February 20, 2023 Agenda

Grap’s Wine Room
7:00 PM

CALL TO ORDER:

ROLL CALL:

REVIEW OF PREVIOUS MINUTES:

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT:

Sound

Per board approval before the Annual Meeting, I got a check from Kelsey and purchased the sound system from Bob Olson for $350. It has the Microphone, two mic stands, two speaker stands, two speakers and mixing board. Right now it is stored under the stage for our use, but I think we should be open to lending it out, I or somebody else would probably have to be with it or at least help set it up. I think this could be a good way to work with other organizations in town.

I went through the various other wireless microphones in the theater. I made sure they all worked and made sure microphones are with the correct receivers and stored together. There are about 6 or 7 other wireless microphones other than the main set of lav microphones. I also purchased a couple of small lights for backstage and the light booth. Jacey had some during the Christmas show and they were so handy, I picked some up. I also purchased different kinds of batteries for the different microphones so if they ever have to be used, we have the right kind there.

I talked with Nate and the current plan in the theater is for the Rec to purchase some new main speakers to replace the Bose speakers. If these are powerful enough, we may not need speakers in the middle of the theater, it all depends. I am also waiting to hang the three microphones we were able to find in storage. Originally I was going to hang them in a row behind the current hanging microphones, but depending on how good the new speakers are, we may find some different placement for those microphones. We will just have to see when the new speakers are in. There is no current ETA that I know of, but I know Nate was hoping soon.

Once the High School musical starts they will need the wireless lav microphones setup. I am working with them on a time for me to get this done. My hope is once I get those microphones working again, we can just leave them in all the time for others’ use. I will also use this opportunity to work on an instruction guide on running sound and lights that can be left at the theater for people to look over if they need questions. I will also be trying to find some new people to learn lights and sound, several of the people we have had in the past are no longer in the area. We have to provide someone to run lights and sound for other activities as part of our agreement with the city. I am not always able to do them, so it is helpful to have several others who know how to run the system. If you know of anyone interested, please let me know.

Sponsorship

I have used my list of Belle Fourche businesses and have contacted everyone on that list, some several times. Most places have been given packets. I am going to be reaching out to straggles again over the next couple of weeks to make sure I hit everyone in town. So far we have more sponsors this year, but some for less than previous years. All in all, I think it has been successful. I am still hoping to get a few more business sponsorships before Pride & Prejudice in May.

As it stands now we have received money from, $500 sponsors: Black Hills Title; Black HIlls Diner; Pioneer Bank & Trust; SME’s Treats; Double Star Computing. We have received money from, $250 sponsors: First Interstate Bank; Wild Magnolia; Heartland Home Health & Hospice.

Michelle Watson from Kellar Williams has pledged a $500 sponsorship and Fast Break Screen Printing has pledged a $250 sponsorship, I am just waiting for checks from them. Allie has also worked on a $250 sponsorship from her workplace, just waiting on a check from them as well. I have also been told Dakota Lumber, Jackson Dental and Schreier Engineering are all wanting to sponsor again, but I haven’t received checks or amounts yet from them.

This is not a bad amount especially in conjunction with the $2,000 we know we are getting from BHE and BHFCU grants but I am still hoping for more especially with Mamma Mia! coming up.

Grants

I have begun work on getting some new grants this year for BFACT. We are not going to be eligible for any SD Arts Council grants this year so I am trying to expand out the types of grants we apply for. We have already applied for and got $1,000 from Black Hills Energy and BH FCU. We did request more money originally for each, but I am really happy we got what we did. We did apply for a Midco Foundation grant of $2,500, Monument Health for $5,000 and Wal-Mart for $3,000 but I haven’t heard responses from any yet.

There are other grants I am applying for, Kelsey just gave me some budget numbers for last year that I needed for a grant I am working on through The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation. I will complete that one coming up and hopefully we receive it.

We do not qualify for many grants I have found for various reasons and I could use some help searching for more grants for us to apply to this year. Since we can’t get any from the Arts Council, that is a chunk of money we need to replace this year.

We did receive $89.93 from the Center of the Nation Foundation from their giving campaign this year. I was told by them, this year was not as big as they had hoped, but are hoping it will be bigger this coming year and we should be able to participate again. Thank to Angela for getting us involved with this.

Storage

I spoke with Adam N from the school about the storage at the Middle School we talked about last school year. He said the plan is still to get those created, but I don’t think much progress has been made. Adam said he would let me know when progress happens, and the plan is still to let us use some of that space with HS/MS theater to hang costumes.

We have started storing paint under the stairs in the garage, it is a much better and cleaner place to do so. Toi had told me though that some of the paint may have gone bad due to the cold. I need to look into that. If it is causing the paint to go bad, that is not a good space for that. The only real solution might be to get a fireproof cabinet for the paint, but those are around $1,200. It might be something multiple organizations in town can go in together to get purchased.

Website

I had mentioned before that due to some technical issues, it would be best to move the BFACT website to WordPress over the next year. Due to some other technical issues, we can’t just move it over so the site has to be rebuilt. I am beginning the design process now, websites should be refreshed every few years, and it has been over three years since this one was created so it was about time anyway. If you have any thoughts, needs and wants for the new website, please let me know as I begin work on this. This will probably not be fully done until sometime later summer.

Black Hills Community Theater

I was able to have a meeting to talk with the new Executive Director of BHCT about various theater things a few weeks ago. It was interesting to hear some of the issues we have, are the exact same ones a bigger theater like theirs has. We did discuss that they have had trouble getting people to get involved in various workshops and the like, just like us. They had success doing a theater adult summer camp type thing, and I will speak with CC about this. It was also interesting to hear that they have most of their fundraising success with individual donors to their theater. I think this is something BFACT needs to look into. Merlyn, the new ED, is hoping to get more involved with other local theater organizations to see how we can help each other which I think is great and could help our reach. I don’t know exactly in what form this will take, but they have already said they would help push our FB posts of events which should be helpful.

White Rabbit, Red Rabbit

I was approached by the Homestake Opera House to participate in an experimental show they have coming up called White Rabbit, Red Rabbit. This is a one-person show, but the actor is given no direction, can’t know what the show is about and read the script until the show starts, so it is one big cold-read. This is apparently a pretty popular show and I will be performing it on March 16 at 7:30 pm. There are only 30 tickets for each performance. I think this is another way for us to get closer to other local theaters and get in front of different audiences.

OFFICER REPORTS:

President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Creative Committee
- We were supposed to have a Creative Committee meeting last week but I had a sinus infection and had to reschedule. We will be meeting tomorrow instead. I am hoping in the next week or so to get the last of the dates all figured out and locked in so I can create a season poster so we can start getting them up around town.
- Pride & Prejudice
  - Nathan will be directing Pride & Prejudice on May 12 – 14. He is figuring out his schedule now, which I will check with the Rec on. It sounds like auditions will be mid-March. Once we have those dates we will start ramping up promotion on this. Nathan and I will also work on a budget for this show and have it for the next meeting.
- Mamma Mia!
  - We are currently searching for a director for this show. If we are unable to find someone, I will direct the show. Once we have that figured out for sure, audition dates will be set so we can promote this soon as well. For licensing and scripts, this show may come to around $4 – 5,000. Due to this cost I am working on some ways to offset it with possible special sponsorships or even some kind of fundraiser. That being said, sooner is better when it comes to licensing big shows like this and we don’t want to run into any issues. If we have enough money in the bank account to cover this potential licensing and any other costs we have coming up, I think we should get it purchased now and then work on some other ways to help pay for it after. I don’t have a specific amount, because I get quoted from the company once I start the process. I can communicate that with the board in-between meetings, but I would like approval to do this. Motion to pay licensing for Mamma Mia, motioned Angela, Seconded Allie, Passed unanimously
- Northern Hills One-Acts
  - We have dates for the Northern Hills One-Acts, August 25 – 27. Sturgis was unable to participate again this year. The 25th will be in Spearfish, the 26th in Belle and the 27th in Lead. Everyone is very excited about this show again. Allie is directing
- Halloween
  - We are still picking the Halloween show and working with the school to find the best dates for it that won’t conflict too much with their fall show. I will hopefully know more next month.
- Summer Program
  - We have talked about trying to do a youth week-long theater camp this summer in conjunction with the school. As BFACT CC we really want to do this but would have trouble with all the logistics ourselves, that’s why we are talking with the school to see if we can partner with their summer program to create this. Toi was going to talk with the school to gauge their interest, I will hopefully know more next month.
Public Relations
Membership Committee
Grant & Fundraising Committee