Minutes February 11, 2026

We gathered at 7pm at Virginia's house for some dessert.

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

Absent: Gail, Kenny

John called the meeting to order promptly at 7:30.

Minutes of the previous meeting were approved.

The January dance was cancelled because of weather.  Instead it was held February 7 as the band, caller, and hall were all available.

Dianne B. give the Treasurer's Report.  The city was able to refund and credit the January date to February.  Givebutter texting for our service level (basically free) expired.  All texting is now paid for using the Brevo service, and this is under $10 per month.  We still have Givebutter for donations.

Victor gave the Booker's Report.  Sherlock's Meow and Dianne P-Q. for the Feb 21 dance.  CCOB and Stephanie Marie for March.  Victor announced at the March dance that for April he would be calling and John Wetzel and friends might be playing.

Other Business.

Dianne B. asked if anyone would be interested in being part of a team for the NAMI walk in May.  Several expressed interest.  This would be a team sponsored by the COTMD and would allow the group to promote the dances at the NAMI event.  There are other sponsorship levels which have additional benefits.

Marguerite expressed concerns about the size of the space in Arsenal Hill, the limit being 49 total headcount, including musicians, caller, sound, and possibly non-dancing guests of dancers or children.  The question for disucssion was should we be proactive in seeking space or wait until we it is more urgent.

The next meeting will be Wednesday, April 22.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:15pm, a record.

/s/Fred Druseikis

Minutes December 10, 2025

The board met a Virgina's home on the evening of December 10, 2025

Surprisingly, the secretary failed to actually list the attendees in his notes and had to reconstruct the list from his memory (always dubious) and that of an eye-witness (who also has trouble remembering things.)

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

Absent: Gail, Kenny

We had some sweet things to eat.

John called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm.

The minutes of last meeting were approved.

Dianne B. gave the Treasurer's report. To minimize the money handling at the venue, the treasurer is now preparing envelopes with the predetermined amounts for the band, caller, and sound.  The available cash in the kitty will be sufficient to cover making change, i.e., tens and fives.  The "First Thursday" event held in November resulted in net increase in assets because the dance expenses were covered by the city.  Substantial private donations to our group where also made since the last treasurer's report.

Victor gave the Booker's report.  The CCOB is playing for the December dance with caller Tom Machlin.  The Sherlock's Meow band is scheduled for January, with the caller TBD.

There was discussion about the idea of membership with the Houston (TX) group's use of membership.  Victor volunteered to write up a blurb about the benefits of membership as it might apply to our group.

There was also discussion about how frequently we should have a Pot Luck, i.e. every dance or only occasionally.  All agreed that the idea of finger food instead of a meal might be just as effective and require less effort.  It was agreed that we should go with the finger food model for December and January.

There was some concern expressed about the size of CCOB and how the players wouldn't all fit on the small stage in the Arsenal Hill venue, thus spilling out onto the dance floor and possibly creating an unsafe situation.  It was agreed that we would need to be extra vigilant, and proactive by engaging the caller to help with any issues.

Karl sent an e-mail highlighting the possibility of engaging in planning a festival.  The board discussed the merits and particulars of the proposal.  It was felt that given our current limited resources such an activity would be too much effort and distracting from our basic mission.

There was discussion about how to proceed with our use of Meet Up.  The subscription is not cheap.  Victor volunteered that he would support our continued use of Meet Up for the next interval.  The basic question is of course are we getting any benefit out of it.  The board requests that a head count of people there because they saw us in Meet Up.  This could be done during announcements, when the dancers are asked "how many of you are dancing for the first time?"

There was a brief discussion about how to encourage follow-up attendance, with the observation that both Charleston and Charlotte are doing "2nd dance free" kind of promotions.  We tried this in the past for quite awhile, maybe a decade.  The board recalled its previous attempts at this over the years, with the consensus being that it wasn't very effective.  It also complicates tallying statistics and accounting.

The next meeting will be Wednesday, February 11, 2026.

The meeting adjourned at 8:54pm.

/s/ Fred Druseikis

Minutes, October 22,2025

 

 Minutes of the COTMD Board Meeting on October 22, 2025, submitted by M. Frongillo
[The agenda is italicized.]

The 10/22/25 COTMD Board meeting began at 7:27 pm. 

Virginia, John, Dianne Britton, Dianne Palmer-Quay, Gail, Maris, and Marguerite were present.
 1]  The August meeting minutes were approved by vote.

2]   Dianne Britton’s treasurer report indicated that we have lost $464 between August and October, despite some donations. We have a lot of expenses including insurance, monthly use of the hall, and cost of bands and callers. Our 2026 liability insurance will be $634. A formal motion was made proposing to keep the liability insurance, seconded and voted yes. Because Venmo is good for donations, a motion was made to continue having Venmo, seconded, and voted yes.

3]  Victor was unable to attend the October meeting. It was agreed that Sherlock’s Meow could be our band for January 2026.

4]  Comments on our most recent dance.
    A]  The potluck and lesson are both good for socializing and encouraging people to dance. Usually experienced dancers help beginners, but occasionally an experienced dancer may unknowingly confuse a beginner. It helps when the caller is alert and guides with positive professional energy.
    B]  Some experienced dancers are encouraging us to advertise with frequent posts about upcoming dances. Spreading the word in person also works well.
   C]  We need an agreement about naming the two partner roles in our dances. The available terms are Ladies and Gents, robins and larks, and right and left positional. No decision was made and no vote was taken as to what terms should be used permanently. Presently the terms are up to the caller.

5] Decide on potluck (or not) for our local dances (decide thru December?) We decided that we want to keep the potluck going through our last dance this year! 

6] First Thursday event at Boyd Plaza on November 6, 2025: Discuss who needs to do what when.
A] through G] 
Our treasurer is handling the intake and dispersal of funds for this event. The two callers, Victor Gascon and Dianne PQ are local and board members and will teach simple dances. Dianne B. Dianne PQ and Maris will handle marketing for this event. Parking is available at a big city garage on Taylor between Main and Assembly. We did not discuss making a list of dancers. Most people at the 10/22/25 board meeting planned to attend the Boyd Plaza event. We were encouraged to bring our friends. No motion was made and no vote was taken on this Boyd Plaza First Thursday event.

7] There were no additional agenda items.

8] The next Contra Board meeting will be Wednesday, December 10. We voted to adjourn the 10/22/25 meeting at 8:50 pm.

 MEETING AGENDA associated with the above minutes:

 1] Review/approve meeting minutes (August 13, 2025).  Those minutes are available at:     https://cotmdboard.contracola.org/
2] Treasurer's report.
3] Booker's report 
4] Thoughts and comments on our most recent dance, attendance etc.
5] Decide on potluck (or not) for our local dances (decide thru December?)
6] Discuss who needs to do what, as regards the special first Thursday dance event:
A] Someone will need to bring cash to pay the band ($260) and callers ($200??).  First Thursday is not paying these fees directly.
B] Can someone create and maintain a list of board members and experienced dancers who will commit to attend AND actually dance?  
C]The dance event details are nailed down, and we need to make a marketing effort, who can and will do what? The first Thursday event should be heavily promoted at our next regular Saturday dance, to bring out experienced dancers.
D] How do we get as many of our experienced dancers as possible to come help ] out (this overlaps with the marketing effort)?
E] How do we plan to pull "curious onlookers" into this dance, which is otherwise no more than a demonstration?
F] Since we are going to be paid $600 for this, we will have some "profit" to bank after all expenses.  How (and when) will we collect this $600?
G] What (if any) parking arrangements are there that we can push out to anyone who wants to attend this event?
7] Any additional agenda items should be introduced here (time permitting).
8] Set the next meeting date and adjourn.