Oktoberfest 2010

Meeting Notes
Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Event Schedule
 Saturday, 9/25:
Live music; German food and drink: 4 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Church tour: 5 p.m.
 Sunday, 9/26:
German Mass: 10:30 a.m.
Latin Tridentine Mass: 12:00 p.m.
Live music; German food and drink: 11:30 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Oktober Choral Fest concert: 3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Church tour: 5 p.m.

Committee Reports
Food: Rudi Zoller, John Lange
 We’ll feature four kinds of sausage: Weisswurst, knockwurst, hot Hungarian, and
American-style bratwurst.
 We’ll offer hotdogs in anticipation of kids attending this year.
 We plan to increase the order of weisswurst and decrease the knockwurst based
on last year’s sales.
 We are currently estimating needing 1,100 sausages.
 We will not serve hard rolls, only buns; no kipfel.
 Desserts will be strudel (Jack Paulus will order from shop in Allen Park) and
cake (Costco).
 John Lange will contact Tony Isaac about getting ice cream
 Scott Palus of SHM has a smart cash register to help us account for how much of
each menu item we sell. He will need our food prices in advance to program the
machine.
 Jack Paulus recommended offering nachos using SHM’s push-button nacho
machine—high profit margin and popular at recent K of C fireworks event.
 Leslie Karr will look in Bill Mozer’s documents to determine last year’s food
pricing. UPDATE: I CANNOT FIND THIS INFORMATION; DOES ANYONE KNOW?
 Erika Gray will investigate pricing of heavy paper plates (divided and
undivided), dessert plates, plastic cutlery, and napkins; Jack Paulus suggested
Caramagno Foods at 3520 Rivard in the Eastern Market .
 Jack Paulus offered the use of SHM’s salad bar cooler and food warmer.
 As many people as possible need to obtain food handlers’ permits at Herman
Kiefer Hospital (Health Dept.). Schedule is as follows:
o FOOD SANITATION DEPARTMENT- CITY OF DETROIT      
1151 Taylor, Bldg. #4, Second Floor, Detroit, MI 48202
Business Hours: Monday – Friday   8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
o FOOD HANDLER EDUCATION and PERMIT PROGRAMClass
Training Scheduling: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9:00, 10:00, 11:00
 a.m. & 1:30 p.m.
o Permit Cost:- $10.00 food service workers- $5.00 food service volunteers
(religious, charitable, non-profits) - $5.00 duplicate card
o General Information: (313) 876-4503 or (313) 870-2716

Beverages: Justin Karr

 Justin Karr has made arrangements for the refrigerated beer trailer.
 Mark Miller from Eastown distributors will supply 10 kegs (seven were
consumed last year; we only have to purchase kegs that are tapped).
 We will offer Warsteiner Pilsner, Hacker Pschorr Wheat, and Motor City Brewing
Works’ seasonal Oktoberfest beer.
 Eastown will supply beer cups.
 We will likely charge $4 per glass.
 Chris Hubbard will take care of getting the liquor license.
 Justin Karr will handle purchasing non-alcoholic beverages (water, pop, possibly
iced tea), as well.
 We will be working with Todd Bertani of Meadows Fine Wine to obtain donated
or at-cost wine to sell.

Entertainment: Leslie Karr, Michael Soranno

 Live Music Lineup:
o SATURDAY
Notre Dame Prep Jazz Band (big band) 4 – 5 p.m.
Brazil and Beyond (Brazilian and American jazz, with cluster
members Rich Kowalewski and Joe Ivers) 5 – 8 p.m.
Royal Garden Trio (30s-era Gypsy guitar jazz) 8 – 10 p.m.
o SUNDAY
Herb Langegger, accordion (traditional German) 11:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.
German dance troupe 1 p.m. (tentative)
Oktober Choral Fest concert 3 p.m.
The Liras (’50s/’60s pop, with cluster members Michael Soranno,
Leslie Karr, Allison Soranno) 5 – 7 p.m.
 John Lange will follow up with German dance troupe to confirm their availability
and cost.

Choral Concert: Michael Semaan

 CERTAIN TO PERFORM:
o Assumption Grotto Choir
o Royal Oak Children's Choir
o Ss. Cyril and Methodius Youth Choir
o St. Joseph Cappella
o Ruth LaPeyre, Vocal Soloist
o Youth Classical Chamber Ensemble
 STILL AWAITING WORD:
 o Ss. Peter and Paul Jesuit Choir
o Carpathia Chorus
o Schwabischer Mannerchor
o Teutonia Windsor
o Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Choir
o Men's Langsford Chorus
 The German choirs were told that St. Joseph was not having an Oktoberfest this
year and have committed to singing at Old St. Mary’s in Greektown for their
Oktoberfest, which Old St. Mary’s has scheduled one week before ours.
 Sharon Fromm and Leslie Karr will oversee the design and printing of the
concert program.
 Sean Day has agreed to serve as an emcee to introduce the choirs performing in
the concert.
 Sean Day will also help with the technical/logistical elements of the concert.

Set-Up/Operations: Patrick Degens

 Patrick Degens has negotiated a rate of $650 for the tent, including sides and
lighting, with Stahl’s Market.
 We will also use Jack Day’s 20 x 20 tent and the parish canopies.

Parking: Deacon Bill Stimpson

 The Detroit Police Reserves have been unresponsive; Deacon Stimpson will try
the Wayne County Sheriff Reserves per Chris Hubbard’s recommendation.
 Deacon Stimpson has developed a parking plan and hopes to have 6-8 people
(with walkie-talkies) patrolling parking areas at a time.
 Deacon Stimpson will contact St. Mary’s residence about using their lot for
parking.
 We discussed the Knights of Columbus helping with parking attendant
manpower.
 We discussed the need for an armed guard overnight; Deacon Bill volunteered to
cover this post.

Advertising and Publicity: Mollie Murphy (not present)

 Leslie Karr is working with Jamie Kirchner on designing a two-sided flyer to
include in the upcoming direct mailing scheduled to be assembled on Sunday,
August 8. One side will promote the Oktoberfest (beer, German food, live music),
the other will highlight the Oktober Choral Fest concert and the German and
Latin Masses.
 We will have an ad in the Pierogi Festival program booklet; Leslie will modify
last year’s ad with Tony Ziebron of SHM.
 We discussed sending representatives to distribute flyers at Pierogi Festival.
 Sharon Fromm will investigate cost of Michigan Catholic ad to determine
whether it is worth it to pursue.
 Tony Ziebron of SHM has an email list of all of the parishes for the purposes of
getting our flyer or an announcement in their bulletins.

Sponsorship: Sharon Fromm

 The sponsorship form has been running in the Sunday bulletin since 7/11/10.
 Sharon Fromm has received $1,300 in sponsorship income and $50 in program
ad income as of 7/28/10.
 Patrick Degens will have an announcement read asking for volunteers to help
assemble the direct mailing on Sunday, August 8th, which is also donut Sunday.
 The direct mailing will include the two-sided event flyer, the sponsorship
solicitation form, and the list of capital improvements made in the past 10 years
and those we need to make.
 Because the SHM copier will be tied up with Pierogi Festival printing needs,
Sharon Fromm will have the direct mailing pieces printed offsite.

Tickets: John Blanchard (not present)

 We briefly discussed distributing tickets, tracking advanced ticket sales, and
collecting money from various participating choirs.
 Leslie Karr suggested that members of the St. Joseph Cappella take turns selling
concert tickets after all Masses in the cluster for the month prior to the concert.
 We may want to use the same printer for raffle and concert tickets.
 The ticket price for the concert will be $15 (same as last year).
 Concert participants will not have to pay for a concert ticket.
 Royal Oak Children’s Choir has requested that youth participants receive one
free ticket for a parent chaperone, with siblings 12 and under eligible for ½ price
tickets.

Volunteers: Christine Gray (not present)

 Mrs. Gray will be in the vestibule with her volunteer sign-up board starting
8/15/10.
 She will also encourage parishioners to distribute flyers in their home
communities.

Budget: Jude Beres

 Jude has started a budget for this year’s event (using last year’s data and
adjusting for the planned changes this year) and will help us keep track of
expenses.

Additional Revenue Opportunities

 Jack Paulus has generously donated a “Night on the Town” raffle prize of dinner
for two at any restaurant in Metro Detroit.
 Sharon Fromm has acquired a TBD Detroit Tigers collector’s piece as second
prize.
 Deacon Stimpson will inquire with Gordie Howe’s son about getting Gordie
Howe to go to dinner with the raffle prizewinner to sweeten the deal.
 Tickets will be $1 each or six for $5.
 All parishioners will receive a book of raffle tickets to sell; those not picked up in
the vestibule will be mailed (we need a volunteer to oversee this effort).
 Chris Hubbard has applied for the raffle license with the State of Michigan. Once
we receive the license number, we need to get the tickets printed.
 The original goal was to have the tickets printed to sell at the Pierogi Festival,
but it depends on when we get the license number.
 We discussed adding a prize wheel but Jack Paulus said it was not a big
moneymaker.
 We discussed adding a children’s activity and decided it was unnecessary.

Planning Timeline
 Direct mailing assembly: August 8th
 Concert and raffle tickets on-sale date: mid-August (asap after getting license
number and tickets printed)
 Volunteer solicitation begins: August 15th
 Press release distribution: September 1st
 Flyer campaign begins: August 8th
 Next meeting: Thursday, August 19th, 7 p.m.

Other Oktoberfest Business

 We will discuss pricing of food at the next meeting.
 Patrick Degens will change the sign on Gratiot to promote the Oktoberfest.