BoD Minutes – Jan 19, 2020

CTSS BOD Meeting Minutes – 1-19-2020

Meeting held at Apple Rehab to accommodate Charlie Allen.

Attendees: Charles Allen, George McCleary, Bob Smith, Jane OGrady, Jacqui Kuzmik, Bill Dexter, Phil DesJardins, Norm Ward, Bob Bell.

Observing: John Kuzmik & Jane Bell

Call to Order: 2:38 PM

Meeting out of agenda order to facilitate Food Drive Committee which consists of:

Charles Allen, Bob Bell (marketing, banners & advertising), Bill Dexter (creating Food Drive kits for our Santas & Mrs.), Chip Adams (making wooden items needed for food drives (tables or easels).

Food Drive: The reason for the food drive is to raise money & goods for local food pantries in the summer when the need is the greatest. There were a total of 52 letters sent to our members asking them to volunteer for this endeavor. Seven (7) members said YES, Seven (7) members said NO & Five (5) members said maybe—they would like more information. That’s a total of 19 responses out of 52 letters. We need to have better involvement from our members! 

The food drive “Kit” would consist of:

1. A 4’ table & tablecloth

2. 6 ft. “Santa Cares” banner

3. A plastic frame or canopy to hang banner

4. Donation jar (seeded with 1-$20, 1-$10, 2-$5’s  & 5-$1’s)

5. A tripod easel for poster

Extra items might consist of: Santa chair for photos, photo backdrop, & some type of “give-away”. Jane will see if she can get “Sue” to make another copy of the original CTSS logo for copying to the “Santa Cares” banner (so colors are exact). A price list for items needed to complete a “kit” was given to BOD members. (it is attached to this meeting minutes).  Was Sue contacted?

Jane said that the prices listed for supplies are “crazy”! Shopping sales both online & in stores would yield much lower prices. Donation jars need to be clear so people can readily see other donations….maybe plastic jars would suffice? She will look into getting items cheaper. Were items found that were cheaper?

Norm suggested an idea for the banner: “Santa & Mrs. Claus believe in happy tummies all year long”. Bob Bell said that it would be perfect for a poster but too long for the banner. A poster would be 20 X 30 and cost about $15.00.

Bob Bell also suggested that Chip Adams help with the easels rather than the tables. It would cut the cost of wooden easels considerably. Bill Dexter will talk to Chip Adams about the easels. What did Chip Adams have to say about making the easels? We could use plastic fold-up tables which cost less & are easily carried to & from events. The timeline for putting these kits together is 4-6 weeks. Bob Bell will take a picture of a kit for Bill Dexter to include with his next letter to CTSS members.

We will start with 5 basic kits that can be individualized per Santa/event. 

CTSS has $1,100.00 to work with for the Food Drive kits. $500.00 will be a line item from CTSS budget, $500.00 originally donated from Charlie Allen for “Santa education” will now go into the food drive kits, & $100.00 from Bill Dexter.

George said that he has been in contact with “Larry”, the assistant manager of Lake Compounce about setting up a food drive at Lake Compounce to benefit both Bristol & Southington, where the amusement park is located. They are very interested! They would do all the advertising of the event & CTSS would have to provide the Santas & Mrs. to man a food drive table at the entrance to the park for this summertime event. This type of event would build up the recognition of CTSS throughout the state.

George will report back to the BOD as soon as he meets again with Lake Compounce. What were the results of the meeting?

(Bob & Jane Bell leave the meeting & we continue with the agenda outline.)

Officer Reports:

Chairman – Charlie Allen & Bill Dexter – Community Service Events…..

Got many Santa volunteer forms returned from 1st mailing. There are approximately 200 community service visits by our members for 2019. If we are going to apply for a grant or donations to CTSS, this is very impressive. Maybe in the next form, he will ask for the number of children present at each event to show just how many children are helped because of CTSS.

George gave Bill a volunteer list from Diane Grenier that comprised all the Santas & Mrs. that did events that Dianne was in charge of: Governor’s Residence, the Bushnell Theater, & Hartford Wolfpack hockey team. Bill will add them to the total volunteers.

President – George McCleary

Showed us a letter he received from Catholic Charities in Waterbury thanking us for supplying 90% of the toys that were needed for their Christmas party. (CTSS collected 72 toys in various age groups at our Workshop Weekend last October.)

He also got a donation letter from Catholic Charities showing the value of the toys at $250.00 to be used on tax forms if needed.

George did not spend any of the $250.00 allocated for toys this year!

George found out that there are DCF Christmas events held in Stamford, Norwich & 3 other cities around the state. Maybe we should re-evaluate the need for a toy drive for Foster Care daycares. Table this endeavor until further information is gathered. The need is not as great as originally thought for DCF.

Treasurer – Bob Smith

The balance in the checkbook is $10,144.17.  Received a $350.00 check from George for Workshop Weekend & another $300.00 check that has not been deposited yet. That will increase the checkbook balance to $10,794.17.

Two bills are coming due: CT Web Factory for website hosting (in April) and the Northwest Chamber of Commerce yearly dues of $225.00 that is due in January. Motion was made by Norm to pay the chamber of commerce. Jane seconded the motion – all were in favor.

Thank you notes for donations from CTSS for the past season included Operation Elf, Watertown Dog Park, Christmas Village & Lone Star Santas. 

Bob does not have a final report for the Workshop Weekend yet. Found that we were charged $147.00 for coffee for both days of the workshop! Will have a final report at the next BOD meeting.

Was contacted by Donna Ewes from the Doubletree Hotel in Bristol wondering that since the Red Lion is closing, is there something that the Doubletree can do for us. George has a meeting set up for 1-21-20 both with the hotel & Lake Compounce. He will report at the next meeting.

Photo Weekend – Terry took credit card charges & CTSS handled the cash and checks. We were to split the proceeds. Instead, Terry will hold on to what she has & CTSS will do the same. Terry suggested that we use the extra money “to work your Christmas magic. We are honored to be a part of this fund raiser & look forward to working with you next year.”

We made $1,302.80 at the Photos with Santa event. There was a total of $138.20 in expenses.

Donations to CTSS are down this year. Have not yet received a check from the Bushnell Theater as promised. Also, in the past, John Dzen would send a check as a thank you for the Santas & Mrs. who came to the tree farm on weekends before Christmas. Now that Dianne Grenier is in charge of the Santas, we did not get any calls for Dzen’s so there will be no donation.

Secretary – Jacqui Kuzmik

Asked for a motion to approve the meeting minutes of 11-8-19. Phil Made the motion & George seconded the motion. All were in favor.

Committee Reports:

Events – George McCleary

Publicity – Ask Bob Bell if he would be interested in taking over the position outside of the website & Facebook page. We will do this after the food drive kits are finished.

Membership – Jane OGrady

There are 123 total names on the books. There are 69 paid members for 2020. Need to build membership. George suggested we have some kind of campaign to get &/or retain Santas for either paid or volunteer events. We are at our max & can’t fill our events. Either we try to recruit new Santas or find ways to get our members to participate more.

Jacqui handed out the “Want to be a Santa” cards that she had with her. The cards need to be updated with BOTH the Facebook & Website information.

We need to update our website to facilitate helping new Santas.

Jane suggested that at ALL of our events we should have posters, cards & information about joining CTSS.

Bob suggested that when we get a new Santa, he should be assigned to a local Santa as a mentor. 

Sickness & Distress – In the past 6 months, Jacqui sent sympathy cards to the families of  Paul St Marie, Jim Rizzio, Alex & Anne Dembski (son), & George & Carol McCleary (Carol’s Mother & George’s brother). Get well cards were sent to Norm Ward, Ray Erickson, & Bill Sulkazi.

Old Business:

Website: 

Bill’s secretary spoke with Dave Grant at CT WebFactory. Dave did not think anything was wrong with the website. She felt that she was put into a bad spot, that she needed to travel to Wolcott & that it got so complicated that Bill told her not to worry about it. At this point he thinks it’s better to create a new website rather than rework an existing site. His secretary is still willing to get involved with our website. Her involvement would not cost CTSS anything except for using another web company closer to Bill. He will look into it before the bill for CT WebFactory comes due in April & report at the next BOD meeting.

Our website needs maintenance; setting up a website is easy. We need someone who will add & remove event dates as needed, do proofreading of event information & add photos of members to the Members page. Norm still volunteers to learn about the website.

New Business:

1. Food Drive: Covered at beginning of meeting

2. Elections:  Jacqui asked for help from the BOD about getting the membership to understand the election process…..some people thought that the nominations taken at the picnic were actually the elections! 
   Phil suggested that 1 month before the picnic an email should go out, stating that we are looking for nominations for this year’s offices & the nominations will be accepted at the picnic only. Actual elections will be at the Workshop Weekend.
   Jane suggested that the nomination form should not be sent along with other Workshop Weekend information… people don’t read long emails completely. Maybe a “flyer” would be better than an email. She will work on it.
   Bill suggested that the actual ballots be available at the workshop weekend or sent via mail ahead of the weekend.
   Phil said that Louise would be available to be on the Election committee.

1. Annual Meeting April – (tbd)

2. Picnic: The annual CTSS picnic will be Saturday, June 27, 2020 which will be a good lead-in for the food drives. It will also be a cooler time for the reindeer, and does not interfere with events that John Dzen’s son is having.

3. Fall Activities:

   1. Volunteers are needed for the following events:

      1. Christmas in July in Watertown

      2. Bethlehem Fair (Sept 11-13)

      3. Garlic Festival (Oct 10 & 11)

      4. Photos with Santa (Nov 6 – 8)

      5. Bethlehem Christmas Town Festival. (Dec 4 – 6)

      6. Bob will finalize remaining dates & report at the next BOD meeting.

1. Workshop Weekend: George will gather info & report at next BOD meeting.

2. Dinners: George suggests that there should be another Annual Meeting in April & he also suggests CTSS have a lunch/dinner social meeting every other month to help keep members informed. 

Norm said that this might help with the question: “What do I get out of becoming a member? People like to socialize too.

Maybe a brunch would be better – not seen as competition with NESS. A Sunday event is a better option than a Saturday.

Bob noted that if it is every other month, maybe he could get the community room where he works for a “training & have a meal brought   in”.  

Phil said that whatever facility we get, it had to be handicap accessible.

Bill suggested Dakota’s in Rocky Hill. They have a very good brunch on the weekends. Jacqui will check into it.

Next Meeting: March – Jacqui will send email to BOD

Place of Meeting: 100 Morningside Drive, Torrington, CT

Time of Meeting: 1:30 PM

Adjournment: 5:15 PM    George made Motion to adjourn. Jane seconded the motion.

Appendix

Materials for Santa Cares Food Drive:

• Ballot Box Stand Foam Board with lock 12 in. square

• 8” X 11 “ Acrylic “No” Hasp & Padlock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50.00

• 2’ X 4’ Wooden Table (Being made, Bill Dexter will report

• Portable Plastic Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $37.99

• Foam Board Sign – Printed

• @ $18.74 X 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $74.96

• 66” Reinforced Artist Tripod Easels (85cm/33.4 cm

• 4 Tripods @ $37.99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $152.00

• Foam Board   20 X 30, Case of 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $16.33

• Staples Black Aluminum Tri Pods, 49” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $24.75

• 12” X 12” CRYLIC Ballot Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $47.99

• Red Cloth cover for 2’ X 4’ Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7.99

Materials for Santa Cares Food Drive
ITEM	SOURCE	QUANTITY	COST	EXT.	ITEM #
6’ folding table	Sam’s Club (WalMart)	1	40	40
Pipe frame	Bill	1	20	20
1’ x 4’ banner (6’)	Bob (Uprint)	1	30	30
Table cover	Amazon	1	15	15
Collection box	Amazon	1	18	18
Info book	Bob/Bill/Charlie	1	2	2
Bookmarks	Bob	200	.08	16
Candy dish	Amazon	2	5	10
				151 / kit
Tabletop display poster	Charlie	2	10	20
Play area
Santa “chair” and cover
Photo backdrops
Floor mats