Connections Weekend Planning Meeting            October 26, 2016

Follow-Up Details

 In Attendance: Jen Allerding, Kyle Baughn, Jim Grubbs, Miranda Jones, Joe Kleinknecht, RIck Maddox, Steve Melchoir, Sandy Powell, Marilyn Stepro & Brian Treisch;

Financial Report - Donations = $14,027; Expenses = $2375.95 w/another bills yet to be settled; will have a reconciled expense report at the January 2017 meeting; a motion was made to have $9,000 invested in the Edward Jones account for future use, Marilyn Stepro made the motion and Steve Melchoir made the second, all committee members approved;

Review Minutes - No change to recent minutes

Committee Updates:

Bonfire/Pep Rally - Kyle reported that approximately 1000 attended the pep rally; will move the time of the rally up next year and add lighting to the area;

Pancake Breakfast - Kiwanis Club served 180 adults and approximately 55 children; the musical performances helped to increase the breakfast attendance;

Alumni Band - Brian noted that 26 alumni flag corp & majorettes attended and an additional 48 alumni bandsmen marched on the field for the homecoming shows;

Hall of Fame Nominations - Recommended moving up the due date for nomination & selection process; Jim will have a list for the January meeting of all prior nominees from the files; Horace Freese and Arthur Poister have also been recommended for next year; committee will also review selection criteria and nomination form; these items are currently on the Alumni Association website;

Dinner/Banquet - Marilyn shared that 90 people were served dinners and 98 dinners were paid to AVITA based on RSVP list earlier in the month; AVITA received a check for $1416; centerpieces were jointly constructed by the GHS Ind. Tech students and Photorama @ $10 per piece, and Marilyn sold all of the centerpieces at cost; positive comments were made regarding the dinner offerings; the MS cafetorium was at maximum capacity with 90 guests; speakers need to be reminded of time limit of speeches; student servers and greeters did a very nice job again this year and the MS administration's guidance was greatly appreciated;

Fund Raising - future discussions need to include communication to prior honorees and sponsors letting them know about the fundraising efforts for 2017; Brian will compose a thank you letter for this year's sponsors reminding them of upcoming endeavors of the Synergy Committee;

Program - Late photos are a problem; nice program insert at the football game, please include award nominees in the program for next year; it would be nice to have local newspaper presence at the Hall of Fame dinner and increased coverage prior to Connections Weekend;

Awards - Dave will submit invoice from Trophy House and gather the photo/plaques for the HS; could the display be moved or highlighted for better viewing?

Career Day - Speakers shared job expectations and skills needed with 8th graders guest speakers then received a luncheon prepared by the district food service staff; please  send the list of speakers to the committee a week or two prior to the career date;

Other Business:  

Auditorium Planning - Jim shared that the district treasurer has met with Columbus attorneys and local banks for funding and appropriate resolutions for the district building project; the board will be working on these initiatives at upcoming meetings; Jim believes that the project could be $12 - $14 million.  This estimate would include auditorium, bus garage & additional athletic fields (soccer/wrestling); next steps would be to convene a committee to review original plans and look for possible changes; reach out to new committee members who could lend their expertise in fundraising (Elaine Hottenroth was mentioned); Brian thanked everyone for their support of the 2016 event;

Next Meeting: January 18, 2017 @ 7:30 am; Next year's event date is October 5 - 7, 2017.