Minutes for March 12 Family Living Committee Meeting

Minutes for March 12 Family Living Committee Meeting

Attendees: Barb Brewster, Jackie Feltz, Brett Lesniak, Lisa Adams, Laurel Hoeth, Barb Laskowski, Dianne Trzebiatowski, Kate Drmolka, Cathy Guth

Executive Committee: Read Sherry's report which was included with the March agenda.

Opening Ceremony: Jackie has a commitment from Ocean Spray for donations of 3 cases (48 in a case = 144 servings) of the 5 1.2 oz. cranberry juices and 2 cases (12 in a case = 24 servings) of the 5 oz. boxes of chocolate covered craisins. Dairy State Cheese will donate cheese curds/cheese. She will contact Altenburg’s Dairy and Morning Glory for donations of milk. Sam's Club had said they wanted to be involved. Point Supply for supplies & Roundy's for food/drink donations were suggested as possibilities. Jackie has tried to contact Del Monte and is unable to reach anyone. It was determined that Del Monte would have fruit in a cup, which would be messy & need “plastic ware”, so Del Monte will not be pursued for donations any longer. Discussion regarding length of Opening Ceremony & the Meet & Greet reception. It was decided that the ceremony and reception would be 9:30 to 10:30 am. Stage presentations can be scheduled to begin after that time.

Family Living Tent:

Stage Presentations: Brett has 3 bands that have agreed to perform in the afternoons and is fitting other educators and performers into the show schedule. Mad Dog and Merrill want to do presentations each day with one day’s entertainment being a taping for their TV show. Since Sherry has been the contact with this group we didn't have enough information about their performances or FM booths they want, etc., to be able to decide anything at this time. Brett and Dianne will talk with Sherry. WI DATCP Secretary Ben Brancel requested time on stage to honor Orion Samuelson on Wednesday. Brett will contact Secretary Brancel’s office and see how much time will be needed & set a time. Hopefully, time between 12:00 and 12:30, before /after Alice in Dairyland’s daily presentation, will work. Brett’s goal is to have all contracts signed by our next FLC meeting – April 9th.

Education Booths: Laurel has 26 applications (and has 26 booth spaces) for the Educational Booths. She knows of other educational groups she wants included. Once she has 26 acceptable applications she will send out her acceptance letters. Laurel plans to have the notices sent out by the next FLC meeting – April 9th.

Theme & Decorations: Lisa has many sponsors for helping with and providing the decorations as in-kind. Lisa shared her designs for themed FLC signage, as well as a sample of the sign material from Staples. Sign designs for the inside of the tents and the exterior Family Living Tent & Family Mercantile Tent were selected. A banner for the stage will also be designed & ordered. Lisa contacted Staples about signs and they quoted $456.98 for the signs she requested. Staples is willing to make an in-kind donation of $200.00 if we place and pay for the balance of our order ($256.96) by the end of the month. Lisa will check with the FTD Sign Committee to see if options in additional to those listed on order sheet are available. She will make the final decision regarding the designs & place of purchase. Submit your sign requests to Lisa.

Pioneering Woman: Barb has one name submitted. Still no media coverage. She would like exposure in the media about this project to increase awareness and applications. It was suggested she talk with Ruth about the possibility of Ruth writing an article for publishing. She is encouraging family &/or friends to submit applications. Barb is willing to help by providing an outline, questions to ask, and even getting help to write the final stage presentation document. A half hour time slot is tentatively set for Wednesday 12:30 to 1:00 for the presentation of the “Pioneer Women” Awards. Barb will contact Alice in Dairyland about doing the on-stage presentations.

Field to Table Video: Barb & Cathy are still gathering photos and information. Cathy showed a short portion of the video on her computer as an example of the “Field to Table” presentation. The group discussed the possibility of showing this on a big screen on stage during “the Meet & Greet” and/or show the video in front of the stage while bands are setting up to utilize the down time when no one is able to be presenting on stage. FLC will need to find and pay (rent) for any additional equipment needed for this.

Family Mercantile: Acceptance letters are being sent out by March 15 (original deadline) to 16 exhibitors who applied by the February 15th deadline. These account for 15 single and 1 double booth spaces. The Breast Feeding & Changing area and the Courtesy Booth (includes FL Barn Calendar Sales, Encore Area, “Park Your Parcels”, and Information area) will take four spaces. One single and one double have been requested by Mad Dog and Merrill. Using the tent plan that Lisa handed out, we have only 10 spaces left to fill. There is room for an additional 6-8 booths if we need/want to add them. Dianne will contact some exhibitors that she wants to participate that she hasn’t hear back from and some that told her they were going to apply but haven’t. Dianne will get a list of the signs she needs to Lisa. Her April report will include a list of exhibitors selected.

Fund Raising/Calendar Sales: Calendar sales are still slow but Kate thinks things will pick up as the event gets closer. Media Day (scheduled for June 24) should offer a good opportunity for a lot of sales. Kate would like to get more businesses to sell the calendars. Hotels & more restaurants were suggested, as well as H. W. Wolding in Amherst. Barb will contact Jean to see if she will contact H. W. Wolding. Barb B. will find out where else the calendars will be sold on-site during FTD.

Kate, Sherry, and Barb are meeting with the Publicity & Marketing Committee at 1:30 PM on March 24 to talk about more promotions for the calendar & the Pioneer Women award. It was suggested that Barb contact Ruth about writing a new story about this recognition. Barb will share the one application she has and provide additional information to Ruth so it can be more of a story than news release.

Host Families Gifts: Feltz Family Farms andBlue Top Farms have both decided to accept the aerial photography gift certificate. Barb B. will work with Sherry & the Executive Committee on this.

Treasurer: Not present.

Secretary: Not Present

Chair: Barb reminded everyone that by April (9) we need to know how many volunteers we need for set-up, during the show, and after the show, and have schedules for each day. If you have recruited people for FLC, include them in the schedule, so the Volunteer Coordinator knows that slot isfilled. Also be thinking about signs needed & work with Lisa on that. Keep up the good work. Committee members should try to attend one of the “All Committee Meetings” held the first Tuesday of the month. The next meeting is Monday, April 1st, 6:00 – 8:00 pm at the County Annex Building in Stevens Point.

Next FLC meeting will be Wednesday, April 9, 2014 from 5:00 to 6:30 at the USDA Rural Development Office. We will consider changing the time of the meetings to fit our farmers’ schedules.

Minutes by Dianne Trzebiatowski