Minutes, January 8, 2025

The board was held at 7:30pm at Virginia's house at the previously agreed-upon date.

Present: Dianne B., Dianne P-Q., Gail, Victor, Marguerite, Virginia, John, Fred

Absent: Maris, Kenny

Virginia and sister needed to travel the next day, so in the interest of allowing them to get to bed earlier, we abbreviated the agenda.

The minutes to the last meeting, October 9, were not reviewed or approved.

The treasurer gave an abbreviated statement of financial condition.  There were several disbursements however there was not substantive income or expenses to report as the dances since august were either cancelled or suspended for lack of interest.

The primary agenda item was to decided on the venue instead for Lake Murray.  The two candidates were CMFA and Arsenal Hill.  Arsenal Hill was selected, with the first dance being in January 2025.  

As of today, February 3, the January 2025 dance was not held because of issues in securing commitment from city Parks. The location of the February 22 dance is presently in question because of undisclosed "minder" hourly expense for the hall.  Previously the misunderstood charge for the Arsenal Hill hall was 80/20 split of gate receipts, which are "donations".

The next meeting is February 12.

The meeting adjourned a little after 8pm.

s/Fred Druseikis

===== INFO below added by Wetzel,on 2/13/2025 provided by Marguerites notes =========

 The dates below were selected at this meeting as our "maximum dates we want"  (J Wetzel comment)

Columbia Traditional Music and Dance [COTMD,] also known as ContraCola, wishes to reserve the Arsenal Hill Hall for our monthly community contra dance on these Saturdays in 2025:

1/25

2/22

3/29

4/26

5/24

6/28

7/26  

8/23  

9/27

10/25

11/22

12/13

 

We envision the following time will be needed to set up sound equipment, dance, and then take down equipment and clean up:

Door open at 5:30 pm

Setup and finish sound check by 6:30 pm

Contra dance lesson 6:30-7:00 pm

Dance contradances 7:00-10:00 pm

Take down and clean up, be done by 11:00 pm

Minutes October 9, 2024

The board meeting was held at Virginia's house.

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm by president John.

Present: Dianne B, Victor, Dianne PQ, Virginia, Marguerite, John, Fred

Absent: Gail, Kenny, Maris

The minutes for the last meeting were reviewed.  A motion was made, seconded, and approved to accept the minutes.

Dianne B gave the Treasure's Report.  There were only two transactions; a payment to Susan Forte for use of her hall for the August dance; and the annual premium for insurance.  Net balance in the bank has declined to a level not seen for many years, possibly a decade.  A motion was made, seconded, and approved to accept the Treasurer's report.

Marguerite gave the Booker's Report.  She noted that Tyler cannot do sound for the October 26th dance; and Fred and Dianne will both be away for that dance.  As a side note, un-powered monitors belonging to F&D are located at LMCH; and Tyler has the power amp needed to use those.  Coordination will be necessary to make sure the necessary equipment is at LMCH.

The current dance schedule (as of 10/9/2024, but see below) is:

• October, Victor calling, with music by (sorry I didn't note this.)
• November, Joel calling, with CCOB
• December, Dianne P-Q calling, with Chris Lakos & Friends,

General business items were discussed.

The last scheduled dance, for September, did not happen because of the hurricane; it became apparent that there are additional difficulties with the road to LMCH because of downed trees and mud.  It seems that LMCH has neighbors that don't like it and remove signage.

An initial impression of Arsenal Hill as an alternative to CMFA has led to a remark that "Arsenal Hill is not viable."  This is because the occupancy restrictions will limit attendance and result in all dances depending on additional donations to cover costs.  The context for the discussion is a need to find a venue because of the rural and remote nature of LMCH and the perceived issues with CMFA as a space.

  

Discussion was had about doing some kind of thing with the "First Thursday" events in downtown Columbia.  An inquiry was sent to us by the person responsible for the event in the Columbia city government.  The board discussed the concept.  The upshot was that exactly 0 new dancers would come form this as a single event, with a lot of work to get it to happen.  There might make more sense if there were a dance series coupled with this idea.  Dianne B accepted the action item to communicate back to the city's representative about our concerns and reluctance.

Dianne PQ had raised up a couple of ideas for discussion, with the discussion focused on Family/Community Dances.  There was discussion about possibly designating one of the dances, perhaps February 2024, as a Family dance with a pot-luck; and with different times, 4-7 pm was suggested.  The venue was unclear.  The general idea was approved by the board.

In view of F&D's absence, it was agreed, that Dianne PQ, would take charge of the "green bag" for the October 26 dance.  John would be doing sound, and Victor would be calling, so that between the three of them the desk operations would be covered.

The next meeting will be Wednesday, January 8, 2025 at the usual time and place.

The meeting was concluded at 8:59 pm. 

/s/ Fred Druseikis

Minutes August 28, 2024

Meeting called to order at 7:31pm by president John.

Attending: John, Victor, Fred, Dianne B., Virginia, Marguerite

Absent: Dianne P-Q., Kenny

Represented by Proxy: Maris and Gail (via Dianne B.)

It was determined that a quorum was present.

The minutes of the last meeting were reviewed.  A motion was made, seconded, and approved to accept the minutes as posted.

Dianne B. gave the treasurer's report.  We are now in current FY 2024-2025.  The first dance was August 24, held at LMCH.  There was a small loss. Venmo was accessible from the site even though it is so far out in the woods; within the building can be a problem.  Givebutter and Venmo payments are being moved into the bank account rather than being kept in those systems.  A motion was made, seconded. and approved, to accept the Treasurer's report.

Marguerite gave the Booker's Report.  We were very fortunate to be able to get the LMCH hall on short notice.  It was hard for several of us to find the driveway.  The yellow signs we had been using for a few years have gone missing at the August 24 dance. It was speculated that there may have wandered away because the neighbors are known to have unfavorable feelings about dances being hosted there.  Two concerns arose in the discussion: Road Access and Signage for Parking.

There was concern that the last dance felt as if it was "low energy."  Typically the caller is the focus for getting the dance to be exciting.  An number of remarks were made about the specifics.  One reality for us is that we always have a fair number of beginners and this can be challenging for out-of-town callers if their dance communities have a larger base.  Also, dancer energy tends to decline over the course of the evening and this needs to be addressed by the caller.  The board feels that in general we should communicate concerns to callers about these perceptions and continue to work with them rather than cease book them for a season.

Upcoming Schedule:

9/28  Band: Cloud 10; Caller: Stephanie Marie.  NOTE: Dance Canceled due to Hurricane Helene damage.

10/26 Band: Marshal Goers & Lucy Allen; Caller: Victor

11/23: Band: CCOB; Caller: Leslie Bowers?  There was some discussion as to whether or not an alternative venue such as the Community Center in Peak should be considered instead of LMCH.

12/14: Band: Green Levels(?); Caller: Dianne P-Q.  (The choice of the date was voted on.)

General Business.

I have a notation that we are probably going to be at LMCH through June.  Susan wants Waiver's.  She is ambiguous about needing our insurance, i.e., that she needs to be named as an insured on the policy.

The board voted on the motion to continue coverage with our event insurance for the next year.  The voted passed with six in favor and two against.

The possibility of returning to Arsenal Hill as a dance venue was discussed.  It is unclear who or how to schedule that.  There was some discussion that it was dedicated to the Model Railroad Club.  John said he would take this as and action item.

John will send information about insurance payments to Dianne B.

The next meeting will be on October 9.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:41 pm.

/s/Fred Druseikis