Yankee Doodle Dooin’s

8/11/10 Page 1

President’s

Message

Despite a “thinning of the ranks” due to conflicts over the holiday weekend, YDDs and other guest Maestros pulled out all the stops again for four terrific and very well received performances. There are so many people I need to thank, for our performances truly reflected a group effort, and would not have been possible without the help of everyone who attended.

Our pre-rally provided some early jam/rehearsal time, socializing time, and, of course, eating time! Nobody has better happy hours than Maestros, and this year was no exception. In addition, we enjoyed a group dinner at Ponderosa where we filled an entire room, and we celebrated the conclusion of our business meeting with a pizza supper. I deeply appreciate the efforts of Anne and Richard Gould and Ricki Toppe in handling the social schedule for both the pre-rally and rally, and John Kaiser’s willingness to host our happy hours at his patio area.

A high point of our pre-rally was a visit by Pete Eckhardt from his summer home in the Adirondacks. Though he was unable to stay for the rally itself, he did enjoy his time with us, and we were so very pleased that he was able to spend a few days with us! Pete sends his best to all the YDDs and hopes to see many of us at GEAR this October.

Since Pete understandably did not feel able to serve as our conductor this year, Charles Marston stepped up to the plate and did a superb job, conducting both band and chorus. We owe Charles and Roxie a debt that we can never really repay, as they left their flood-riddled home in Tennessee – in the midst of the reconstruction phase – to travel to upstate Vermont to spend the week with us and provide us with both musical direction and a photographic record of the rally, thanks to Roxie’s Maestro blog. (If you have not done so yet, I would urge you to put a link to the blog on your desktop so that you can enjoy it frequently. And if you are not on the list to receive the letters of invite whenever new material is posted on the blog, please let me know.)

In addition to our regular morning performances, our Jazz Band (Jim Kitchings, Dick Reid, Rich Kale, Jerry Webb, Bob Toppe, Bob Heck, and “newbie” Chic Cieslik) “opened” for one of our evening entertainers, and the folks at the Ice Cream Social and Chapter Fair were entertained by Anne Gould on classical guitar and Jim Kitchings on keyboard. Our thanks to these folks, and also to Kay Easton for doing such a super job in setting up and decorating our Chapter Fair Table. Special thanks to Bob Toppe for “wearing a second hat” – in addition to his YDD one – and serving as MC for our evening entertainment each night of the rally.

Greetings to All YDDs!

NEAR 2010 is now a very pleasant memory for those of us who attended. I wish you all could have been there, because, in so many ways, it truly was one of the best Northeast Area Rallies any of us can remember.

The weather cooperated (a little hot toward the end, but at least we had the sun every day;) the vendors and coach dealers did well (more than 10 coaches were sold;) our parking crew (many of whom were first time parkers) did an outstanding job (not a single complaint regarding parking;) and in general everyone seemed to have a very good time as there were many, many complimentary comments, with more still coming in every day.

The Lake Champlain dinner cruise proved so popular that the NMA Board is considering repeating it again next year, rather than waiting the normal two years.

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Prez, continued: Those of us who have been around for a while know that Maestro bands frequently boast a number of keyboards. This year, for a variety of reasons, we had only one piano player – and he did it all! Many, many thanks to Bob Heck for rising to the occasion, playing for the singing of our National Anthem, accompanying soloists, and playing with the jazz band, in addition to the normal playing required of any band member. Bob, you will never again be allowed to “hide” at the back of a row of keyboards! This year, our area purchased a complete set of military flags, which Maestros presented for the first time. Our thanks to Kay Easton for scurrying around Essex Junction to get the extra flag poles that we needed, for mounting all of the flags, and for taking care of them before and after they were used. Our sincere appreciation to Rich Kale for providing us with much-needed direction for our Military Salute as it should be done when there is no drummer in attendance. In addition, Rich and Freda celebrated their wedding anniversary with us by waltzing to “Let Me Call You Sweetheart.” May they celebrate many, many more! Chuck Carney, having just celebrated his 86^th birthday, favored us with a trombone solo, “I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen.” You’re an inspiration to us all, Chuck! We all owe a big debt of thanks to our terrific sound man (and Honorary YDD) Ezra Mulheron. Ezra knows how to make a terrific group sound even better; he is always there to handle last-minute emergencies as they come up, and his technical ability and kind, helpful, easy-going manner and pleasant personality make it a joy to work with him! From a personal standpoint, I need to thank the group of people who together serve as my “right arm” in conducting all the business of YDDs: your chapter Executive Board -- Ricki Toppe, Anne Gould, and Joan Webb. These folks enable me to “keep my head above water” in this job, and I deeply appreciate their help.

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Prez, continued: We gained 6 new members during the course of the rally: (1) Jim and Sandi Carroll from Connecticut (Jim will be playing guitar in our band.) (2) Charles (Chic) and Christina Cieslik from Westminster, MD (Chic plays tenor and alto sax, and was drafted for the jazz band at this, his first rally and first Maestro experience. Christina has joined our chorus.) (3) Rich and Freda Kale from The Villages, FL, whom we all know from the Southeast Area -- Rich plays sax, composes and arranges music, and, as we discovered at this rally, is terrific at directing the flag presentation in our military salute. Freda sings in our chorus, and we are so glad to have both of them as official YDDs at last. (4) Cynthia Lee and Nathan Colter from Newport News, VA (Cynthia sings in our chorus and has a gorgeous solo voice. Those of you who have not yet heard her are in for a treat!) (5) Paul and Vicki Long from New Paris, OH. (Paul is President of Great Lakes Area Maestros, and he and Vicki have both joined our chorus, in addition to being very willing volunteers wherever extra help is needed.) (6)Milton (Sandy) and Edda Martin from Durham, NH. Sandy plays keyboard, soprano and alto sax, jazz piano, bass, etc., etc., etc. Edda will be joining our chorus. I would like to welcome all of these folks into the YDD family. We are so pleased to have each and every one of them as part of our group, and we look forward to getting together with them the "next time around." As you will see when you read the meeting minutes elsewhere in this newsletter, our chapter approved the purchase of a reference copy of each of the five volumes of the “New Red Book” assembled by Rocky Mountain Rockers. Thanks to the efforts of Bob and Kay Easton, who made a special trip to Staples to do the necessary copying, we now have copies of the C, Bb, Eb, F, and Bass versions of the book. In addition, Edda Martin, one of our newest members, has digitized the entire set so that the books will be available on CD as well as in hard copy. As I write this (July 22, 2010) I have not yet received the CDs but am looking forward to seeing them and exploring the many possibilities that the digital format will offer us. Our sincere thanks to Edda for undertaking this project for the benefit of Maestros. To everyone who helped to make the Maestro portion of NEAR 2010 the successful and enjoyable experience that it was, thank you so very much. To those who were not able to be with us this year, please make plans right now to join us for NEAR 2011. (The dates and other information for both the rally and pre-rally, already sent out by email, are included elsewhere in this newsletter.) I will share more news with you as decisions are made by the NMA Executive Board. For right now, be assured that plans are already underway for the best NEAR ever! Sincerely, Diane DuBois
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Secretary’s Report

Chapter Meeting – July 1st, 2010 – Essex Jct, VT

President Diane Dubois called the meeting to order at 4:07 PM

We recited the Pledge of Allegiance and took attendance (25 coaches were present). The roster was circulated to collect changes, omissions, etc. New member applications were also circulated.

Bob Toppe: motion to waive reading of minutes of last meeting and accept minutes as printed in the last newsletter. Rich Kale: seconded motion…. Approved.

Treasurer’s Report (see below)

Bill Nelson : motion to accept Treasurer’s Report. Glenn MacMillen: seconded motion….Approved.

Report of Audit Committee (Kay Easton, Bob Heck, and Bob Mack)

The audit committee reconciled bank statements with checkbook balance. Everything was found to be in order.

OLD BUSINESS

Let Diane Know if you need a copy of the new by-laws.
Standing Rules: email received from Jean Pryor… we had adopted change to have nominating committee chair to run part of meeting with elections of new officers. Jean Pryor said that the YDD President should run the entire meeting.
To deal with the above: motion (Bob Toppe, second Yvon Cousineau) to remove 2^nd sentence in item 2. The resultant item 2 will read as follows:

The election of officers shall take place in odd numbered years at the Annual Meeting.

Approved

Regarding purchase of one copy each of the 5 volumes of the “New Red Book”… Bob Toppe moved (second by Bob Heck) to spend up to $125 to copy these volumes of the updated book. ….30 in favor…. Approved
One of our new members, Edda Martin, offered to scan the books to CD, so we will have the digital version. We gratefully accepted her offer to do so.
FMCA member recruitment…A Dozen Does It… free membership forms still available. If you recruit someone, you’ll get a postcard to give credit to your YDD chapter… talk to people at campsites without FMCA egg on their coach.

NEW BUSINESS

Nominating Committee needed (must be an elected committee). Duties: select chairman; nominate: President, Treasurer, Secretary, National Director, and Alternate National Director

Bob Heck, Bob Mack, and John Kaiser agreed to be on the Nominating Committee.

Motion to elect them made by Jim Kitchings (second Jerry Webb) Approved

Thanks to Roxie Marston… new blog at www.frustratedmaestros.blogspot.com (includes tribute to Jean Eckhardt)
Thanks to Anne and Ricki – social events
Chapter Fair – Kay Easton to set up table at noon on Sunday (thanks, Kay!)

Yankee Doodle Dooin’s

8/11/10 Page 5

Secretary’s Report, continued… · Need 2 volunteers to carry banner Saturday night at Opening Ceremony. (talk to Diane) · Need volunteers to carry flags for Military Salute. · Jerry Webb mentioned that SE area is in charge of Perry, GA. music this year · Joan Webb has membership cards – see her to get yours. Meeting adjourned at 4:55 PM (moved by Jim Kitchings, seconded by Charles Marston) Anne Gould, Secretary

*Treasurer’s Report* Balance as of June, 2010: $2,332.70 Income $ 436.00 (pre-rally fees, dues, Red Book and shirt sales) Rally Expenses: Door prizes, office supplies $109.97 Pizza and supplies (mtg) $241.75 Red Book Copy expense $ 98.04 Reimbursement pre-rally fees for cancellations $162.00 Pay FMCA for pre-rally site $1134.00 New Balance $1022.94 Respectfully submitted, Joan Webb, Treasurer