Minutes of Sacred Harp Singings

The annual meeting of the Sacred Harp Musical Heritage Association (SHMHA) was held at Jefferson State College on Saturday, November 22, 2014. Forty-eight members were present. David Ivey, President, called the meeting to order at 2:35 p.m. David welcomed the assembly, and introduced all of the Board members present, thanking them for their support this year.

David provided and reviewed an information sheet that summarized 2014 activities and the 2013 financial summary. He stated that SHMHA, as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, files an IRS Form 990 report annually. David expressed gratitude to the Sacred Harp Publishing Company for its financial support of $6,000.00 to Camp Fasola in 2014. The Publishing Company voted in October to continue its financial support in the amount of $6,000.00 for 2015.

Judy Caudle provided a report for the “Directory and Minutes of Sacred Harp Singings” (Minutes Book) project. The total expenses for the project in 2014 were $9,643.00. The Minute Book fund balance as of 1/1/14 was $13,503.00. Judy stated that the printing and shipping costs for 2014 are presently estimated to be $9,653.00, and she projected an approximate end of year balance of $3,032.00. Judy stated that 265 singings have submitted minutes, including the three sessions of Camp Fasola. This included 223 one-day singings, 41 two-day conventions, and one three-day convention. Eighty-one singings have requested not to receive Minutes Books next year, up from sixty-six last year. Judy expressed her heartfelt thanks to Angela Myers, Joan Aldridge, Carolyn Deacy, and Chris Thorman for their assistance with the production of the Minutes Book. Richard Mauldin thanked Judy for the professional quality of the Minutes Book.

David Ivey provided a summary of the 2013 financial statement. Pam Nunn expressed appreciation to the donors to the Sheppard scholarship fund. David also reported that SHMHA has engaged the firm Roddy, Horsley, Dillon and Gault, CPA, to conduct an independent audit of the SHMHA books.

David reported that SHMHA completed its twelfth year of Camp Fasola operation. Twenty-one camps have been held since 2003. SHMHA has offered both Youth and Adult Camps for the past seven years. Three sessions of Camp Fasola were held in 2014. Adult Camp, 2014, enrollment was 84 attendees plus 11 part-time teachers/campers (+9% over 2013), and Youth Camp enrollment was 123 attendees plus 8 part-time teachers/campers (+4% over 2013). Camp Europe had 61 campers plus 2 part-time campers (+3% from 2013). The camp dates for 2015 are: Adult Session—June 14-18, 2015, and Youth Session—July 6-10, 2015. The Independence Day singing will be held on July 6th this year at Camp Lee. The cost of camp will remain at $450 for ages 30 and over and $250 for ages 29 and younger at Adult Camp, and $400 for ages 30 and older and $200 for ages 29 and under at Youth Camp.

Jeannette DePoy, Camp Registrar, shared that 88% of campers rated their overall camp experience as “Excellent”, 5% rated camp as “Good”, and 88% of campers rated the teachers as “Excellent.” This year, for the first time, we developed a scholarship application and more formal process, including a scholarship committee who made decisions about scholarship requests. Thanks to Lauren Bock’s efforts, information about the availability of scholarships was posted on Facebook local singing groups. We plan to increase our publicity in 2015. Twenty-five people were granted scholarships, two of which withdrew their request. A total of $5,000.00 in scholarship monies was given.

David thanked Pam Nunn for her work as Treasurer of SHMHA. Pam gave an interim report on 2014 financials and stated that the complete 2014 financial report will be available on February 1, 2015.

There being no further business, David Ivey adjourned the meeting at 3:20 p.m. The meeting was dismissed with prayer offered by Hubert Nall.

SHMHA is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, incorporated in Alabama, whose purpose is the perpetuation and preservation of Sacred Harp singing and its traditions. SHMHA publishes the Directory and Minutes of Sacred Harp Singing, operates Camp Fasola, sponsors the fasola.org website, and supports other activities related to Sacred Harp.

President—David Ivey; Vice President—Henry Johnson; Secretary—Jeannette DePoy; Treasurer—Pam Nunn; Minutes Secretary—Judy Caudle