Akron East High Alumni Association, Inc.
Minutes: February 6, 2025
Attending: Michelle Anderson, Larry Bond, Marsha Bond, Chuck Hayes, David Hoff, Sharon Kerachaninc, Kenneth Larson, Mike Oliver, Michelle Sibbio, Janet Stanley, Don Young
Absent: Rochelle Henderson, Marsha Martz, Mike Nickolich, Walter Noland
President: M. Oliver called the meeting to order at 5:38 pm
Secretary’s Report ( M. Oliver, President, asked for acceptance of January minutes)
- L. Bond moved and C. Hayes seconded accepting the January minutes as written.
(M. Anderson will be substituting for M. Bond on taking minutes this month)
Treasurer’s Report (L. Bond)
Financial Report: All PNC accounts reconciled.
- Checking Account Beginning Balance: $7,163.79 Final Balance: $9,279.80
- Money Market Beginning Balance: $47,867.37 Final Balance; $47,987.71
- Donation from Class of ‘74 was $582 and other donation income to Alumni Association was $550.00
- L. Bond obtained a card reader for credit cards. Obtained Zelle with no charge from PNC.
- Opened an auxiliary checking account so we do not get locked out of VENMO.
- Credit cards can be used at the events starting with Reverse Raffle
Communications (M. Oliver)
- Reverse Raffle information is now on Facebook and Website
- “Spirit Wins” for the month of January is Class of 74 for their donation to the Akron East Alumni Association Scholarship Fund
- Hall of Fame nominees have accepted to be honored at the 2025 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in April 2025
- January minutes are now on website
- Updated the 2025 events on website
Reverse Raffle (S. Kerachanin)
- Guys Party Center will need final head count for Reverse Raffle by no later than Friday, February 28th
- We will have 10 baskets/items and 10 gift card bags
- 50/50 raffle tickets are 3 for $5; 8 for $10; and 20 for $20; CAVS Special Package will be $5 for 1 ticket
- S.Kerachanin discussed the RR menu and distributed the list of volunteers and the itinerary for the Reverse Raffle night.
Scholarships (M. Bond)
- M. Bond and L. Bond attended a meeting with EHS faculty onJan. 31 to discuss the scholarship process for this year. The meeting was well received by the staff. M.Bond shared a very poignant thank you letter from a recipient of last year’s scholarship at the staff meeting. L. Bond shared info on upcoming Reverse Raffle and event flyers.
- Project Grad will be helping again this year with the scholarship process at EHS. Very positive reception from staff for the alumni and the scholarships that are awarded from us.
- M. Bond informed the staff that the scholarship applications must be submitted to the alumni no later than March 31, 2025.
- Scholarships will be awarded at the Student Recognition Ceremony on May 28,2025
- Vicky Derr, EHS Administrative Secretary, is retiring this year. She has been an incredible resource for the Alumni Association.
- Announcements were made at the EHS meeting that the building will be closed while improvements are made this summer. Improvements include track renovations, sealing of the driveway, installation of LED lighting and repair of outside brickwork.
60+ Reunion (M. Bond and J. Stanley) on Thursday, June 12, 2025 at Guy’s Party Center
- Meeting with Chris Uhl on February 13 to confirm the room, decorations and firm up details on the reunion.
- Meetings at the Tallmadge Library will be as follows: Wed. March 12th, Wed. April 9th, Wed. May 14th and if needed, Wed. June 4th. All meetings are scheduled for 1:00 p.m.- 3:00 p.m.
- Class of ‘65 is the incoming class to be honored this year.
Hall of Fame (S. Sibbio) on Thursday, April 24, 2025 at The Venue
- S. Sibbio has received all RSVPs back from the honorees. One (1) recipient, who is deceased, still needs to have a back-up to attend and accept the award in his honor.
- S.Sibbio distributed a Hall of Fame report on preparation actions that have been completed and what still needs to be done before the ceremony in April.
- K. Larson discussed the menus for the event. K. Larson and his wife will provide the dessert from Gardner Pies.
- S.Sibbio stated the price of the tickets will be determined after the committee discusses it at their meeting on February 10th.
- S. Sibbio discussed Eventbrite for selling tickets for the event. It may be expensive for us to have Eventbrite at this time. She will research other fundraiser websites, such as Fundraise.com., to see what is offered and cost.
Membership ( M. Anderson)
- No new memberships for this month.
- M. Anderson had sent nine (9) emails to members who were up for renewal, dating back to 2022. One (1) email did not go through to the recipient. Need to still send 2 letters to members who do not have emails. Three (3) members are up for renewal in March – May, 2025. M. Anderson will contact them in person, if they are at the RR in March, 60+ Reunion meetings, or by email.
- Since 2022, we have 18 – 10 year memberships; In 2024, we had 6 Lifetime memberships; From the database that we have dating back to 2016 – we have total 99 10-year memberships; 19 of those memberships will be up for renewal in 2025; 34 up for renewal in 2027 and in 2028 there are 46 up for renewal.
Linda Theater Alumni Movie/Fun Night (M. Anderson) – Friday, October 3, 2025
- M. Anderson confirmed with S. Summers of the Linda Theater the date for our “Meet and Greet” in October.
- M. Anderson asked the board if it was too early to distribute a flyer at the Reverse Raffle and other alumni events this year to inform alumni to “save the date” for the Meet and Greet. The board did discuss and we will start advertising it at events.
- M. Anderson will announce it on classmates.com. We will also put it on our website, facebook, other EHS classes’ facebook pages, and any other media outlets.
- At the event, we will have a 50/50 Raffle and perhaps other gift basket raffles.
Memorabilia Posting to Website (L. Bond/M.Oliver)
- L. Bond posted the 1992 yearbook to the website. L. Bond and M.Oliver will review it to ensure that there are no issues with the pages.
Other Business
- L. Bond discussed the Reverse Raffle program and he will be emailing the board the final copy for the board to review before he sends it to the printer.
- L. Bond – 40 Tickets have been given to Top Mac and Coach Hayes at EHS to sell.
- There were no “Spirit Wins” suggestions for February.
- Reverse Raffle set-up is scheduled for board members and volunteers on Wednesday, March 5th at 11:00 a.m. at Guys Party Center
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:25 pm