Schedule for District Orchestra work nights

Looking ahead to January...

The following evenings will be work nights for the District Orchestra festival.  I will be soliciting help from students, as well.  All meetings will be in the Junior High orchestra room. The times and days of the week vary so that we can give folks a chance whose schedules might not always work in the evenings.

Wednesday, January 4   4:00 - 6:00 PM  

Thursday, January 12   6:00 - 7:00 PM  

Tuesday, January 17  5:00 - 7:00 PM   (IMPORTANT ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING!!!)

Tuesday, January 24  ALL DAY...ALL HANDS ON DECK for SET-UP!!!!

Thanks so much, everyone!!!  This festival is going to be a TREMENDOUS SUCCESS because of YOU!!!!

INDIANA ORCHESTRA FAMILIES ROCK!!!

Info on Water Bottles???

If you have been working on securing water bottles, as per our last meeting, please email me!!!  Thanks!
J

Link for LuLaRoe Fundraiser for Indie Strings

A fundraiser to purchase snacks for the students will be held on Monday in the JH Orchestra room from 7 - 8:30. Heidi Ray Monteleone, one of our string parents, is the sales representative.  If you are unable to attend, she has created a link that will take shoppers to her online inventory. It will be open to shop from December 13 at 6PM thru December 15 at 6pm. 

Below is the link!  Please post on social media...FB, Twitter, whatever!!!!  Thanks so much for your support our program so that we can provide a special experience for our guests!

https://www.roewith.me/s/4qI6FqGwa

Contact Info

Volunteers for the festival:

Programs and President of iStrings
Bev Mastalski, bpmastal@iup.edu

Thursday meal
Rachel Schiera, laughswife@gmail.com
Sharon Han, qiaoxianwen@yahoo.com
Mary Margaret Conjelko, conjelko6@gmail.com

Director Hospitality
Lisa Strittmatter, gimatt94@comcast.net

Snacks for students
Laura Herrington, lrherrington@gmail.com

Music and sorting
Linda Zhang and Frank, zyjyu@yahoo.com

Audition help
Swana Chepaitis, swanachepaitis@comcast.net

Please forgive me if I forgot someone...working off the top of my head.

As always, I'm at jlaird@iasd.cc

Meeting for helping with PMEA District 2, 3, 5 Orchestra will be on Thursday, Dec. 8 from 6:30 - 7:30

We'll be meeting in the Orchestra room at the JH from 6:30 - 7:30!  You can leave in time for the SH Choral concert!!!

PLANNING MEETING THIS THURSDAY 6-7

This Thursday, October 13, is the date for our next parent meeting. This will be a "hands-on" meeting with forms, music preparation, and also some important information.  We will work from 6 - 7.  Please bring your calendar for scheduling future work meetings.  We'll also talk about the Selections Meeting preparations (Selections Meeting is Saturday, November 5 at 2:30 PM.) We will only need Debra and Rachel to help with that, as they are doing the refreshments.

We have a parent who is volunteering to coordinate the hospitality table, and she will be seeking helpers.

I'm going to try to kick off our Cello Fury ticket campaign this week.  Please watch your emails for an announcement!

See you on Thursday.

Director Selections Meeting Changed to Sunday, November 6

This only affects the folks who volunteered to provide refreshments.  Some of the directors have band/football game obligations on Saturday, and Sunday is a much better day for them to attend.

The meeting will still start at 1:00, and I've made arrangements to have the Shryock Ave door (#3) opened at 12:30 so that we can set up.

District Orchestra Planning Meeting CHANGED to Monday, September 12 at 6:00

It has become necessary to change the meeting time for the District Orchestra planning meeting. It will now be held on Monday, September 12 at 6:00 in the JH Orchestra Room.  

Thank you so much for your support and understanding!  See you there!

J

It's time to really turn up the heat on our planning!

Our next meeting for planning the PMEA District 2, 3, 5 Orchestra festival will be Thursday, September 8 at 6:00 PM in the JH Orchestra Room.  I'll keep it short, but I really will need "all hands on deck" to get our planning moving, now that school has started!

I didn't run this date past anyone, as I'm "running" myself today, so I hope it works for a few of you.

I am so GRATEFUL for your support!

See you there!  Please don't hesitate to email me if you can't make it, or if you have questions!
jlaird@iasd.cc

Next Meeting - Tuesday, May 24 6:00 PM in the JH Orchestra room

Thanks to all who are helping to plan for our big festival next year!  Please try to make this meeting as we plan for summer projects.

Meeting for tonight is CANCELLED!

Thanks so much for your support.  Plans are progressing nicely, but there isn't enough to report to merit a meeting.  Please email me if you would like more information!

Next planning meeting is Thursday, April 7 from 6 - 7 PM in JH Orchestra Room

Hope to see you there!

Here are the leadership notes from the last meeting, provided by Bev Mastalski:

Bev Mastalski:  Program, Fundraising, Grantwriting

Linda Zheng: Paperwork

Rachel Schiera:  Student Social Event, Stage Logistics, Grantwriting

Laura Herrington:  Gift/Tote Bags



These roles can be fluid for now, until we see how much work each role takes.  I don't want anyone to feel overwhelmed! I applied for a Walmart grant last week, and should hear about it within 90 days.  I asked for $2500, which was the maximum available for a Walmart Community Grant.  I outlined the snack/water needs, the academic scavenger hunt/social opportunity, and the gift/tote bag requests as well as pencils, erasers, and notebooks for the bags.  I am really hopeful that this will come through.  If it doesn't, we can apply again, or consider applying through Sam's Club.

Sharon and I are going to work on a Costco grant, also. 

I have signed a contract with Park Inn for housing/breakfasts, and we have security lined up through our school security guards.  I am working on a couple of other contracts, and will be meeting soon with Eleanor Sherry to discuss our cafeteria meals.

The whole process is a little bit daunting, but with your support, we are moving forward, and the plans are going well.  Many schools are noticing that we are working ahead, and are pleased with our progress!

I'll have more to report at our meeting on April 7.

Thanks so much, everyone!!!!

We are off to a great start!

We had a very successful trip to Regional Orchestra last weekend, and we've come back with some new ideas.  I'm including pictures here to demonstrate ways that we can prepare for next year's festival.

The director's food table was amazing at this festival.  One person ran the whole thing, and it was very fancy.  I don't think ours needs to be so elaborate.  There were finger sandwiches and cheese the first afternoon...

...with plenty of coffee and tea.

Friday morning we found a beautiful breakfast table, and 

Friday afternoon, there was an amazing dessert buffet.  

At the concert, there were numerous tables.  This one was for parents to sign that they were onsite to pick up their children after the concert.  I have not seen this before, but it was a GREAT idea!

I have also never seen PMEA teachers selling tickets, but that was the case here.  Instead of purchasing "tickets," the concert program served as the ticket.  They ran into a snag when they ran out of concert programs...something to keep in mind.

Most festivals have an introductory time when a school administrator speaks, then a PMEA person, and then the guest conductor.  I will work to keep this "talking" time to 5 minutes or less!!!!  However, we will need the podium set up somewhere.

Please help me remember to bring up the "school posters" in our next meeting.

More on that soon...

If you missed the meeting last night...

...here is the slide presentation that gives all of the info you need to help out.

If you are interested in serving in one of these listed capacities, please let me know!  We have a few chairmen of these committees now, but will always need more volunteers and help!

Also, don't forget to go to the IASD website for volunteer clearances.  These will be due to me by the fall so that I can turn them into PMEA.

Thanks so much for your help!  This will be the best festival ever!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1b-I0IQfXA7M5kvyzpKaQXpOtxOd3yZxefwh2fjv8JSU/edit#slide=id.g1011d63d31_2_75

1st Planning Meeting, February 18, 2016 from 6-7 PM

It's time for us to begin planning!

Our address for this blog is http://pmeadistrict235orchestra2017planning.blogspot.com/.  This is an excellent way for us to stay in touch and make plans together.

You can always reach me at jlaird@iasd.cc.  As I get better with Blogger, I'll open this up so that we can all communicate here.

Thanks so much for being on board with this monumental project!

Welcome to an exciting year of planning!

Dear Friends of IASD strings:

This is our new blog to stay in touch as we plan for PMEA District 2, 3, 5 Orchestra 2017.  You may subscribe to this blog, and it will be enabled so that you can post to it for the benefit of all subscribers.

Watch for updates as often as you can.  You will see emails in your inbox that indicate that someone has posted so that we can stay up to date.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me as we plan for this festival.  I know that it will be the BEST festival that District 2, 3, and 5 have seen in a long time!

GO TEAM IASD STRING FAMILIES!!!!!!