March 2023 Meeting

Call to order

The 8th meeting of St Mikes Dad’s was held on 3/30/22 at the VFW. It began at 7PM presided over by Mike Wolf with Fabian Yaklin as Secretary. 

Attendance

• Nok Chim
• Jim Erickson
• Eric Kraus
• Ben Wise
• Mike Wolf
• Fabian Yaklin

Officers Report

Treasurer – Evan Cahanes was not present so we did not give a financial report. No expenses have been incurred since the last meeting. Check cards were provided by New Market Bank.

Secretary– (Old Business)

• Shed project is on hold until spring. We will need to decide if it is a project we want to fund or if we want to continue to look for a sponsor/donator. Cost is approximately $1,000.
• James Kuca was in discussion w/ Ms. Vochoska and Mr C to look at installing a bench, fence, or raised wall to protect flower garden area N of garbage dumpsters on S. side of building. Due to the parish and school looking at overall improvements to the campus, this is on hold.
• Dads Day was held today, March 30th. Thanks to the volunteers who made it a successful event. Volunteers reported that lunchroom help is also needed. In the future, volunteers should go to the lunchroom and also help outside at recess. Dads Day will continue to be the last Thursday of the month. Watch for a signup for Dads Day on April 27th.
• Cubbie upgrade (paint) for Adventures Plus. Matt Arends has stepped up to lead. This will be a summer project and a sign-up will be sent out.
• Gala – Thanks to all for raising almost $1,500 on the items we donated! Special thanks to Mike Wolf for lining up the auction items and coordinating with both the Police and Fire Departments. This was good for the school and good publicity for our Dads group.
• Shirts? We have discussed buying some “St Mikes Dad’s” t-shirts and whether we should follow up on this idea. Nok Chim will check about pricing and a design and report back.

President- (New Business)

• General Announcements
• Mike reported on new motions/projects submitted by the school/members 
• The white board we took down during the gym pads project needs to be hung up in Mrs. Marshal’s room to replace a chalkboard. We will need a couple volunteers for probably an hour.
• Theatre Group, at the request of Mrs. Berninghaus and Mrs. Peterson, needs help with the following:
• Rebuild of stage stairs -  we need to make two sets of stairs in a wider version of what they currently use. See picture to the left.
• Disassemble an old electric piano and throw away
• Collecting big sheets of cardboard for props (needed -12 large sheets)
• Fabian will chair this project.

• Open Discussion New Motions/Projects from Members
• Mike shared that the Dads Group at Shakopee Area Catholic School (SACS) raises $30,000 from their Golf Event annually. They typically have a project picked out that they are planning to fund with the proceeds. This outlook for our group seems positive and we should be able to shoot for similar fundraising goals.

• Plus/Delta (what are we doing well and what can be improved)
• The number of volunteer events seems about right.
• Communication and scheduling is good.
• We seem to have good turnout at events. We frequently hear even from dads who can not make an event but want to keep involved.
•  Eric Kraus suggested having a quarterly fundraising event, such as a bean bag tournament. This might make an easier way to get more of the group together.
• Structure/Leadership
• We discussed the need for more structure at the leadership level. For example, the SACS Dads Group has a leadership committee to make decisions. Those decisions do not just fall on 2 or three officers, but the entire voting committee.
• If you would be interested in being on this type of committee, let Mike and Fabian know
• Promotion/Communication
• It would be wise to have the Dads Group give an update to the PTO
• This would be a good way to find out needs and get project ideas
• We do need help with a Facebook page and the website to keep the content updated

• Motion to adjourn
• Next month’s meeting: Thursday, April 27th, 7 PM at the Prior Lake VFW