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Business Meeting Minutes

2008 Annual Meeting Minutes   (last year)

5:00
-Susan called the meeting to order.
-She began by introducing John Platt. By unanimous acclaim, to recognize the extraordinary work he has done promoting local musicians we inducted him as an honorary lifetime Tribes Hill member.

John expressed gratitude to be included with Pete Seeger as an honorary member. He spoke of "The Power of Song" referencing the recent Pete Seeger documentary of the same title. He expressed gratitude for all he has, his family and his work on radio. He said he plays regional music not out of a sense of obligation but because it is great music. It is a great thing that when he puts together a program on Peace for instance he can include Peace Rant from Hope Machine, or a Red Molly song or something from Anthony da Costa. He said he was only one cog in the wheel along with Tribes Hill, Folk Alliance, NERFA, or local venues such as Outpost in the Burbs. He said Tribes Hill is a role model to support and nurture talent -we share the joys of our performers and rally around members despair. In our little corner we share compassion, generosity and trust. He spoke of his show and our Tribes Hill community as "a safe haven for the sane". He shared his bliss at being able to interview EmmyLou Harris and then introduce new performers at the Living Room all in the same day. At Folk Alliance this past year Eliza Gilkyson talked about bards and troubadors carrying forward the memory of the tribe and the sacredness of the word. John said we are the bards and troubadors. He thanked us for this honorary membership from the bottom of his heart.

-Susan presented him with a certificate, a t-shirt, and a noise-maker.

-Ruth motioned to accept minutes from the 2007 annual Meeting. Cindy seconded. Minutes were accepted.

Treasurer's Report
We have 44 new members bringing our total to 110.
During the 07/08 fiscal year we collected about $1900 in dues, $400 in general contributions. We have a balance of $2100 of this $1000 is allocated to the "Library Fund" and $750 is from a Puffin grant for a new compilation CD.
Our Expenditures are in line with our expenses.

Year in Review
This past year we participated in NERFA and The Pleasantville Music Festival. We produced our Annual Solstice Show. We were successful in receiving a Puffin Grant for a new compilation cd, a Westchester Arts Council Grant for "Westchester's Greatest Hits" show, and a donation of $1000 for our "Music to Libraries" program.

We encourage members to encourage friends to join by mail or by PayPal through our site. We have a fervent desire to break even this year.

In the coming year we plan to produce a new compilation with the Puffin Grant. We will host camp at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. If you are interested in volunteering to help with the tent let Rick or Mary Beth know. Matt is working on a Tribes Hill songbook. We are modifying our monthly meeting format to allow for more music during our meetings and more committee work outside of our meetings.

We are glad to see new faces and extend a special thank you to our founder and Director Rick Rock.

Officers and Board members were called to the stage. Members interested in joining the board were also invited. Susan asked the general membership to elect the board. Board members were elected by acclaim. The board accepted the current officers for another term.

Ruth announced the sale of raffle tickets for a basket of cd's and 2 tickets to FRFF.

A general "call to artists" was made for our upcoming "Westchester's Greatest Hits" show September 28. Artists should submit for consideration ideas for songs written by or made famous by Westchester County residents. We will be putting together a house band and the show will feature performances by Gandalph Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams and Sloan Wainwright.

5:30 James motioned to adjourn, Dennis seconded. Motion was carried.