Minute April 05, 2014
NAFA Board meeting
April 5, 2014 (03:00 pm to 04:50 pm)
Madison Public Library-Sequoya Branch
555 Midvale Blvd Madison WI 53711
MINUTE:
Members present:
1. Purna Shrestha
2. Himal Regmi
3. Ayodhya Batajoo
4. Narendra Thapa
5. Rajendra Aryal
6. Rajeeb karna
7. Archana Shrestha
8. Archana Dwa
9. Abiskar Bharati
10. Surendra Prajapati
Agendas:
1. New Year 2071 celebration: discussion on the schedule: (food assignment, cultural program)
2. Annual General Meeting:
Budget and Program for 2071
Highlight on program carried over the year:
Appreciating Coordinators/Volunteers over the year in the different events
Financial Overview Reporting
3. Request for the members in the NAFA Executive Board
4. Brat Fest volunteer (May 23, 2014 Friday to May 26, 2014 Monday)
5. Picnic Coordinator (July first week)
6. Membership Drive
Discussion:
1. NAFA member list needs to be updated. Some members have not been added while old non-members and those who left Madison needs to be deleted. There were couple complains that couple members did not get the emails. It has happened in the past also. We do not know the reason very well. Purna Shrestha will give owner access to the NAFA google groups to Surendra Prajapati and Archana Dwa so that we have couple extra hands to look into and update the member list.
2. New Year Celebration will be on April 19th 2014. As usual, it will be potluck. Members have been notified for sign up and also for membership renew. Over 100 people have already signed up. Archana Malla will assign food after the April 6th deadline as it was done in the past.
a. Last year, there was a lot of leftover food. If we have plenty of people to assign food, we can also assign people to bring plates, cups, napkins, etc. This will reduce cost for NAFA. This will be decided by Archana Malla when she will assign food based on number of participants.
b. Potluck will also have Cultural program. Archana Dwa will coordinate the cultural program. Rajeeb Karna will co-ordinate sound system set up with help of Naresh Shrestha. Rajeeb Karna will also bring a projector for the AGM.
c. Cultural programs will consist of 2 dance and also songs. Kakshya kids will be doing dance and songs including the Nepali National Anthem. There will also be games.
d. Himal Regmi will bring his laptop for presentations.
e. During the cultural program and throughout the event, only MC and event coordinators will handle the ‘microphone’ for the program. Rajendra Aryal will begin with MC duties for AGM and will hand over to Archana Dwa for Cultural program.
f. If there are folks who did not sign up on time, but still expresses interest to come to the New Year Celebration, there will be a cash charge for people. For those who have not been assigned to bring any food to the event, the price is $20 per person (adult and teenagers) on the day of the event.
3. NAFA Annual General meeting will occur on the day of New Year Celebration from 4:30 pm till 5:15 pm. It will be general format. During general meeting, current members will be asked if any more interested to join the NAFA board as well still have 7 vacant spots.
4. Ek Chhetri has a proposal for NAFA. It will be circulated to NAFA board and will be discussed in next NAFA board meeting.
5. Volunteer Appreciation: This will occur also on the day of New Year’s Celebration right after AGM. Abiskar Bharati will prepare a list of Volunteers by event and will also announce/present the list. Board decided to take a new approach for volunteer appreciation this year. Yashaswi Chhetri has been the best help for Kakshya, and she will be presented with “Volunteer of the year” award. She will be given a Certificate- framed. The “Volunteer of the Year” award will continue in following years if someone stands out like Yashaswi in terms of volunteering for NAFA.
6. A Farewell Program will also be held for Bharat Acharya and family at the New year Celebration following Volunteer Appreciation. The board had acknowledged that Acharya family has been always active with NAFA and helped NAFA since its founding years. The board decided to present an appreciation gift/token of love to Acharya family. It will be a Plaque. The Plaque will be designed by Archana Dwa and ordered by Himal Regmi. Archana Dwa will also summarize the contributions from Acharya family, which will be presented in the program by Purna Shrestha.
7. Budget was announced to the board which will also be presented at the AGM. The board has set aside $400 for New Year Celebration.
8. Kakshya is going well but Kakshya is having problem with the teaching space. Current teaching venue (Research Park) is not allowing us to teach there anymore because they do not want to allow kids over there. We are in dire need of a stable place. Couple questions discussed are: in Saturday a possibility instead of Sunday? Is Mills Neighborhood Community center a possibility? Do we need to think about getting our own permanent space? Are we ready to pay for renting a hall for Kakshya?
a. Should we work with Hindu Dharma Circle (HDC) and Bhutani Nepali group to request the state to provide us a place? Should we start to think about a long-term solution so that NAFA has its own space?
b. Himal Regmi will send Abiskar Bharati a NAFA letter head (electronic) so that Abiskar can use formal letters in order to request for space for Kakshya.
c. Surendra will check with the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery building if any classroom space at WID can be used for Kakshya.
9. BRATFEST: They changed the rules for volunteering this year which makes very difficult for us to manage in our group. The deadline is also passed, and due to short notice only Purna Shrestha and Ayodhya Batajoo were able to sign up for Bratfest. So, this year, NAFA will not have a big participation in Bratfest. The board is not worried about that, as we have better things to worry about, like running Kakshya smoothly J
10. NAFA Annual Summer picnic is tentatively scheduled for July 19th 2014 (Saturday). Coordinator has not been assigned. Sheehan Park is considered as a venue however, other event venues can be discussed in next meeting before decision is made. We can also ask for opinion on picnic venue on New Year’s celebration event.
11. Next NAFA meeting is scheduled for May 10th, 2014.
Tentative Schedule for New Year’s Celebration
4:00 pm to 4: 30 pm: Eagle heights Community Center is open for set up
4:30 pm to 5: 00 pm: Annual general Meeting
5:00 pm to 5:15 pm: Volunteer Appreciation and Acharya Family Farewell
5:15 pm to 6: 30 pm: Snacks and Socialization
6:30 pm to 8: 00 pm: Cultural Program/Entertainment/Games
8:00 pm to 9: 00 pm: Dinner
9:00 pm to 9: 30 pm: Social/Dance
9:30 pm to 10: 00 pm: Clean and close
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Minute Prepared By : Surendra Prajapati