Williamsburg Players
Annual Membership Meeting

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Since everyone was in the auditorium and seated early, President Rick Hinson called the meeting to order at 1:50PM. All 7 Board members were present. Following a request from Ann McCulley, all members of the Board were introduced and their Board positions identified.

Handouts for the meeting were: the agenda, the minutes from August 2006, and a (multi page) Annual Report for 2006-07.

Bob Noonan presented the minutes from last year's meeting and asked for their approval. He also noted that both the agenda for the meeting and last year's minutes were on the web site. Debbie Noonan questioned the Box Office figure of $1900, which was clearly wrong. Bob Noonan said that they would fix the item (note: it was subsequently deleted). Subject to that correction the minutes were approved.

President's Remarks: Rick Hinson discussed the 50th Season, the exhibition at the Regional Library in October, and the 50th Anniversary Picnic in June at Kingsmill. Several people commented about how good it was to see several of the old timers. The Board thanked Barney Barnes and his committee for their hard work on the celebration.

Treasurer's Report: Carol Sheffler presented the Treasurer's Report. She noted that the accounting system was continuing to evolve, partly as a result of the conversion to the use of Quickbooks for accounting purposes. The parking lot was finished; it cost $355K, of which $72K was borrowed from the bank.

Readers Theater: There were 5 productions last year with the number of people attending Readers Theater increasing at each performance. The last show had about 60 people. The program last year was underwritten by the Williamsburg Community Trust.

Facilities: As part of a program of improvements, the lobby was redone, the outside of the building repainted, the sign on Hubbard Lane redone, and of course, a rear parking lot completed. The parking lot was intended to be tangible evidence of the Board's seriousness about moving forward with the new building.

Achievements: One of the achievements last year was completing our 50th year. Both York County and the City of Williamsburg issued proclamations noting our 50 years of serving the community.

Comparisons: one of the items in the Annual Report is a comparison of ten years ago, four years ago, two years ago, and last year. Ten years ago season subscriptions and gifts totaled about $48K, while last year the items (now separated in the budget) totaled about $96K. Total income over the period rose from about $92K to $165K. The number of season subscribers rose from somewhere in the 800-850 range to 1262. It was also noted that the Scholarship Fund is now self-sustaining, including the payment of its expenses. Ann McCulley ask the Board to consider abandoning the current practice of giving out the scholarship funds over 4 years and instead award the amount in one payment.

New Auditorium: The proposed building is based on a design done by Spectrum in 2001. The firm of Bob Magoon and Assoc. was selected as the architects (out of 6 firms) for the new building and began by bringing the drawings up-to-date at the 35% complete level. Out of 4 contractors, the firm of Ritchie Curbow was selected as the contractor for the new building. Based on the 35% complete drawings, the contractor estimated the total cost of the building at $2.9M, whereas our target had been $1.6M. The Board is working with the architects and engineers to bring the costs down to a more reasonable figure. The contractor was not able to break ground in mid September.

Business Plan: One of the inclusions in the Annual Report was the Executive Summary from the Business Plan created and approved by the Board. The Players are not just interested in a larger facility, but in expanding our programming. Because a larger auditorium permits us to reduce the number of weeks the auditorium is in use, we expect the facility to become a place for more performing arts shows, including other theater groups, children's theater groups, etc. The Board is working on a total financial package including: a bank loan, a Capital Campaign, and grants from foundations. In particular, the Capital Campaign already has 100% participation by the Board.

Ann McCulley noted that time is critical; delay costs money. The Board noted that contractor delays had pushed ground breaking off to mid-December from mid-September, which was the worst of all possible worlds. Should we go to a split season using both the old and new auditoriums? What if the contractor was late? The Board decided that a spring ground breaking was much more prudent.

Lynn Schumann noted that when she joined the Players 10 years ago, she loved the intimacy of the theater both as a member of the audience and as an actress on stage. She was initially against building a new auditorium. However, she now wants the new auditorium and recognizes how reducing the number of performances reduces the stress on the entire Williamsburg Players organization.

Nominations and Elections: The Board nominated Carol Sheffler, Amy Lyles, and Hugh Siggins to the Board (note that they were currently appointed). There being no nominations from the floor, nominations were closed and the three were elected without opposition.

Question from the membership: how do you get to get to be a member of the Williamsburg Players? Citing the Bylaws, either you buy a season subscription at the next level above cost, or you volunteer for 25 hours. It was noted that volunteering included: acting on stage, doing ushering and concessions, working as part of a show crew, etc.

Scholarships: Les Waldron noted that this year's Scholarship winner was Kate Llewellyn, a 2007 graduate of Jamestown High. Kate appeared on our stage in "Nuncrackers" and was in the last Readers Theater production of 2006-07.

The Board took this opportunity to thank the many staff members who are an essential part of the Williamsburg Players organization: Carol Moff (House Manager), Megan Rhyne (Stage Write), Peter Natale (Publicity), Bob Burdette (House Costumer, Properties), etc.

The Meeting adjourned at 3:30 PM.

Submitted,

Bob Noonan
Recording Secretary