St. Johnsbury Band
Annual Meeting - 2023
The St. Johnsbury Band met for its 193rd annual meeting on Saturday, November 4th. 2023, at the Monroe Town Hall in Monroe, N.H. This traditional fall meeting is to elect a board of trustees and officers and fill other positions in the Band. Plans are also proposed for the next year.
This year featured a catered dinner which started with appetizers during the social period, followed by the dinner. Band Manager Dave Hare called the business portion of the meeting to order at 6:45pm.
Thanks were offered to the Meeting Committee for making the arrangements for the dinner and to Leslie Fredette and Carol Stevens for their fine decorations.
Dave Hare gave details on a $5,000 grant the Band received earlier this year. The grant was available for any purpose and the Band used it to stock up on new uniforms.
Treasurer Cheryl Gove presented the treasurer's report. There were a few questions and a brief discussion of expenses. The only concert cancelled last summer was the Woodsville 4th of July parade. John Goodrich motioned to accept the report. Carol Stevens seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
Secretary Randa Jacobs presented the secretary's report. John Goodrich made a motion to accept. Cheryl Gove seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
Jim McGregor then discussed the current status of the signature gathering to get our appropriation request on the town meeting ballot next March. We have nearly 400 signatures and that is enough if most are verified by the town clerk. Jim did ask that any outstanding petitions be turned in to him. Once the petitions have been turned in and the signatures are verified, he wants to discuss the next steps to make sure the Band provides the town voters with information on the request.
The question of whether the Band has a budget for next year or not was raised and it was agreed that having a budget would make sense. John Goodrich mentioned that it would be important to be able to explain to the Board of Appropriations why we are asking for $7500. Dave Askren mentioned he has written an OpEd piece for the newspaper that goes into the reasons behind the appropriation request and Jim McGregor spoke of the fact that the Band has been tapping into its reserves.
The next item of business were nominations for officers/trustees for 2024. The nominations were: Gary Aubin (Musical Director), Kirsten Harter (Assistant Musical Director), Dave Hare (Manager), Randa Jacobs (Secretary), Cheryl Gove (Treasurer), Dave Askren (Website) and Paul Tidyman (Facebook). Jim McGregor will finish out the year as Music Librarian and Jim Sanders is ending his term as Trustee. Billie Winter was nominated to replace Jim Sanders as Trustee and Leslie Fredette was nominated as Music Librarian. Both accepted their nominations and the slate was accepted unanimously.
Les Blodgett, a former trumpet played with the Band, was recognized and thanked for attending the dinner.
One award was presented. Ellen Gold was given the Band's highest award: Lifetime Member. Ellen has played the flute with the band for over 25 years. Her excellent musicianship and enthusiasm are valued highly, as is her wise counsel.
Following the award presentation, Gary Aubin motioned to adjourn the meeting. Rusty Speicher seconded. The motion passed and the meeting adjourned.
Dave Hare, Ellen Gold, Jim McGregor (l. to r.)
Ellen Gold at rehearsal with her flute