Minutes, August 13, 2025

  Minutes of the COTMD Board Meeting on August 13, 2025, submitted by M. Frongillo
[The agenda is italicized.]

Virginia hosted the meeting, which was called to order at 7:33 PM by John Wetzel.

Present: Dianne B. and Fred [both via phone,] Virginia, Marguerite, Dianne Palmer-Quay, Victor, Maris, and Gail.
We had enough members to have a quorum.

1] Review/approve meeting minutes (June 11, 2025).  Those minutes should soon be available at:     https://cotmdboard.contracola.org/
Minutes of last board meeting [June 11, 2025] were reviewed and approved.

2] Current Treasurer’s report:
We are down $387.02 since the last report at our last meeting on June 11, 2025.
The last dance, July 26, brought in $300.00 because we got the calling and music free! Neither band nor caller accepted money for their efforts, and Tyler was not there [though we missed him!] Our treasurer was able to deposit $312 in our bank account after that dance.
A motion to approve the treasurer’s report was made, seconded, and voted accepted.

3] Booker’s report:
Tyler is our sound guy for the foreseeable future.
We have 3 out-of-town talent dances coming up. We have already agreed that out-of-town talent is now compensated by $150 per caller or musician, and now we vote YES for $150 for out-of-town callers.
Our next dance is August 23, 2025, with Tea and Whiskey as our band and Dianne Palmer-Quay as our caller.
On September 27 our band is the Evil Twins [David Knight and Laurie Fisher] and Victor will book our caller, will talk with Kenny Stephanie Marie in Charlotte.
On October 25 our band is The McKenzies and Victor will book our caller.
For the remaining 2025 dates we may be booking more local talent. Victor has a special booking email address.

4] Thoughts and comments on our most recent dance, attendance etc:
The last 2 dances were “scattered” and we had longer breaks because of the heat. The potluck was well received.

5] Do we need to make any formal decision as regards making a "potluck" before each dance a permanent thing?
Gail suggested that we decide at each board meeting whether we will do a potluck for the next two dances. For the potlucks, organic paper products and cutlery were donated. If we have potlucks all the time, should we change who does the chores? We could decide to keep putting on potlucks for the next 2 months, saying “bring your own serving utensils & cutlery.”
Victor is cleaning out some drawers so we might put our stuff in drawers.

6] Latest news (if any) regarding Arsenal Hill capacity rules (ie. Fire Marshal news)?
Capacity will be dealt with when Ms Pearl Osborne meets with the Assistant Fire Marshal.

7] Renewing our liability insurance, (renewal looms). Treasurer to execute renewal if we so desire:
Liability insurance or next year costs $634, and we will need to send the check for payment in 3 weeks. A formal proposal was made to keep insurance, and we voted to keep the insurance.

8] Should we have (instead of "caller decides") a mix of 50% ladies/gents and 50% gender neutral calling (assuming we have enough callers of each type to make this feasible)?
Common dance roll terms are Ladies and Gents [traditional], Right and Left [positional], Larks and Robins. Previously we voted that the caller decides the terms used at that dance. By alternating callers, we become familiar with a variety of terms.

9] We seem to have another Sasquatch problem at our dances (people who are too strong, too tall or too clueless to dance with).
Gail reported that two female shaggers came to the last dance, and that Karl turned them too fast. If that happens at a dance, the affected dancer should report it to a board member [who would need to wear a tag showing that they are on the board] or to the caller. The caller could talk in a short simple way about safety.

10. Any additional agenda items:
A] Meetup, and reimburse Dianne Palmer-Quay?
People are coming because of Meetup, for which Dianne P-Q has so far been paying $200 every 6 months. It looks like it is working. John says that our group should pay. Victor and Dianne P-Q offered to share the cost so far. Charlotte used Meetup and within 3 months they became solvent. For us it’s the high overhead cost due to CDSS, Insurance, and $125 rent that make it necessary for us to have 60 dancers to break even. To save money, can we sign in for 2026 as a rollover nonprofit?

B] Dance Display First Thursday Downtown Columbia:  NOTE: THE INFO BELOW IS DATED AND NOT ENTIRELY CORRECT (but is retained as a information about this meeting).
We would be seen outside in a covered space in front of the Art Museum.  We would need experienced dancers and a change in format to make it work. We would first do a 5-minute dance, then stop and announce, “It’s your turn to dance,” inviting everybody to dance. We’d have a total of one hour.
When would we do it? Suggestions were more than once a year, in possibly October, November, April, May, or June. To make arrangements, Maris would talk with Becca about details such as date[s]. We could use recorded music and we need time for a quick setup. A motion to do dance display[s] was made, seconded, and accepted by vote.

C] Gail asked if she could distribute “get in free” cards, saying there are only twelve left. John said that he thought we had formally discontinued this and will go through past minutes to check. He indicated she can go ahead until he finds we voted against giving out “get in free” cards.

 D] Marguerite asked if it’s it OK to ask the Scottish dancers to do a demo at our September dance. It would honor David Knight as a Scottish dance musician, and Scottish dancing as one of the “parents” of Contradance. She said she would donate $10 for each of the Scottish dancers’ admission. John granted the ok.

11. Set the next meeting date and adjourn.
We chose to meet on this October 22, and we adjourned at 8:49 pm.

Minutes June 11, 2025

The board members gathered at Virginia's house at 7 pm.  The there was pie! And lots of it.  And other goodies too.

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

Absent: Kenny

John called the meeting to order a 7:35 pm.

The minutes from the previous meeting were approved.

Treasurer's Report

In view of the need to create and end-of-the-year financial report for CDSS, various transactions were invoked to consolidate money in Venmo and GiveButter systems to the bank account.  The report was approved.

Booker's Report

June 27 event will be a pot luck with dancing using recorded music.  Victor and Dianne P-Q. will share calling duty.  Emphasis will be on skills and teaching.  There was discussion about using positional calling.

It was decided that "July 26 dance will be cancelled."  Except that it wasn't: there was a dance, Sherlock's Meow played, Victor called.  Sound was make do.  Caller and Band volunteered their time.  There was a pot luck.  The hall was paid. This was all decided via e-mail discussion after the generally positive vibe we had for the potluck and dance on June 27.

September dance band will be Evil Twins.  A motion was made and approved to pay a somewhat larger fee.

General Business

There was discussion about revising the payment schedule for bands due to the difficulty of getting bookings.  It has proposed and seconded that the going rate for musicians should be $150/person/night.  The motion was approved.

There was extensive continued discussion regarding calling traditional (Ladies & Gents) versus gender neutral (Larks & Robins).  There are concerns.  There is some feeling that this creates a lot of confusion for new dancers, as well as older ones too.  Discussion to be continued.

There was additional discussion about the status of hall capacity, which is currently capped at 49.  Various inquiries have been made, with assurances given that the respondent would get back in a couple of weeks.  It seem that this direct approach has gotten stalled because its now been a couple of months.  It is clear that City Parks needs to advocate for us.  It should be noted that there are a couple of reasons for seeking to increase the hall capacity.  The primary one is that have a increased number of people adds excitement to the event.  The band, caller, sound tech, desk, and wall flowers, anywhere from 5-10 bodies, through their presence, diminish the energy level of a specific dance.  Yet we don't have a dance without them  A secondary reason is that our model of a sustainable dance series requires a minimum head count to cover expenses.  A typical dance event costs something in the range of $500-$600 (including hall) to produce, but volunteers, for example the open band, can cut that in half.  At a donation of $10/person that means we need to have somewhere between 50 and 60 dancers; realistically the cap needs to be raised to 70 for us to be sustainable (at the current donation level.)

There was an offer extended to the Scottish dancers to use the hall on July 26 as it was believe that we would not be using it.  The Scottish group declined, thankfully, because we ended up using it ourselves on that date.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, August 13, 2025

The meeting adjourned at 8:58 pm.

/s/ Fred Druseikis

Minutes May 8, 2025

The CoTMD Board gathered at Virginia's house at 7 pm for snacks and conversation.

Board Members Present: Fred, Dianne B., Maris, Gail, Virginia, Marguerite, John

Board Members via Facetime: Victor

Board Members Absent: Kenny, Dianne P-Q.

Visitor Present: Tess

John called the meeting to order at 7:32 pm.

A motion to approve the minutes of the last meeting, April 8, 2025, was made, seconded, and passed by unanimous vote.

Treasurer's Report

    There were no significant transactions over the last month.  The bank balance remains essentially unchanged.

    The treasurer reported that City Parks department thinks we only need to pay $25 per event, rather than $25 per hour per event.  Pearl is on leave with no date being specified for her return, and her stand-in stated that the data entered into their billing system was accurate and was indeed the amount we needed to pay.  The City Parks employee seemed unaware of the previously understood conversation with Pearl that specified the latter, which we understood as the hourly charge for the minder.  This was received by the board as good news, but there was discussion about a concern that the new City Parks employee might not have fully understood the reality and whenever Pearl returns, or sooner, we might  be asked to catch up all the charges in arrears.  For this reason, at the moment, there is no need to attempt to economize (shorten) the hours we use Arsenal Hill since we have the whole space reserved from 5-11 pm on the specified Saturdays for one low price $25 per event.

    It was observed that this change improves the sustainability of our dance series.

    The Treasurer's report was approved by unanimous vote.

Booker's Report

    There was discussion about having dances in June 28 and July 26. The AC is in good condition at the facility, but there was still concerned expressed about the heat of the summer, with which we are all familiar.  Victor suggested that recorded music could be used.

    A motion was made seconded and approved to implement Victor's suggestion.  A social event including pot luck is being considered.

    Future dances:

    August     Tea & Whiskey    Caller: TBD

    There was discussion about hall capacity fire codes in Arsenal Hill.  We have explained the situation to City Parks and they have agreed to take it up with the fire marshal.  I'm unclear what the status of this is.

Election of Officers and At-Large Board Members

    May is the month in which the board considers nominations for corporate officers and at-large members.  The following slate was put forward:

    President: John

    Vice President & Booker: Victor

    Treasurer: Dianne B.

    Secretary: Fred

    At-large Members: Dianne P-Q., Gail, Kenny, Maris, Marguerite, Virginia

    The board recognizes that Kenny has not attended any meetings per se, but has contributed to many discussions on the e-mail list over the last year, as well as being an active contra-dance caller plugged into the broader community.  There was some discussion about possibly creating a different kind of board member category but the discussion didn't really suggest that it would serve any purpose. 

    The board approved the slate of officers and in doing so the continuing board members affirmed their desire to continue to support the activities and mission of CoTMD group over the next year.

Discussion of Gender-Neutral Roles in Our Dance Series

    Tess joined the discussion to express some concerns about language used by callers in the dance series and specifically how much of an outlier we are in comparisons to other dances she has intended across the country.  Specifically both Columbia and Charleston seem to be well behind in adoption of gender neutral dance calling  (presently clinging to the gents/ladies language) and she is concerned that this is problematic for our group.  Specifically, people may choose to attend dances depending on the use of gender-neutral or traditional calling.

    There was discussion.  One thought that came forward was the need to be clear to callers what our expectations are for use of gender-neutral terminology.

    The board thanked Tess for taking the time to come to the meeting and expressed appreciation for her candor.  The board did not take any action except to plan to continue the discussion at the next meeting after having had the opportunity to take into consideration all that had been said.

Next Meeting & Adjournment

The next meeting will be Wednesday, June 11, 2025.  The meeting was adjourned at 9:06 pm.

/s/Fred Druseikis

Minutes April 9, 2025

 The COTMD Board met at Virginia Winn's house on Wednesday, April 9, 2025.

We all like sweet things and enjoy each other's conversation, so we gathered at 7pm.  The meeting was called to order at 7:35pm.

Present: Dianne B., Gail, Victor, Virginia, Marguerite, Maris, John, Fred

Absent: Dianne P-Q., Kenny

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved.

Treasurer's Report

The last dance had a net loss of $113.11 overall, i.e. including hall and overhead costs. Dates for the Arsenal Hill venue have been cleared through September. There were some question about dance event plans for the end of the year.  Upcoming expenses are CDSS membership fees in April (this expense maintains our 501(c)(3) status;) liability insurance in September; Brevo (a texting service) fees will begin in September, which will be ongoing and based on number of messages sent.  GiveButter presently handles our text messaging until September, is free for our level of usage, but starting in September would require an expensive subscription to maintain texting capability.  It is our objective to have Brevo ready for use soon so the transition from GiveButter texting in September will be smooth; we don't have to start paying for Brevo until we begin using it.  A motion was made seconded and approved to accept the Treasure's Report.

Booker's Report

The Evil Twins (David Knight and Lorrie Fischer) inquired about the possibility playing in Columbia as they are planning a southeast tour to the various contradance venues.  There was discussion about our ability to pay their asking price; and concerns were expressed on two matters.  First regarding our group's ability to pay given our financial health; and second, being compensated at the expect level as musicians of their stature (our current level of compensation for out-of-town bands are "scant".)  Various views were expressed.  The consensus was that we should try to get them to come and to be prepared to pay their requested fee instead of playing games with our stated limits and travel expenses.

Marguerite requested that for personal reasons she be allowed to step back from VP/.Booker responsibilities for awhile.  She stated that she still very much wanted to remain on the board.  Victor was nominated to the position of VP/Booker; the board unanimously approved his appointment.

Dance Results

There was discussion about general matters for the dances at Arsenal Hill.  The hall is being rented for the 5-11pm time slot.  The minder has been very prompt and continues to be present.  The dances have not gone the full time and have all so far ended early.  This raises the question of whether or not we should attempt to save some money by renting the hall from 6-10pm.  This would reduce the rental from $150 to $100.  Concerns about shortening were expressed but no decision was made.

There was some question about whether or not the AC was functioning during the dance. There was some discussion about adequacy and the need for floor fans and ceiling fans.  There is AC but there may be some tricks with the thermostat.

Other Matters

Dianne B and John will initiate conversation with the Parks Department about the issue of hall capacity.  It was remarked that attempting to approach the fire marshal on this will absolutely pointless as we have no standing in any conversation with him or her.  The matter will need to be taken up with Pearl who we would expect to escalate the issue to the director or other official.  We have not exceeded the capacity limit yet, but it's clear that staff head count impacts the dancers (band + caller + sound + desk).  Also a handful of children affects it too.  The space is comfortable, easily accessible, in a great location, and sized well for our current attendance.

(In writing this summary I'd like to add that the central issue is to have a enough potential capacity to allow the dance series to be self-sustaining through donations; there are two ways to achieve this: one is to increase capacity to make our dance sustainable at the current donation level; or alternatively to increase the suggested per-dancer donation.  Some combination of the two is probably needed.)

There was a discussion about rates of travel reimbursement.  Our current model is $3/20 miles (basically a gallon of gas, not assuming a particular mileage efficiency); the IRS model is cents per mile traveled (50 cents per mile was mentioned, however the actual rate is 71 cents per mile for business and self-employed.)  There was discussion.  The board directed the Booker to no longer use a mileage travel component when discussing compensation with bands and callers.  The goal is to get a clear understanding of the compensation expected by the prospective staff and work with them in negotiation, leaving travel expenses out of the discussion.

Next Meeting; THURSDAY, May 8. (This is a DIFFERENT WEEKDAY than we have ordinarily had.)

Adjourned at 8:56pm.

/s/ Fred Druseikis

Minutes, March 12, 2025

COTMD Board Meeting

We met at Virginia's house at 7 pm and enjoyed each other's company while gorging ourselves on all manner of sweets, cookies, and pie.  There might have been something healthy there too.

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

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

Absent: Gail, Kenny

The minutes of the last meeting were reviewed and approved.

Dianne B presented the Treasurer's Report.  Donations to cover the additional costs of renting the Arsenal Hill venue had been received.  There were no additional expenses aside from hall rental and Facebook advertising, so the net financial status remained virtually unchanged.  Money accumulated in Venmo was transferred into the bank account. The report was approved.

Marguerite presented the Booker's Report.  The upcoming dances are:

3/29, Arsenal Hill, Caller: Victor, Band: Marshal Goers & Lucy Allen

4/26, TBD (see next), Caller: Tom Macklin, Band: Sherlock's Meow

5/24, TBD (see next), Caller: TBD (out of town), Band: ContraCola Open Band

The Booker's report was accepted.

The meeting continued to address issues identified by John in the meeting announcement.

There was discussion about the choice of venues.  The vibe of the CMFA space is not as agreeable as Arsenal Hill; it does however have greater capacity.  The CMFA space requires a lot more physical work to set up and take down because of the layout of the space and location of storage rooms.  The CMFA space is used primarily as a ballet studio, and it there was concern that the contra dance left the floor dirty.

Presently the Arsenal Hill space is being rented from 5-11pm (for a total of 6 hours), which accounts for the required "minder fee" of $150.  The CMFA space has no minder-fee requirement, and neither organization expects a percentage of donations; however ask a reminder, we have in the past made it a policy to donate 20% of admissions to CMFA to remind ourselves that halls cost.

The board approved the following motion as a statement of intent: "That the principal venue for dances should be Arsenal Hill with CMFA as a backup."  The motion was approved.

There was additional discussion about how to go about increasing the capacity of Arsenal Hill from 49 persons to something higher.  Victor thought he could see if he can find some documents circa 2014 that would explain why the capacity was reduced.  Maris was going to take a look at the door and outside steps situation to see how bad it is. 

John in discussions with Pearl O. has determined that there is no possibility of reducing the hourly rate for the minder.

There was discussion about the needs for the next dance and expectations were clarified.

The Booker is authorized to begin searching for bands and callers for next season.

There was discussion about exercising some fiscal austerity for June, July, and August, if dances are scheduled.  It was felt that out of town bands should not be scheduled if possible.

Dianne B has narrowed the search for a texting service (Brevo) to replace the one that GiveButter has here-to-fore provided as a benefit of their base-level offering.  She will be working through the details of how to adapt it for our use.

The next meeting will be April 9, 2025, at Virginia's house.

The meeting adjourned at 8:41 pm.

/s/ Fred Druseikis

Minutes, February 12, 2025

 Victor

 Minutes of the COTMD Board Meeting

February 12, 2025

Meeting called to order at 7:37 PM by John Wetzel.

Present: Virginia, Marguerite, Dianne B., Dianne Palmer-Q, Fred (via video call), Victor. There were enough members to have a quorum.

1. Approval of minutes of January meeting. Minutes were reviewed and approved.

2. Treasurer’s report was reviewed and approved.

3. Booker’s report

   1. We are dancing at Arsenal Hill and our talent is Chris Liakos and John Wetzel, with Caller Dianner Palmer-Q

   2. March’s talent is Lucy Allen and Marshall Goers, with Caller Victor.

4. CMFA as a dancing venue: the Board discussed the various aspects and issues with CMFA. John reported a very cordial and productive conversation with the new liaison at CMFA. Among the issue that were noted:

   1. Floor: the floor is not the best for Contra dancing and CMFA has concerns with damage to it due to street shoes being used.

   2. Calendar: CMFA explicitly indicated that they will have to cancel our reservation if they have an event in the main room.

   3. CMFA has an issue with having food in the pink room

   4. Chairs and tables: CMFA will not allow us to store them in the pink room because they want everything stored in a central location for all of their needs.

5. Arsenal Hill logistics and planning: everything I set to go for this first dance. John will add Arsenal Hill to our insurance policy.

6. Amplifiers at Lake Murray Contra Hall: John asked for approval to compensate Tyler for going to LMCH, unplugging our newest amplifier, connecting and testing the older amplifier, and then retrieving our equipment (including one of Fred’s and Dianne’s monitor speakers). A motion was made by Victor to approve the expenditure of $50 for Tyler’s time and it was seconded by Virginia; the Board unanimously approved the motion.

7. Microphone stands: the group needs three microphone stands. During the short discussion, Dianne B., Fred and John offered to donate three stands to the group.

8. Inventory of existing equipment: John is in the process of preparing an updated list of our equipment and where it resides. Some of it is with Tyler and some with Victor and some with John or at Lake Murray Contra Hall.

9. Other items

   1. Victor advanced the idea that, if we cannot afford to have more dances each month (due to funding and limited volunteers) then we may want to reduce the frequency of our dances to quarterly events that have a longer duration (to include workshops and a potluck). This was left open for further consideration.

   2. Dianne P-Q discussed the use of Meetup and Facebook ads to promote our new location. The estimated cost for the ads will be $30 per month. The Board approved the idea of investing funds for both Meetup and Facebook.

   3. Dianne B. brought up the fact that our free texting service through GiveButter is coming to an end. That service is now part of GiveButter+ which is a bit expensive at $29/month. Dianne B. will research alternatives for free texting.

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