AFM Minutes
All about recent meetings of the Amador Friends of Music, the parent organization for our Band and Color Guard.

General Membership Meeting, November 5, 2005

Thom Kato called the meeting to order at 7:05.

1. Acknowledgements:
a. Thom thanked Mr. Grantham, the RA’s and the Road Warriors for all of their hard work this season.
b. Thom informed the band that Big O Tires donated new tires, brakes, bearings, etc. for the repair of the band trailer and also for similar repairs on the flatbed trailer.
c. Thom also informed the band that UBS donated repairs for the golf cart.

2. Director’s Report – Mr. Grantham:

Seems strange that another marching season is behind us, and what a season it was! Thanks are too many and congratulations too long for the space I have here, but we have amazing kids doing amazing things. We should all be proud of what they have achieved.

With the close of marching band, the year is not over, just refocused. On the horizon is the winter concert (12/20) and beyond that are several jazz festivals, concert band performances (including CMEA state convention for the wind ensemble!), winterguard shows and winter percussion competitions. Truly in many ways, our kids are really just beginning.

Marching band:
*Awards night at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Families and friends are invited. Dress is formal for the kids. It should run about 2 hours.
*On Saturday, report time for the parade is 4:00 p.m. (drop off at Del Valle as Santa Rita will be closed) and the event should be done no later than 7:00 p.m., if not earlier.
*Look for information soon about collecting marching uniforms.

Concert band:
*Winter concert is Tuesday, December 20 at 7:00 p.m. in the Amador Theater.
*Wind ensemble concert attire has arrived and will be handed out this week.
*For wind symphony and symphonic band, concert dress is:
-ladies in all black (dress pants or knee to floor length skirt, black blouse and black dress shoes and nylons (not sandals)
-gentlemen in black dress pants, black socks, black dress shoes, belt with white long sleeve collared dress shirt and dark neck tie.
*Other dates: CMEA State Convention is March 9, Harvest Park concert is March 27, CMEA Band Festival is April 28 and Spring concert is May 23.

Jazz:
*Jazz "A" concert is Monday December 19, Jazz "B" concert is Tuesday December 20.
Folsom Jazz Festival is January 28 (this is not an overnight) and Reno Jazz Festival is April 29-30.

Guard/percussion:
*Practices for both groups have started as of Monday of this week!

NEEDED: Mr. Grantham is looking for 6-8 parents who would be willing to help usher at all three band concerts (12/20, 3/27, 5/23). Karen Swift
(senior parent) has agreed to serve as house manager for the events. What we are looking for are parents who could come 1/2 hour early and stay 15
minutes after. Volunteers would still be able to see the concert without disruption, but would help to hand out programs, monitor doors during the
event and assist with anyone who needs seating or special accomodations. Having ushers is a requirement by the city for our usage of the theater.
Thanks for considering! Contact Mr. Grantham if you can help!


3. AFM Board Member Reports:

a. VP of Fundraising – Angela Adkins:
i. Angela spoke about the Magic of Music Fundraiser and the importance of the involvement of all band member families this spring. Having one large fundraiser makes it possible to support the band program without having to run many small (and less successful) fundraisers all year long.
ii. Angela announced that Debbie Asbury would be setting up a stand to sell hot cider, hot chocolate and other goodies on Main Street during the parade. Please stop by!

4. Second Semester Budget and Fees – Thom Kato:

The fees for the spring semester were reported as follows:
a. Concert Band Fees will be $100.00 per student.
This includes a trip to Sacramento for the Wind Ensemble.

b. Jazz Band Fees will be $350.00 per student.
This includes a trip to Reno and to the Folsom Jazz Festival.

c. Winter Percussion and Winter Guard Fees will be $1500.00 per student.
This includes a separate trip for both groups to the WGI Championships in Dayton, Ohio in April. The fee does not include food for the trip and a possible uniform for winter percussion students.

It is important for all students and parents to know that involvement and payment for the separate bands is cummulative. For example, if you are participating in the Concert Band ($100.00), the Jazz Band ($350.00) and the Winter Percussion ($1,500.00), then your total amount due is $1,950.00.

This year we have the ability to accept payments for band fees on your credit card. Winter Percussion and Winter Guard will also be allowed to make four payments instead of one lump sum payment.

For Winter Percussion and Winter Guard we are putting together a statement to lay out exactly what is covered and is not covered by your fee. The statement will also ask for a signed commitment. If a commitment and payment of the fees does not go forward as planned, there will still be the chance to pull out of the trip to Dayton after the second payment is due. (The payments collected at that point would have been the cost of these two programs without the trip.)

5. Announcements:

a. RV Show – Kathleen Nohr:
The RV show at the fairgrounds is offering band parents and students the opportunity to work 200 hours at $8.50 an hour through Good Times Promotions. The days for the RV show are January 6th –January 16th. Many of these hours are during the school day, so parents, aunts, uncles, etc. are welcome to come earn money for your student’s account in order to fill the hours we have been given.
Please contact Kathleen Nohr at KNOHR@comcast.net to set up time to work.
This is a great way to help offset the cost of your spring fees!

b. Winterguard Show:
The Winterguard Show is set for February 4th at Amador. Come watch and support our team!


Meeting adjourned at 8:09.

Updated: December 16, 2005