May 6, 2021
FACT Board Meeting Minutes
Attendees: Jennifer Bowers, Marc Baluch, Larry Baker, Ron Hinkle, Bethany La Loge, Martie LaCasse,
Guests: Deb Morton (Social Media), Sue Haws (FCHT)
Absent: Sara Puckett (unexcused), Mike Peterson (unexcused), Todd Williams (excused)
Call to order: Jennifer called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m.
Guest Speaker: Sue Haws – Fremont County has Talent
- FCHT will be held on June 5th – Auditions will be May 15th and 16th at the Rialto
- Sue will need access to the building for Auditions and one week prior to the show for set up – Board members will need to open and close up the Rialto
- Show will be approx. 1.5 hours long with 15-20 acts (5-6 mins each)
Old Business
- 4/22/21 Meeting Minutes – sent out in a previous email
- Martie stated that her name needed a spelling correction
- Jennifer – moved to approve the minutes with corrections
- Ron 2nd – with the with the above mentioned amendments
- All in favor – motion passed
- Write Time Radio (KRLN) –
- Ron reported that it went ok
- Lynn Donovan will have a thumb drive of the audio recording when she gets back next week and we can have a copy if we would like to put it on our Social Media Pages
- A discussion was held with Deb Morton about Social Media – she stated that we can email her anything we want to be put up on our YouTube page
- Ron suggested that we post the Starpoint FTN video of Debbie Bell reading on the Rialto Theater stage
- Jennifer stated that board members need to like and share our posts on Facebook to reach more of an audience
New Business
Advertising
- We need a point of contact to consistently send out our advertising for shows and events
- A discussion was held
- It was decided that each individual group/committee will be responsible for developing their own advertising
- Martie stated that she is willing to send it out to the press, if people can send her the finished advertising/ flyers, etc.
Committee Updates
Grants
- Martie has been working on the Shuttered Venue grant
- She stated that she has been having issues with the website and the grant requirements
- This grant is focused on theaters that have paid staff/actors
- She is also working on a grant from El Pomar
- Martie stated that grant went in a little late for the first round of funding, but show be on the El Pomar agenda in May or July
- This is for a General Operating Expense grant of $10,000
- Newmont Mining and CU of Colorado also have small operating expenses grants we will can try for
- The Rawlings Foundation and Next 50 have bigger grants we can try for once we have our financial documentation done
- Next 50 has $25,000 max grants with a quick turnaround
Concessions
- Larry stated that we might need to look into new coolers – the current ones are only at 51 degrees
- A discussion was held about new coolers
- Larry stated that he would like to have a refrigeration person look at the coolers
- Martie suggested to call Joe’s Appliance
- Larry stated that he would call to schedule an appointment
Bills
- We have a Black Hills Energy bill for $598 – we are receiving the bills via email
- Larry stated that he would get that paid
Board Attendance and needs
- A discussion was held about Board member attendance
- The currently attendance policy states that a board member will be terminated after 3 unexcused absences
- Best practice is attendance of all Executive Board Members at most meetings
- We NEED to get the Treasure’s reports, Financial Reports and Income statements done ASAP in order to be able to apply for grants
- Martie asked if we would like to be connected to a retired bookkeeper to get our financials done
- Discussion was held – the board would be interested
- Jennifer stated that Susan Darci’s Accounting should already be providing monthly financial statements
- Jennifer will contact them about getting our missing monthly and annual reports that we are missing.
- Martie stated that we still need to get our audit done
Fundraising
- Ron stated that Larry Baker has pledged a $500 donation for every $5000 we raise for the Rialto
- Jerry Robinson & Deb Morton (and her husband) each donated $500 in May
- Will give a shout out on the marque
Yellow Tube
- will be up until the end of summer (99 days)
Facebook Fundraising
- Set up by Michelle Hyatt and Deb Morton in 2020
- Deb stated that the total revenue of that fundraiser was $525 and she wanted to check that we received that money from Facebook
- Jennifer and Larry will double check on that deposit
Celebrity Karaoke Fundraiser
- July 10th outside the Rialto
- Still working on the details and have a few individuals who are interested in participating
Car Wash Fundraiser
- The code will be posted at the Car Wash locations
- We need to work on promoting fundraiser – will put up on the marque
Chili’s Fundraiser
- We cannot do this for the month of May due to COVID restrictions on dining room per Chili’s Cooperate Office
- We may be able to do this in June
Rialto Cookbooks
- Ron stated that we have some old Rialto Cookbooks to sell or auction
- A discussion was held on how to market and sell these
Music Licensing/ Royalties
- Marc stated that Terry Wagner of Wagner Brakes is interested in sponsoring the music licensing in full
- A discussion was held about how we could honor this sponsorship
New Events
- Halloween party – Oct 30th
- Early on have kid friendly costume party and trick or treating
- Later in the night have adult Halloween party
- Blues Festival – September
- Blues & Beer – working title
- 3 band contest (demo) – free to the public
- 1st, 2nd, 3rd place awarded
- 2nd day – all 3 bands return to play a full set – sell tickets to the full concert
- Tie in Guitar art with festival
Sound System
- Tay from KRLN has offered to let us use his sound system for our events (he will run it)
- Marc wants to research a bit before we commit to Tay
- If we go with Tay we will give him a shout out on the marque, playbills, etc.
Productions
Our Town
- Auditions for Our Town will start this weekend
- May 7th – 9th, & 14th
- FCT started promotion auditions yesterday
- We need to find a local printer for playbills and flyers
- We need to figure out how many seats we can have in the theater for ticket sales
- Jennifer will work on arranging seating on Saturday
- Deb will come to help
- We need committee members here for tours on 2nd Saturday
Fremont County has Talent
- Auditions will be May 15th and 16th
- Sue needs access to the building Sat: 10-2 (Ron) & 6-8 (Jennifer), Sun 1-3
COVID Protocol
- Board Members will need to wear masks when the Theater is open to the public
- We are looking into a backpack sprayer for sanitizing the theater between events
- $450 – $5000 depending on the model
- We need to contact Kayla Maynar at FCDPH for sanitization requirements before we purchase equipment
- The $500 grant we received from the Florence Chamber could be used toward purchase of equipment
Children’s Theater
- Tentative to start on July 12th – July 31st for camp
- July 30, 31 and Aug 1st for performances
- Charge for camp was $50 per child – considering upping the price to $100 per child (providing scholarships for kids who need them)
- $10-$12 ticket cost for Camp Show
- Offer parents a discount
To do List:
- Find someone to tune the piano
- Purchase Soda and Water for 2nd Saturday (May 7th)
- Larry will purchase – $1 donation for drinks
- Larry needs help finishing the Green Room
- He needs at least 3 people
- Larry needs to decide on schedule for Volunteers to help
- May 7th and May 15th will be work days – 10-2
- Deb will promote on Facebook
- Liquor
- Marc stated he will be the contact person to get us hooked up with a Liquor distributor
- The Board decided to go with Coors
- He will also look into local vendors for donation – can only get $200 worth in donations
- Name Tags
- We need to purchase shirts and name tags for Board Members for events
- We have used Moore in Florence before
FACT Meeting adjourned at 7:49 pm
Next Meeting in 2 weeks Thursday May 20th, at 6:00 p.m. at the Rialto Theater
Respectfully Submitted,
Bethany La Loge
FACT Board Secretary
