CARNIVAL COMMITTEE UPDATE for 15 December 2006

2oo7 The Wonderful World of Nativity Official Website

Thanks again for your participation and a blessed Christmas to you and yours!

Solicitation Letter: Should any of you find yourself out and soliciting prizes from local merchants and shops, please feel free to take along this solicitation letter (click on the header to download the letter). Should any merchant have questions, feel free to direct them to me.

Solicitations Guidelines: If you are soliciting prizes/product over $30, please contact me first as I want to make sure we are not conflicting with the FCSN policy concerning business solicitation. GOOD LUCK IN GETTING SOME GREAT PRIZES! NO PRIZE IS TOO GREAT OR TOO SMALL!

Purchases and Reimbursements: BEFORE purchasing any product or prizes or supplies for the Carnival, please contact me (at the very least, by email) - this is just to insure we don't have duplicate purchasing. We want to keep expenditures down. After you've been approved for expenditures, please save all your receipts, label them and turn them in to me.

As was included in the December PTO newsletter that was distributed to families, the following donations are being requested (please share the information with others):

Individual Candies - Bagged candy that can be divided into separately wrapped candies for prizes in the game rooms. These are presently being collected and can be left at the Front Desk anytime between now and the Carnival.

Small Prizes - Small toy and prize items that range in price from $1.00 - $5.00 for the Prize Redemption Room (including any toys that are obtained from such establishments such as Burger King, McDonald's, etc. Please do not donate used toys and items, as items need to be in their original state.

Mini-Raffle Prizes - Small toy and prize items that range in price from $5.00 - $25.00 for the Mini-Raffle and Jackpot Drawings during the Carnival evening. Please do not donate used toys and items, as items need to be in their original state.

Cakes/Bars - These cakes/bars can be any size and will be used for the Cake Walk game throughout the evening of the carnival. Please do not bring in cakes at present - a request will be sent out in mid-January for cake donations.

Below is important Carnival timeline information. Please mark your calendar and help where and when you can.

Thursday, January 18, 6:00 pm, Nativity Library - Carnival Committee Meeting

Thursday, February 1, 6:00 -8:00 pm - Carnival Set-Up

Friday, February 2, 4:00 -6:00 pm - Final Carnival Set-Up

Friday, February 2, 6:00 - 9:00 pm - CARNIVAL

Friday, February 2, 10:00 pm - Post-Carnival Committee Celebration (see below)

Another reminder: Should the 2007 Winter Carnival be cancelled due to weather conditions, the alternate date will be Friday, Feb. 9, 6-9 pm at Nativity School. And since we've had little snow up until now, the odds are that we are in for a doozy of a snowstorm after the new year!

INDIVIDUAL COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

Welcome again to Jake Hook who will be serving as our Classroom Games Chairperson.

Our major goals (for classroom and gym games) in the next few weeks are: (1) identify new names for games to reflect Disney theme and (2) share that information with me so I can post it on the website.

We will need to get out to the shed, following Christmas break, and bring in all the games materials - we'll need to see what is complete and what we need to replace for our games.

To get a better idea of the specific games, the equipment needed for each game, volunteer coverage and tickets required to play, go to the 2006 Volunteers document.

Games Committee Chairs will need to work with Teri Iverson (Marketing/Decorations) so as to prepare the general games area with decorations and signage.

Finance Committee (Jeff Jacobson, Tim Scott)

Please take note of the comments listed under Prize Room and Marketing/Decorations concerning budget guidelines. In the past, we have not had too stringent of a guideline, but we want to keep our overhead down.

We will need, I believe, at least three cash boxes for the Carnival - last year we had two sites selling Carnival tickets (passports), but we may want to add another station to decrease congestion in the front hallway. Your thoughts?

According to last year's records for volunteer totals (and I'm assuming we'll keep the same number of games), we will need the following approximate totals of volunteers PER SHIFT:

66 - Games

4 - Ticket Tables (this is based on two ticket tables and we may go with three this year)

4 - Mini-Raffle

5 - Kitchen Concessions (there was only one shift for the whole night)

2 - Floating Helpers

81 - TOTAL VOLUNTEERS PER SHIFT

*Please note that in addition to these totals, we had about 20 volunteers for set-up on Thursday night and breakdown on Friday night after the Carnival.

If you would like to look at the breakdown and assignments, go to the 2006 Volunteers document.

Refer to the Solicitation Letter/Guidelines/Reimbursements above in the General Announcements. Please let me know if you have any questions or needs. Thanks for stepping up to help us, Rachel! If you have another person in mind to assist you, please let me know.

As we get closer to the Carnival itself, I will have you working with Maren Ortmeier and Valerie Gladitsch (Prize Room Chairpersons) to even distribute prizes so we have all areas (including Classroom Games) covered.

I think you are all over this portion of the Carnival, but if you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Valerie, can you turn in your receipts to me for the reimbursements you are requesting? I'll work with Jeff Jacobson to give you and Maren a better idea of a budget limit for your area. At this point, if you feel you have enough prizes and candy, let's hold off for now.

If you two are still looking for a storage location and can't find one, feel free to bring it to my home and I'll store it in our lower level family room until Carnival time. It won't be a problem and will be out of the way for us.

The biggest item at this point is contacting Cheryl Post to arrange pizzas for the Carnival. Michelle, I think you have the numbers from last year, but if there is confusion as to this item or any other concession item, refer to the notes that have been posted at Concessions Committee.

I like the idea of branching out to juice/water for other refreshment options. In the past, we've purchased the soda when it went on sale after the holidays, so anything we can get donated is EVEN BETTER! I would just ask that we are mindful not to purchase too much water or juice so that we have a lot left over after the Carnival. Concessions is not considered a "money making" area of the Carnival - it's just a nice service we offer to families at the Carnival.

I do love the idea of opening Concessions early enough so families arriving right the opening of the Carnival can eat. Let's explore this some more and change our timeline for Concessions!

Great things in terms of decorating are unfolding here! Let's keep talking about what is needed. As well, let's be talking to Cindy Hutchins as we are considering hanging lights in the hallways (i.e. safety issues, plug-in locations, etc.)

I will talk with Jeff Jacobson as to budget parameters for this area of the Carnival as well. In the meantime, let me know what you are thinking in terms of dollars.

As more promotional materials are being sent home with students, keep asking committee chairs what information they still need to share with families as to their area of the Carnival.

Raffle Committee (Lori Dietz, ________ )

It seems we are well on our way with this area - let me and Alison Dye know what you may need as you are distributing and collecting raffle tickets.

I will need the specific information as to prizes that are being raffled off so I can place the information on the website.

End-Of-The-Carnival Committee Celebration

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2

Post-Carnival "Thank-You" Celebration at DOOLITTLE'S (21st Avenue and 25th Street)

Beginning at 10:00 pm (or following the Carnival clean-up)

The final evening drawings, sponsored by Lee Hoedl, will be for SURPRISE Disney memorabilia. All Carnival committee members are automatically entered in the drawing! [ You need not be present to win, but we'd love to see you there!]