  For phone orders, a check should be mailed in.  Sandy mentioned that we finished earlier than 1:00pm  last year and suggested an end time of noon.    The flyer was approved and will be sent home with students on 2-5-13. 

It was suggested that the flyers go out in the Tuesday elementary folders at Dowell, Appeal, and Patuxent.  Andy will store additional flyers on wall in band room and a digital flyer attachment will be emailed.  Sandy mentioned we need to locate the wooden signs and put them up at the roundabout, Faststop and other approved locations.

Andy is also investigating a means of using credit cards for same day sales as we ordered a surplus of 1,000 bags.  Possibly, the credit card option can be used for students paying band dues. Chantelle plans to create a database to track order info including purchaser names, addresses and emails.  In future sales, the emails can be easily used to contact prior purchasers.  Also discussed is a March 5th date for the phone-a-thon where prior purchasers are contacted. 

Items to-do include creating a facebook event for the sale, getting commitments for truck volunteers to deliver mulch, and arranging for a forklift.  United Rental will be contacted as there have been mechanical problems with the forklift in the past from the Solomon rental company.  Also, Chris will confirm who is responsible for operating the forklift to unload the supply trucks.

Car Show -  Chris and Chantelle emphasized that we will need at least 20 adult volunteers to handle registration, parking, food, adult oversight, floaters, misc on show day.  They questioned whether we could get this support and did not want to proceed unless the boosters could provide the volunteers.  It was decided we could secure the volunteers (possibly with help from the incoming 8th grade parents) and planning will continue.  Andy submitted a show logo and a name, "Tune It Up".  Chris plans to contact car dealerships but requires additional help in contacting banks, auto supply shops, restaurants, etc.

Marching Band Kickoff -  Andy's intentions are to have a parents night (possibly April 18th) to distribute marching band packets with all required forms including t-shirt orders.  This night would provide an introduction to the band staff, preview the show, allow for booster recruitment, and answer any questions. 

Mary brought up a issue that not all students are notified regarding color guard opportunities as some of the interested students aren't always part of the band program where the information is usually channeled.  Possibilities offered to reach more students were to broadcast opportunities on the school morning TV announcements (needs prior approval), to have a presence at the middle school during High School registration (held in March or April), and to have a band information table at PHS Registration night this  February 12 at 6:30.

Also discussed was creating an opportunity for students to try marching band and color guard on a trial basis without committing.  The schedule and program can be overwhelming and daunting causing some students to avoid it altogether.  By opening the summer mini-camps to this trial, more students may be recruited in the future.  A commitment would be required by band camp.

Sandy suggested holding a interim meeting to support the nearing fundraisers.

Next booster meeting set for March 4th.

Meeting adjourned at 8:12 p.m.

 s/ Barb Pudlo, Secretary