Johnston County Chorus Board Meeting
Sunday, November 1, 2026
2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
1001 S. Crescent Drive, Smithfield, NC
Present: Tess Andrews, Treasurer; Ester Garner, Vice President, Fundraising; Skip Haas, President; Sharon Hamad, At-Large Member; Don Johnston, At-Large Member; Ron Sutton, At-Large Member; Holly Valovick, Secretary
I. Roll call
II. Approval of minutes with no changes (motion by Ron, seconded by Don)
III. Treasurer’s report
a. Main account: beginning balance 10/1/26 was $4,787, and ending balance 10/31/26 was $5,047.14. Debits included $900 to Vernon for three weeks’ salary, $100 for the storage unit, and $204.79 for sheet music. Some transactions still need to post with regard to shifting money between accounts for food cards.
b. Tess provided spreadsheets of income and expenses for July to date. These show income of $10,281.62 and expenses of $9,989.86.
c. We have received a $3,500 grant from the Arts Council; it will be disbursed upon receipt of the necessary paperwork.
d. The second half of the fee for The Clayton Center ($2105) will be due one week prior to the concert.
IV. Committee reports
a. Music Committee
i. As noted above, more sheet music has been ordered to complete each member’s repertoire.
b. Fundraising Committee
i. We have been approved for a Share Night at Clayton Culver’s on Wednesday, November 18.
ii. Skip has spoken with Parkside Café in Pine Level about doing a fundraiser there in the spring.
c. Sponsorship Committee
i. The deadline for submission of sponsorships and ads is November 2.
V. Old business
a. The Clayton Harvest Fest was successful in attracting new choir members and audience members. Next year, we might consider paying extra for electricity to have a karaoke machine and/or popcorn machine.
b. Discussion about asking Cathy at The Clayton Center if we can sell candy, popcorn, and drinks during our concert.
c. JNOW Magazine will be interviewing Skip about the chorus’s 50th anniversary, so we need to plan commemorative events to be shared in that interview. This won’t take place until the beginning of 2027. Our goal is to have a calendar of events in place by our January board meeting.
d. We will remain in our current practice location at First Baptist Church, but be more considerate of the church’s storage space.
VI. New business
a. 50th anniversary events
i. 50 Hours of Singing – community centers, churches, senior homes, sporting events, Christmas events at businesses
ii. Facebook posts – one post per week, each week of the year, of historical significance
iii. Commissioning Dan Kehoe to write a signature song for the chorus that we will debut next year. It would then be sung at every concert and we would invite former members on stage to sing with us.
iv. Recruiting former members to sing something with us at our Christmas concert next year.
v. A 50th birthday party – possibly a semi-formal “gala”-type event that is ticketed
b. We have been invited to sing at Paradise Mexican Buffet in Selma. Holly will see whether Friday, Dec. 4, or Saturday, Dec. 5, is available. We would plan to sing carols for an hour in the early evening.
c. Discussion about restructuring concert fundraising by replacing the traditional 50/50 raffle and silent auction with a basket raffle. For $5/1 ticket, $20/5 tickets, $50/15 tickets, and $100/50 tickets, audience members will allocate their tickets toward specific prize baskets, with winners drawn randomly from the stage prior to the final song (this would be noted in the program). Winners must be present, and we would need to recruit non-member volunteers to facilitate cash and credit card transactions.
d. Don suggested incorporating scenes from musicals into our concerts.
VII. Adjournment (motion by Tess, seconded by Rom)
The next meeting will be held on Sunday, November 29, at 2:00 p.m. at First Christian Church (1001 S. Crescent Dr., Smithfield).