[Dhsbb-jazz] Fw: Natsoulas Jazz Festival Debate

Sun Oct 7 10:25:20 PDT 2007

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Rick & Kathy Hoover 
To: Joyce Hamaguchi 
Sent: Sunday, October 07, 2007 9:11 AM
Subject: Natsoulas Jazz Festival Debate

Joyce please put the following letters out to all 3 band listserves.  Thanks,  Rick Hoover

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DHS Band Boosters,

Last spring a representative of a local businessman approached one of our Jazz Band parents regarding a jazz festival that the businessman wanted to sponsor in Davis.  Mr. Natsoulas, owner of the Natsoulas Gallery, was looking for a beneficiary for his Davis Jazz Artists Festival and thought of the DHS Jazz Band as a worthy recipient.  At the May 2007 Band Booster meeting, Mr. Fred Lange announced that the event would take place in the Fall as a benefit for the Jazz Band and that the work for the event would be organized by the Jazz Band parents.  According to Band Booster common practice, no vote was taken as no objection was raised by any parent in attendance.  Vendors and other festival sponsors were sought and informed that the proceeds would go into the Band Boosters' account for the benefit the DHS Jazz Band.

Recently someone raised an objection , saying this event benefiting only one band is contrary to Band Booster policy.  Historically, however, there have been at least three previous times when a single DHS band has been designated as the recipient of a fund raiser: The first occasion was the very first Coconut Grove where money funded the Jazz Band going to New Orleans. The other two occasions occurred when the Symphonic Band had a special need for travel money in 1990 and 1994.

Although organizing specific fundraisers for each band should not be the normal mode of operating in Band Boosters, We feel that we should always consider the option when presented with an opportunity such as the Davis Jazz Artists Festival.. In this case, the festival organizer, Mr. Natsoulas, specifically wanted to have his event benefit the DHS Jazz Band, and we believe we need to honor that directive at this time.  If next year we have the opportunity again, we can discuss with Mr. Natsoulas the possibility of the money supporting all three bands.

If you would like to discuss this Fundraiser in an open forum, please attend the October 10th Band Booster Meeting where it will be on the agenda.  In the meantime we hope we can help provide a great experience for our students.

Mike Choy                                              Steve Williams
DHS Band Booster President                 Past President 
cjchoy at sbcglobal.net                            stevewms at sbcglobal.net

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Band Boosters:  

I am the person who has voiced an objection to the Natsoulas Jazz Festival supporting only the Jazz Band.  The reason I object is that it was a Band Booster supported fundraiser and as an organization the Band Boosters are obligated to support the entire band program without bias. 

There have been several recent notices issued about the Davis Jazz and Artist's Festival, with the DHS Jazz Band being the sole beneficiary of fundraising efforts.  The truth is that the distribution of funds collected at the festival has never been voted on by the Band Booster members.

My wife and I both attended the Band Booster meeting last May, where apparently this festival was first announced.  Minimal official business was conducted at that meeting since it was mostly a social event for greeting the Jr. High parents.  If the issue was announced, it certainly was not discussed in any level of detail - only in the context of possible upcoming fundraising opportunities.  If there had been a discussion of a "Jazz Band Only" fundraiser that would have certainly grabbed our attention.  Unfortunately, no official minutes of the meeting were submitted or approved, so we are all left with our own recollections - which are no longer fresh.  If the minutes had been submitted and published in the newsletter prior to the next official meeting it would have provided an opportunity to have the discussion before the event took place.

The Jazz Band Parents did in fact do all of the coordinating for the festival over the summer, however they did so without ever obtaining the approval of the Band Boosters.  The issue of whether it should be an exclusive Jazz Band fundraiser never got decided in the early planning stages, as it should have.  As it turned out the Jazz Band parents continued working under the assumption that this was only for the benefit of the Jazz Band and as a result, the issue must be dealt with after the fact. 

If the Natsoulas fundraiser had required no support other than the Jazz Band parents, this issue would never have been raised.  However, from my perspective there is no doubt that this festival is truly a Band Booster supported event.  Here are some of the reasons why:  

Jazz Band parents have used the Band Booster Non-Profit Status for soliciting donations for this festival.  The non-profit aspect was critical for anyone receiving benefit from Mr. Natsoulas.  

Jazz Band parents have used the Band Booster Raffle Permit (submitted to and approved by the CA Dept. of Justice) for fundraising at this festival.  Fees for this permit are paid from Band Booster accounts.  Non-profit status is a requisite for obtaining these permits. 

Jazz Band parents requested using the Band Booster Liability insurance policy in support of this festival.  Premiums paid for by the Band Boosters.

Jazz Band parents solicited donations from downtown merchants and businesses in direct competition with upcoming Band Booster fundraisers.  This will certainly make future Band Booster fundraising more challenging. 

With all of the support that the Band Booster organization provided to the "Jazz Band Fundraiser," at least the Band Booster members as a whole, should have been allowed a vote on the issue.  

If the Band Boosters have had only three fundraisers over the entire history of the Band Boosters, which have supported one band exclusively (the earliest being nearly two decades ago), it is obvious that this is not our normal way of doing business.  Such a large deviation from our normal business process deserves at least a discussion and vote by the members.  I would suspect that even those three instances of the distant past were openly discussed.

As a condition of our Non-Profit Status, all fundraising revenue must be deposited into the Band Booster accounts.  How those funds are distributed to support the band students should be determined by the Band Booster membership and not by an outside entity.

The intent of the Band Booster organization is to provide a great experience for ALL of our band students.

Please attend the next Band Booster meeting if you would like to participate in this discussion.  

Rick Hoover 
DHS Band Booster Treasurer
rhoover526 at sbcglobal.net

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