Cultural Council

Methuen Cultural Council 2023-2024 Ellen Baranowski - Secretary John Broscoe - Member Karen Broscoe - Member Jennifer Loiselle – Chair Carey Smith- Member Catherine Zembruski – Member Meeting Minutes Monday, June 24, 2024 6:30 PM Location: Nevins Library Garden Room & Virtual/Google Link Video call link: https://meet.google.com/fgz-oaig-otq 1 Roll Call- Ellen Baranowski, John Broscoe, Karen Broscoe, Jennifer Loiselle, Carey Smith, Catherine Zembruski. Meeting commenced at 6:31 PM. 2 Public Participation- none 3 Vote on Minutes – Meeting of June 10, 2024- Minutes were amended to reflect that Catherine Zembruski attended the virtual meeting on June 10th, but could not be heard and did not communicate or vote. Amended minutes were voted on/accepted. Motion: Ellen. Seconded: Karen. Vote: unanimous. 4 Financial Report- No updates 5 Council Business a) Summer Night Music Series Planning Application Review- Applications went live after the last meeting. The band invites were posted on social media and on the city website. There were seven (7) bands that applied. We were happy with that outcome. The application asked for a lot of information, and these bands complied. The council reviewed the applications, listened to samples of the music, visited the bands’ webpages/ YouTube links, and discussed each of the applicants; with special consideration for their listed dates of availability. We still need a band for the first date of July 12th Jennifer is going to reach out to some of the bands with whom we are familiar to see if they can fill in this date; The Shadow Band, Troubedor Soul, Gravity Men, and The GemStones. [Secretary’s note: For the purposes of reimbursement, I have added the contact person for each band in brackets.] “The Shadow Band” [Kevin Keleher Kevin.keleher@outlook.com]- Classic rock and contemporary. Jennifer will circle back with their contact person to see if the band can make July 12th work in their schedule. “Radio Roulette” [Paul Monayer paulmonayer@hotmail.com]- Pop, rock, and country. The MCC voted to invite them to our July 26th event. Motion: Ellen. Seconded: Catherine. Vote: unanimous. “Frontwoods” [Ashley Osgood frontwoodsmusic@gmail.com]- Pop/Americana- popular covers from all decades and orignins. The MCC voted to invite them to our August 9th event. Motion: Jennifer. Seconded: Ellen. Vote: unanimous. “Trouble Again” [Tim Corcoran tcorcoran@gmail.com]- Cover band. The MCC voted to invite them to our August 23rd event. Motion: Ellen. Seconded: Karen. Vote: unanimous. “The Offramps” [Lori Gangi Leblanc219@gmail.com]- Party/dance. The MCC voted to invite them to our September 7th event at Forest Lake (this will be a real family-friendly event!) Motion: Jennifer. Seconded: John. Vote: unanimous. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”- Beatles’ Classics. Their music is mostly instrumental and may not fit our needs for one of these events. “Rabbits for Sale”- Energetic vibes. Their music is indy-rock and may not fit our needs for one of these events. Four of the music events are scheduled for the Riverside Park from 6:00-9:00 PM. (Music will be 6:30- 8:30/9:00.) The September 7th event at Forest Lake begins at noon. Steve Angelo of the Rec Department said that his office will pay for a ¼ page ad in Methuen Life. The city will also cover the costs for, and supply, porta-potties, a police officer, tables, and a food truck. Jen will ask them for additional tables for the MCC activities, and for trash buckets near the food. The MCC and ESCO Awards will supply popcorn, and cotton candy (thank you, ESCO!), as well as water. We will also sponsor craft activities. Jen will reach out to the Methuen Rocks Group to help supply rocks for painting. Karen showed us the face plates that were made for the popcorn and cotton candy tables (“… courtesy of the MCC and ESCO Awards”) Jen will supply jugs of warter. Ellen will buy 5 oz drinking cups. b) Financial review – bands- no updates Marketing, our own branding material/swag- no updates c) Meeting with Mayor Perry- date TDB d) Direct Granting- Ellen scheduled a zoom meeting with Greg from MA CC scheduled for July 15th at 1:00 PM. Any MCC member who is available should join us. Let's Connect Time: Jul 15, 2024 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88048000676  Meeting ID: 880 4800 0676 6 Miscellaneous- As we did last year, Jen will draft an invite to representatives at the Methuen Memorial Music Hall, The Hisotircial Society, Nevins Library, as well as The Center for Perfomring Arts School and the Methuen 300th Anniversary Committee (and others, as we think of them), to ask them to do a 5 minute intro before each of the Music Nights. Last year, the MCC approved a grant for the GemStones to perform at the senior center. The city needs a W-9 to be paid to a member (not the group). We revised our original vote to reflect changing the grant recipient from “the GemStones” to “ Josef Nocera” for the purposes of reimbursement. Motion: Jennifer. Seconded: Karen. Vote: unanimous. The MCC will send personal invites to each member of the City Council, as well as the Deparment Heads in Methuen City Hall to welcome them to attend the Summer Night’s Music Series events. Ellen will draft the invite and email it to them. 7 Look Ahead/Next Meeting- July 8th, 6:30 PM; virtual via GoogleMeet 8 Adjourn- Motion: Karen. Seconded: Jennifer. Vote: unanimous. Meeting ended at 8:02 PM. Anyone needing an access accommodation to participate in City of Methuen programs or services, please contact Sandy Almonte, ADA/DEI Coordinator at 978-382-2123 or salmonte@ci.methuen.ma.us at least two weeks in advance, or two business days before a board or commission meeting. This notice is available in alternate formats upon request.