Laconia Putnam Fund

Laconia Putnam Fund Tuesday, November 12, 2024 This meeting was called to order at 9:06 a.m. on Tuesday, November 12, 2024 held at Laconia City Hall, 25 Beacon Street E #1, Laconia, NH with the following in attendance: Jim Rogato, Linda Peary, Betty Ballantyne, Janet Brough and Joanie Mercer. MINUTES: The minutes for October 8, 2024 were approved by Betty Ballantyne and seconded by Janet Brough with all in favor. TREASURER’S REPORT: As of today our balance is $56,188.42, with a few remaining invoices still outstanding, bringing us to a good place to close out the calendar year. UPDATES: a. Debbie Gibson’s proposal for request of funding for $1500 for the Carter Mountain Brass Band along with the Granite State ringers was brought to the table for discussion. They will be performing on June 20, 2025, Friday at 7 p.m. at the Church in Lakeport. They remain hopeful that we could help with $600 per ensemble and $300 for production of programs. We all agreed that the bell ringers might be a good draw. Linda Peary made a motion to honor the request and Janet Brough seconded it, with all in favor. We are aware of this group continually requesting funding, and thought we might need to pull in the reins with our budget concerns for the future. b. Tim Sample is a go for this Friday and Jim will meet him at four to get him set up. At that time they will discuss whether to have an intermission and when he will be handing out his free CD’s to the audience. Board members will arrive at 5:30. c. David Brody is still on our list for 2025 and we will be thinking of hosting him either at the Taylor Community or at the Belknap Mill if they could waive our fee as we sponsor the summer series. d. Holocaust program with Kati Preston from Branstead, NH is confirmed but not the official dates. On Thursday, November 14 at 2:00 p.m., Linda Peary and hopefully Joanie and Jim, will meet at the Laconia High School to discuss dates and times that Kati could speak with the students. Hoping we will be able to narrow a time and date for the Opera House for another presentation for the public. New Business: a. We love the hard work that Janet is doing with facebook and instagram. Now we need to spread the word and get more followers. Board members need to start writing a paragraph about themselves and a photo to Janet to post. b. Thoughts for 2025 include music by the Drifters and the Platters, a country singer, a magician or mentalist, and hopefully the Afternotes, a NH acapella group. Hoping to receive possible dates for the Colonial Theater availability the first of the year. Next Meeting: Tuesday, December 10, 2024 to be held at City Hall at 9:00 a.m. With no further business to come before the board, the meeting was adjourned at 10:00 a.m. Respectfully submitted Joanie Mercer Laconia Putnam board member (603-832-3498