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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-09-23-TCC-minMinutes Town Celebrations Committee September 23, 2015 Cafe, 201 Bedford Street Members present Lorain Marquis and Rich McDonough, Co- Chairs; Suzanne Caton, Kim Coburn, Linda Dixon, Karen Gaughan, Cerise Jalelian, Paul Jenkins, Linda Levett, Melanie Lin, Julie Miller, Wayne Miller, Bill Mix, Geetha Padaki, Sandy Podgorski, Bob Tracey Members not present Carol Flynn, Sondra Lucente, Henry Murphy, Dave Taylor, Sam Zales. Business • Lorain declared that a quorum was present. She began the meeting with some introductory remarks. Her goal is to build on the committee's past successes and have an even more successful year ahead. She will be travelling from February 2 through March 9, 2016 and stressed that early planning will be the key to a successful Patriots Day. • Lorain introduced new member Melanie Lin. Melanie is co- chairing the Dance around the World event and will serve as liaison to the Chinese American Association of Lexington (CAAL). • Gina Rada, Veterans Services Director for Lexington /Bedford, and Gresh Lattimore attended as guests. • Gina expressed interest in joining the committee and Lorain will make the arrangements. • The minutes of June 10, 2015 were approved. Discussion of Expanded Program for Wreath - Laying at Memorials • Gresh Lattimore, who served as Narrator for the Memorial Day Parade, and Sandy Podgorski briefed the committee on the efforts of a special subcommittee to make the wreath - laying portion of the Memorial Day and Veterans' Day ceremonies more meaningful by expanding the narrative description for each of the memorials to include their history and backgrounds. Information is scarce and hard to find. Bill Mix offered to consult with Elaine Doran of the Historical Society, who could be an excellent resource. • The subcommittee made the following recommendations to enhance the wreath - laying ceremony: • Recognize the Korean and Vietnam wars as two separate wars. Even though they are commemorated with a single stone, lay two wreaths and describe each war separately. • Include a recognition of the 8 individual markers on the Battle Green that are dedicated to those who served (sacrificed ?) in World War I. Dance Around the World, Saturday, October 24, 2015, Lexington High School • Geetha and Melanie reported that Dance around the World will have three main components. The dance portion will take place in the high school gym. Cultural booths and activities and food from many cultures will be offered in two adjacent rooms. A broad spectrum of dance groups will be represented, including Indian, Chinese, Korean, Israeli, Irish, and Spanish. They are planning for an attendance of 700. • Volunteers are needed to help with public relations and advertising; decorating; volunteer coordination; and working the night of the performance on many details. The planning committee is meeting weekly on Tuesday evenings at 7:30 at the Community Center. Veterans' Breakfast, Saturday, October 31, 2015, Keilty Hall • Bedford veterans will be welcome and included in the publicity materials. • We will print only 200 tickets to assure that we don't have an overcapacity crowd. • Geetha has IT skills and will help with mail merging and preparation of blast email messaging. • Rich suggested Sandra Diaz, PhD, from the Bedford VA as Keynote Speaker and the committee voted to approve her selection. • Linda D will write up an article for the Minuteman's October 22 edition. • Bill Mix suggested bringing in a small musical group to play the National Anthem and the service songs. Kim Coburn will check with the high school band and Bill will see about securing two fifers and a drummer from the Lexington Minutemen. • Six members volunteered to staff the check -in table and write name tags for guests. This should be enough to make foot traffic flow easily and avoid jams at the entrance. • Sandy Podgorski, Dick Crogan, and Wayne Miller have begun to solicit local businesses to contribute door prizes. Each donor will receive a certificate of thanks from the committee. • Karen and Julie are planning to use fresh flowers as centerpieces. Kin suggested asking a local florist or garden center to lend us two dozen small potted plants to use as centerpieces and then return immediately after the breakfast. She has done this with another group function. Bob Tracey volunteered to approach Wagon Wheel with this request. • Sondra will purchase paper goods. • Sandy handed around the final copy of a flyer advertising the breakfast and the Veterans' Day ceremony and received committee approval. Gina will print 100 copies. She and Bill Linnehan, Bedford Veterans Services Officer, will distribute 50 copies and Sandy will distribute 50 copies. Planning will continue at the next meeting, which is scheduled for October 7, 2015. The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Linda Dixon, Co- Secretary Future Meetings: 2015 October 7; October 21; November 4, November 18; December 2; December 16 2016 January 6; January 20; February 3; February 17; March 2; March 9; March 16; March 23; March 30; April 6; April 13; April 27; May 11; May 25; June 8; June 22.