Ways and Means Committee: Rotary Club of Trail

Meeting Notes: March 14th, 2005

In attendance: Jan Morton, Forrest Drinnan, Gay Prokopetz, Julie Thornhill, Brenda Rutherglen

Dinner Theatre: Although we raised $2,000 - $2,200 for Rotary, this was a disappointing event for the committee. Those attending the meeting made the following comments about the evening:
· Poor quality meal, despite efforts to negotiate a good menu
· The exorbitant price ($150) paid for very low quality food for the actors was particularly disturbing.
· Poor quality performance by the Columbia Phoenix Players (mystifying; confusing; not focused on the audience; some portions more appropriate for an acting workshop than a performance).
· Due to one mike not working, the sound system was problematic although having the lapel mikes was generally good.
· The ticket sales were relatively low - likely due to the change in date and short lead time for advertising.
· The lay-out of tables generally worked okay and the decorations, given the budget, were attractive
· Although we corrected it fairly quickly and no one ended up being penalized, we need to remember that for the ticket draw, people need to put their names on the back of the ticket before putting it in the box.
· The delays between the plays and various courses provided a good opportunity for socializing.
· The steep stairs are prohibitive for some of those attending.
· Some commented that despite meal and performance, they appreciated the project for which funds were being raised.
Overall, we need to take responsibility for not adequately ensuring quality control of both the meal and the theatre production.
After considerable discussion, it was decided to write letters to both the Columbia Phoenix Players and the Italo Canadese Hall to share our concerns. Forrest will draft the letters and send to Jan for her input.
Rotary will need to stay away from Dinner Theatre as a fund-raiser for at least a couple of years. We may want to host our own evening of dinner and "Enema awards" type performance from within our ranks but this would be more for the purpose of fellowship and raising funds.
In future, it was recommended to the incoming Director for Ways and Means that a plan for fund-raising be laid out for the entire year to ensure work is being done with adequate lead time on each of the planned events.

Bingo: Given Fran was away and had not sent any information to update the committee on the giant bingo project, it was difficult to discuss in any great detail.
Brenda and Forrest will seek to meet with Fran shortly after her return in early April to determine what has been done and how the workload can be shared as well as to a business analysis on the project to determine it's actual feasibility. Once they have met with Fran, another meeting of the Ways and Means Committee will be called. Brenda will initiate contact with Fran.