Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2003 7 pm
Minutes

Present at the meeting were T.J. Rand, Maye Hart, Mo Demers, Meggin Dail, and Ernie Bass. Also present were Irene Hall and Nick Liouzis. Jan Pinard was called away on an emergency.
Meeting called to order at 7 pm.

The Secretary's Report was accepted with correction from Applecrest to Appleview Orchard.

Mo Demers gave the Treasurers Report, which was accepted as presented.

In Old Business, Meggin reported on the Haunted Barn at Appleview Orchard, which brought in $540. The program was very well received and there are plans to do it again next year. Maye presented a wrap-up of State Fair, stating that the show was a great success, with four out of five nights sold out. She also talked about some problems inherent to the large shows, such as set building and getting the folks to help, as well as respect for the director. The Board then talked about the NHTA adjudication procedures. NHTA has told us that they did adjudicate the show. T.J. then talked about the Christmas show. Jim Hart will reset the lights for a stage wash. Elsie will decorate the theater. Ernie will hang the legs, Mo will bring the chairs. Lori Smock-Joyal is house manager. Tickets are just about gone for both shows. T.J. will have rehearsal the Wednesday before the shows. Maye then reported that the Children's Theater Workshop auditions were all set for December 7 and 8. She hopes the books will arrive before the auditions. She has an easy set. Performances will be the week of February 16th - 21st. For A Thousand Clowns, Meggin reported that the scripts were in. Ernie said he'd have a set design by December 1st. It was agreed that Maye and Meggin, as producers, would schedule it so that one of them would be at all rehearsals. Meggin reported no news about 12 Angry Men, stating that she has no information yet about royalties of scripts. Lori Smock-Joyal will be producing the show, and Jay Sydow will be assistant director. It was determined that the Encore Old Home Days Concert would be on July 16th, tentatively. Encore 2004 will be auditioning sometime in February and starting rehearsals sometime in March.
The discussion then turned to the building. Irene Hall was present at the meeting to discuss the clean-up of the costume shop. She has been trying to clean and rearrange things. T.J. said that Jan Pinard asked that those who are work in the shop touch base with her, and she suggested Mo and Margaet Hilllman might help with the task. Maye reported that Jim Hart would be working on getting the bracing of the second floor done in the next couple of weeks, so that costumes could be rearranged. It was agreed that Irene could start cleaning up right away, and the Board asked her to keep Jan informed about what she was doing, and to ask for Jan's input. Irene asked about disposing of the antique costumes and it was decided that they should be offered to a museum or the Pittsfield Historical Society. Irene reported that over 30 percent of the clothing in the shop could be just thrown away, some because it's beyond repair and some because it's too common. The Board talked about the bulk material and where to store it, and Irene suggested donating some of it to PYW for their sewing class. We discussed the furniture and it was decided that we need it for seating in the green room during large shows. The rest of the time we might be able to stack it. It was agreed that a space would be made for storing scrims, curtains and legs on the second floor. We made it a board policy not to accept household curtains as donations. It was agreed that, once the costume area was cleaned and rearranged, it should be walled off and locked. T.J. asked that the office be fixed up, maybe even moved. Irene agreed to work on all aspects of this project and, when she knows in advance that she will be working at the theater, she will send emails to the rest of us, so that we can come down to help or to get others to help.
Concerning the roof, Joel Dail has made an effort to get some bids. T.J. has been calling the roofing contractors every other day and no one is returning his call. He will keep on it, since we need an estimate now in order to have enough money in the spring, when the job needs to be done. Jim Hart will work on securing the second floor structurally. Elsie Morse is trying to reach Gil Bleckmann regarding the broken window across the street and what should be done about it. A discussion then ensued regarding the future of the Gray Building and whether the Players could do something with the property. We may have other options for storage such as Southwick's barn and Souza's barn. We decided to try to find a member who could research town zoning and other laws regarding options for use of the Gray Building and the property.
Nick Liouzis then addressed the Board with a proposal to use the theater for a filming a medieval movie he's working on. He would use portable set pieces. The Board discussed what resources would be needed to support Nick's using the theater, as well as when time is available in the next few weeks. Ernie volunteered to run the lights, and it was agreed that Nick could use the theater on December 13th. Irene said she would clean up afterward. A motion was made to let Nick use the theater on December 13th for filming for a consideration of up to $100. It passed unanimously.
Meggin reported her progress with the Production Manual. Everyone will read their rough draft and give comments to Meggin. T.J. mentioned some content issues, and Maye suggested adding a task to the House Manager's list of making sure the front doors were unlocked and locked during the performances. We also discussed the Borrower's Agreement.
T.J. will contact Mike Pszonowsky directly regarding the add campaign wrap-up.
Mo Demers gave a report on the proposed competition for NHCTA. She has forms to sign for T.J. The total estimated cost for doing the competition is $500. Rehearsals will start after January 1st. Mo will let the Board know when rehearsals are.
Ernie will talk to Heather Mike about the PYW Fiddler Contest.
T.J. reported that the meetings for the Dame Awards Committee will start after the first of the year. Meggin will take the year off. Irene Hall and Bernie Cameron have already signed up to be on the committee, and T.J. will find more volunteers. The date is June 5th. We discussed who might run for the Board.
Meggin reported that she is in touch with the Old Home Days Committee and that she will find someone to head up our float committee for this year.

In New Business, Phil Breton has said he will not do Encore 2004 or 1776. He has given us the name of a possible replacement, which T.J. will contact. We decided to look for additional accompanists. T.J. will do some searching, and Maye will dig up the name of a retired guy who has called her before about Encore.

Meggin is doing the November newsletter.

Maye reported that we still have some things to do for final reports to LCHIP, such as signing a stewardship agreement, getting final financial figures to them, and providing pictures of the completed project. T.J. will review the Stewardship agreement, then Maye will get it notarized. Maye will take care of the financial report, and Joel will take the pictures.

We discussed whether we should pay Joel to plow the Pittsfield Weaving parking lot so that out winter patrons have somewhere to park. It was agreed that we would contact Mr. Bleckmann to see if it was all right with him to plow, and if it was, we would like it plowed, with compensation to Joel to be determined later.

We discussed decorating the marquees for Christmas. Mo reported a letter from Sue Cloutman offering her services as a seamstress for a fee.

Mo will ask for a tax abatement, but she needs to know the procedure. Meggin will ask Elsie to get involved.

Mo reported that the CD is up for renewal. She suggested moving it to a bank with better rates or into a money market fund for higher interest. Her research found that Citizen's Bank offered a money market account paying 1.4 percent. A motion was made to move the CD funds to the Citizen's Bank money market fund and it passed unanimously.

There was a discussion about show schedules regarding the Abduction and Lion In Winter. A motion was made to move both shows forward one time slot and plug in a different show (to be named later) for March 2005. The motion was accepted unanimously.

Maye gave the Board a list of Jim Hart's remaining tasks at the theater.
Meggin suggested arranging for a tour of the theater for the Pittsfield Fire Department after we get the second floor fixed up so that they have an idea of the layout of the building in case of an emergency.

Maye mentioned that we need to have the fire extinguishers looked at to make sure they are up to snuff. Joel will take care of it.

T.J. suggested insulating the boarded up windows in the second floor hallway.
He also asked that Jay Sydow return the movie screen at his earliest convenience.

The Board then discussed keys, and who has keys. Mo asked for a key to the back gate. There is a back gate key in the box office. We are missing key #9, and we're trying to track it down.

T.J. asked if the Players have ever considered having a Players credit card. All members of the Board opposed this.

The Board talked about ways to improve ticket sales, such as using the web, our website, accepting credit cards, mailing tickets out to those who have already paid for them. Nothing was resolved.

Maye said that she would have the kids in the Children's Workshop clean up the paint room.

The Board went off the record for five minutes.

Meggin asked that we acknowledge Paula Broxy's efforts in regards to ticket sales for the Players. A thank you bouquet will be sent to let her know we appreciate her. This should be done after each show.

Meggin reported that season tickets had been printed and the price is still $40.
Next Meeting Date -Wednesday, January 7, 7 pm at Mo Demers' house.
Meeting adjourned at 9:12.