Berks County Parrot Head Club Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Third & Spruce

Phounding Phather and President “Denny Lorah” welcomed all members to the meeting.  Name tags and sign in sheets were available at the front. Denny reminded everyone to sign in.

The president asked if everyone received the minutes; everyone did. The president asked for a motion to approve the minutes. Gary Kraft made the motion, Bob Rhode seconded it, and a vote was taken to approve the minutes.

Denny asked if everyone was receiving email; everyone was, but he reminded the group to contact Brandy Lorah or Shawn Guevin (links on www.berkscountyphc.org) if they’re not receiving email communication from the club.

The Treasurer’s report was given by Tim Kraft. Tim mentioned that the account balances are higher than expected. Denny reminded us that we’d raised $13,000 for Safe Haven at last winter’s Cabin Fever Festival. Unfortunately, the program didn’t receive funding this year, so it won’t continue. Lisa Siciliano, who ran Safe Haven, worked tremendously hard to make the event successful, selling many, many tickets on her own. She was just as aggressive in working to get the donation money back to the Club, once she realized that Safe Haven wouldn’t be able to use it. Denny is going to meet with Lisa, to get her suggestions on how best to use the money to help another Berks County charity. He spoke at length about what a great lady Lisa is, and how much we all enjoyed working with her.

A motion was made by Scott Kauffman to accept the Treasurer's report and a second was made by Kathey Cahill. A vote was taken and the report was approved. 

OLD BUSINESS:

• Website Update –Denny asked who had taken a look at the site recently. Everyone agreed it looks amazing!
• Cookbooks – still on sale.
• Summer Parrot Daze – next year will be July 17^th. Booked with Jimmy & the Parrots.
• Parade update –
  • Temple -- Oct. 3rd -  won first prize!!
  • Mohnton - Oct. 10th - 7:00 pm
  • Boyertown - Oct. 24th - 7:00 pm; raindate, Oct. 25th - 2:00 pm
  • Hamburg - Oct. 31st - 7:00 pm; line-up begins at 5:00 pm,  (must be in town by 4:00 pm)
• The next general meeting will be Tuesday November 17th, 2009 at 7 PM at Third & Spruce. This is because most of the committee heads will be in Key West for MOTM during the first part of November.
• Caribbean Christmas – there was a sign up sheet for those who want to reserve the special $30 Club tickets for the show. Denny is planning to have 100 tickets set aside for club members.

NEW BUSINESS:

·         Jo Painter from WEEU will be at Tina’s Salon on Nov 12 from 3-5pm to promote the Caribbean Christmas show.

·         MOTM –See Brian Gentry or Kris Johnson for details on activities during MOTM.

·         Parade report – Marilyn said they get lots of questions from the crowd, so they have a great new postcard-sized handout for use during the parades.

PARROT SCOOP:

• In July, Rita Wise became mom to her fourth child. She adopted daughter Katelyn (2 years old) from China. Congratulations!
• Birthdays:
  • October 5 – Hops Lorah (83 years old)
  • October 15 – Ryan Rhode (30!)
• Anniversaries:
  • October 17 – Bob & Diane Rhode
  • October 20 – Scott & Cindy Kauffman (36 years!)
  • October  4 – Tim & Mandy Kraft (1 year!)
• Rick Cataldi shared upcoming dates for the Side Street Band. They’ll be at Seacrets in Ocean City, MD on October 14^th, at Riverside Beneficial on October 17^th, and at Central Fire Company on October 24^th, December 12^th, and December 31^st. Visit them online at www.sidestreetband.com.
• Denny thanked Wine Down, the great wine bar on Penn Ave in West Reading for the donation for the Christmas show.
• Eileen asked Halloween trivia questions and gave fun Halloween prizes!

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Remember, all of the committee heads (and board members) can be contacted via the website.

Newsletter Committee Meeting Minutes

Chairperson: Duane Cahill

·         Duane asked if everyone received the latest newsletter. If not, please email berkscountyphc@gmail.com with your current address.

·         Going forward, Newsletter committee meetings will be the third Wednesday of each month; please contact Duane if you’re interested in joining the committee.

·         Next meeting is October 21^st.

·         The next newsletter will be published in November, after MOTM.

·         Duane talked a bit about newsletter costs. The most recent one cost $1500 for layout, printing and mailing. This is money that could definitely be put to better use in the Club, so we’ll be moving to an electronic version of the newsletter going forward.

o   The committee will send a postcard in the next few months. Club members can still choose to receive paper newsletter if they have no way to access the online version, but it would be so great if we could eliminate the printing and mailing costs (and help save trees!).

·         All events, including parade dates and events for next year, are listed on the site, through December 2010!!

·         As always, they are still looking for content for both the site and the newsletter.

·         Duane also talked about Parrot Head of the Week. Anyone who wants to be featured should fill out the questionnaire he sent.

Membership Committee Meeting Minutes

Chairperson:  Shawn Guevin

·         Eileen Davies gave the report for Shawn, since he was stuck at work.

·         The committee is preparing for 2010 renewals, and will create membership cards for MOTM participants who need them.

·         If anyone wants to join the committee, please let Shawn know. We always meet the second Monday of the month at Denny and Tina’s house.

Charity Committee Meeting Minutes

Chairperson:  Gary Kraft

·         The committee has met with Children’s Alopecia and Berks Visiting Nurses, and both are on board and excited for Cabin Fever Festival.

·         Gary mentioned that we need to find a Sponsorship chair in time to get Cabin Fever rolling, so please come forward if you’re interested!!

·         Upcoming charities to support: CrimeAlert at the Caribbean Christmas show on December 5^th and Toys for Tots at the event on December 11^th.

·         During the Caribbean Christmas show, we will recognize charities we’ve supported in the past. Gary is looking to fill in some blanks on contact info for our past charities, so please let him know if you can help.  

·         Contact Gary or a committee member to suggest a charity to be considered for future events. 

Volunteer Committee Meeting Minutes

Chairperson: Scott Kaufmann

• The crowd welcomed Scott to his new position.
• There are sign up sheets for all of our upcoming events.
• Scott reminded the committee heads to turn in attendance sheets from meetings, either in hard copy or via email.
• If anyone wants to join the committee, just let Scott know.

Merchandise Committee Meeting Minutes

Chairperson:  Tina Shenk

·         Parade – Tina talked about how cool it is to be part of our floats during the parades.

·         The committee decorated picture frames last month. They looked amazing!

·         They’ll be shopping for new t-shirts, and may have them ready for MOTM (black, gray, or navy). Contact Tina if you need them sooner!
Tina gave away a piece of merchandise via a raffle, as always.

·         If anyone is interested in joining the committee, just see Tina. The committee always meets the second Monday of each month at Denny & Tina’s.

·         Donations are always accepted!

Events Committee Meeting Minutes

Chairperson:  Jodi Blatt

• Next Happy Hour is October 22 from 7-10pm at the Railroad House, with Havana Budda.
• Thanks to John & Peggy Woodward for the great birthday party on October 4^th at the Third & Spruce!
• Highway clean-up is October 25 – please sign up or email brandylorah@gmail.com for more details.
• December 5^th – Caribbean Christmas show at the Scottish Rite, featuring Nadirah Shakoor and Jimmy & the Parrots. Tickets on sale soon!
• December 11^th – Toys for Tots at the Spruce, must bring a toy (or give a donation) to get in.
• January 31^st – Cabin Fever winter party.
• 2010 dates…May 14 golf outing (maybe Willow Hollow), July 17 Parror Daze, Oct 3 birthday party, Oct 24 highway clean-up, Dec 10 Toys for Tots.

Sponsorship Committee Meeting Minutes

Chairperson:  Sherrie Hallowell has resigned

We need to start looking around the club for a new chair for this committee. We need to get it organized in time for the Cabin Fever Festival in January. Please see Denny or another board member if you’re interested.

Other Info for Good of Club: 

Sponsorship - Denny said if you know anyone who is interested, please encourage him/her to come forward. The club will provide tons of support to the new committee chair – we just need someone who wants to make it work.

The President asked for a motion for the meeting to adjourn. A motion was made by Gary Kraft to adjourn the meeting, with a second by Cheri Guevin; a vote was taken and the meeting was adjourned.