10/25/22 CSHCA Events Committee
Chairs: Alix Giannetti, Michelle Miller
Minutes: Doreen Miller
Also in attendance: Heidi Moesinger, Bill Walczak
Halloween Parade, Saturday 10/29
- Kids assemble leave McConnell at 3:30 PM and arrive at Savin Hill Park around 4 PM.
- The Outreach and Engagement committee will set up a table with CSHCA informational flyers and lollipops. The CSHCA banner was dropped off at Heidi’s house.
Review of the Music in the Park Event of 10/16
- Special thanks to Bill Walczak for providing the equipment, and to Rob for the sound check
- Turnout was around 120 people, coming and going over the afternoon.
- The hot cocoa, coffee packets, and cookies were a welcome addition.
- The pizzas from Pantry Pizza, acknowledged on our website for their donation, was a big hit.
- All 55 bags of the spring bulbs at the Beautification table were sold.
- Ideas for next year include
- Request a porta-potty when applying for the permit.
- Look at the football schedule to avoid major conflicts.
- Try to feature different kinds of music groups such as
- A jazz group
- A cultural group
- A music group from Cristo Rey (?)
December Caroling, Wed. Dec. 14 with a rain date of Wed. Dec. 21
- We have an approved $400 budget.
- We will set up the hot drinks and meet from 5 – 5:30 PM, and start the route by 5:30.
- The music booklet
- Heidi will edit the music booklet from last year, add popular songs, and send out a pdf to committee members for feedback before our next meeting.
- Bill will send Heidi his list of kids Christmas songs to add to his pdf of last year.
- We can establish ahead of time what songs we are to sing in which order to make using the booklet easier.
- Michelle can print up the booklets at work.
- The route
- Establish a smaller loop with dedicated places to stop and sing.
- Start at the tennis courts. Walk down Grampian to Savin Hill Ave, down Playstead, up Denny and take a right onto Savin Hill Avenue parallel to the beach, back to the park.
- Heidi will ask the Parks Department to put the court lights on for that evening.
- We can add details to the route plan with song stops at the next meeting.
- We estimate singing from 5:30 to 7 or 7:30 PM.
- We will publish the route ahead of time.
- Christmas Paraphernalia
- We have plenty of left over cocoa, coffee, and hot cups from the music event.
- Michelle will order lighted headbands and necklaces, battery operated candles, jingle bells, a few kazoos, candy canes as stirrers, a couple of elf hats, candy to hand out to kids that come to the door, etc.
- A couple of us can be Santa’s elves to hand out candy to kids at the homes.
- We can ask people to bring percussion instruments such as tambourines, maracas, etc.
- We have a Santa Costume. Heidi’s boyfriend Mark Kniffin has volunteered to be Santa. She will ask him to bring his guitar to accompany us with the songs.
- Alix has volunteered to lead the group in singing using the personal amplifier. She has a pitch pipe she can use for the starting note.
- Advertising
- Michelle volunteered to update last year’s flyer in Canva. Alix has a pro-account there if we want to use it.
- We should flyer the neighborhood before Thanksgiving to give plenty of notice for people to plan to attend.
- Ideas for Raising Money
- Simply ask for donations.
- Have people along the route request a specific song (from our booklet) ahead of time for a $5 donation.
Other Business and Ideas for Future Growth
- Alix would like to try to grow the Events Committee and get more people involved.
- We could put out a simple newsletter alerting people to upcoming events.
- Have a CSHCA Open House to highlight the work of the association and all its committees. This could take place at a local yacht club, Southline, or another local venue.
- Mention was made of the lack of engagement in the Outreach and Engagement Committee – the chair of the committee has been MIA since July and only two people showed up at the last meeting, making progress on our merchant member campaign burdensome and slow.
- Rethink our various social media accounts. What works? How can we consolidate pages? How can we better manage our accounts?
- Plan to have the caroling in a different section of the CSHCA area next year.
- Work with the Dorchester Historical Society to set up a neighborhood tour of the homes sometime next year.
- Check into cultural grants from the City of Boston, or Save the Harbor Save the Bay for upcoming activities. Keep an eye on their websites for application deadlines.
- We will discuss plans for 2023 at the next meeting.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, November 29th, 7 PM on Zoom