Minutes
Saturday, May. 2011
Los Lunas High School

President Kurt Schmidt called meeting to order at 9:32 a.m. Kurt welcomed everyone and introduction of members followed.

Treasurer’s Report
Jeff Jolly gave the treasurer’s report. He stated that we had bought digital recorders for both Large Group MPAs (Band and Choir) and that they worked great. We also bought plaques and medals for each group.

Only one festival lost money this year, which was Band Large Group. The amount lost was less than what was lost last year. The suggestion was to think about raising fees for this event.

Along with the report that each member had, Jeff included a reminder page of the fee policies.

Jeff said that if we need to purchase medals or patches for anything, we need to let him know.

Motion was made to accept treasurer’s report. Motion was seconded and passed.

Secretary’s Report
Cathy Danner passed out the minutes from the fall meeting and had members read them. Motion was made to pass minutes, was seconded, and was passed.

Cathy suggested emailing minutes to members a few days before the meeting. That way, members could read over them before and bring any necessary changes to the meeting. The members liked that idea. We will still provide some hard copies for those that can’t read the minutes beforehand.

Band VP Report
Mariko McWhorter reported that everything went smoothly this year at all Band events. She said that everyone was very happy with the judges, especially for Solo and Ensemble.

Choir VP Report
Jonathan Saeger reported that there were a lot of successes this year at all events. They made some successful changes to the Honors Choir, such as combining the choirs into one concert. He also mentioned that they had to move the Solo and Ensemble festival due to the unusual winter weather.

Pictures were added to Large Group Festival, which everyone liked. The pictures turned out very well.

Jonathan also included the proposed dates for next year’s events, which will be confirmed in section meetings.

General Music VP Report
Amy Anderson let us know that the General Music Festival on April 16^th was a great success. There were 13 schools represented by 198 kids. They added t-shirts this year, which was good, and the facilities at RRHS were fantastic.

Guitar VP Report
Mark Scholz reported that there were 86 participants at Solo and Ensemble this year. He also proposed to start an All-District Honor Guitar next year. Currently, they are participating in District VII’s festival. The proposed festival would be possibly hosted in Belen. We are only one of two states in the nation that have Guitar All-State (we were the first, Florida is now the second). We were asked to encourage students who play guitar to go to Guitar Solo and Ensemble.

Orchestra VP Report
Chandra was not there to give the report. Kurt said that they had combined with Band for Honor Groups and participated with District VII for Solo and Ensemble and Large Group.

President’s Report
Kurt brought our attention to the purple sheet from Don Gerheardt. Don stated that if we are not a member of MENC/NMMEA, we can’t vote or participate in activities sponsored by NMMEA. It is currently up to each district to determine whether non members can participate. Someone pointed out that we made it a requirement several years ago and have put it in our handbook.

Be aware of changes on the state website. We need to check it often.

All-State audition sites, chairs and deadlines are on the website as well as the purple sheet.

Kurt will attend the state meeting in July and let us know of any changes in the fall.

There was no Advocacy Report.

Old Business
Henry was concerned about the low balance in the account. He proposed that we carry a balance of $6000 from year to year. Bill Austell suggested monitoring purchases. He said that we should get permission from the treasurer to make sure we have the money to do the purchase, and to see if ordering is necessary. Jeff stated that we just need to keep communication between the site host and the treasurer about the numbers of medals/plaques/patches.

Bill Griner suggested that each section needs their own treasurer. Many members think that having several treasurers would only add a layer of needless bureaucracy. Someone suggested that we just need a procedure in place for ordering medals, plaques, etc.

Kurt suggested that the usual site hosts maintain an acceptable inventory and communicate with Jeff about ordering stuff. Discussion followed. The discussion was tabled until New Business.

Jadira made a motion to add to the secretary position the duties of controlling inventory by communicating with site hosts. Motion was seconded and discussion followed.

Mark suggested we send the number of plaques and medals used each year to Cathy. Reports and results from each festival should be sent to Cathy for analysis for the number of medals/plaques/etc. used. Kurt suggested sending the last three years of results to Cathy. Plaques should not be a problem for next year because we have 20 of each type.

Jonathan said that they would like to add sight-reading plaques to Choir Large Group MPA to be like the Band. Everyone agreed that it was a good idea if sight-reading is going to be required.

Bill Griner made a motion to add sight-reading plaques to Choir Large Group MPA to be like Band. Jadira seconded the motion, and the motion passed.

New Business
Henry Estrada and Kurt talked about offering a stipend to the treasurer because of all the work the position required. We’re one of only two districts who do not currently offer a stipend to our officers.

Henry made a motion that we offer a stipend of $500.00 to the treasurer for the work they do. Motion was seconded and discussion followed. Motion was passed. Kurt will check on legalities and get back to us in the fall.

Calendar dates for the following year were discussed. Matt Casarez moved to accept the dates, Mariko seconded. Motion was passed.

State Nominations were discussed. Kurt reminded us of responsibilities of filling out the nomination packet. You must do the work if you nominate someone.

Jonathan stated that we need to revise the handbook to take Jeaninne’s name out and replace with the word “Treasurer” for when/where fees are sent.

Melissa asked that the dates be updated on online registration forms.

Jadira needed clarification for eligibility requirements for participation from NMMEA/MENC. Are we considered “co-curricular” or “extra-curricular” by their standards? Discussion followed. Festivals are assessments, not competitions, so our requirements should reflect that.

Fees – Robert Barrette motioned to increase fees for Large Group to pay for plaques and to cover the amount of loss for Band. Seconded by Cathy, motion passed. Discussion followed to determine the amount of increase. It was suggested that we move to table the discussion of an increase to the Fall meeting after researching the topic.

Cathy mentioned Drums Along the Sandias competition on Tuesday, June 21^st at the UNM Soccer/Track and Field complex.

The centennial band that the state was trying to put together fell through because of a lack of funding.

Adjourned to Section meetings at 10:58 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Catherine Danner 

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