PTA Minutes November 17, 2009

St. Brigid’s School
PTA Meeting

Minutes for
November 17, 2009



Present: Kathy Berghela, Mary Anne Cecchetto, Amy Drzewiecki, Rita Fahr, Mary Anne McHarg and Ralph Provenza


Meeting began at 6:40 p.m.

Opening prayer led by Mary Anne Cecchetto

The minutes from last month’s meeting were reviewed and approved by all.

OLD BUSINESS
Ziti Dinner
Comments on the success of the ziti dinner – “delicious, best sauce – better than a restaurant.” Ralph Provenza reported that 130 dinners were sold and we brought in about $1,000 – little less than the year before. Mary Anne Cecchetto noted that this year was not a Presidential election year, as was last which may be why we had less turnout. Items to put down for next year – recycling bin, bottles of water and be sure servers (students) wear plastic gloves and that the students have an adult supervising the serving of the food, etc.

Saturday Night at the Hall Series – 11/07/09
All agreed that this was a great event, in spite of the low turnout. Mary Anne Cecchetto commented that if we do this event again in the future, we need to sell tickets in advance in order to ensure there are enough sales. Discussion about not advertising as a fundraiser (which we did not) and about having signs printed for advertising; spoke of areas to place signs to advertise. Amy Drzewiecki suggested a blanket email about events in order to get the word out. Rita Fahr suggested having local TV station video and then put the video on the public access channel. Mary Anne Cecchetto asked if we want to try this event again? Talked about having it in the beginning of March - there was talk about the timing of events – not having them too close together. She said we need to have individual committees; media, decorations, ticket sales, etc. Kathy Berghela suggested handing out flyers at events advertising future events.

After much discussion, however, it was decided not to do the Hall Series at this time. It was decided to host three major events during the year. These three events were agreed upon: the Gala, Block Party and Yard Sale.



Gala
A suggested time frame for this event would be sometime in March. Mary Anne Cecchetto has agreed to contact alumni that had offered to help out on this event. This will get the ball rolling and a chair would then be set up.

Block Party
A suggested time frame for this event would be sometime in May. Rita Fahr has agreed to chair this event. Suggestions for the block party were: dunking booth, three-legged races, egg toss, free throw basketball, batting cage, soccer kickoff, golf net, etc. We would charge for the food and dunk tank. There was discussion on getting police chief, fire chief, etc. for the dunk tank and blocking off the street. There was talk of an evening event for adults after the block party, i.e., hip hop dance-a- thon.

Yard Sale
Mary Anne Cecchetto has agreed to chair this event. A suggested time frame for this event will be in August.
Discussion continued on the planning of events: having a calendar for all events, setting up chairperson(s) for events and contacting people to work on the committees. Ralph Provenza will get information from the liturgical calendar for the parish. The benefit of events, i.e., monetary and bringing in more students was also discussed.

Rita Fahr suggested starting a binder with information about the planning of events. The binder will help the chairperson(s) for the same event next year.

Cheesecake Sale
The sale closed out this week; it was a success. Pickup is this Friday, 11/20/09 and cheesecakes will be distributed after school that same day.

Entertainment Books
It has been a slow sale this year, but we should see some profit on this. The official deadline is this Friday, 11/20/09 but we will have them available after this date.

Adopt A Family
Very slow – the deadline for donations is November 18th.

NEW BUSINESS

Hannaford Gift Cards
Rita Fahr suggested that Hannaford gift cards be sold at the school office. Ralph Provenza reported that they are going to be available in the school office.

OTHER NEWS
Ralph reported that Father Deimeke will be receiving the Neumann Award at the upcoming diocesan Mass. Sister Lucia was nominated for top teacher by Channel 13.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 6:30 p.m.; there will not be a December meeting. The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.

PTA MEETING - SEPT. 22nd, 2009

Present: Kathy Berghela, Mary Anne Cecchetto, Father Diemeke, Amie Drzewiecki, Rita Fahr, Mary Anne McHarg, Ralph Provenza, Tina Resciniti and Sally Rushford

Meeting began at 7:00 p.m.

Opening prayer led by Ms. Cecchetto.

A suggestion to have children put our meeting on their agenda to remind parents.

OLD BUSINESS

2009 Flea Market

MaryAnne Cecchetto reported that a tentative profit of $3,200 was made at the sale; the school bookeeper will finalize the numbers. She also reported $12 in raffle money. The group spoke of possibly charging $1 entrance fee – for nothing else, but to see how many attend.

MaryAnne Cecchetto gave thanks to all that helped on the sale and said that, in spite of the work entailed, she enjoyed working on the sale. Someone heard from participants at the sale on how nice the workers were.

MaryAnne Cecchetto suggested that we work on the sale throughout the year because it is a lot of work.

NOTES FOR NEXT YEAR’S FLEA MARKET:

• Talk in advance about getting people to donate baked goods
• Organize more in advance; possible 2 weeks in advance
• Pricing items ahead of time
• Deadline in which to receive vendor contracts

Saturday Night at the Hall Series – 11/07/09

This event will take place on November 7, 2009 – doors open at 7:30 p.m. We do need to assure that there is no conflict with the time schedule, i.e., basketball games, etc. Also, make sure no other events are going at the same time/date. The performer/vocalist for this event will be Annette Harris. Annetteharrisalbany.com. Annette will be bringing 2 other performers with her. We agreed upon $300 for her fee (usually gets $600).

Items discussed for the event – borrowing round tables – 8 people to a table; having wine, soda, coffee, hors d'œuvres – asking for donations. The ticket will be $12/person or $20/couple which includes 2 drinks. Rita stated that the event is more about fellowship and publicity for the school – an inexpensive, safe night out. Amie will contact Morgan Linen for donation of their used linens to be used at our events.

A committee was set up as follows: Mary Ann Cecchetto, Tina Resciniti, Kathy Berghela, Mary Anne McHarg and Sally Rushford. A committee meeting will be held on Friday, October 2, 2009.

Soccer for Younger Students

This is tabled until next meeting.

Friday Morning Meetings: Father Deimeke said we should do this once a month and have the student presentation during the homily – what the students are doing in relation to the gospel. Father requested we ask parents not to take pictures during the Mass. This will be an opportunity to let parents know what the children have learned in Religion call for the month.

Father suggested the 3rd Friday of the month. The upcoming dates are October 16, November 20 and December 18. Father will work with Sister Alice who coordinates the Mass for students.

NEW BUSINESS

Committees:
Rita suggested individual committees with a chairperson for each event; i.e., Saturday Night Series, Flea Market, etc., and said that it could be people in the parish not just PTA members. Rita suggested it might be helpful to have a committee/chairperson to contact media for our events. There was a motion and it was unanimous to have committees/chairs. Another suggestion made to have a tear-off piece on the announcement to get individuals involved with our committees.

Fundraiser for Kathleen Gingeresky (St. Brigid’s Parent and PTA Member) :
This member/parent has been diagnosed with a rare cancer. There is a fundraising event being held at Savannah’s in Albany on October 18th from 2-4 p.m. at a cost of $20 which includes a band, beer, wine and soda. It was suggested that St. Brigid’s donate a basket for their Chinese auction.

MaryAnne Cecchetto suggested that we set up a “sunshine committee” of sorts to help out the family, i.e., clean house, grocery shop, cook, mow lawn, rides to treatments, etc. A PTA member will call the family to see how we can help the family throughout the year.

PTA Dues:
Discussion followed on whether or not we should have PTA dues. It was suggested to table this until next year after we review the by-laws – which may have to be modified if we choose to have dues.

Treasurer’s Report:
Rita had nothing to report at this time. Maryanne Cecchetto explained that the PTA should decide on where to spend the money and then have the accountant write out the checks. She asked if we want to have approvals from a committee on where to spend the money. Ralph noted that teacher’s go to the PTA for financial support for their projects/activities. There was discussion on where we have spent funds in the past.


Ziti Dinner:
Tina Resciniti will chair this event and will e-mail the committee a list of what needs to be done. The dinner will be held on November 3rd, election day again this year. There will be a committee meeting on Wednesday, October 7 at 7:00 p.m.

Cheesecake Sale:
This fundraiser is held pre-Thanksgiving. Mrs. Spain will chair the event – the proceeds benefit Nature’s Classroom. Mary Anne McHarg and Rita Fahr have agreed to pick up the cheesecakes and Sally Rushford will help with sorting/distribution.

Scholastic Book Fair:
This event is held in January after the Grandparents’ breakfast. There was discussion on the location of the fair. Tina will contact the vendor to discuss arrangements.

PTA Phonathon:
A list of parents will be emailed to the committee to include: Rita McHarg: Pre-K and K; Mary Anne Cecchetto: Pre-school, 2nd and 3rd grades; Mary Anne McHarg: 6th grade; Sally Rushford: 1st and 4th grades; Tina Resciniti: 5th and 7th grades; Kathy Berghela: 8th grade. Parents will be asked if they received our letter and if they have any questions. Let them know that we have some exciting events upcoming and would like parents to be a part of it. Mary Anne Cecchetto noted we can ask for help from grandparents, etc.


Adopt A Family:
This is run by the school office, however, they will probably need help.




Other events in the future:
Golf Tournament (May)

OTHER INFORMATION

Rita’s husband has obtained an alumni list for our use.

The Halloween Dance will be held on Friday, October 30th from 7:00-10:00 pm. to include a haunted house.

Mrs. Cecchetto led the closing prayer.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 20th at 6:30 p.m.

The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.