The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2016-04-27-TCC-min Minutes Town Celebrations Committee April 27, 2016 Cafe, 201 Bedford Street Members present Lorain Marquis, Rich McDonough, co-chairs; Suzanne Caton, Kim Coburn, Linda Dixon, Carol Flynn, Karen Gaughan, Cerise Jalelian, Paul Jenkins, Melanie Lin, Julie Miller, Wayne Miller, Henry Murphy, Bill Mix, Geetha Padaki, Sandy Podgorski, Dave Taylor, Bob Tracey Members not present Diana Bishop, Linda Levitt, Sondra Lucente, Sam Zales Business The Chair declared that a quorum was present. The minutes of April 13, 2016 were approved. Patriots Day Award Winners White Tricorne Hat: Dick Perry Minuteman Cane: Bill Hayes Youth Recognition: Mark Solomon and Rob Zedros Lexington Minutemen Cecil Harris/Marshall Porter Award: Ryan M. Lee Dan Fenn Award: Robert Collins Parade Floats Civic, First Place: Lexington Community Farm Civic, Second Place Bhakti Center of Lexington Civic, Honorable Mention: Operation Home Ties Youth, First Place: Lexington Best Buddies Youth, Second Place: Lexington Girl Scouts Youth, Honorable Mention: LexFUN! Commercial, First Place: Wagon Wheel Nurseries Commercial, Second Place: Wilson Farms Commercial, Honorable Mention Mahoney’s Garden Center Individual After-Action Parade Reports Dave Taylor: Consider implementing a review of or adding a guideline regarding wheel sizes of floats. The front wheels on the Bhakti Center cart were too small, causing it to continually get stuck in the ruts in Mass. Ave. The Best Buddies float didn't have enough adult supervision and kids slowed down, creating gaps big enough that some observers thought the parade was over and left. Wayne Miller: The registration table needs to be more noticeable. Dave Taylor suggested that he could erect his easy-up tent at the registration table, take it down right after the parade starts, and deliver it to the Town Pool to set up for the Parade Ambassador checkout station. Bob Tracey: There was confusion about who should give official start to the parade. He was at the front of the parade at 2:00; saw Lorain further ahead, so he took it upon himself to give the start signal. The town fire truck did not appear in the parade this year. Bill Mix: found the crowds smaller this year, disappointing. Kim Coburn: expelled an unauthorized military vehicle driving in the parade. Handed out the following prepared comments: Prep work Applications should be reviewed as they come in and clarified where necessary to be sure that we o have all the info we need. Spreadsheets for staking day should include details for number of vehicles & people in each group o as well as length of vehicles. Reenactment Reserve library parking lot through the town (this year it was promised to someone else) o Bring flashlights for ticket checking o Have someone stand at ramp to the Reviewing Stand to be sure that only ticketed people go up o there. Bring bag/bucket to collect ticket stubs o Go over steps/roles to be most efficient and so that people know where to go. o After the battle, who cleans up the papers from the muskets? Children were seen picking them up o during the morning ceremonies. Morning Parade/Ceremony Step-off was confusing as we usually line up on the drive and not in the road – need a decision o beforehand so everyone is on the same page Ceremonies at the Green are listed in the program as beginning at 8:15. We should move the time o back to 8 as the parade is short and we generally begin a bit before 8. Next year will likely be even shorter as Patriots’ Day is on Easter weekend, so there will likely be fewer people around. Someone needs to be cuing the speakers so that they know when they are “on deck” so that they are o not caught off guard. This needs to be a TCC role, not the MC’s job. Afternoon Parade Locate a second awning for check-in desk o Parade Ambassadors need to know who they are following and who they are leading. o List of responsibilities should be reviewed and printed out for Golf Cart Drivers o Golf cart drivers need to make sure they do a final check of all groups before 2pm o Golf cart drivers should be at the top of their section as the groups step off and should follow down o to be sure that all of their section (including banner bearers) are in the correct spot as the parade steps off. Lorain should be at the reviewing stand to remind Selectmen/other dignitaries to step out of the o parade and sit on the reviewing stand (if they want to) before heading to the Mass Ave/Worthen Rd intersection Make sure Lorain knows which groups are allowed to go to the right (Minutemen and who else?) o Some groups were looking for water at the end and didn’t see it – having the tent set up will help o (and maybe moving the table to a more prominent spot) Maybe a sign? Karen Gaughan: thinks one of the co-chairs should stay on the reviewing stand and act as host to VIP guests. The parade announcers commended the hard work of the DPW, Lexmedia, Police Department, Fire Department, Celebrations Committee, and Tourism Committee. The reviewing stand had very few people. Suzanne Caton: didn't hear a lot of communication between members on golf carts and registration desk, even when they were specifically contacted and requested to call in. Radios were not utilized. If the registration desk has three staffers, they need a dedicated golf cart. While at the registration desk, committee members received many positive comments from both marchers and onlookers. Linda Dixon: feels we allotted too much space to units in the first half of the parade and not enough space to second half units, causing crowding during the lineup process toward the end of parade. This resulted in several parade ambassador teams getting separated from their units. Sandy and Linda L patrolled and rescued them, placed them where they belonged. Recruiting 40 parade ambassadors is relatively easy but recruiting 50 proved very difficult. The largest size tee shirts we had was adult large, which was inadequate for several marchers. Next time we order tee shirts, we must order some XLs and XXLs. Only two golf carts were available to shuttle Parade Ambassadors to their parade lineup spots until 1:45, when two more became available and we pressed our own dedicated cart into service. Getting the ambassadors into their right spot in the lineup was a very high-pressure situation. We were unable to erect Dave’s easy-up tent but checkout went smoothly in spite of it. We gave out 2+ cases of water to thirsty marchers. Geetha Padaki: Several representatives of marching units mistook the group at the East Lexington Fire Station as the official parade registration location. It’s best to recruit Parade Ambassadors older than 14 to avoid having to watch over younger children until their parents pick them up at the checkout station. Think about creating an overflow station to handle any future problems with crowding and bunching up at the end of the parade while lining up. Sandy Podgorski: While on golf cart, aided a 91-year-old veteran of the Tuskegee Airmen World War II unit who was marching with the Ancient and Honorable Artillery unit. Cerise Jalelian: has a good sense of the ticket process now and feels confident about how to handle for next year. This year’s issues should not occur next year. The DPW felt that providing seats on the reviewing stand for the reenactment worked well and they may make this a permanent addition. Memorial Day, Monday, May 30, 2016 Lorain asked members to describe their individual responsibilities for Memorial Day in an email message. She'll assemble a work plan. Linda will announce the Langley Winds Concert at the Lexington Veterans Association meeting on May 9. We will ask Gresh Lattimore to be the Narrator. The Committee discussed several possibilities for Grand Marshal and Keynote Speaker. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Linda Dixon, Co-Secretary Future Meetings May 11; May 25; June 8; June 22.