McHenry Times

City of Harvard Events Committee met March 19.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

Chairman Herrera called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm. Committee members present: Tammy Herrera, Lori Moller, Laura Evers, Scott Logan, Derek Malinowski, Cheryl Snow and Tina Viray. Members Sheila Henson and Michelle Luis were absent. Also present were Mayor Kelly, Supt. Parks & Rec Knop, Sonia Hernandez, Francine Sinderson, Jackie Malinowski, Kim Raciborski and Lynn Serra.

PUBLIC COMMENT

None

MINUTES - APPROVED

A motion was made by Scott Logan, seconded by Laura Evers to approve the Events Committee Meeting Minutes of February 19, 2019, as presented. All ayes. Motion carried.

TREASURER’S REPORT - APPROVED

Treasurer Logan reviewed the Treasurer’s Report and made a motion, seconded by Lori Moller to accept the Treasurer’s Report as presented. All ayes. Motion carried.

Treasurer Logan recommended that going forward, the Committee establish a budget for all events, and that he receive a copy of the approved budget.

COMMUNITY MOVIE NIGHT

There were 40 people who attended the March 2nd Community Movie Night. The upcoming movie night is April 6, showing “Hop”.

HARVARD BALLOON FEST WEBSITE/DOMAIN

Mayor Kelly will work with Randy Donaldson to change the domain registration to the City of Harvard and will get a bill to reimburse him for past monthly hosting expenses. Mayor Kelly will explore if the site can be hosted on the City’s server. There is a concern that the volume of activity could cause the server to crash as it did a couple years ago during the Balloon Fest. It may make more sense to utilize the existing server and just take over the payments.

GOOGLE DOCS

The Committee discussed setting up Google Docs for Committee members to access documents, forms, sponsor and vendor data, etc. Scott did preliminary research and created a Google email account which would allow access to the full Google suite. Another option to share content would be to use the existing Drop Box account which the Mayor set up for the Balloon Fest. The Mayor could set up different folders for each event or set up a new Events Committee Drop Box and share a link that would allow viewing capability. The Drop Box would be a little more secure than Google Docs. After further discussion, the consensus was for Mayor Kelly and Tammy to set up a new Drop Box for the Events Committee prior to the next meeting.

WE ARE HARVARD DESIGN CONCEPTS

The Committee reviewed the We Are Harvard Designs concepts. Derek and Jackie will tweak the design concepts based on Committee discussion for the next meeting:

 Eliminate hornet from designs.

 Remove City website from the yard sign. Sonia suggested adding “Embracing Diversity” to the sign. Instead of dual language on the same side, the sign would be English on one side and Spanish on the other. Sonia volunteered to assist with translation if needed. Color scheme could be black/gold, blue/white or maroon/gold.

The Mayor would like to see the project as a community iniative instead of a City directed activity that would unify the community and embrace diversity. He brought the initial idea to the Events Committee to get suggestions and input because members of the Events Committee represent a good cross section of the community. There was discussion whether the Events Committee or other group should be in charge of the initiative. A Facebook page and website could be created at a later time. The Mayor will introduce the initiative to the community at the State of the City Address that is being hosted by the Chamber of Commerce on May 17 at the Harvard Moose Lodge.

SAUNDER’S SPEAKEASY CASINO NIGHT - APRIL 27, 2019

Chairman Herrera reported that everything is set for the Saunder’s Speakeasy Casino Night on April 27. Tickets are $50 per person; $75 per couple. Each Committee member will try to sell tickets. Laura reported that the Committee met the overall sponsorship goal.

FOOD TRUCK FEASTIVAL - JULY 13, 2019 FROM 2-10 PM

Budget

The Committee discussed the FEASTival budget which will be on the next agenda for approval. Chairman Herrera will forward the budget to the Committee.

Mayor Kelly left the meeting at 5:45 pm.

Advertising/Marketing/Social Media (Mayor Kelly)

The Committee discussed a generic banner at 5-points, a banner on the entertainment stage and a traveling/mobile banner or using our existing sandwich boards that could be posted at other communities’ events. Also discussed was advertising through Visit McHenry County; Supt. Knop will bring up to their board. The yard signs that were purchased last year need to be revised with the current date.

Beer/Wine Tent (Sheila/Michele)

Car Show (Lynn)

Craig Smith is unable to assist with the Car Show this year. There are two well-tenured car shows on the same weekend, one at Lake Lawn in Delavan and one in McHenry. The consensus was to move forward with the Car Show for this year as it would enhance the overall event. Lynn would like to link the car show to a local charity. Participant fee will be $10. Other items for consideration are dash plaques, goodie bags and trophies based on popular vote. Lynn will work with Laura to determine the budget for the Car Show.

Fine Craft/Art Vendors (Dale & Francine)

Francine recommended that return vendors not be charged the $10 jury fee. The goal is 25 vendors. Vendors will be interspersed towards the front of the food trucks. Francine suggested having the artists down the middle, back to back, with the picnic tables down both sides. This would allow attendees to wander through the event.

Food Truck Vendors (Tammy)

Tammy emailed last year’s vendors with a deadline of May 1st for first right of refusal. The maximum number of food trucks will be 15.

Kids Entertainment (Tina)

Tina reserved an inflatable bouncy house from Bellas Bouncies. She is working with Paintings by Paul for some type of activity and will contact Danny Sedar to return with balloons and the Purple Me Green science activity.

Map Development for Parking/Shopping Away from Food Truck Event (Derek)

Laura has the general layout from last year from Roger Hugg that can be tweaked for this year’s event. Lighting and generators will be firmed up at the next meeting.

Music/Entertainment (Derek/Kim)

Kim Raciborski is interested in helping the committee. More entertainment may be needed due to the expanded time frame.

Set-up/Tear Down (Ryan-City Staff)

Ryan and Darrell will not be available the day of the event but they can have fencing, picnic tables, garbage cans, etc. dropped off on Friday. Chairman Herrera thought we would have sufficient volunteers to set up on Saturday.

Entry fee will be $5.00 (12 and under would be free). Hand stamps to be used instead of wristbands. Need to determine a better way to count attendees.

Sponsorship (Laura)

The sponsor goal is $2,500. Laura would like to offer a $500 main sponsor and $100 for contributing sponsors.

Volunteers (Laura/Cheryl)

Laura has already contacted the Athletic Director and the High School Football, Soccer and Girls Volleball Coaches, all of whom committed to help with the FEASTival. The Committee also discussed using the Signup.com website to recruit volunteers.

Raffle

Laura offered a proposal to allow Women For Harvard to take over the raffle for the event. The Events Committee would be responsible to get the raffle license and will provide everything needed for the raffle. The Women for Harvard would provide manpower during the event and would receive all the proceeds for the 50/50 raffle. A motion was made by Laura Evers, seconded by Scott Logan to approve the proposal as presented. All ayes. Motion carried.

Feastival Layout

The Committee discussed the Feastival Layout. Band location will be dependent on whether or not we have a generator.

Other

 Laura reviewed her written comments and suggestions from last year.

 Any uniformed individual coming to the event would get in free.

 Derek brought up discussion of having a Corn Hole Tournament utilizing an established corn hole league that might be interested in running a tournament. He will research and report back at the next meeting.

NEW BUSINESS/OTHER EVENTS

Supt. Knop/Park Programs

 16” Softball Tournament in September

 Ryan is also trying to organize a Mud Volleyball Tournament

The Committee discussed other possible future events. Laura reported that she reached out to McHenry Co. Fair and Bunker Hill Charities who use Jeff Clineschmidt to book acts. Laura thought he received 10% over and above the cost of the entertainment. The consensus was to invite him to attend a subcommittee meeting.

EVENTS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Chairman Herrera related her conversation with City Administrator Nelson who advised that the Events Committee does not need to pay the City back for the fencing. It is also not necessary for the Events Committee to rent the fence from the City for future events.

MAYOR’S REPORT

No report.

UPCOMING MEETING DATES

 Special Events Committee Meetings on Wednesdays in March/April at 10 am at Brown Bear to discuss the Saunder’s Speakeasy Casino Night

 Regular Events Committee Meeting on Tuesday, April 16, 2019, at 5:30 pm

At 6:45 pm, a motion was made by Scott Logan, seconded by Laura Evers to adjourn the meeting. All ayes. Motion carried.

https://www.cityofharvard.org/sites/default/files/fileattachments/events_committee/meeting/9561/minutesevents2019-03-19.pdf