November

The meeting was called to order at 7:37 p.m. Present were: Kristi Kusunoki, Laura Sueda, Cheryl Sonoda, William Tiffany, Loreen Farr, Stacye Gallo, Debra Evans, Sandra Kimusi, Seaborn Mercer, Dean Nakamaejo, and Gary and Sandy Tahara.  The Secretary’s minutes from the meeting on Oct. 19, 2009, were reviewed and approved.  

Treasurer’s Report: 
William reported that the current balance in the account is $10,850. The only outstanding activity is collecting proceeds from the HI-5 Recycling effort. 
Old Business: 

• HI-5 Recycling—Flyers went out yesterday to advertise the next drop-off day, which is Saturday, Nov. 7. This activity is held the first Saturday of each month.

• “7-11 Coupon Book” Fund-raiser--We need to check on making plans for this soon, since it’s a yearlong fund-raiser.

• Auntie’s Ono Cookies Fund-raiser Pick-up—Friday, Nov. 13, 2009

Families will collect cookies between 2:15 p.m. and 6 p.m. Six to eight adult volunteers are needed to help with this. 

  New Business: 

• Elementary School Concerts (Advanced Band) -- Thursday, Nov 5.

The KIS band will perform on the same day that flu shots are given, so students will need to meet in the library before 7 a.m. Participating students will receive their shot, wait 15 minutes to ensure there is no reaction, and then immediately report to the band room. We have enough drivers to transport the students and instruments to each of the four elementary schools where students will perform. 

• UH Rainbow Invitational—Saturday, Nov. 14, 4:30-9:30 p.m., Aloha Stadium

This is an annual concert sponsored by UH in which select high school bands from across the state perform at the stadium. A few notes: We have plenty of chaperones. Students need to wear their KIS uniforms. The group will be transported by bus. Sometimes it rains, so come prepared. When students need to go to the restroom or concession stand, they will do so in groups of at least 3 or 4, with a chaperone. 

• Spring Break Trip (Advanced Band)—March 13-18, 2010

Ms. Kusunoki explained the current status regarding a possible trip: 

• No final decision on location (Anaheim or Maui) has been made, but it looks like the group is going to choose Anaheim. (Note: Anaheim was selected about a week later, when all families sent in their voting forms.)
• Up to this point, 30 forms stating family preference have been turned in. Sixteen are still out. So far, there are 20 votes for Anaheim, 5 for Maui and 5 for “no trip.”
• Seawind Travel will front the money for airfare. If we cancel, they can get their money back. 
• The agent who would accompany our group will give a presentation explaining the details of the trip on Friday, Nov. 13, at 6:15 p.m. in the band room, after the Auntie Ono’s Cookie fund-raiser pickup.
• The travel agent requires at least 25 students to participate, if we go to Anaheim.
• We have 8 parents who have volunteered to travel as chaperones.
• Payments will be made in four installments, beginning in November. 
• The students will need to do a lot of fund-raising to help pay for the trip.

The group then discussed a variety of options for raising funds. They said that we will have to work out a fair system in which part of the money each student raises goes toward their trip fees and part goes to the band as a whole. One parent suggested that for those students who are not traveling, their funds could go toward band-wide activities, such as the end-of-year banquet.  

Some of the fund-raising suggestions included:

• Harold K.L. Castle Foundation Windward Youth Leadership Fund—Dean explained that this grant is designed to promote youth leadership. He said that the online application process is simple. Students write up a community service project and include the number of man-hours they would provide. For instance, 25 students working 5 hours each would equate to 125 community service hours. Some ideas might be: going to a nursing home and performing for and talking with the residents. We would need to include the Tax ID number on the application. The website is: http://www.castlefoundation.org/www/grants-windward.htm

• KIS Band Winter Concert (Thurs., Dec. 10 at 6 p.m.): 
1. Silent Auction—Dean is organizing the auction. Anyone who would like to help can contact him at[email protected]
2. Hot Dog Sale—We will grill and sell hot dogs, chili and rice. Loreen can send out an e-mail requesting volunteers, donations for supplies, etc. Come before 5 p.m. to help set up. The shopping list will include: hot dogs, buns, ketchup, mustard, relish, chips and drinks. In past years, the food has gone fast! So this is a good fund-raiser. 
3. Bake Sale—We will sell homemade baked goods. Items should be wrapped and ready for sale. We can price them. Cheryl has a box with stickers, markers, etc. 

• HI-5 Recycling—Since this monthly activity is held all year, a portion will go for the trip and a portion will go to the general fund. It was suggested that we could “front-load” and have the funds raised between now and the trip go toward trip fees, and let the funds raised after that go toward the general fund. 

• Rummage Sale—Many parents supported the idea of holding a rummage sale outside in the school parking lot during one of the next HI-5 Recycling events. Saturday, Dec. 5, was considered. However, there are two big parades scheduled in nearby towns for that day, which might draw a lot of our potential customers. Also, this type of activity would require a lot of quick preparations, and our next meeting is not scheduled until Dec. 7. The group decided to try and hold the sale during the HI-5 Recycling day in January, with an exact date to be determined. Ms. Kusunoki will ask the school principal for permission to hold the sale. We should begin bringing in items to sell as soon as possible. They could be stored in the band room. We would need to get volunteers to come in the Thursday before the event to sort and price things. Items sold could include: kitchenware, garden supplies, toys, clothes, etc. Anything that doesn’t sell could be donated to Salvation Army or Goodwill.

• Casino Night—One of the parents said that his uncle owns a place where you can rent casino tables. You buy $200 in fake money with which to play games. We could possibly couple this event with a silent auction. Also, we could earn extra funds from food sales. Another group held such an event at their gymnasium and netted a lot of money for their organization.  

• Additional ideas included: A steak dinner, perhaps at the yacht club in Kaneohe. Debra has a membership there and could check into it. Other ideas were a school dance or a Pizza Hut night.

Other: 

• Band Instruments—Ms. Kusunoki discussed the situation regarding band instruments. She said she repairs as many instruments as possible. If the problem is more severe and the instrument needs to be sent out, it usually costs about $75 per repair. She doesn’t expect to buy many new instruments this school year. Last year she bought four. We do have school funding, which goes to instrument repair and transportation for band events, she said. 

• Final notes:
• If anyone has an item they would like to add to the agenda, please send an e-mail to Booster President Laura Sueda four days before the meeting. Her address is:[email protected]

• Next Band Booster meeting will be held Monday, Dec. 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the band room. 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m. 
Minutes taken and respectfully submitted  by Stacye Gallo.