Borough of Point Pleasant Beach
Point Beach Arts Committee Meeting Minutes
The meeting was held in the office of Borough Hall and was called to order at 7:00 by Chairwoman, Gerrie Vergona.
Attendees: The following members were in attendance: Paul Kanitra, Barbara Russell, Cathy Jamison, Jim Inzero, Madeline Gordon, Marisa Gray, Carmelina Carra, Kristi Monticello and Tracy Jackson (volunteer)
Laurie Vicari was not present. Barbara Russell recorded the minutes in her absence.
- General Topics:
New Project Sheet: Gerrie discussed the use of the new Project Sheet for planned events to use as an implementation plan. Once an event has been discussed and approved by the committee, an Event Leader will be named who will be responsible for coordinating the activities. Once a lead is designated, Gerrie and/or Barbara will meet with the Event Leader to complete the Project Sheet to identify a list of prioritized actions, target dates, venues, sponsorship and marketing activities. This process will be followed for all planned events and to ensure the event activities are completed. The Event Leader will brief committee on the status of the event at subsequent meetings.
Volunteers: Gerrie reminded the group to tap into our Volunteer pool to help plan all the events plus the committee as a whole should step in and help out where needed to ensure events are a success. All agreed we should have a few well planned out successes versus many small failures.
Gerrie and Barbara will be planning a Volunteer Breakfast tentatively on November 2, 2018 to engage the volunteers and revisit their interests and availability.
Committee Membership: Paul discussed the process of membership approval. On January 1, 2019, the Council will vote in the membership (which is done annually). Paul will revisit membership to ensure that all members are involved and participate in meetings and events. He suggests that once the Council votes in the membership in 2019, we have an organization meeting to plan out the year. We will identify events we know will take place over the year and get them on the town calendar to avoid event scheduling conflicts with other town or school activities.
Sponsorship: Cathy Jamison recommended developing a package to present to local businesses to promote sponsorship for our events. She will develop a “menu” of sponsorship values for businesses to select if interested in participating in our arts events.
Marketing: Everyone agreed we need more exposure and advertising. Our events are not well attended and we need to reach more people. Paul suggested offering a “give away” prize as a promotion for some of the upcoming events. Marisa suggested advertising in Red Bank. Cathy suggested a Facebook Blast to committee members and have everyone share on their page.
- Specific Discussion Topics and Actions Items from Last Meeting:
The following Action Items identified from the October 1 meeting were discussed:
Grants Application: Marisa submitted 2 applications in October.
Bike-In Movie Night: Due to town conflicts and a breakdown in communication for planning, we decided to cancel the Bike-In Movie night and reschedule it for the spring.
Town Murals: Gerrie and Barbara met with Jim Inzero last week to discuss the Project Sheet and identify the priorities for the Town Murals. Jim has identified the ReMax Building on Bay Avenue as one of the options and has obtained the owners concurrence to paint a mural on the wall. Jim is looking into other potential walls/buildings for future murals as well. He is also looking into having the owners sponsor some of the painting supplies in return for a little advertising on the wall. He has reached out to an artist and will follow up next week to get a commitment. The group discussed reaching out to the high school to have students help paint. Jim indicated that it might not happen this fall as the weather will start being an issue but we could plan it out for early spring.
ACTION ITEM: Jim will continue to work the project and keep Gerrie informed.
Holiday Trolley Theater: Committee decided not to pursue the Holiday Trolley performance since we do not have enough time to coordinate and plan a successful event. Other ideas to use the Trolley during the holidays were discussed but nothing definite was decided. Kristi Monticello indicated she knew someone who might be able to pull together something last minute. She will reach out to her friend and report back to the committee next meeting. Tracy Jackson volunteered to help Kristi if her friend pulls through.
ACTION ITEM: Kristi will speak to her friend regarding a one night holiday performance on the Trolley and feed back to the committee at the next meeting.
Snow Man Decorating Contest: Dan Mercuro was not present at the meeting. Gerrie met with Dan last week and walked him through the details on the new Project Sheet. Dan is pricing out a Snowman template. The idea is to have residents and merchants purchase a snowman template and either self- decorate it or pay a little more to have an artist decorate on behalf of the resident. Vintage Van Gogh Studio on Bay Avenue has offered their studio to decorate snowmen.
ACTION ITEM: Dan will continue to pursue the coordination of the event.
- Other Topics Discussed:
Holiday Ideas: Kristi suggested a night of Caroling either on the Trolley or on a horse and carriage. Also she is planning a Kids ‘Flash-Mob” dance troupe to perform at Holiday Festival
Fund Raiser Gala: Joylene was not present. Due to a family illness, she has not been able to work on the Gala. Paul has stepped in and met with White Sands. They are willing to donate the venue and food for the Gala. Paul and Cathy will be meeting with them next week to nail down some details.
ACTION ITEM: Paul will bring more details of the planning to the next meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm.
The next meeting will be held on Monday, November 26 at 7:00 pm in Borough Hall.
