Centennial Executive Board Meeting
March 27, 2007
Chair Ardis Hofstad called the Executive Board
Meeting together at 7:00 pm on March 27th at the Senior Site with 12
members present. The secretary’s report of the January 24th Exec.
Meeting was read & approved with a motion by Cheryl O’N., 2nd by
Eric M. & carried.
Leo Olson handed out a report showing that we received $48 from
sales of leftover hamburger patties & $109 from the Toy Tractor
Raffle for a total of $157. Larry Skallet said that the profit of
$6,404 from the Game Cards could be transferred to the City Acct. to
make it accessible to the committees for expenses related to the
Centennial. He also reported that the $11,000 CD in the Centennial
Acct. is coming due on June 2nd. It was decided to reinvest it for
another 12 month period.
Old Business:
Eric M. reported that his mother Linda would be willing to work on a
grant for us. She needs to have a specific project to work towards.
Ideas from the committees are needed.
Darrell T. said that there are still some hamburger patties left
from the Chili Cook-Off in the freezer & are for sale.
New Business:
None
Committee Reports:
History/Souvenir
Comm.
Eric reported that they had a very good meeting
last week. Earl Swenson attended & is interested in having an
ongoing museum that could be used for the Centennial. He proposed
having it in his building next to the Post Office. Their group was
very interested in this proposal. It was noted that his building is
also being looked at by the school for an additional area for their
Industrial Tech. Program. Larry said that the old Oklee Hardware
store is for sale & could be another possible site. There was a
question as to whether our Centennial Committee would have the say
in doing this project. It was agreed that we would have to work in
conjunction with the City Council & possibly the Community Club.
Eric spoke to Norma Hanson from Goodridge about their active
Historical Society. She said there is all kinds of grant money
available for these projects.Emily Bernier is the chair of their
Souvenir Comm.
Grace Dessellier, Linda McCloskey, Phyllis Melby & others will be in
charge of the Cent. Cookbook. It was suggested by our Exec. Board
that the cookbooks could be started early & sold in advance of the
Centennial
Eric is planning to check with the neighboring townships for their
input on information for the History Book. Lonny Cote talked about
doing video interviews with people. The Comm. plans to have a
“History Nite” at the Hall the first week of June where people could
bring in their family photos & histories. They would also like to do
interviews that evening. Eric said the main goal of the history book
is pictures, and that they would like to have the theme possibly be:
Past, Present, & Future.
Fundraising
Comm.
Lori reported that their committee plans to begin work on
Sponsorship funding soon. They are planning a ‘50's Dance for May
5th. They have a DeeJay lined up & plan to make a fun nite of it
with decorations, dance cards, a 50/50, & raffles. Their plan is to
have a Chili Cook-Off each fall & a Dance each spring to keep
awareness up & to get more people involved in helping with the
Centennial. After some discussion, it was agreed to try selling the
Game Cards twice a year. Darrell said we should have 3 months to
sell them & have 3 months to give away money prizes. The original
goal of $50,000 to raise for the Centennial should be met with the
sales of the Game Cards till 2010. The Fundraising Comm. figures
that $39,000 should be raised with the Card sales. There is the
$11,000 CD left from the past celebration, also. There are plans to
raffle off a 4-Wheeler for another moneymaker.
Beautification Comm.
Darrell Tougas said they discussed selling the
picnic benches at their meeting for $100 each. Orders can be made
for an 8' or 6' bench with limited engraving and will come already
stained. Landscaping of the gazebo area & the possibility of doing
some at the proposed Veteran’s Memorial area was discussed. Pat
Paquin is being contacted & they hope to meet with him in April to
get some plans made. Some of the planting needs to begin this year
to have things in good shape by 2010. Hanging flowers for the lite
posts are in the plans for the Centennial year, as are new banners.
Ardis suggested having hanging plants the previous year, also, to
get the watering system down, etc. The Comm. also plans to promote
beautifying yards in town with featuring a Yard of the Week, or of
the Month. Some kind of reflector with the Centennial logo attached
may be used for prizes.
Murals for the North wall of Oklee Quilting, and, or, on the South
wall of Twisted Towers were discussed. Grant money for this project
would be a good possibility. It was suggested that the Comm. bring a
proposal to the city council asking for money for banners,
landscaping, flowers, firepits, etc. Darrell said they are thinking
about camping space in town & at the park. The park is equipped with
electricity, but not water. He would like to have some firepits in
place out there.
Ardis said that we should start setting timelines in our committees.
We need to have detailed records of spending limits & need to submit
approved bills with the city.
Ardis spoke to Arnold Lillo, formerly from the Oklee area, who does
Iron Work Sculptures. She asked if he would be willing to do a
sculpture for our Centennial & he seemed very interested. Another
former resident who is a well-known artist is Russell Norberg. Lori
will contact him about his paintings. Cheryl mentioned contacting
Clayworks from Red Lake Falls who do pottery work from the local
clay to make up a special piece for our Centennial to be sold at the
event.
Parade Comm.
Cheryl said that they had a good first meeting.
They were questioning what day to schedule the parade on & our Exec.
Board said they thought Sunday, July 4th at 1 pm would be a good
time. Cheryl talked about having a sign made up advertising our
Centennial that could go on a pickup & be used in parades around the
area during the summers of 2008 & 09. Cliff Melby, John Lerohl, &
Rene Hofstad will be in charge of the parade. Donna Fossum, Debbie
Olson, Linda McCloskey, & Kevin Vettleson will head the vending
area. Cheryl said they need to recruit more people to help on their
committee. Ardis suggested going to ECFE to ask some of the younger
people to head up a Kiddie Parade. They talked about getting 2
emcees for the parade and having prizes for 1st, 2nd & 3rd place
winners. Some ideas for highlites of the parade were: Clydesdale
Horses, Parade Float Train, & the Shriners. Cheryl asked about
getting monies for postage, mailings, etc. She was told they would
be available by going through Leo.
Entertainment
Comm.
Isaac reported that they had 4 new members attending their last meeting. Isaac spoke to Johnny Holm’s booking agent & she told him it was a little early, but that she would inform Johnny of our date. Carnival rides are a possibility along with the Fair Board’s help. Shannon Moen offered to help Isaac look into other more local bands. The committee hopes to have smaller local groups playing at the gazebo & other locations throughout town during the daytime. Michelle Magnell & Kippy Thomas will look into a Tween Dance for around the 5th to 8th grade ages. They also are checking into having a Daycare set up to run throughout the event. Anita Vettleson suggested having a babysitting clinic at the school before the event to prepare the kids (possibly a Youth Group) for working at the Daycare.
Many other ideas were given for entertainment.
They were Bed Races, Sumo Wrestling, 3 on 3 Basketball, Mechanical
Bull, Fireworks, Rent-a-tainment, Minnow races, Frog Jumping
Contest, Train rides, Wagon Train, Threshing Bee, Battle of the
Bands, Belt Sander Races, Hole in One Golf Tournament, Car Show. A
Queen Pageant run by Deb Amiot, Mary Ann Lambert & Krista Bernstein
is being planned to be held in advance of the event. This would be
another moneymaker. Lonny Cote is checking on a Shuttle service for
the Centennial. This would provide transportation throughout the
town for the weekend. An Ecumenical Service for Sunday morning is
being planned.
A suggestion was made to have a late nite/early morning Pancake
Breakfast for Sat./Sun.
Fundraising suggestions made were for an American Idol Contest & for
a Donkey Basketball Game.
The next large group meeting date was set for
April 24th at 7 pm at the Hall.
A tentative Executive Board Meeting was set for June 27th. Eric made
a motion to adjourn the meeting with a second from Phyllis &
carried.
Barb Melby
Secretary