LTEF GENERAL MEETING MINUTES
MONDAY, MARCH 15 – 8:00 P.M.
Attendees
Elyse Fiers
Debbie Goodsite
Jen Housedorf
Anne Mankiewich
Mike Walsh
George Wilhelms
Noreen Ranallo
Bob Tabor
I. Treasurer’s Report
à George Wilhelms distributed the financial reports.
à The Statement of Financial Position indicates there is $32,783.60 in the General Account, which will be reduced to $11,528.60 once the Doran Family money is taken out.
à The Playground Fund is at $5,209.93. The items still to be paid for are the lining of the BB court, the contributor sign, garbage cans, and the final piece of equipment.
à The Statement of Financial Income and Expense reflects the net income from each activity or project.
à The Cabin Fever net income is shown as $4,582; however, the actual number will be $4,363 once final expenses are deducted.
à General Donations are $700, less $624 for purchase of the LTEF laptop.
à The Teacher Grant contributions stand at $875, less the paypal fees.
à Pages 3-4 show revenue and profit from the Cabin Fever event. There were 33 items in the Silent Auction, accounting for $2,369 of the total revenue for the event of $5,904.
à Mike commented that Cabin Fever is a very profitable event for only 4 weeks’ preparation. It would be nice to have longer to prepare, and to incorporate a tribute to select community volunteers, as we had done at one of the Golf Outings. Mike added that Collette has said she might want to repeat the Cabin Fever event next year.
II. Valley View Playground
à Collette is still working on identifying the final piece of equipment.
à At this point we will have to wait for the ground to dry out before the sidewalk gets installed.
à Now that the Valley View Playground is almost complete, Collette would be interested in remaining involved in the Woodglen out-door recreational project. However, she would probably like to have a co-chair to share the responsibility.
III. Blues Fest
à Bob Tabor reported that all the bands are set for the event. The line-up includes one of the Neville brothers.
à This year, we have more organizations volunteering to help out, including the Knights of Columbus which helped last year, plus the Boy Scouts.
à The Knights of Columbus will be handling ID checks, which brings the number of volunteers we need to supply down from 64 to 56.
à We are hoping to keep the volunteer shifts down to 2 hours each.
à A letter has already been sent out to last year’s sponsors. If anyone knows of a potential new sponsor, Mike can supply the letter.
à This year, the LTEF’s responsibilities are the sponsors and the volunteers. Mike indicated that we will need one person to coordinate the volunteers; he will do it if no one else steps forward.
IV. Education Program
à Debbie Goodsite reported that we have received a letter from the School Board approving the use of Valley View and Woodglen for art classes.
à The classes will be held on Wednesdays for a 6-week session, starting on April 14. Nancy Bauernfeind will be teaching puppet-making to 2nd graders and up at Valley View, and Diane Sinclair will be teaching watercolor classes to 4th graders and up at Woodglen. The cost, including materials, will be $90 per person for the puppet-making, and $130 for the watercolors.
à A decision was made that the LTEF will cover the cost of materials for the classes, which will be $10 per person for puppet-making and $20 each for the watercolors. If we get maximum enrollment, this would be a total cost to the LTEF of $520.
à Debbie wants to get the word out as soon as possible, and will be working on a flyer announcing the classes.
V. Enrichment Grants
à So far, the existing grant requests are 35% funded. This is an improvement over the results from last year’s grant requests.
à We discussed the need to get these grants fully funded, particularly since several of them are time-sensitive. Mike mentioned that we received $527.37 from the clothing drive co-chaired by Collette and Susan Forenzo, and $166.31 in grant money that was refunded from last year. He suggested that we use this money to either fully fund all the grants, or fund them almost all the way so that we can announce the grants are almost complete, thereby eliciting some final contributions.
à There was discussion, resulting in a general consensus that we should fully fund each grant. Noreen pointed out that if we have extra funds, this is the kind of thing we should be using them for.
à George indicated that he can get his employer to contribute $400 to the grants. Therefore, it was decided that the LTEF will fund all but $400 of the remaining grant requests.
VI. New Business
à George Wilhelms raised the idea of creating an LTEF newsletter. He pointed out that by always using the schools as a vehicle for our communications, we are constantly getting the same 80-100 people responding and participating. If we estimate there are 1,555 households in the township, 80 participants amounts to only about 5% of the total.
à If we create a newsletter and mail it to the entire community, we can appeal to a wider audience.
à As an example, George distributed copies of the Summit Educational Foundation newsletter. This is a 2-page, 4-sided publication that includes a President’s Letter, Grant Highlights, and information about upcoming events.
à We would need to renew our bulk mailing permit.
à George volunteered to spearhead the newsletter effort. Jen Housedorf, who has worked on the PTA newsletter, will provide support.
à They will target late September for release of the first issue. We will plan for one or two publications each year.
Prepared by Anne Mankiewich
3/19/10
