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Minutes 10-09-02MZNUTES OF THE HeritageFest 2002 COMMZTrEE MEETZNG EZELL HESTER CENTER, 190Z N. SEACREST BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, October 9, 2002 AT 7:00 P.M. Members Angela Girtman, Chairperson Stephanie Mingo-McKoy Marsha Norfus Diane Pereira Sandra Watson Cynthia Wilson Staff Mary DeGraffenreidt, Recreation Manager :t. Call to Order Chairperson Girtman called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. 2. Attendance A sign-up sheet was circulated to record the attendance and so that minutes could be sent to the attendees. 3. Minutes of September 25, 2002 Ms. McKoy pointed out that on page 5, the beginning balance should be $10,948.94. Hotion Ms. Pereira moved to approve the minutes as amended. Ms. McKoy seconded the motion that carried unanimously. 4, Budget Chair Girtman sought and received confirmation that the $5,900 spent last year for DJ Services was for more than one DJ. Chair Girtman reiterated that the group's decision had been to find out if the new 102.3 radio station would be more cost effective than 99.1AMS for purposes of promotion. Meeting Minutes HeritageFest Committee Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida October 9, 2002 5. Solicitation for Contributions Letter Chair Girtman provided the Committee members with a copy of a sample letter, including a schedule event activities, that she had prepared and asked for comments and a vote on using it as the Committee's standard solicitation for contribution letter. Chair Girtman wanted to use the same letterhead as that used the previous year for the letter. Since the group was very small at this point, the Committee decided to table the item and wait until more people were there to make that decision. Later in the meeting when more people had joined the group, Chair Girtman re- introduced the Solicitation for Contributions letter for comments and approval. The Committee reviewed the letter and made comments. The Oratorical Contest on February 15 was added to the schedule of events contained in the letter. The Family Story Hour and Book Signing Event will be on Saturday, February 1. The Gospel Explosion was put on for February 23. The Health Fair was added for February 22. A contact name and phone number will be added also. Chair Girtman suggested mailing letters of solicitation to the people who donated last year and to several other companies in the area as well. Motion Ms. Pereira moved to adopt the proposed letter as the HeritageFest 2003 Committee's standard letter of solicitation. Ms. McKoy seconded the motion that carried unanimously. A brief discussion ensued about the Iow attendance at the Committee meetings. Ms. DeGraffenreidt stated that the next meeting would be advertised on the marquee. 6. Vendor Application Ms. Pereira gave last year's vendor application to Chair Girtman. 7. FunFare Advertisement Chair Girtman advised that she had contacted the City and given them a schedule of activities with all known dates, times, and locations of events, with some events having "To be Announced" tags. This schedule of activities will be published in the City's FunFare newsletter/magazine. 8. Youth Contests and Displays Chair Girtman reported that she had contacted IVls. Sheila Bell at the Boynton Beach Mall and confirmed that space is available for the Youth Contest Displays on Art, 2 Meeting Minutes HeritageFest Committee Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida October 9. 2002 Science, and Essays on September 15, 2002. The teachers that were involved in helping set up the science displays asked if the Committee would be interested in doing a history display. The group thought it was a good idea generally. 9. Luncheon Chair Girtman asked whether a location had been found for the luncheon. Ms. Pereira stated that in checking around, she had determined that the Catalina Center was the most viable choice. Ms. Pereira advised that she had sent a letter to the Miami Heat's Community Committee asking for a player appearance. Niami Heat does this free of charge for non-profit organizations. She was waiting for an answer and hoping that they would supply a well-known, "big name" person to enhance the event. 10. Health Fair Chair Girtman suggested the idea of having a Health Fair with an emphasis on minority issues such as diabetes, hypertension, and sickle cell anemia on Saturday, February 22, 2003. She advised that the PATCH organization would handle this and would only need a reserved place in which to set up. She asked for input on the idea from the other Committee members. The Committee was in favor of this idea, thinking that it might even draw out some of the seniors who might wish to check on the status of their health. 11. Sunday Activity on February 23, 2003 Chair Girtman mentioned that if the Committee wanted to include Sunday to make it a three-day event, they did not have an attraction for Sunday. It was generally felt that having the event for three days made money for the organization and for the vendors. The basketball tournament and carnival are the only events currently planned for Sunday. Alter considerable discussion, the Committee made the following motion. Motion Ms. Pereira moved to have a Gospel Choir Competition event on Sunday, February 23, with prizes to be determined for first, second, and third place winners, with the actual dollar amounts "To be Determined." The vendors will be there on Sunday also and their fee will remain the same. Ms. Norfus seconded the motion that carried unanimously. Ms. Pereira offered to help with the Gospel Choir Competition and suggested sending a letter to all the churches. A prize of $100 for the first place winner, $75 for the second place winner, and $50 for the third place winner was mentioned but no firm decision 3 Meeting Minutes HeritageFest Committee Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida October 9, 2002 was made as to the exact amount of the prizes. The Committee decided that this event would require three judges. :t2. Volunteer Status The Committee discussed the lack of volunteers at the previous year's event and how difficult this made it for the Committee members who had to do double and triple duty in order to cover all the areas that needed volunteers. Also, they had to do this night after night and weekend after weekend and it was exhausting. The Committee decided that they would have to make a concerted effort to recruit dedicated, responsible volunteers. ]:t was felt that the volunteers should also come to the Committee meetings to represent their willingness to serve. Several people were mentioned that were interested in being on the Committee but had not yet come to a meeting. Various people offered to contact them and encourage them to come to the meetings. :L3. Znformational Booths Chair Girtman remarked that this had been a part of the event two years ago and she thought it was a very worthwhile thing to do. For example, the educational community had a booth with information and applications for magnet schools. IVls. Norfus mentioned that this year they wanted to do something on bike helmets or bicycle seats. Chair Girtman suggested that the people distributing free literature would not have a tent and there would be no fee. This would be on Saturday only. Ms. McKoy stated that one of the missions of the Committee was to put HeritageFest on a self-supporting basisi She believed that everyone should be charged at least a nominal fee for disseminating information at the event. She stated that most organizations had money in their budgets specifically earmarked for this kind of thing and should be charged. Certain organizations such as Health Ease and Humana Life distribute free information but benefit if people avail themselves of their particular service or products. Also, having paying and non-paying vendors side-by-side could cause problems. Ms. McKoy indicated that last year, they had charged everybody. Ms. Pereira suggested having two very separate and distinct areas for the non-paying, information giving groups and the paying vendors to avoid difficulties. Ms. Watson stated that it was important to have someone available to "man" their tables also and if they had to leave, they should be advised that they would have to take their tables with them. As mentioned previously, they would be asked to provide their own tables. Chair Girtman stated that although they had to raise money and become self- supporting, she hoped that this was not the only reason they were having the event. She felt it was important to have information that benefited the community. Meeting Minutes HeritageFest Committee Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida October 9, 2002 Motion Ms. Norfus moved to have a designated area for people wanting to give out information on Saturday only. Also, the people or organizations wishing to disseminate information must bring their own tables, man them for the entire event, and remove their tables when they leave. It must be understood that there will be no selling in this area. Ms. Pereira seconded the motion that carried unanimously. 14. Carnival Chair Girtman reported that she had met with representatives from the carnival and signed a contract with them. She offered to give copies of the contract to any interested persons. Chair Girtman mentioned that the carnival would be providing 50 posters for publicity purposes. They will also be giving the Committee pre-sale tickets, which cost half the price of the tickets sold at the door on the day of the event. The Committee discussed the possibility of selling coupons for tickets that would be held by the carnival and picked up when the person wished to use the carnival. This would avoid having to pay for lost tickets. Chair Girtman emphasized that if the Committee took out "X" number of tickets, they would be responsible for either the money or the tickets to the carnival organization. Ms. Pereira stated that only Committee members should take the pre-sale tickets to sell. The general consensus of the group was a preference to sell the actual tickets and to have an understanding on the part of the Committee members that if they took pre-sale tickets to sell, they (and not the Committee) would be responsible for them and must produce either the tickets or the money for the number of tickets that they were given, prior to the event. Giving tickets to someone else to sell would not relieve the Committee member of this responsibility. Everyone thought that the pre-sale tickets would be very attractive at half price. 15. Coronation Ms. Watson reported that she had spoken to Ms. Simmons about this but that Ms. Simmons had not been to the meetings yet. Ms. DeGraffenreidt offered to give Ms. Watson everything she had on this event. Ms. McKoy asked whether the Committee wanted to allow anyone paying the $100 entry fee to participate or if they would have criteria that had to be met and have participation by selection. Ms. McKoy stated that last year people were selected to perform skits and dance routines. There was a feeling that the event needed more 5 Meeting Minutes HeritageFest Committee Meeting Boynton Beach, Florida October 9, 2002 substance. Ms. Watson stated that she would get a Committee together to work on this and report at the next meeting. 16. General Chair Girtman asked the Committee members to begin thinking of a theme for the contests. The theme last year was "Unification of Cultures." 17. Adjournment Since there was no further business before the Committee, the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (one tape) CC: Gregory & Gloria Campbell Patricia Credit Teresa & Verryl Floyd Ed Harris Frank Ireland Patricia LaMothe Veronica Mackey** Eddie Mitchell Pearl Norfus Lena Rahming Charles Robinson Rita Simmons Steve Waldman Fontaine Watkins** Sarah Williams Carolyn & Charles Yeager** **c/o Hester Center (101002) 6 Distribution 10/9/02 HeritageFest Minutes Attendees + the following: Sarah Williams Pearl Norfus Carolyn & Charles Yeager (c/o Hester Ctr.) Gregory and Gloria Campbell Lena Rahming Tom Williams Veronica Mackey (c/o Hester Ctr.) Fontaine Watkins (c/o Hester Ctr.) Ed Harris Rita Simmons Patricia Credit Teresa & Verryl Floyd