Laconia Putnam Fund

Laconia Putnam Fund Board of Trustees Meeting February 12, 2021 This meeting was called to order on Friday, February 12, 2021 held at 45 Beacon Street East, Laconia City Hall, Laconia, NH with the following in attendance: Charles Bradley, Linda Peary, Jim Rogato and Betty Ballantyne were present at City Hall, Rich Landry via Zoom. Guests attending Zoom: Julie Connelly of English Wolf Music and Jeff Levitan of Northeast Radio. Colonial Update: Jim shared with us the Colonial Theatre is expected to be completed this March. Jim has met with the senior staff of Spectacle Company now known to be our resident theatre company for the Colonial Theatre. Jim met via Zoom and phone conversations to discuss plans for 2021 and 2022. NH Government guidelines state a 30% capacity in a 750 audience will allow less than 300 people per show. Spectacle indicated that perhaps by late fall, early winter and perhaps into 2022 the Theatre may be allowed full capacity. Jim indicated he will continue to stay in contact with them as the year progresses. Jim also discussed with them the potential to collaborate on their soft opening and potentials of their first program. Nothing has been firmed up athough Jim put it out on their table. Tentative 2021 Shows: Jay and the Americans – May 7, 2021 TBD (to be determined) The Rat Pack – September 17, 2021 TBD Hart Keene – October 8, 2021 TBD Albert Cummins/Ronnie Earl – November 20, 2021 TBD Much discussion with regards to Jay and Americans for May 7th are the following: safety, germ spreader, 30% capacity of a 750 seat auditorium, and monies spent for a 30% capacity (estimate $30,000) value. Charles was in favor of the show and feels it should not be put off any longer, Linda expressed the above opinions of safety, germ spreader and limited capacity, Betty concurred of its safety, getting better value by being at full capacity along with more vaccinations at all ages not just the 65 years plus. Rich also was concerned with the safety for the community and not having full capacity at the Theatre. A vote was not brought to the table. Our Agent Julie reached out. She will speak to the management team of Jay & The Americans to verify their intents to have the show in May 2021 or May 2022. Spectacle Company: Benefits: No charge for the Putnam Shows, no charge for technical director, lights and sound. They will provide ticketing, digital advertising, website calendar, state of the art sound and lights and a collaboration of shows for both parties. Programs will be available as such for mid-week shows. Roadhouse allocated 15 programs to the City. Budget: Linda gave us the breakdown as follows: Monies available for 2021 per the Trustees of Trust Funds guidelines is $84,372.77. If we are to have the shows as scheduled in 2021, we fall within our perimeters. Jay & The Americans $30,000 Belknap Mill Summer Programs $10,600 Rat Pack $14,250 Hart Keene $9,500 Albert Cummins/Ronnie Earl $13,215 Factoring in deposits Total $75,652 $8,700 plus carry over from 2019 is $62,365.06 and carry over of unused funds for 2020 are still unused. Strategy 2022: A new concept was discussed on how and what opportunities we can bring in for shows at our local venues at the Lakeport Opera House seating 200, Holy Grail seating 250 and the Laconia High School Auditorium seating 450, although our last experience with the High School with their last-minute cancellation of a show left us with being in quite a predicament. We do not feel compelled or confident with their commitment to us. A discussion of our approach for 2022 Colonial programing and ours may likely mirror each other. Thinking outside the box and to differentiate various options and opportunities: i.e., lectures, local talent and more. Charles had various artists to discussed though with too many unknowns, available venues and artists, it was tabled for now. Doobie Brothers & Steely Dan (Tribute Bands). Trust of Trustees: Newly elected is Randy Haas. Linda did review last month’s minutes of the Trustees of the Trust Fund meeting. Linda will be working with them as she does track the budget. Father Adrienne: Father was the Pastor at St. Andre Bessette, formerly known as Sacred Heart. Without Father’s support and use of the local Catholic Church, many of our programs would not have happened. We discussed many options to celebrate and recognize Father’s contributions to the Laconia Putnam Program. Charles has accepted the opportunity to bring to us suggestions to honor Father’s contributions. Facebook Retainer: Meredith Elliott had submitted a $750 invoice as a retainer for 2020’s social media support on Facebook and Instagram. We had approved her payment in full of $750 although we did not have any shows and we had not provided her with any content. The invoice had been approved by the Board via email with only Charles dissenting. Charles requested a breakdown of her billing. Betty offered to reach out to Meredith for further discussion of 2020 and 2021 and requesting a breakdown. Putnam Board Appointment: Betty Ballantyne applied in January to apply for a new 5-year term for the Putnam Board. She met via Zoom on February 8th for her interview. The City Council will meet at the end of this month and will report in March of their finding for the position. She ran unopposed. Next Meeting: Our next meeting will be held on April 2nd at 1:00 pm. It was yet undetermined if the meeting will be held person to person at the Conference Room at City Hall or Zoom. It will be appropriately posted in March. With no further discussion to come to the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 2:03 pm. Respectfully submitted, Betty Ballantyne Board Member