Minutes of April 8, 2025 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
March Minutes were voted and approved as submitted.
Treasurer Report: The budget numbers were updated and distributed via email in advance of the meeting.
Director: All County Jazz Festival is April 26th at Linganore High School. The exact time of performance is still pending. Students provide their own transportation to the event.
Old Business:
Tag Days: Mike proposed doing this on May 9th as the students have a 2-hour early dismissal. Mike will order a few more supplies that are needed and work on email sign up about 2 weeks in advance.
Uniforms: In need of a volunteer to help coordinate the uniform selection/ordering process. John will as Noble’s mom if she is available and willing to help.
Jazz Night: John and Jill Mattingly joined to provide an update. They asked how many advertising posters with the senior’s pictures were ordered previously to be put up around town as the count was not found in the documentation related to jazz night. No one on the call was aware. The Dutrows have given a lot of their time taking pictures and they do accept donations for them or their church. John asked if the Boosters would be willing to provide a donation to them as a Thank you. Offering them a small table at the event was also suggested. The Boosters agreed to a $200 gift card. A sign up will be needed for some additional support. John will send the details to Celeste and she will create the Sign Up Genius link for distribution. Ticketing site is already set up, we just need to determine ticket prices. Last year the prices were $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors. It has been the same price for many years thus it was agreed to increase this year to $18 and $15. The door price will be $20 and $15. Regarding the silent auction, Kary and Mary suggested that folks in our music community likely have connections with local businesses and we should utilize those connections for donations instead of it falling to just one or two individuals. John has the banner and it is scheduled with the Town Hall to be posted on May 2nd.
Awards Banquet: Looking to move the event to Thursday, May 22nd instead of the Friday before Memorial Day Weekend but pending confirmation from the Amvets. Once the date is confirmed, Jon will contact catering. The vendor who provided the awards previously is out of business. Celeste suggested Alladin awards in Funkstown. Jon will contact them and Matt will work on getting out the voting for awards.
Officer Nominations: There was no response from the Facebook post regarding the need for nominations. Mike may be willing to serve as VP again but will need to consider.
New Business:
Budget: Last year’s budget was reviewed and it doesn’t appear that many changes are needed for next year. The Jazz night budget might need to be increased as the pipe and drape cost will be annual. All should review the budget before the next meeting and send any questions via email. $4,000 was budgeted for awards and scholarships. Require two parents who are not senior parents to review. Matt has a few folks in mind.
Marching Band Schedule: Band camp dates are August 3-8th, 11th and 12th. Football game dates are posted as well as the competitions. All County Festival not yet posted. Auditions will be posted soon.
Next Meeting Date: Monday, May 12th
Adjourned 8:35 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Celeste Crouse
Secretary
Minutes of March 11, 2025 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
February Minutes were voted and approved as submitted.
Treasurer Report: There was a miscommunication, and Doug paid an invoice that Matt already paid. Doug contacted them and they submitted the refund on the 5th but Doug doesn’t yet see it in the Truist account. He will continue watching and then contact Truist if it doesn’t show up soon. There was a service fee on the last bank statement for $192. Doug contacted Truist and they indicated Zelle is free for individuals but there is a fee for corporate accounts of 1% for incoming funds. We need to be aware of this for future incoming transactions and consider a different approach. Vanessa is going to be tracking in google sheets what was done previously in CutTime. Vanessa needs a spreadsheet of parent contact information in case she needs to reach out regarding pending items. Matt can provide this to Vanessa
Director: The concert is coming up on Thursday. Band adjudication is March 24th at Oakdale. Permission slips will be forthcoming along with the request for chaperones. We also need to provide lunch for the students as they won’t be back in time for lunch. In the past we have provided pizza. Matt will reach out to Lisa about helping to arrange this as she has done it in the past.
Old Business:
Tag Days: Mailing date is not yet scheduled. We need to consider when this can happen, perhaps during spring break? Matt suggested we need to do this sooner than later. Jon will check with Mike about his availability over spring break and if he has all the materials needed. The preference is to do the mailings one day after school and the secondary plan is during spring break.
Uniforms: No updates as of yet. Jon will check in with Karey and hopefully have more to update next month.
Disney trip: Matt is waiting on the final contract from Mears for all the transportation arrangements in Florida. All the gift cards and park tickets have been received. Rooms and tickets are assigned, and park reservations are made. Matt will add more detail to the itinerary regarding what is expected from students and chaperones. Instruments being transported on the planes will likely need to be checked if they are larger than a clarinet and they should be in a hard case. Southwest does provide two free checked bags. Matt will provide a suggested packing list. No official uniform requirements. Matt will check with the Administration regarding how the use of the swimming pool during the Disney trip should be handled to ensure appropriate chaperone coverage. For any student medication needs Matt will be advised by the health office. Students should bring their student ID, a driver’s license or a passport. Valve oil should be backed in a baggie in the instrument case.
Jazz Night: John Mattingly provided the following update via email. The contract with the MD rental company has been signed and the deposit paid. John Mattingly has been coordinating with Mr. Dutrow for the senior portrait photo shoot. New stand decals have been designed, and he just needs to tell Mountain Postal the exact size and then we will know the cost. They do have a food and beverage manager now along with volunteers to man the food during the show. Table decorations have been ordered and received, and they will submit receipts for reimbursement. The donations request letter for businesses has been drafted and Karey and Mary will start reaching out. Information from last year’s silent auction is not available and would be helpful. Emily Smalt’s mom ran it last year. Jon will provide that contact info for the Mattingly’s to reach out. There was a credit card swiper purchased for last year. MD Rental will be delivering the decorations the Friday night after school, and we will need volunteers to receive and figure out where it can be stored. They will pick up the rentals on Monday. These rental items might need to be stored in a trailer as opposed to a classroom.
New Business:
Award Banquet: Jazz Night date has changed so we need to reconsider date for the awards banquet. Thursday May 22nd or Friday, May 23rd seem to be the best options. Jon will reach out to the American Legion to determine what dates are available. We will plan to do what we did last year with the Legion catering the pasta meal. The event will start at 6 with dinner and the awards to follow.
Officer Nominations: We need to start accepting nominations this month so we can have an election in May with the new officers taking over in June. The floor was opened for nominations. Jon will not be serving as President again as he will not have a student in the program. No nominations for President received. We will revisit this next month as well. A recommendation was made to send out the notice to band parents for any interested in serving. Jon will send that out via Facebook and Matt will send out via email. Mike was nominated for Vice President. Doug was nominated for Treasurer. Celeste was nominated for Secretary. Vanessa was nominated for Financial Secretary.
Budget Schedule: Matt will review first and make comments. It needs to be published for a month prior to being voted on and approved. The budget can be reviewed at the April meeting and then voted on in May.
Database for Communication: Do we want to consider a new mechanism for sending out mass communications? We have the Band app and we have Facebook but not everyone uses these tools. As a volunteer organization, we aren’t able to use Schoology. We can continue considering the best approach.
Next Meeting Date: Tuesday, April 9th
Adjourned 7:45 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Celeste Crouse
Secretary
Minutes of February 10, 2025 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
January Minutes were voted and approved as submitted.
Treasurer Report: The Disney payment for flights was made despite the daily debit card limit of $7500.
Director: Concert band and Jazz band are sounding great. Concerts are scheduled.
Old Business:
Tag Days: Need to determine a different date for the Tag Days envelope stuffing as February 17th won’t work with Mike’s schedule.
Uniforms: Update will be provided at the March meeting.
Disney trip: Airfare is paid. Hotel, tickets and gift card vouchers are remaining. Discussed whether $60 or $75 per day should be provided for food on the gift cards. Suggested $50 for the first day and $75 for each subsequent day. Pending the final itemized cost from the travel agent and then final payment will be due on February 19th. A bus will be provided to take the travelers from the school to the airport and vice versa.
Cut Time: The boosters transitioned out of Cut Time. Matt created a google doc with all of the data from Cut Time before the account was terminated. A glove and shoe order was not previously invoiced but that will be documented in the file. Communication will be handled by Matt via email if there are messages to go out to band families.
New Business:
Jazz Night: John and Jill Mattingly took three separate trips to the school to get all the supplies organized in the band closet. They are starting to look at prices for decorations and considering MD Rentals for the drapes as an option. Currently pending a response. They are also looking at options for centerpieces as some are missing parts. We plan for 30 tables but there are only 24 centerpieces. Considering whether to replace all of them or just the missing parts. The permit was submitted to the Department of Health. Will determine ticket price once all of the costs are finalized. John will contact the town about posting the sign.
Upcoming Meetings: Officer nominations are needed as the vote will take place at the May meeting and then they will take office at the June meeting. Budget will need to be approved by June, consider reviewing in March or April and then voting on the budget in May.
Next Meeting Date: Monday, March 10th
Adjourned 7:30 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Celeste Crouse
Secretary
Minutes of January 13, 2025 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
December Minutes were voted and approved as submitted.
Treasurer Report: We paid the late fee for the 2021 taxes. If the envelope with the postmark is retrieved, we will get a refund. We received an invoice for CutTime. The question to the Board is do we want to renew. The cost is $968 for three years. If we don’t renew CutTime we will need another method to send out blast emails. We can consider doing this through the website server. Since CutTime doesn’t offer the invoicing feature that Charms used to, the cost doesn’t seem worthwhile since we can invoice through Paypal.
Old Business:
Tag Days: Mike was not available to attend the meeting, but Jon reported that another $1600 in checks for Tag Days was received that will be deposited this week. Need to determine a date for the envelope stuffing once Jon hears back from Mike.
Uniforms: Matt shared some information with Karey late last week. She is just starting to investigate what was sent.
Disney trip: Airfare and hotel are locked in and the price is fairly accurate but may change slightly based on food and transportation costs. Cost is $1840 per student for quad occupancy at Pop Century. Some rooms will only have 3 students based on counts. Price includes 4 days in parks, not 3 as originally mentioned. Currently the trip includes a workshop but not a performance. We will need to reapply to perform based on our current count. Students will be provided a daily gift card for food and a breakfast voucher for the last day. Students should be advised to bring additional cash or a credit card. Deposit for airfare is due by Jan 21st and then the balance is due by Feb 9th. Rooms are due to be paid by Feb 24th. Matt will be sending out a commitment form to printed, signed and returned with a check. Students will owe $100 by Jan 21st, $500 by Feb 5th and the balance by Feb 20th. Twenty-two students signed up for the trip as well as 7 chaperones. All money will initially go to the Boosters and then the Boosters will need to pay Jayne, the travel agent. An email will go out tomorrow regarding the upcoming payment due with options to use Venmo, PayPal, Zelle or a check. The Boosters suggested sending lots of reminders to ensure payment deadlines are not missed. Doug will start a spreadsheet to track payments. Matt will send an email to Jayne and include Doug so they are connected for payments.
New Business:
Jazz Night: John and Jill Mattingly will manage Jazz Night this year. They spent about 12 hours going through all previous documentation and removing duplicates and consolidating. Expect to have everything finalized in February. Everything is in progress, just pending a food and beverage coordinator. This year may be a bit more expensive as some items need to be replaced. They are planning to check out the storage room next week and will have more to report by the next meeting. We need to set a price for the tickets but will do that at the next meeting, once the inventory is complete.
Upcoming Dates: All County is January 25th at 4 PM with about 9 total MHS students included across chorus, orchestra and band. The March concert is March 13th. The spring musical is April 4th, 5th and 6th. All County Jazz is April 26th and Jazz Night is May 17th. Graduation is scheduled for May 28th. Marching Band auditions will take place in March/April timeframe.
Next Meeting Date: Monday, February 10th
Adjourned 7:58 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Celeste Crouse
Secretary
Minutes of December 10, 2024 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
November Minutes were voted and approved as submitted.
Director’s Report: Adjudication for the Choir and Christmas in the Valley both went well.
Treasurer Report: Doug shared a financial update over email. Through November 30th, Tag Days raised $8,525. We need to move forward with paying the $2,600 late fee for the taxes. The agent is still trying to get a copy of the envelope which will confirm the postmarked date but in the meantime it was recommended that we move forward with paying the fee.
Old Business:
Tag Days Report: Tag Days was a success with collection of $800 more than last year from the door to door efforts. Mike needs to update the list of students, and their times based off the sign in sheets. The totals for each area were a little less than last year but we covered more areas. The mailings will go out in January or February.
Gator: The gator has been returned and paid. The person who took the payment didn’t inform the main person thus there was some confusion, and they called again about payment. All is cleared up now.
Reimbursement for Drivers: It was decided that we would offer drivers to JMU and Towson mileage reimbursement of $.35 per mile.
Uniforms: They are getting to the point where they need to be replaced as they are getting beyond repair and certain sizes are running low. It is mostly issues with the zippers on the larger sizes. This is the 15th season with those uniforms thus they have lasted beyond expectations. The approximate cost estimate is about 45-50K for 50 uniforms. Karey offered to reach out to the uniform rep and get the process started. Matt will send the contact info to Karey. The process could take 6 months to a year.
Disney trip: Jayne, the travel agent, was not available to attend the meeting. The approximate cost is $2100 per student during spring break for a 5-day trip consisting of 2 travel days and 3 park/workshop days. The cost would cover food, flights, transportation, insurance, workshops and park admissions. Students will have quad occupancy and chaperones double occupancy. The price assumed the Pop Century Resort but Jayne was also going to price the All Star Resorts as a way to potentially lower the cost. We need 42 students +/- 15% in order to go to Disney. A question was raised, if Tag Days funds could be used toward Disney expenses. Matt clarified that reimbursement for Tag Day hours can be used towards the trip cost or other expenses if the students don’t opt to join the trip. We also need to do some additional fundraising to help offset the cost. Jon was going to ask Kylie Ware, if she would help manage one or two fundraisers for Disney. Matt will send out a Google Form to band families tomorrow with a due date of December 20th to determine if we have enough students. A bus or trailer won’t be needed as all instruments will go on the plane.
New Business:
Jazz Night: John and Jill Mattingly will manage Jazz Night this year and we will discuss this further at the January Meeting. There will be a separate committee to support this event.
Next Meeting Date: Monday, January 13th
Adjourned 7:53 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Celeste Crouse
Secretary
Minutes of November 5, 2024 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
October Minutes were voted and approved as submitted.
Director’s Report: No report
Treasurer Report: Doug shared a financial update over email on November 4, 2024 and has no other updates. Jon reported that he has a few checks to deposit and will send Doug an email.
Old Business:
Playoff Schedule: We won’t know until November 18th if we have another home playoff game.
Spring Trip: We are pending the cost estimate from Jayne Bongard who is the travel agent who has helped plan the Disney trip in past years. Karey will be the booster liaison with Jayne. A discount for chaperones will be provided such as free park tickets or reduced room cost. A companion trip cost will also be provided if other family members want to join the students.
Tag Days: This fundraiser which has been going on for over 23 years was explained in detail. It will take place over two weekends in November before Thanksgiving. Students who volunteer for both shifts on Saturday will be provided a free pizza lunch from Dominos. Students earn volunteer credit which helps reduce band costs. The mailing portion of the fundraiser will be sent out in January.
Fundraising updates: A few other potential fundraising ideas were suggested such as setting up outside of Little Red Barn getting a portion of the proceeds, Yankee Candle fundraiser which offers a 40% profit and would be good timing with the holidays. Karey had also previously volunteered to do a paint night. A Ways and Means Committee Chairperson is still needed.
New Business:
Performance Dates in December: The Choir will perform at Christmas in the Valley on December 7th and the concert is December 19th. The jazz band practice and game schedule are in process.
Extended Gator Contract: The contract for the Gator will be extended through the next playoff game and has to be returned by November 18th. If there is another home playoff game, the contract can be extended again.
Trailer tires: One tire was replaced prior to the start of the season. They will need to be looked at again after the season to see if others should be replaced.
Next Meeting Date: Tuesday, December 10th
Adjourned 7:30 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Celeste Crouse
Secretary
Minutes of September 9, 2024 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
August Minutes were voted and approved.
Director’s Report: Introduced Shawn Carey, who is a new Vice Principal at MHS and the designated administrator for the Band. Shawn stated how impressed he was with the band’s performance at the last football game.
Vice President Report: The parents of Andrew Pratt, a freshman band member were able to arrange with Shawn Carey to have a shaved ice truck at the football game as a fundraiser for the Band Boosters. The Boosters take was $220.00. The shaved ice truck will also be back for the next home game as it was a big success. It was suggested that we find a way to provide shaved ice for the marching band, perhaps after a competition or rehearsal.
Old Business:
Sign Up Genius: There are many holes that still need to be filled particularly trailer drivers.
Schedule Changes: There is not a home game on the Friday night before the JMU competition. There was some confusion. There is no band competition on October 19th because of the homecoming dance. We are currently on the wait list for the Linganore competition on October 26th which is the same day as the Halloween parade. They will need to provide us a later slot for after the parade.
Communication Review: Communication is happening through Facebook, the band app, Cut time and email. Ideally communication should be consolidated but that requires getting all parents to use the same platform and not everyone has Facebook or has downloaded the band app.
Financials: The switch over to Cut time is complete. Six emails were received just today from parents regarding incorrect details of balanced owed or vice versa. Emails were also received from parents who no longer have students at MHS. Matt confirmed that no one who graduated would be owed a credit and if they had a balance due it would be considered a wash once graduated. Historically tracking payments has fallen to the Boosters as a responsibility but in recent years Matt has been handling. There is an Asst. Treasurer position in the bylaws. Boosters should consider re-instating this position to assist with payment tracking as Cut Time does not connect to PayPal or Venmo.
Uniform Update: Everything is in except jackets. Uniforms are set for the season. Shirts for families will be ordered. John Mattingly’s wife is handling.
Fundraising Update: We are still pending a Chairperson for the Ways and Means Committee. Any volunteers or suggestions of folks to fill this need?
New Business:
JMU Bus: The charter bus needs to be reserved for this trip. Celeste offered to make calls to the bus companies. Jon McCord to send Celeste the details of companies used in the past and approximate times.
Senior Night Sign Up Genuis: A separate sign up should be sent out for this night. Celeste to check with Kelly about what was done previously.
Next Meeting Date: Due to the Marching Band Festival occurring on the same day as our next regularly scheduled meeting it needs to be moved. All confirmed availability for Monday, October 7th.
Adjourned 8:10 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Celeste Crouse
Secretary
Minutes of June 10, 2024 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
May minutes approved.
Director’s Report: Registration looks to be typical for this time of the year. May be a little smaller than this year’s Marching Band but still hard to gauge. Dance Line is down to five but the other numbers are on par. New show will be revealed in coming days.
President’s Report: Nothing to report.
Secretary Report: Celeste met with Kelly to transition secretary activities.
Treasurer Report: New accounting system Empower had been working well into recently when it failed to pull in all items. David is looking into other options so manual entry isn’t required. New software may be about $15 per year but he will keep looking into options and report back.
Old Business:
Awards Banquet Review- Banquet went well. The food was great, no recommended changes for next year. Celeste to message Brooke Divita and Mike to message Sydney’s dad about responding to the email about where to send scholarship money.
Jazz Night Final numbers- Mary sent an email with the numbers.
FY 2025 Budget review and vote- Budget discussed, voted, and approved with an approximate $1500 overspend estimated. No concern with the budget appearing slightly over as has been that way in past years as well.
New Business:
Lumber for Trailer -Ordering lumber for trailer this week so it will come out of FY 2024 funds and will set date to replace during summer at Kelly’s husband’s garage as he has all the tools.
Gator Lease- John spoke to Gladhill, expect cost to be the same as last year unless we need to extend longer into November.
Sign Up Genius for fall-Celeste to send out band camp sign up in early July and the Marching Band season one in late July. Celeste has last years from Kelly and will send to Jon to qc and then send out via FB. Recommended to use Marching Band secretary email address instead of personal one for Sign Up Genius. Celeste to provide Matt with gmail address for forwarding the secretary email to that account.
Booster meeting in August- will be in person on August 5th at 5 PM after band camp.
Volunteers- Going to need new volunteers specifically for pit and trailer pulling as well as a Ways and Means Chair. Start thinking of who you may know who will be wiling to help.
Adjourned 8:03 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Celeste Crouse
Secretary
Minutes of May 13, 2024 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
April minutes approved
Director’s Report: Thank you to all who helped on Jazz Night, it was very successful. Trip for next year- he’s been in a number of discussions with other local band directors. Our best route is to do a sit-down ensemble, not march in the parade in Disney because they changed requirements. He has a video application to send them, after getting approval from FCPS. This way we don’t have to work with another band. Recommends using Cruise Frederick again because of their connection to our band. Tentative date is the first weekend of Spring Break. Trips are not a part of operating budget, travel agent handles the money. Goes in April, not January because of weather. Marching Band registration is open, dance line and drumline tryout dates are set. Nothing to report on Dance Instructor at this time, but following the FCPS hiring procedures. Will try to get a job description. Will go through All County Jazz photos and send them out, too.
President’s Report: Karey has agreed to sit in on uniform meetings with Matt and the uniform companies. Open to other board members. Waiting on the uniform representatives to contact Matt to set up meetings. Will not be done for Fall 24, goal is Fall 25. Encourage people to attend Wednesday meeting at Board of Ed regarding the cuts to elementary music and staffing cuts.
Secretary Report: Will go to Truist and take myself off the bank account around June 1, the end of my tenure
Treasurer Report: $!,268.92 for Silent Auction at Jazz Knight, other numbers aren’t ready yet. Credit card reader was an excellent purchase, very helpful shutting it down early.
Old Business:
Jazz Night: Big success, almost sold out! Did run short on fruit and dessert, but no one went hungry! I typed up pages of notes today and uploaded to google. Do need more lights at check in. Possibly add an extra table or two. Set up went very smooth, had more parent helpers this year. Clean up went well, too. Will need a new chair and silent auction lead next year
Officer election: All voted in, new board, effective June 1, is:
President- Jon McCord
Vice- Michael Felton
Treasurer- Doug Koster
Secretary- Celeste Crouse
Awards Banquet: Friday, dinner at 6, awards at 6:45, Jon picking the physical awards later this week, they are providing table cloths and all food. Karey will provide center pieces. They set up the tables, clean-up is stacking tables and chairs, sweep and mop floors. Jon will contact to verify what needs to be done, nothing after us this year
Still need for Ways and Means (especially with trip potential) and Pit Committee chairs
New Business
Scholarship: Celeste, Jon, and Matt to review and choose Scholarship recipient. Add to budget and make scholarship 3k and $650 for awards, this was voted approved by the board. Matt will email the applications tomorrow to decide by Friday night
Next year’s budget: not ready to present it tonight, needs to be reviewed by Matt. Will upload it to google for everyone to review, then discuss and vote on it in June
Large trailer: had a flat tire, slit cut into it, it was repaired and cost $100, approved to pay. Recommended that we get a new jack for the trailer, will send to the boosters for approval before purchase
Small trailer: this summer Jon will get the wood and replace the sides with it
Band Camp: Aug 4-13, Aug 12 Parent meeting
Adjourned 8:05 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Kelly C. Betit
Secretary
Minutes of April 8, 2024 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
March minutes approved
The original April minutes were accidentally deleted. These few minutes posted here are from memory.
Director’s report: All of the all-county bands/orchestras/solo events went well. Drum line, dance line, drum major tryouts will be in May. No time in the schedule for a spring trip.
Treasurer Report: Email sent with the updated bank statement
Old Business:
Tag Days: it was agreed upon that students would get $10/hour vor their volunteer time
Band Banquet: Jon still playing phone tag with the caterer. Anyone willing to do centerpieces for the tables? Google sign up form to go out in May
Jazz Night: A lot was discussed, especially about the Silent Auction. Prefer checks and charges to cash for record keeping. A second line will be added for people who arrive with physical tickets to speed things up. There was a discussion on possible set up for Friday night- no real reason not to, but it keeps our schedule conflicts to one day instead of two partials
New Business:
Nominations for the 2024/2025 school year: Jon McCord, President, Michael Felton, Vice President, Doug Koster Treasurer, Celeste Crouse, Secretary. Jon will send out information to seek other nominations, voting will be in May
We will very much need a Ways and Means Committee Chair and a Pit Committee Chair
Budget: some discussion on the next budget was had as well, needs to be approved in June
Apologetically Submitted,
Kelly Betit
Secretary
Minutes of the March 18, 2024 Meeting of the Middletown High School
Music Boosters, Inc.
February minutes approved
Director's Report: Concert band and Orchestra adjudication was that day,
received a Superior rating, site reading score was perfect! Judges and
Matt were very pleased. Received two 1 scores and one 2. Jazz Band
will perform at the Middletown Library Opening on May 4
President- nothing to report
Vice President- nothing to report
Treasurer- numbers are the same as last month
Old Business:
Tag Days- all mailed out and some are coming back, Jon to pick up mail
from school this week
Uniforms- Jon to talk to Karey and put together a committee to meet
with Matt and representatives
Jazz Knight- The Show Tix is already set up, will do like last year and
give one week presale to Jazz band families, table one will be blocked
off for the dancers. John Mattingly to get the center table for recording.
Mountain Postal has the new numbers for this years date, just need to be
picked up, Matt will give it a quick cleaning before Kelly turns it in to
the town
Small Trailer- Jon took measurements, Matt will see if the h.s. staff has
any extra woodAwards dinner- May 17, 5:00-8:00 at Am Vets, Jon playing phone tag
with their caterer
New Business:
Spring Trip- no dates available for a day trip this year
Disney- need to plan and set date as soon as possible, Matt may be able
to coordinate a trip with another high school, hope to have band numbers
in early June, this needs to be discussed in the summer band booster
meetings
Officer elections in May: President, Vice, Secretary, and Treasurer. Also
need committee heads for: Pit, Ways and Means, Uniforms, Jazz Knight.
Kelly is "graduating"
Budget Vote will be in June so need to discuss in May
Band Camp 2024 is already on the calendar!
Next Meeting is April 8
Respectfully Submitted,
Kelly Betit
Secretary
Minutes of June 13, 2022 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
The May minutes were approved
Director’s Report: There are forty students registered for the Marching Band so far. Matt reviewed the responsibilities of the new executive board. Welcome to new parents. The online band calendar is updated.
President’s Report: Introduced himself as this is his first meeting!
VP report: Introduced herself, also first meeting! Nothing to report
Treasurer Report: The original 22-23 treasurer has resigned, in need of a new volunteer. Down 5K in account but should see increase as band registration money comes in. Jazz Night, $600 positive so far, but not all receipts are in. Next month there will be a new budget
Ways and Means: Nancy is looking for an assistant to help with fundraising, Tag Days, and Jazz Night Silent Auction. There are still 400 Tshirts left, and one hoodie. Have a booth at Heritage Days in September
Pit: Will gave an introduction and explained what they do for the new parents. He will arrange the Gator rental from Gladhill by Jul 31
Uniform: Nothing to report
New Business:
Band Camp: Kelly will make sign up genius for band camp and band season needs, Is someone willing to host a party after band camp?
Marching Band fee decided: $475/$425 for rookie/veterans
By-law changes: Matt posted them in the meeting notes, everyone voted to approve
How to make officers bonded? Jon will look into it
July meeting time changed to July 5 due to attendance
Meeting adjourned at 7:45pm
Respectfully submitted,
Kelly C. Betit, Secretary
Minutes of January 8, 2024 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
December minutes approved
Director’s Report: nothing new to report, taking a group of students to Middle School to talk up the music program, Harvey to do a piece on the announcements, Choir concert was a success, Jazz Band may perform at the new Middletown Library grand opening- waiting on date, All County music concert on January 27, all county jazz auditions are coming up, gearing up for next semester, next basketball game is 1-19
President’s Report will be in old business and new
Treasurer Report: Doug trying to find a new software
Old Business:
Mileage reimbursement will be going out, all but one driver donated their time and mileage back to the band, will need to include this in next year’s budget
New Business:
Jazz Knight- only response from John Mattingly who will do program and posters, Kelly is concerned with getting all the dancers for photos because of their Chicago schedule, Matt suggested using their photos from the senior banners, Jon suggested making a sign up genius to encourage help,
Awards dinner- AmVets did not respond on the date we suggested (May 17), Jon to call again,
Uniforms- waiting on quotes from reps, Kelly to count how many we currently have
Meeting adjourned at 7:25
Respectfully submitted,
Kelly C. Betit
Secretary
Minutes of December 11, 2023 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
November minutes approved
Director Report: Choir received all excellent ratings at adjudication! Congratulations to them. Jazz band’s first performance went well Friday night at the basketball game. Choir Concert is December 21. Thank you to all who volunteer
President Report: Welcome to Kylee Ware as the new head of the Ways and Means Committee. She has fund raising and marketing experience
Treasurer Report: One more month with Mint software, will transfer to Credit Karma. $8,400 is our current total for Tag Days. Having some trouble getting Venmo to deposit into the bank
Old Business:
Tag Day stuffing party: February 16, 1:00-5:00. Matt says band or choir room would be available. Kelly suggested tables would be helpful. Matt says the cafeteria currently is available. Mike will look into getting more materials and getting return envelopes pre printed
Jazz Knight: Mary Koster will lead tickets sales again and Jennifer Smalt will head up Silent Auction, contacted John Mattingly for advertisement and photographer, Matt to try and set up a web page for potential silent auction donors to look at to see what the event is about. In January Kelly will book the kitchen and county approval to serve food, set date for Jazz Knight meeting
Close out of Marching Band season: Matt will take care of the county stuff, possibly look at shed to clean out or organize, students take care of closet
Jon to check with Will about the tires on the big trailer to see if they need to be replaced
Mileage Reimbursement for trailer drivers: not budgeted, past years we haven’t done it, was done prior to Covid, this year people are asking, current IRS rate is $0.65/mile, but that’s too high for us. Give gift card for gas for drivers? Not sure if that is compliant with IRS rules. Will it help us get trailer driver volunteers? Suggested at $0.33/mile. Offer it and drivers can decline or take. Voted and approved. Jon to contact drivers with that offer.
Awards dinner date: Looking at Friday, May 17, but could do Monday, May 13 or Friday, May 3. Jon will contact AmVets for availability
Photos from Senior Night? Kelly to contact photographer to see how to get a link or access to them
New uniforms: we need a ballpark figure of what the budget is for them so Matt has price range to consider, then figure out how to fund raise for it, get some costs from different companies, consider just new jackets and old bibs, how many uniforms do we have? Kelly will count what’s in the closet
Upcoming expenses: new drums and harnesses, when will old trailer need to be replaced?
Chicago: Matt to see who is interested to play for the show in the spring
Meeting ended at 7:50 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Kelly C. Betit
Secretary
Minutes of November 13, 2023 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
October minutes approved
Director Update: Matt is at All-County tryouts
Treasurer Report: using new software to keep track of budget, but it has been sold so he has to find a new one. Looking into getting a Venmo account for the band- trying to get it done before the next Tag Day (Saturday)
Tag Days- people were wanting to Venmo donations this past weekend. Brought in about $2,900 in the first two days, with about 15 kids participating (some did multiple shifts), more kids signed up for the second weekend. Will set up date to stuff envelopes in January for mailings. Possibly Feb 16 during the two hour early dismissal, will work out details later. Kelly will need list from Mike of donations over $100 for thank you notes. Need to improve communication for parents to realize kids earn money for their individual accounts
President Report: working with Doug to get the Gator payment, Bill Betit will drop it off. Jon cleaned it today. Thought this was a great band season, one first place and two second place in the competitions. Seniors loved the banners this year, will try to do it in August next season. Jon will check in with Matt on instrument repairs. Reminder sent to seniors to clean out uniform bags and to see if they will donate their dinkles.
Jazz Band starts the week after Thanksgiving, December games and rehearsals listed.
Jazz Knight- Kelly to get an email out to Jon with volunteer needs for him to send out soon.
Graduation May 21 at 1:30, awards possibly May 17
What to do with the old uniforms if we get new ones? Donate or sell?
Possible trip? Matt will be sending out an email to gauge interest. Would need more fund raising opportunities
Efim Shapiro had idea for recruitment to send students to go back to middle school to talk about it
Kylie Ware has experience with fund raising!
Respectfully submitted,
Kelly C. Betit
Secretary
Minutes of October 16, 2023 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
September minutes approved
Director’s Report: Thank you to all the chaperones, pit crew, and uniform helpers who have volunteered so far this season. Everything has been running smoothly because of you and it is greatly appreciated! We should be receiving tickets for Towson competition. We can sell these tickets to recoup some of our participation fee. Would just need someone to coordinate once we receive them.
Towson Competition: Matt and Doug will send out an email to see if people want to pre purchase tickets for Towson. Kelly will keep track on a spreadsheet and Matt will input the charge into their Charms accounts. We will receive 20 tickets and get to keep 100% of the profits.
President Report: seconds Matt, things are going smoothly with all the volunteers. He is clearing out old files that are outdated and wants to streamline the documents that are there to help with new parents in future years. The people coming in behind us will need to know what to do. If you oversee or help out, please write it down and update the google docs. We want to make it more useful.
Treasurer Report: He signed the taxes today, it was the deadline. Will Efile to the IRS and Doug will mail to the state government. Received letter owing $2k for late taxes last year. CPA will look into it with information Doug gave from Dawn last year.
Old Business:
Tag Days- second and third weekend in November, Michael and Jon working on it, Kelly and Celeste offered to help stuff and label envelopes, Jon will resend the sign up genius for more volunteers,
Senior Dinner: food is all signed up for, Jennifer and Kelly will start set up at school at 3:00 to make sure the tables are set up since they don’t have school that day, students can contact Sharon Martin to get help with photos, seniors to wear capes and white plumes
Need Candy for Halloween parade
Still need some Pit help for Towson
New Business:
Jazz Knight: Kelly to start in January, need to begin recruiting volunteers to head up committees, Celeste is willing to help,
Uniforms: Need to know the budget and Matt start looking at what styles he likes, when do we want them- fall 2024? Matt to send email to start the process, ours may be the oldest uniforms in the county
Will look at instruments to replace or repair
Next meeting may move to November 6 because all county tryouts are November 13, will check in with Matt
Meeting adjourned at 7:46 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Kelly C. Betit
Secretary
Minutes of September 11, 2023 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
August minutes approved
Director Report: Clinic this past weekend went well, only minor changes and improvements needed. Ordering school buses through the county, JMU will be through Virginia Coach. Choir is going well, performing at Christmas in the Valley, have 16 students. Concert will be in December. Barricade behind the band trailer blew over, Matt to fix it and maybe get another. All County tryout information is on the website.
President Report: nothing new to report
Treasurer Report: two signatures for reimbursements, not for budgeted items.
Old business: needs Ways and Means and Pit overseerer. Maurice Neel to be in charge of stopping traffic for the band to travel to and from the field safely. Michael may pick up ways and means.
Tag Days: Nov 11, 12, 18, 19, need sign up genius link, do we do more mailings and less walking? Definitely want to do mailings. Kelly will do the sign up genius- look at google docs from last years.
Will try to pack up the trailer the night before JMU after that football game.
September 29 the middle school students will join the band.
Only two events need trailer drivers, chaperones are needed for some competitions. Many openings still for FCPS festival. In need of senior dinner coordinator.
Will need candy donations for both Heritage Days and Halloween parade.
Jazz Knight is May 11. Jazz Band will start rehearsals right after Thanksgiving to start playing basketball games in December.
October meeting will be October 16 because of the FCPS marching festival on October 10
Meeting adjourned at 7:50
Respectfully submitted
Kelly C Betit
Secretary
Minutes of September 11, 2023 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
August minutes approved
Director Report: Clinic this past weekend went well, only minor changes and improvements needed. Ordering school buses through the county, JMU will be through Virginia Coach. Choir is going well, performing at Christmas in the Valley, have 16 students. Concert will be in December. Barricade behind the band trailer blew over, Matt to fix it and maybe get another. All County tryout information is on the website.
President Report: nothing new to report
Treasurer Report: two signatures for reimbursements, not for budgeted items.
Old business: needs Ways and Means and Pit overseerer. Maurice Neel to be in charge of stopping traffic for the band to travel to and from the field safely. Michael may pick up ways and means.
Tag Days: Nov 11, 12, 18, 19, need sign up genius link, do we do more mailings and less walking? Definitely want to do mailings. Kelly will do the sign up genius- look at google docs from last years.
Will try to pack up the trailer the night before JMU after that football game.
September 29 the middle school students will join the band.
Only two events need trailer drivers, chaperones are needed for some competitions. Many openings still for FCPS festival. In need of senior dinner coordinator.
Will need candy donations for both Heritage Days and Halloween parade.
Jazz Knight is May 11. Jazz Band will start rehearsals right after Thanksgiving to start playing basketball games in December.
October meeting will be October 16 because of the FCPS marching festival on October 10
Meeting adjourned at 7:50
Respectfully submitted
Kelly C Betit
Secretary
Minutes of August 7, 2023 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
July minutes approved
Welcome to all the new parents, we support all students- marching band, choir, concert band, orchestra, jazz band
Director’s Report: working on a date for elementary tours, will be added to the sign up genius, band camp went well today
President’s report: Introducing sub committees, many still need leads (Ways and Means, Pit), Ways and Means is the fund raising committee, Tag Days and Jazz Knight are the two biggest fund raisers
Old Business: waiting to hear back about the reinsurance from the company, once he hears back Doug can call and pay, Gator is leased and in the trailer, it is a new Gator this year with a higher lease from Gladhill, pay at the end of the season, trailer tires are fine right now but will be watched, very much in need of lead for Pit and Ways and Means, in need of chaperones for band camp, Pit lead does not need to be able to tow the trailer,
Karey- Uniform Committee- will be sending out a google form to order shoes/gloves/jackets via email, need to be in by the end of the week so we can get those ordered, waiting on price for upperclassmen who want to order a new jacket,
Proposed budget: Jon motioned, Doug second, everyone voted yay (thumbs up)
New Business:
Marching Band 2023 Sign Up Genius is going out tonight, Jon reviewed all the different volunteer needs, first game is Thursday this year,
Set dates for tag days: 11-12 November, 18-19 November, very much needs a leader but it is a big project
Band Boosters regularly meet the second Monday of the month at 7:00 pm
Time for questions
Communication goes out through Charms account, also posted on FB group and will sometimes come via Mr. Shearer
There is a subscribe link on the official band calendar that can be linked to app calendars (thanks Mary!)
Next meeting is September 11, 7:00 pm, virtually, the link is always the same
Meeting adjourned at 6:50
Respectfully submitted,
Kelly Betit, Secretary
Minutes of July 17, 2023 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
June minutes approved
Director’s Report: Registration complete, 47/48 members (5 more than last year), 16 new members, email sent out for participation fee, music has been decided: James Bond Theme, Live and Let Die, Skyfall, and Die Another Day, will get the section leaders their rookie information, still waiting on Senior Night and Homecoming dates,
Treasurer Report: starting to get the taxes put together, uncertain of how to deal with Tag Days money for the kids on the budget
Director’s Report: will discuss in old and new business
Vice President Report: remove Amazon Smile from budget, Matt to send him the google drive access
Will to get the gator and has taken care of maintenance
Old Business:
Band Camp sign up genius is out and about a quarter full already
New Business:
2024 budget proposal, to be voted on in August,
Jon has spreadsheet for the Charms account student money
Liability Insurance renewal- Doug to call and get quote, he has some paperwork (McGriff Insurance Co and/or Accord), Jon unsure if he has the information needed to fill out application- he will call tomorrow, too
Kelly will make up the fall Sign Up Genius, can be sent out after the August meeting
In urgent need of Ways and Means and Pit Chairperson
Meeting over at 8:20
Respectfully submitted by Kelly Betit, Secretary
Minutes of June 19, 2023 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
May minutes approved
Director’s Report: Thirty eight are currently registered, predicting 45-50 total, waiting on some dancers, ten new members, James Bond is the 2023 show, currently Skyfall, Live and Let Die, Bond theme song, Jazz Band selections will come out this week, will get with Doug to order paint for field for band camp
President Report- nothing current to report
Treasurer Report- Fidelity account up and running to earn more in interest, linked to the Truist account, big expense should be run by him first with a few days notice, Silent Auction: some hiccups, missing sheets so we think some money might be missing, too chaotic- need to improve this, suggests buying a paypal card reader for next year,
Old Business:
Money earned by students, $9,800 for tag days, proposed with $10/hour, 327 volunteer hours, Jon will get the total earned per student to Matt to upload into Charms accounts
New Business:
Michael Felton will serve as Vice President, voted unanimously.
Fall Schedule: Oct 14 competition may be moved to Oct 21, schedule is up on website
Kelly will send sign up genius for band camp to Jon to go out to the parents
New parent questions
Need new Pit Crew leader, need new Tag Days leader, new Ways and Means committee head
Need to establish 2023-2024 budget to present at July meeting- vote on in July
Scholarship checks need to be cut and dispersed
Participation fee for this year: $475- new students and $425 returning students, keep the same
Due to vacation, July meeting will be Monday July 17
Meeting ended 7:53
Respectfully submitted by Kelly Betit, Secretary
Minutes of May 8, 2023 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
April minutes approved
Director’s Report: Jazz band played great Saturday at all county Jazz festival, narrowing down his MB theme for next school year, received new lights for Jazz Knight will put them on the truss and program them, he takes care of sound, stage, backdrop, Mattingly has photos from last year, his things are good to go for Saturday
President’s Report: nothing new to add
Treasurer’s Report- Fiscal year? No one knew so he’ll look it up, Kelly needs to go back in to sign for debit card, he’s still waiting on checks from truist, too (person who set up account is no longer there), closing fidelity account and hopefully up next week, Boosters have been setting aside money for new instrument purchases and new uniform purchases
Jazz Night: Jazz Night- Senior corsages? Just have Mr. Shearer recognize them instead. Corsages have never been done before at Jazz Night, 8:30 am arrival, lunch will be served, hopefully finished by 2, then back at 6:00 for sound check, I’ve asked food people to come at 5:30, Mary is making table signs with numbers and names, Kim to bring pizza that day, ShowTix is collecting money and they will send us a check, Kelly has check list of all the things that need to be done Saturday for decorating, at 6:30 money will be collected directly at the door- cash or paypal at the door, not through showtix to avoid their fee, Mary needs a report to show who bought each seat- Matt will get to her, $20 and $15 at the door, Doug will get some petty cash, Doug and Mary will help process silent auction payment, looking for a few students to help man those tables to help Jennifer, Kelly will swing between food, beverages, and silent auction, Mary Cochran will pick up the catering order at Wegmans at 11:00 and bring to the school, 134 tickets sold so far
Awards Banquet: Matt sending Jon the google rsvp form, dinner at 6, awards at 6:45, May 19, Matt will send the award winners to Jon tomorrow and he will order them, dress code: business casual, final count to go to Will,
Volunteer Hours/Charms Credit: $27,303.00 donation, 327 hours, $14,000 was our budget for tag days, we need a cap for an individual family to earn, proposed $10/hour per kid. Vote passed, Jon to send Matt and Doug a spreadsheet with student volunteer hours, but budget might be wrong, so we will have to look at this again to determine tag days, Doug to redo it and reevaluate
Scholarships: Kelly Betit and Jon McCord and Matt Shearer to be the scholarship committee, Matt will send out the form, last year we had four scholarships
New Business:
Officers for next year to stay the same, Kim would really like to be replaced, Jon will keep looking
Vote passed, officers stay the same
Fall schedule: tentative schedule for competitions, band camp is set second week in August, JMU not set yet and may conflict with Towson, waiting to verify football schedule, too, snack for band camp needs to be individually wrapped items,
August 7 will be in person booster meeting, new parent meeting after band camp at 6:00
Will to talk with Bob about getting the Gator and his responsibilities for the fall
Uniforms- fall of 2024?
Meeting ended 8:32
Minutes of April 17, 2023 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
March minutes approved
No baby Shearer yet!
Director Report- a few students made all County Jazz (May 6), concert, Jazz Knight, and graduation performances coming up in May, limited on how many students can play at graduation, May 6 Jazz performance at Linganore at 3pm, Pit Orchestra played great at Catch Me If You Can, does have some music subs lined up for paternity leave
President Report- had fun playing in the Pit Orchestra, the professionals complimented the five students,
Treasurer Report- opening a fidelity account, officially closed the MVBank, needs week notice for large purchases, needs alphabetical listing by last name for all students in charms,
Secretary- waiting on tax exempt card, paperwork sent in in beginning of March
Old Business:
Bylaw change vote:
Finances: The Treasurer shall ensure all monies collected are deposited and all authorized bills are paid. All checks will require the signature of one Officer with written/electronic confirmation by a second Officer. Instead of “two (2) Officers.”
Voted yes by all
Terms: Current wording, Article V, Section 1: “An officer shall serve no more than two (2) terms in the same Officer position but can resume a prior office after one term passes.” Proposed change: “An officers term shall be dictated by having a participating student in MHS music programs.”
Voted yes by all
Jazz Knight: tickets sales site is up and live tomorrow for Jazz band families presale, public sales go live next Monday, how to do tickets at the door- Doug will get some cash for change at the door for cash sales, show tix will collect emails from those purchasing so we can send one email out a few days before (Mary already has it written up), Silent Auction- Jennifer not getting much help outside of Nancy Wynne, Jon to get her the QR code so she can have it available that night, need dancer photos and all five senior bios, Wegmans has donated $100 to cover food, Matt will work out custodial needs, Val Peters doing programs, Will taking care of table and table cloths,
Awards Banquet: Friday May 19, Will needs a rough count, AmVets in Middletown, can have as many as 160, Jon will send out an email to gauge interest, need payment at end of the night, roughly $11pp, students cost covered and $15 per guest, decide on gratuity in May meeting once we have a better feeling for how many students will attend, baked ziti- veggie and meat, bread, salad, tea and lemonade, Will to get cake or cupcakes, centerpieces donated by party city, Jon will order the awards and pick them up once Matt gives him the list, program optional,
New Business:
Officer Nominations: vote in May, Jon McCord nominated for President, Doug Koster nominated for Treasurer, Kelly Betit nominated for Secretary, Kim willing to stay but very busy and can’t be much help, send an email looking for potentional VP and Financial Secretary, need Ways and Means and Tag Days, voting in May
Charms Credits: Tag Days total $27, 303.95, next month we will determine exactly how much to go to student accounts, Kelly’s volunteer hours is 34, need to determine Nancy and Pam’s total number
Next meeting is May 8
Meeting adjourned at 8:20
Minutes of March 13, 2023 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
February minutes were approved.
President Report- thanks to Doug for all he’s doing as Treasurer
Director’s Report- Matt at All County Jazz tryouts, may or may not be able to pop in. There are checks for tag days he will get to Doug tomorrow
Treasurer Report- Success in changing account to Truist, linked PayPal account to that bank account, sent out bank report to everyone.
Old Business:
Jazz Night- Volunteers are coming in, major things are covered, boosters approved purchase of sign from Mountain Postal
Band Banquet- Will Cochran, the hall is booked, having trouble getting in contact with the caterer, about how many are we expecting? Jon- do we want to pay for students’ dinners? In the past ticket prices are set to break even, this is not a fundraiser, Jon to send an email with the date and to gauge interest
Spring Trip- no information
New Business:
Bylaw changes- in relation to finances, to send out to everyone, vote next month. Doug to make folder on google drive to have electronic copies of board approval. Electronic approval for payments, no need for two physical signatures
Term limits: no more than two terms in sequence, proposal: officer’s term is dictated by student in music program, no limit. Will allow for consistency.
Adjudication next Monday, March 20
Band Concert tomorrow night at 7:00 pm
Meeting adjourned at 7:40
Minutes of February 13, 2023 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
January minutes were approved
Director Report: Tuesday, February 14 is the last scheduled jazz band performance at basketball games. May add one more. Concert March 14. Uniforms are ordered. March 20, 21 judication at Oakdale. Orchestra adjudication at Middletown, March 13 and 14. Classes going well, great kids and fun classes. MHS was well represented at All County, choir, band and orchestra
President- nothing new
Treasurer- Quickbooks, got a good deal but can’t split payments, MINT is a free software he found, and it worked much better. Will go over budget for taxes this year according to the accountant. Signed us up as charity on Paypal and that will save some fees. Would like to move some money from checking account to Tbills to make interest. Would like to change bank that we use to also get better interest. Would like to change the bylaw that requires two signature and make it an electronic agreement/verification.
Everyone agreed to move bank account to Truist, Jon and Doug will be the two names on the account. Doug will write up the bylaw change, Jon and Matt to send out to everyone. Will vote in the March or April meeting.
Upcoming expense: need new choir robes, new band uniforms in the next 2-3 years as well. There is a money market account set aside for these.
Old business:
Amazon smile is halting their donations to charities at the end of February.
Awards: AmVets- need decorations and coordination of food and venue, May 19 only night available at AmVets, park had plenty of openings, May 19 before graduation, ordering awards was easy
Jazz Night: Kelly will contact kitchen to reserve that for May 13, the County approved the food usage that night, Kelly has folders from previous jazz night coordinators, Lisa Bolton has been contacted to be photographer, Kelly will contact the town about the street sign banner
Spring Trip- Matt still needs to look into that to determine if it’s a possibility
Jon to send out an email looking for Awards coordinator and help for Jazz Night
Will will contact AmVets to get it scheduled
New Business
Scholarship- April for applications, boosters will need to determine how much- maybe next month’s meeting
Think about next year’s booster board, nominations in April to vote in May
Meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm
Minutes of January 9, 2023 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
November minutes were approved as submitted
President Report- nothing new to report
Director Report- Choir concert went great, and Christmas in the Valley. All County: everyone needs their outfits, Jazz Band has begun playing at basketball games, awaiting Tshirt orders, last game is February 14, possible playoff games
Pit- Gator returned, door was fixed on the trailer
Treasurer Report- tag day $4,080 (mailings) deposited as well as $658.88 for second place at Heritage Days and Halloween parade donation, meeting with Dawn on Saturday to be fully instated in this role, wants access to mobile app, discussion on how to get two signatures on checks, he will get debit card and other information Saturday, Matt will not be added to the account, Kelly will contact Scott Snyder for jazz night stuff
Recap of Tag Days-$3954 money on actual day, Kelly shared that many of the thank you notes have already gone out, will have students write some
Tag Day Envelope Stuffing Party- Becky Meyers to get Pam more addresses for the houses to Pam, she will bring the labels to Kelly’s house Wednesday, Kelly picked up many of the flyers and return envelopes from Nancy West, hoping all goes well!
Ways and Means- Nancy is retired, looking for new volunteer to take over
All County Concert is January 8 at TJ High School
Michael Felton, possibly interested in heading up Jazz Night, Jon to contact him. Kelly will contact Kelly Bongard about the photographer and possibly reach out to Lisa Bolton (share with her examples of the posters)
Band Award Night- location? Jefferson Ruritan has been used but began to decline in service, then moved to Middletown AmVets which was good. Date needs to be set- possibly weekend after Jazz Night. Do it before? May 8, 9, 18, 19, or 20 (Jazz Night is May 13, Band and Orchestra Concert Night is May 16), prior to graduation
Jon to send out request for volunteer needs: Awards Banquet Chair, Jazz Night Committee Chairs, and Ways and Means Chair
Spring Trip- Matt will look into Kings Dominion for dates that work with his upcoming arrival schedule! He will consider Hershey, too
Meeting adjourned at 7:44 pm.
Respectfully Submitted
Kelly C. Betit
Minutes of November 14, 2022 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
October minutes were approved
Director report: Congratulations on a successful season. Second in states is wonderful, he’s very proud of the band and the improvements they made this year. Thank you to all the volunteers.
President Report- nothing to share
VP- traveling, nothing to share
Treasurer- Still waiting to hear from Dawn, will reach out again. She needs to transfer the banking stuff to Doug.
Ways and Means- All fundraisers we have done in the past show little profit. Her suggestion is: effort should be focused on Tag Day and Silent Auction at Jazz Night for next year. Two most profitable fund raisers. Looking for someone to coordinate Silent Auction in May. Nancy is stepping down after Tag Days but will assist in Silent Auction.
Pit- Will to return the Gator to Gladhill. Order parts to repair the trailer door, Burdett Brothers said it’ll be $370 and needs to get a new battery- will order in the spring. This is also Will’s last year, Bob Coffman is willing to step up and run Pitt in 2023 season.
Tag Days- With the coverage we have this upcoming weekend, we won’t be able to cover even 25% of the area. Suggestion for next year: do mailings and have the kids to stuff envelopes, no more street walking. If still want to walk, pare down where we walk- eliminate Myersville and some other areas and only mail there. Will set up a meeting with Kelly, Nancy, and Pam to set up meeting for Kelly to coordinate. Nancy Wynne is willing to help. Will do mailing party in January.
New business:
How to get more volunteers? Need freshman and sophomore parents to step up.
Jazz Night is May 13, 2023. Silent Auction needs to start in February. Will to take care of tables and tablecloths. Kelly to coordinate event.
Uniforms are ten years old, there is money in the budget for it. Not ready to order just yet but will start to consider it. We have oldest uniforms in the county (probably). They get dry cleaned in August.
Next meeting is December 12.
Meeting adjourned at 7:50 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Kelly C Betit, Secretary
Minutes of October 17, 2022 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
September minutes were approved
Director report: fantastic marching season so far, Linganore itinerary posted, waiting on JMU, definitely doing the Halloween parade so costumes will be needed before JMU, concert choir going well, concert December, thank you to all volunteers, he will add sign up genius link to itineraries
President Report- need to find out if Dawn issued student reimbursement, treasurer found some issues with tax exempt status- he will reach out to Dawn,
VP- nothing new
Treasurer- new treasurer waiting to meet with Dawn to get updated information
Ways and Means- cleared over $500 in Tshirt sales at Heritage Days, 48 Tshirts and no hoodies left! Will not focus on getting rid of them anymore, Tag Days: Nancy and Pam are working together, Signup genius is out with over 100 slots to fill,
New business: Feeder tour: 3 chaperones needed- Kelly will add, bus is booked for JMU, chaperones may have to ride with trailer drivers, volunteer needs in some upcoming events,
Vote on the bylaw change- allow alumni parents to fill officer position when needed- motioned and seconded, vote passed
Vote Doug Koster to Treasurer, passed
Senior dinner, gifts purchased, and Jennifer Smalt is in charge, sign up genius for food has gone out, October 28
Group photo will be taken on October 26 at feeder tour, also group photo at JMU
Can band roster be published? Matt will have to check if it’s okay
FB group, posting pictures is okay, who is approving? Only people who can answer the questions, Matt does deny people
Currently three signup genius: Volunteers at events, Senior Dinner, and Tag Days
Meeting adjourned
Respectfully submitted,
Kelly C Betit, Secretary
Minutes of September 12, 2022 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
July and August minutes were approved as presented.
Director’s report: first football game went well. Clinic went well, too- he and band learned a lot, stuff to work on- well worth the money. Look on website for itineraries. Staging for band will be in a new location for Heritage Day. Need to request candy donations- Jon to do.
President report: Friday night went well without Mr. Shearer, kudos to band and staff. August meeting for new parents was good and will hopefully have some new volunteers.
VP- nothing new to report
Secretary- nothing new to report
Pit- nothing new to report. Clarify location of gator and trailer Friday night. Will go back to normal, bringing it back.
New Business-
Amending by-laws: “Members who are parents of music ensemble and dance team members will have voting rights and will be eligible to hold office. In the event that an officer position remains unfilled after the June meeting, a parent of alumni may fill the position until it is filled by a parent with a student currently in the program.” To vote on this in the October 10 meeting.
Nancy has resigned as Ways and Means Coordinator to take over in-person tag days coordinator. She needs volunteers to sell Tshirts at Heritage Days. Jon will send another email with the link.
Tag Days- Pam Stultz, 2nd and 3rd weekend in November due to Towson on November 6.
Senior Dinner- October, 28. Jennifer Smalt will be our coordinator again this year.
Spring band trip- send out a feeler to parents to see how many students might be interested. Estimated $1500 per student.
Matt will send out an email for volunteer training to all the parents.
Bus for JMU, Atlantic Coast Charters, on bus for 50 passengers: 46 students, 3 staff, chaperones can ride in towing trucks. Early departure.
Halloween parade is a go. Town is willing to do the parade when we get back. Kelly will add chaperone slots for parade to sign up genius.
Insurance- policy is up to date with no lapse in coverage. Dawn is waiting for them to email her a link and then she will pay it.
All tax stuff is resolved.
Matt liked having the parents fill and send in water balloons and would like to do that from here on out.
Lisa Bolton- where to post her photos in a safe and private way but that parents can access? She has a Shutterfly page, will ask parents to contact her to get access to it. She’ll send it to Jon. Matt is waiting on do not publish list to be sent to him via MHS to know what students can’t be published.
Meeting adjourned at 8:05 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Kelly C. Betit, Secretary
Minutes of August 1, 2022 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
The July minutes approval was postponed to the September meeting since we were meeting in person in the auditorium
Director’s Report: The first day of band camp went well. The kids may not feel that way, but Mr. Shearer was pleased. No decision on a trip.
President’s Report: Introduced himself to all the new parents. Request for Band Booster Treasurer. Explanation of volunteer needs, sign up genius.
VP report: Introduced herself. Nothing to report
Treasurer Report: Again, this was mostly just a plea for help, no treasurer was present
Ways and Means: Nancy is looking for an assistant to help with fundraising, she is willing to run Tag Days if someone would step up to take over her position. Pam Stultz spoke on behalf of Tag Days, asking for help from the new parents. She will continue to do the mailings.
Pit: Will gave an introduction and explained what they do for the new parents. He has arranged the Gator rental from Gladhill. Again, general plea for volunteers
Uniform: Karey handed out glove/shoe order forms. She brought it gloves and jackets for the parents to see. Together she and Kelly showed parents how the uniform boxes worked.
Secretary Report: Introduced herself, explained some other band traditions like senior buddies for new parents.
New Business:
Who will be responsible for water for band members? Added it to pit parent job description for Football games.
Addressed questions for rookie parents
Meeting adjourned at 7:45pm
Respectfully submitted,
Kelly C. Betit, Secretary
Minutes of May 16, 2022 Meeting of Middletown High School Music Boosters, Inc.
The April minutes were approved.
Director’ Report: Jazz knight went great, was a huge success. Thank you to everyone who helped. Greatest Showman next year! Marching band registration is in the works. Matt will start adding the new people into charms and will send out individual financial statements to students as they register. Thank you to outgoing executive committee.
Treasurer’s report: Attached.
VP: Nothing to report.
Ways & Means: Silent auction. Tough getting businesses to contribute this year. A lot of donations came from families, so thank you to them. We had about $1500 in donations value and came away with a little over $1,000, better than expected. We agreed to sell t-shirts in the park. County-wide Girl scout picnic in the park 11-3 on Saturday, June 11. There will be a sign-up genius to sell in shifts. We need a 6-foot pop up tent. Already reserved a spot at the park. That will be final fundraising for this year. Also reserved a place at Heritage Days in September
Uniforms: Karen Shuckers will take over uniforms. She helped fit all the uniforms last year, so she is experienced with that.
Thanks to Kelly Bongard for Jazz Knight. It went really well. Dawn sent her information to compile regarding tickets, etc.
Banquet – We have enough people to do the scholarship review. We have the park anytime from 8 am to 8 pm. Monday, June 6. 6-8 pm. Need someone to coordinate cupcakes. Will just be cupcakes and awards and hanging out.
Nominations and voting ---
President – John McCord
VP- Kim Whitely
Treasurer- Sherrell Cottrell
Secretary – Kelly Betit
Financial Secretary – currently vacant
Motion by Kelly Betit, seconded by Dawn, motion passes. New executive board will take over at the next meeting.
Rick – Thank you to everyone for stepping up. The band program is doing better than ever, all things considered.
Meeting adjourned at ___________.
Respectfully submitted,
Rachel S. Nessen (Depo), Secretary