Barnstead Old Home Day 2009

Meeting Minutes February 26, 2009

Meeting convened at 6:35 p.m. by last year's Co-Chair, Mark Sargent

Attendees:  Sandy Burt, Ron Fitzpatrick, Jill Jacques, Amy Jennings, Ken LeGrow, Eileen Murley, Ginger Sargent, Mark Sargent, Paula Vardaro

The purpose of the meeting was to organize the 2009 Old Home Day Committee.  The group elected the three-person team of Mark Sargent, Ginger Sargent and Eileen Murley to Chair the 2009 Committee.  Meetings were set for the second Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall.  Old Home Day was set for Saturday, August 29, 2009

The group adopted the celebration of the 100th anniversary of formal fire service in the Town of Barnstead as the theme of this year’s Old Home Day.  Eileen Murley explained that the Barnstead Fire Rescue, Inc. (BFRI) has an Anniversary Committee that is organizing celebrations for the 100th Anniversary.  Eileen Murley is a member of the BFRI Committee.  For Old Home Day, the BFRI Committee was envisioning a parade of fire apparatus and personnel and other community organizations that would proceed from the fire station in the Center to the Parade Grounds.  The OHD Committee members were agreeable to the parade as part of the OHD celebrations.

It was suggested that some sort of firefighting demonstration or muster event be scheduled for the day.  Ken LeGrow described a hose run competition to see who can set up a hose an knock a ball off a cone most quickly.  Eileen Murley will discuss the suggestion with the BFRI Anniversary Committee.

The group discussed the possibility of attracting additional members.  Eileen Murley will contact three people who expressed interest last year:  Rachel Deroche, her sister Laura (last name unknown), and Matthew Raymond.  Mark Sargent asked each member to try to get a friend to join.  He will be asking his sister Pam Plante to join the group.  Mark and Ginger believed that Tom Frangione and Jim Kallgren will organize the canoe/kayak race again this year.  After the meeting, Paula Vardaro invited Mary Clark and Amanda Alguire to join the Committee.  Nancy Carr contacted Eileen Murley and agreed to rejoin the Committee.

A reminder regarding equipment rentals was given:  the gentleman from Locke Lake who rented us the bounce house last year also has tables and chairs to rent. 

Eileen Murley will contact the Suncook Valley Sno-Riders to confirm they are willing to provide the dinner.  Suggestions were offered that barbequed chicken is more popular than the steamship round.  A suggestion was given for a pig roast, as well.  These suggestions will be discussed with the Sno-Riders.

Eileen Murley will contact the Barnstead Fire Rescue paid-staff to confirm they are willing to provide the breakfast.  

The group talked about showing Jim Kallgren’s film of last year’s Old Home Day during a break at Town Meeting.  Mark Sargent will contact the Moderator, Bill Gosse, to obtain his agreement and then will contact the school to determine if they own a projector that we can borrow.

The group discussed the value of using the town’s website to disseminate information about Old Home Day, display pictures, distribute registration forms, and to accept emails.  Mark Sargent will make an appointment with the Selectmen to discuss the value of updating the website with the current OHD information.

It was decided to keep the kids bike parade.  Sandy Burt will ask Jeanne Terry to help again this year.  The theme will be related to the fire department and they will consider having the bike parade join the anniversary celebration parade at some point along the route.

It was decided to keep the Art and Photography Show. 

Amy will ask Jerissa Brown if she intends to head the Youth Music.  The karaoke was very popular last year.  The group discussed adding Guitar Hero to the karaoke as an activity for the older kids. 

It was decided to keep the rock wall.  The group agreed that we need to charge more for the climbs to defray the cost of the rock wall rental – possibly $1.00 per climb.  It was also felt that we need the rock wall for a longer time period than just 10:00 to 1:00. 

The group volunteered for the following subcommittee assignments.  If other members join the Committee, the subcommittee assignments may be redirected.

The group understands that we need to get moving on the booklet ad sales quickly.  We anticipate that ad sales will be difficult in this economy, so the ad prices and the booklet price will remain unchanged.

Since Dana McCausland is not on the Committee this year, the question was raised regarding the design of the booklet cover and the T-shirts.  Eileen Murley believes that Matthew Raymond, one potential new member, works at graphic design and she will talk to him about the designs.  Following the meeting, Eileen contacted Matthew and he is a graphic designer and is very interested in helping with the T-shirt and the booklet cover design.  He also has some suggestions for activities to fill the late afternoon.

Because of the confusion regarding the creation of the booklet last year, the printing costs were higher than in previous years.  Ken LeGrow has a relative who works for Capital Offset and he will talk with him about more favorable printing costs.

We have a number of T-shirts from past years left over.  The group decided to donate any remaining T-shirts that are older than two years to the Thrift Shop.  It was decided that the color of the T-shirts should be teal green to match the color of the Barnstead Fire Rescue fire apparatus.

The baseball caps do not have a year on them, so they can be used for any year.  Last year we purchased 72 caps at $4.75 each.  Sandy will see how many caps we have remaining and will determine if we need to order more caps.

Items for the raffle were discussed.  It was decided to keep the kayak, because it is always a popular item.  Ken LeGrow will contact his daughter who works at Best Buy to see if they could provide an item at a favorable price.  Other Committee members should offer their suggestions for a second raffle item.

Mark Sargent will fill out the forms for the Committee members to be sworn in and will ask the Town Clerk to attend the next meeting to swear us all in.

Dan Poole has agreed to donate his time to install a permanent power supply for Old Home Day from the bandstand.  We will need a permit for the installation, but Mark will ask the Selectmen to waive the cost.  Eileen will draft a letter to the Parade Congregational Church asking permission for the installation.

Jim Doucette from the Barnstead Highway Department is the contact person for the horseshoe contest.

Mark Sargent will ask the Selectmen if OHD can obtain the special events insurance through the town.

Eileen Murley will get the 2006 and 2007 records into a vault at Town Hall. 

The group discussed charging $15 - $20 per vendor location to defray the cost of the dumpster.  In the past, we charged only vendors who were serving food, but other vendors used the dumpster also.  It was decided to charge all vendors, except the historical society and the Parade Congregational Church.

The meeting concluded at 7:45 p.m.

The next meeting is Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall.

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Barnstead Old Home Day 2009

Meeting Minutes March 11, 2009

Meeting convened at 6:35 p.m. by Co-Chair, Mark Sargent

Attendees:  Jerissa Brown, Sandy Burt, Nancy Carr, Mary Clarke, Jill Jacques, Ken LeGrow, Eileen Murley, Matt Raymond, Ginger Sargent, Mark Sargent, Paula Vardaro

The group reviewed the minutes of the February 26, 2009 meeting.  No changes were made.  Sandy Burt moved to accept the minutes.  Paula Vardaro seconded.  The minutes were unanimously approved.

There will be an OHD banner placed on the home page of the town website that will connect directly to the OHD webpage.  Ginger Sargent passed out a draft banner.  Adding graphics related to this year’s theme was discussed.  Eileen Murley will provide an electronic copy of the Barnstead Fire Rescue patch to Matt Raymond.  Ken LeGrow will provide an electronic copy of an antique fire pump (water witch) to Matt Raymond.  Matt will use those items to create a banner with graphics.  He will send that to Ginger, who will send it to the website coordinator.

Ginger handed out copies of last year’s registration forms so that each subcommittee chairperson could approve the forms for this year.  All changes should be provided to Ginger.  Eileen Murley will send changes to the auction form to Ginger.  Once approved, the forms will be added to the website.  Ginger will question the website coordinator to understand if a registrant will be able to complete the form on-line and email to the OHD email address or if the form would have to be printed out and submitted on paper.

The group discussed the activity previously entitled Youth Music and decided that the event should be opened to all age groups to encourage more participation.

Matt Raymond offered several fresh ideas for activities that could target Tweens and older Teens.  Eileen Murley suggested a new subcommittee entitled Teen Activities.  Karaoke was very popular last year and certainly could fit in the new category.  Matt Raymond suggested two basketball events:  shoot till you miss and shoot from designated spots.  The activity would only need a portable basketball hoop and a few balls.  The idea of Guitar Hero from the previous meeting would also fit in such a new category.  There was some discussion about offering prizes and charging a nominal fee for such activities.  It was decided not to charge for the activities.  It was decided that the group should try to get I-tune cards or video gift cards donated as prizes. 

Tom Frangione has agreed to organize the canoe and kayak race again this year.

Mark Sargent spoke with Bill Gosse regarding showing Jim Kallgren’s film of last year’s OHD at Town Meeting at the lunch/voting break.  Bill indicated that the warrant this year is very short and he does not anticipate any break during the meeting.  Mark will talk to Chris Hipkiss about showing the film at a break in School District Meeting on March 21.  The group discussed trying to get the film displayed on the cable channel.  Mark Sargent will talk to Jeanne Terry.  Matt Raymond suggested loading the film up on YouTube.  Eileen Murley will ask permission from Jim Kallgren and will get a copy of the film to Matt.  Opportunities for the public to view the film could be advertised in the newspapers and in Bear Facts.

Matt Raymond agreed to work on the design of this year’s graphic for the T-shirts and schedule booklet.  Eileen Murley will give Matt a thumb drive containing old fire company pictures.  The theme of the graphic will be “Celebrating 100 Years of Service” for fire protection in the town of Barnstead.  Matt agreed to have a preliminary design for the April meeting and final approved design for the May meeting.

The group discussed the color for the T-shirts:  natural cream with forest green printing.  Sandy Burt agreed to get pricing for shirts with “Barnstead Old Home Day 2009” on the front and the OHD logo on the back.  Matt works for Shirtmasters in Chichester and he will help get favorable pricing from them.  The group decided to keep with a short-sleeved T-shirt and to not consider tank tops.  The number of T-shirts ordered last year were:  144 adult, 48 youth, and 24 tots. 

Sandy Burt suggested putting the baseball caps out for sale now at Town Hall.  Ginger will coordinate.

Mark Sargent is working with Karen Montgomery to determine what the requirements for insurance will be and were the funding will come from.

Cindy Treadwell will attend the April meeting and will swear in the Committee Members.

The Citizen of the Year contest was discussed.  A picture of last year’s Citizen of the Year will be posted on the website.  A nomination form will be created and placed on the website.  Eileen Murley will create the publicity for the local newspapers.

Ginger Sargent sent out sixty-nine requests for advertisements for the schedule booklet.  She will follow up by telephone with any that do not respond.  Paula Vardaro volunteered to help with the follow-up telephone calls. 

Ken LeGrow will follow up on booklet printing costs and second raffle item from Best Buy. 

Eileen Murley left a phone message for the representative from the Suncook Valley Sno-Riders to ask if the group would be willing to present the dinner again this year.  Although no response has been received, Eileen believes that the topic will be raised at the Sno-Riders next meeting on April 1.  Eileen will follow up.

The Barnstead Fire Rescue staff has committed to present the Pancake Breakfast again this year.

The Barnstead Fire Rescue Inc Anniversary Committee will take responsibility for organizing the theme parade for this year’s OHD.  Eileen Murley is liaison with that Anniversary Committee.

Pam Plante has agreed to organize the kids games.

Eileen Murley contacted two women who offered assistance after last year’s OHD.  Rachel Deroches and her sister Laura are willing to assist for this year’s event.  Their contact information will be provided to Mark and Ginger by Eileen.

Eileen Murley described a potential character that we could consider inviting to this year’s OHD.  NH Fire Standards and Training owns a radio-controlled Sparky the Fire Dog driving a fire engine.  The character drives around and is able to talk to and to hear children by remote control.  Eileen Murley will investigate the cost and the availability of the character.

Jill Jacques has already reserved the portapotties.  She will be in contact with the owner  of the Vertical Dreams rock climbing wall.  Last year the wall was rented from 10:30 to 1:30 at a cost of $650.  Jill will investigate the cost for renting from 10 – 3.

Jill has contacted Wayne from Maine and he is available that day at the same cost as last year ($650).  Ginger made a motion to approve Wayne from Maine as the children’s act.  Jill seconded the motion.  The motion was approved unanimously.  It was decided to focus on more activities for the older children than to try to provide a second children’s act. 

Eileen Murley will get the band concert series schedule from Peg Simoneau for the booklet.

Meeting concluded at 7:40 p.m.

The next meeting is Wednesday, April 8, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall.

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Barnstead Old Home Day 2009

Meeting Minutes April 8, 2009

Meeting convened at 6:40 p.m. by Co-Chair, Mark Sargent

Attendees:  Sandy Burt, Nancy Carr, Mary Clarke, Ron Fitzpatrick, Jim Kallgren, Eileen Murley, Pam Plante, Matt Raymond, Ginger Sargent, Mark Sargent, Paula Vardaro

Cindy Treadwell, Town Clerk, joined the meeting and swore in all Committee members present.  Committee members not present should visit Cindy at her office at Town Hall to be sworn in.

The town website has been updated to include this year’s OHD forms.  The Citizen of the Year 2008 picture and article have been added to the website.  Matt Raymond reviewed a suggested banner with a hand water pump to be added to the Town website homepage to link the reader directly to the OHD page.  The group requested a modification to the suggested banner.  Matt will replace the hand pump with an old style fire truck.  Matt will get the banner to Ginger to be added to the website.

Matt Raymond presented three ideas for the theme design to be used for the T-shirts and the booklets.  Matt explained that he prefers the two-color design and that he will donate on screen if the Committee will pay for the other screen.  The group selected the preferred design of a fire truck.  The T-shirts will be a natural color with a green engine and black details and lettering. 

Mark is still waiting for information from Karen Montgomery about insurance coverage.  On the basis of information from Jill Jacques, Mark also needs to confirm that the insurance will cover the kids in the bounce house. 

The group decided to rely on the newspaper articles to publicize the Citizen of the Year contest and to not write letters to various organizations in town.  Sandy Burt volunteered to make posters to advertise Citizen of the Year and to post them at various locations around town.

It is not possible to post the 2008 OHD video on the public access channel 25 because Barnstead did not contract for the ability to display videos; they only contracted for the ability to display still photos.  Pam Plante suggested requesting that the video be displayed on Alton’s public access channel 26.  She will try to make the request. 

Before the video is posted on youtube, Jim Kallgren wants to ask permission from the parents of a young girl who is featured in the video.  If he gets permission, Jim will use his video software to post the video on youtube.  He will email Eileen Murley when it is done.  Eileen will write an article for the papers to publicize the video on youtube.

Peg Simoneau shared the Parks and Rec Summer Band Concert schedule with the OHD Committee.   Volunteers will be needed to sell OHD merchandise at each concert.  Sandy Burt will ask Ken LeGrow if we can store the merchandise sales equipment (wagon, table, merchandise) at his house since he is a Committee member.  The following people volunteered to sell merchandise at the band concerts:

We need four more people to complete the schedule.  Other Committee members needed to check their personal schedules.  Eileen Murley will check with Jim Barnard.

Ad sales are beginning to be received.  To date, thirteen confirmations have been received, although ad copy and payments have not been received for all.  Gosse Septic requested the back cover of the booklet.  Suncook Valley Sno-Riders will be taking a full-page ad for the dinner.  Shirley Hayes will coordinate for the Sno-Riders.  Ginger Sargent is requested that all ads be finalized by the end of April.

Jill Jacques was unable to attend the meeting, but provided the following information on the rentals: 

The 10-yard dumpster has been reserved from Pinard.

The portable toilets have been reserved from Gosse Septic.

The bounce house has been reserved from David Poslyony.  He is donating the rental and will deliver and will pick up.  He does not have insurance and OHD will need to ensure insurance covers bounce house.

The tents, tables and chairs have been reserved from Farmington Taylor Rental.  There was a question regarding the tent for the Barnstead Fire Rescue breakfast.  Last year, we split the rental cost with BFR because they helped us out of a jam.  Eileen Murley will talk with BFR to determine that they will be providing their own tent this year.  Half of the rental cost is needed for a deposit.  Ginger will request a check from the town treasurer. 

Jill spoke with Vertical Dreams regarding the cost to extend the rental of the rock wall.  The cost from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm is $650.00.  The cost for 10:00 am – 3 pm is $880.00.  The group thought that the additional cost was not feasible, even though the cost for each climb will be raised this year.  Eileen Murley will ask Jill Jacques to confirm that if we shift the time to 12 noon – 3:00 pm that the cost will remain $650.00. 

Ginger Sargent is modifying the vendor registration form to indicate the charge for a 20’ X 20’ space will be $15.00 for all vendors.  Exhibitors will still not be charged.  She will be sending out the registration forms within two weeks.

Old Home Day hats are already available for sale at town hall.  Sandy will make some signs to advertise the sales.  Sandy will follow up with Kerry Guptil and Ken LeGrow regarding the raffle items.

Pam Plante will be heading the kids’ games.  She is going to contact the National Honor Society at Prospect Mountain High School to get helpers for the games.  The Honor Society members have community service requirements.  Jim Kallgren has two mini tractors that can be used for tractor pulls.  Kids games will be run from 10 am – 2 pm.  Ginger Sargent will check with Oriental Traders to see if they have inexpensive fire hats that could be given as prizes for the kids’ games. 

Matt Raymond will organize some basketball contests for older kids.  He envisions a “Shoot till you miss” contest.  The person with the highest number of consecutive baskets will win a prize.  He also envisions setting up shooting locations, each rated for different number of points and players will have a time period to accumulate the most points.  The person with the highest number of points will win a prize.   It was suggested that basketballs would be appropriate prizes for these contests. 

Ron Fitzpatrick is just starting to collect information for the booklet. 

Sandy Burt agreed to contact George Twigg regarding being the auctioneer for the Auction.  After the meeting, Sandy did contact George and he did agree to be our auctioneer again.

Ron Fitzpatrick has contracted with the timer for the road race.  He has already received sponsorship from some local businesses and will contact past sponsors as well. 

The minutes from the March 11, 2009 OHD meeting were reviewed.  Corrections were made to two dates.  Ron Fitzpatrick made a motion to accept the minutes as modified.  Pam Plante seconded the motion.  The group voted unanimously to accept the minutes. 

The next Committee meeting will be on May 13, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall.  Mark and Ginger Sargent will not be available.  The meeting will be conducted by Eileen Murley.

Meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m.