Community Center Committee Meeting Minutes 10/14/21
Monterey Community Center Committee
Minutes: Thursday, October 14, 2021
Meeting commenced: 10:00 A. M. outside around picnic table and extra chairs
Present: Mary Makuc, Justin, Makuc, Roz Halberstader, Wendy Germain, JoAnn
Bell, Wendy Jensen, Laurie Shaw, Dennis Lynch, Elaine Lynch
Minutes were accepted and approved of the August 12, 2021 meeting. We didn’t meet in September for lack of a quorum.
PAST PROGRAMS:
***Tim Van Egmond brought us a folk concert that 20 people attended and enjoyed. There was a donation of $40,00.
***Aldeth Lewin hosts the board game night on the second Friday of each month. 13 people from 4 different families attended.
***John Wheeler who is President of the Berkshire Mycological Society led a two-hour walk and talk identifying 35 different kinds of mushrooms. Seven people attended and found it very interesting. Roz will ask John if he would do a talk in the winter, as well as do this program on a yearly basis. He charged $200. Perhaps in the winter he could present ideas for cooking with mushrooms.
***Wendy Germain reminded us of the deadline for submitting grants through the MA Cultural Council. She asked for a volunteer to write a grant for the mushroom walk. JoAnn Bell and Roz will follow up on this.
***Dr. Barry Rose’s program on zoom had 13 attendees. He spoke about his book,”The Cutting Edge of Compassion” and he was very informative.
***A motion was made to create a youtube channel for the Community Center; it was passed unanimously.
***Mindfulness mediation group led by Sandrine Harris had 8 people attend inside the library. Next meeting in November will be a hybrid event, both in person and on zoom.
***Al-Anon group asked to meet inside the MCC building. Response: no problem as long as Covid protocols are met. Attendance is 8-10 people.
***The Solstice group met, led by Mary Kate Jordan. There were 7 attendees via zoom. She will try to do it again sometime.
***Bridge had 6 attendees and meets Tuesdays and Fridays
***Ping Pong no longer meets on Wednesdays, but does meet on Saturdays 2-4 P.M. Attendance varies between 3 and 5 people.
UPCOMING PROGRAMS:
***Janet Jensen is organizing a zoom presentation about chestnuts on the day after Thanksgiving, followed by a walk across the street to taste some chestnuts at Kevin West’s house.
***Vicki MacDonald had 20 attendees for the card making program when it was held outside, but in the winter we cannot have that many inside. Mary is going to ask her if she would meet inside. Maybe only 10 with pre-registration and, of course, masks and distancing.
***JoAnn Bell and Wendy Jensen offered to hand out candy from the MCC on Halloween. The Coffee Club will donate $25 toward the goodies.
***We need a teacher to teach painting. Maybe we could ask Joe Baker to suggest someone.
***We have a teacher for mahjong who lives in Otis. A discussion followed about the safety of night time meetings due to our on-going lighting issue.
***Frank MacGruer will present a zoom from his workshop on Thursday, November 18 at 7 P.M. about taking care of and repairing wood furniture.
***MCC will host a presentation via zoom about the storm water project along Hupi Road in November. Exact date and time TBD.
***Matter of Balance continues over the phone. Mary will ask Fairview to do a fall prevention program again.
***Stephanie Sloane might want to to a poetry reading again via zoom. She could use MCC’s zoom.
***JoAnn and Roz have an idea about a snow fest. We will revisit it in November.
OTHER BUSINESS:
***Two grants are in the works: one on presenting the Coffee House again and one related to the mushroom walk. These two grants are MA Cultural Council Grants.
***Lighting: Rob and Melissa will work on RFP. Three trees are down as of the end of September. The existing lights aren’t working. Andrus can’t fix them. We need a temporary solution.
***Cleaning: S and S Janitorial in Pittsfield. Jennifer DiNicola charges $50 and cleans the building every two weeks.
***Monterey Lights the Holidays will be the Saturday after Thanksgiving to coincide with the Library’s tree lighting. Dennis will ask Joe and Bonner to provide music like last year.
SPECIAL NEWS BULLETIN:
Congratulations to Mary Makuc for being nominated for the Berkshire 25 in the Berkshire Magazine!!! A presentation will be held in the Spring. The Berkshire 25 celebrates “…individuals who have all made extraordinary contributions to our way of life.” And Mary is one of them!
Meeting adjourned at 11:40 A.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Elaine Lynch