October 28, 2026 – Cultural Council – Video & Transcript
October 28, 2026 - Cultural Council
So, we do have quorum, so I would like to, um, I guess I, uh, Got some motion to open the, uh, open the meeting? Yes, please, yes, I was like, I'm looking for a motion. Make a motion that we open the Cultural Council meeting at 7.05. Great. All right, I'll second. I'm just gonna pull up a doc so I can take some notes here as well.
And it appears that we do not have any public attending, so can move on from that to review the, let's see, the approval of the September meeting minutes. Let me up here. Hello, everybody. Bye. Bye, everybody. We had just called the meeting to order, and we were just about to pull up the September minutes, so. Okay. You want to do that? Do you want me to do that? Oh, no. Yeah, I'm pulling them up right now, so I can share those, and we can get an approval. My screen. All right. Sorry about that. All right. Here we are. Number minutes.
Is this large enough for folks? Can they see it? Well, let me just zoom in a little more. There we go. So we had a call to order, approval of July and August, Marie's resignation, and then confirming. That was that. Are you reading the right one? October 28th is what we need to read. Oh, I was reading the September minutes to approve. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. Should we keep with this one? Just run through them quickly to approve? Or I guess have folks had a chance to review them? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I'm the one who wrote it, so yes. You're right. Yeah. Confirmation of our goals and priorities. Our potential fundraising community engagement, Wayland Fest, as well as current projects and our next meeting and then adjournment. Does anybody have anything major that needs to be changed here before we approve it? No. I do not. Okay. No. Perfect. Thank you. Do I have a motion to approve? I make a motion that we approve the September meeting minutes of the Cultural Council. Thank you, Kevin. Do I have a second? I second. Thank you, Hailey. Are you in agreement, Naresh? Yes. And who else? That is Sherry, yes. I'm here. Yes, we can move forward. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Hailey, can we move forward? Yes, let me just. Kevin, can we move forward? Yes. And I too agreed to move forward and it is unanimously passed. Thank you, everybody. There we go. Okay. So next thing on the agenda was a discussion of an appointment of a vice chair because I no longer have Marie. And Hailey had expressed interest in taking that position. And I would like to move to appoint Hailey as my vice chair. Can I have a second for that? Third. Thank you, Sherry. Naresh, do you approve? Okay, thank you. I saw you nod. I couldn't hear you, but I saw you nod. And Kevin, do you approve? Yes. Sherry, do you approve? Yes. And Hailey, even though it's your appointment, do you approve? I do, yes. And I approve as well, so he is. Now appointed as my vice chair, and even though unofficially she has been helping me, thank you, now she can officially help me with stuff. Thank you, and I will make that change known to the town so that she's recognized as such on our website. And I will also make that change in the Mass Cultural Council site. Great. Okay, then I just put another discussion item that we need to continue recruitment. So hopefully that that is an ongoing effort. And as we have learned through Sherry's appointment that they do not have to be from this town. So please reach out to your friends from other towns and see if they would like to join us. And there is no There is no issues doing that. Okay, I have a question there. I am from Wayland, so that's why, yeah, but if neighboring town people want to apply, it's good to know. But yeah, I've had a house in Wayland for 20 years. Oh, okay, okay. Okay, perfect. So it's just being on two committees. You are on the- Yeah, I have houses in both towns. The native house is my parents. Okay. Okay. Okay. So we'll have to explore that because I had specifically asked and they said there is no rule against being on a town committee that's not your town. So that's an option. So, but thank you for the clarification, Sherry, appreciate that. Okay, so just keep plugging away, we need more members. All right, now for the meat of the thing, it's the council, the grant cycle. And this time we've had 37 applications. I think it is the most we've ever had. Oh, wow, okay. Pitted against the amount we have. It seems like a humongous task, but we will get to it. We will get through it. So what I did was that initial vote that I had all of you do on the spreadsheet kind of gives us a way to At least pick the top few that we can discuss. So what I want to discuss is the bottom few first, right, and then discuss the top few. So I want to rank, let's see the ranking. If I... Is this helpful to display this for? Sure. While you're doing this, Hailey, can you just rank, go to the end and preliminary rank, can you just, yeah, so the preliminary rank column, can you just, is it? Oh, yes, there we go. Sort it, sort it, I think, yeah, just if you can sort it Z to A or A to Z, I don't know which one. Yes, okay. And I know So we have missing... We're missing Charles, I think. Yeah. We're missing Charles' vote. We are missing Kevin's vote. And we are missing both the high school kids' vote. But we still have... Can I give a verbal... Yeah. Yes, yes. So this is not the final approval, Kevin. What we did was that because we have 37 and we just wanted to take the bottom few, talk about why they're bottom few, and then take the top few and go through them and see. So the bottom few is to definitely eliminate them, right? So that's what we will do now. We will take everything that is Below 3, so I think 3.05 is our last one. So let's take everything from 1.55 to So that's the weighted score. So everything that's ranked 37 to 22, let's talk about which ones we definitely want to eliminate. So then we have a better way of working through this. And once we get that number out of the way, let's talk about one to five and see if we definitely want to. Want to fund these people. And when we get out of the way, then the middle portion will be the ones we will discuss in great length, right? So let's start with rank number 37, which is the AI for age for the layman. I am opening the AI age. AI age. Yeah, this is one that I believe was 100 and 140 something cultural councils that this person applied to. Oh, this was the one? Yeah. Okay. In that case, I think, so we have heard about this, that this person is randomly applying to cultural councils and there was a caution sent about that? Yes. An email was sent out to us. It was 90 and now I'm hearing it's a bigger number that he applied to. And honestly, just from the title, it looks educational, not cultural. I don't mind educational, but I think all of us thought it's not going to, it's rank number 37 for obvious reasons. And just given the controversy around this person, so should we. Are we all for eliminating? So let me start. Hailey, are you okay with eliminating this completely? Yes. Naresh? Yes. Sherry? Yes. Kevin? Yes. Okay. So we are done with that. So next one is the Arias Aloft by Opera Unchapped Limited. And I... Recused myself from this one as I am a board member of Opera Untapped and a regular performer with them, which is why I do not have a score list. Okay. All right. I was wondering about that, but clearing that up. So does anybody want to know more about this or have you read about what this is? Yeah, I'm good with its ranking. You're good with its ranking. Ranking is fine. I want to see whether we should eliminate them completely or keep them in the running. Is this happening in Wayland? It would be happening in Lincoln at the DeCordova. DeCordova. Okay, yeah, right now I'm focused more on Wayland since we have so many applications, but not enough funding. Correct. So I would be okay with removing it. Okay, so Hailey is recused, Sherry is for removing it, Naresh? For removing it. Kevin? I would be fine with keeping it, but if you want to remove it, that's fine too. So, I'm also okay with removing it. So, we shall be removing this. Thank you, everybody. Okay. So, the next number 35 is Meditation with Sound Healing by Parley Bonny. Okay. So, Anybody needs to know a little bit more about that? Have you read about it? Sound healing to me is spiritual. It is not cultural, but I'll leave it to everyone. I would remove it. Okay. Hailey? Yeah, I'd say with the number of people impacted and not a super direct Wayland connection, I'm good with removing. Okay. Naresh? Yeah, I'm good with removing as well. Okay. Okay. I will remove that. And the next is... A block party event that already occurred. Okay. So I don't see how a block party is... Something that would be cultural. It's community building for sure, but I don't see it being cultural. Right now we have a lot of events that are really cultural. So if we have not so much funding compared to the number of applicants, I'd remove it. Yeah. So, but according to our, the Bayland Guidelines. Community building is part of what the Cultural Council does. It is... But didn't we not do something for FIFA? That was also community building technically, right? They had a party. So... True, it was also not in Wayland. Okay. And so what, did they have a theme at this community building other than just having food and drinks? So I am, what I'm trying to say is that we shouldn't preclude things because they're community building as opposed to cultural because we do look at programs that engage with our community. I'm not specifically speaking for or against this. I'm just saying that we should be thinking about the Cultural Council being igloo for the community. Having said that, this has already occurred in the past. The funding is for 2027, which is why I said I did not want to fund it because this is This funding is for things that are going to happen in 2027, not for things that happen in 2026. Sounds good. Okay. There is another one on here that was occurring, I think, this week or in the next couple of weeks, that was one of the, what was it, this one, the rocking recovery? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so that's, but it has scored really high, right? Yeah, no, no, I know, and yeah, that was kind of where I was also curious about. Yeah, so yeah, that's why, that is why. So my reason for rejection is that it has already occurred in 2026, and these funding cycle is for 2027, not necessarily that it is a community building event, because we do fund community building events. Okay, so Hailey, are you okay with removing it completely? Yes. Naresh, are you okay with removing it? Yes. Sherry, are you okay with removing it? Yes. Kevin, are you okay with removing it completely? Yes. And I too am okay with removing it completely, so unanimously this is gone now. The next one is Dignity for Youth Assembly. It's about bullying, sorry. And we had said that we're not going to fund it. I mean, we've given it very low ranking. So do we want to completely remove it from the funding cycle? I would stay with that. Yes. Lack of Wayland connection. All right. Hailey is okay and Naresh is okay. Sherry, are you okay with completely removing it? Yes, remove it. Thank you. Kevin, are you okay with completely removing it? Yes. Okay, so it shall be removed completely. Thank you all. The next one is Moving to Heal, Movement for Arts for Adults Affected by Cancer. Similarly, since this is In Harvard, Mass., the lack of strong Wayland connection, I would leave for removal. Naresh? Sherry? Yes, remove it, please. Kevin? Yes. Perfect, this has been removed now. The next is Parent Voices, Our Children, Our Schools, Our Stories by the Wrong Mother Foundation. Again, very low scores across the board for this. So, any reason we should keep it? I do not see any. So, Haley, are you okay to remove it completely? Yes, I am. Naresh, are you okay to remove it? Yes. Sherry, are you okay removing it completely? Yes, please. And Kevin, are you okay removing it completely? Yes. All right. Unanimously, this is removed completely as well. The next bit. I don't even know what this is. Seems to be some Winchenden music festival that's going to happen in Wayland, if I'm not mistaken. That's what they said. That doesn't make sense. Winchenden is a different city. Chances are they're asking for funding for their own event. Yes. Yeah, the application on this one was doing a performance in both Wayland and Winchenden. But again, the group is... Based in Winchenden, so I would say similarly lacks a strong Wayland connection. Other than presenting a performance. Yeah, I think my questions were also like, how will the Wayland people be reached through this? Okay. Hailey, are you okay removing this completely? Yes, I am. Naresh, are you? Yes. Okay. Sherry? Yes, please. Kevin, are you removing this completely? Yes. All right, done. This is removed completely. And the Newton-Bar Oaks 2026-27 season, by their own admission, it's also for the 2026, but maybe it's more for the 2027. Again, I don't see, in this particular one, I don't see where This is going to take place. Yeah, I think there's one or two performances that are nearby, but I also see with our limited funds focusing on specific events rather than general whole season support. Yeah. Anybody feel strongly about having this?
Okay. All right, Hailey, are you okay with completely removing it? Yes, I am. Naresh, are you okay with completely removing it? Yes. Sherry, are you okay with completely removing it? Yes, please. Kevin, are you okay with completely removing it? Yes. All right, again, unanimously, completely removed. The next is Circus in the Community, Extraordinary Arts. This is another one that... That's not happening here, isn't it? Yeah, it's really like a... Slay for a performance opportunity that has been sent to many cultural counselors with no actual event. I think they're trying to tie it to Wayland Fest, but there's no actual... Too shady. Sorry. Yeah, no. I didn't see any commitments from any Wayland organizers. And how realistic is it that we can integrate a performance into a public celebration, right? Yeah, like perhaps it could be something that would exist at Wayland Fest, but as that is not something that we are financially supporting. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I will go now. I will go opposite way. Now, Kevin, are you okay removing it completely? Yes. Sherry, are you okay removing it completely? Yes, please. Naresh, are you okay removing it completely? Yes. Hailey, are you okay removing it completely? Yes, I am. Perfect. This is done. Untapped adventures in our little song book. So this is, yeah, a presentation of... An operatic performance for children that has been done in the Cambridge and Somerville and other libraries, and they're wanting to present it at the Wayland Public Library.
So it has been done in the Wayland Public Library before? It has not, no, but it has been done in other. Yeah. So what is the, one of the questions I had was, has the Wayland Library agreed to host the program? I do not know that that is confirmed, though, could pull up the. Yeah, it's kind of an egg and chicken question. Oh, totally. They say that they've been funded by the Cultural Council, the library may agree to. Yeah, yeah, but it's in this space, but yeah. It's a lot of money, too. It's a lot of money, and they're asking for $2,000 when the other income indicates a $1,600 gap. I'm looking at their administrative costs, which is 600 or is it 25%? I don't understand what that is. So anyway, I don't understand the scale of the event. I mean, if it's going to be a library event, why is it so expensive? It's just... All together, like our Wayland Library children's area is very small too. Yeah. So for a theater group to do something, I would understand if they did it at the Natick or Framingham library, especially Framingham, but ours is so small, it's not logical. Agreed. So, Kevin, are you okay removing this completely? Yes. Sherry, are you okay removing this completely? Yes. Naresh, are you okay removing this completely? Okay, I saw you nod. Hailey, are you okay removing this completely? Okay, I saw you nod as well. All right, we are removing this completely. The next one is Into the Dark Stories from the Shadows. This is another library presentation at Halloween time next year.
And kind of story, storytelling. I recall more about what the... I think the budget's too high. It's a one-person show. Oh, is it? Okay. Then I will probably remove it. Okay. All right. If that's the case. Okay. So, Kevin, you're okay to remove it? Yes. Sherry, are you okay to remove it? Yes. Naresh, are you okay to remove it? Yes. Hailey, are you okay to remove it? Yes. All right, remote. We're making good progress. Good job. Down two. How many more do we have to go through? Quite a few. Quite a few. We're only 10 down. We have 37, but we won't go down every one today. We will go down. We will do the first. 19. Yeah. Yeah. You hear? Yeah. Why don't we do the first 20? Okay. We can do the first 20. Especially since the 19th and 20th, it's the same organization. Yeah. So that's what stood out being strange to me. Yeah. Yeah. I made that. I made that remark as well. So let's do that. Okay. All right, so the next is Liquid Spines Bycatch. I read it. I don't know whether I absorbed what it was. It was the ecological performance sponsored by Arts Wayland as well. That is a dance performance art program, but it does seem like it would proceed whether or not we fund it. It's a one-person show. I looked her up. She lives in Merrimack area. She teaches there. So she's possibly from New Hampshire. Okay. That is fine. It's going to be done in Arts of Wayland. My questions are... Once again, I'm going back to the Wayland factor. Yeah. Just with the funding, giving preferences to people who are in our town or organizations in our town first. So they, because she's also said ticketing will be considered, so what is the cost of admission? If unfunded, how does the $900 request fit into the overall financing? Those were my questions. But, and it's Artswail and Artswail and themselves have asked for a grant. So how does this fit into their overall strategy? That's something that kind of makes me uncomfortable about this. All right. The question is, sorry, go ahead, Kevin. Are you suggesting we remove it? Yes. So the question on the table is, should we keep it and consider it or should we remove it? So Kevin, are you okay removing it? Yes. So I think, yeah, the only The other one that they had actually, yeah, will also be nixed due to its prior, it already occurring, so. Yeah, yeah. I'm also in support of removing. Okay, Hailey's in support of removing. Naresh, are you in support of removing? Yes. Sherry, are you in support of removing? Yes, please. All right. Thank you. The next is Firefly Dance Stories. Are those the two-minute stories that they're going over? The $2,000 budget is what's bothering me. If it was like a $500, it's one thing, but $2,000? So yeah, and they also say that ArtsVayland has committed hosting the first session. Yeah. And the space is being provided free of charge. Yeah, in their budget, they were not paying... Artists, other than just the, like the actual dancers themselves, and it was just the, those producing were receiving pay, so. Right. And then how many performances are actually taking place? You know, what other towns are they thinking of? Is it only Wayland? So those are all my questions for it. But, as Sherry said. If they're going to even have five people performing, but the events are like five minutes each, then this is still a very high budget if they're asking for payment to artists. I mean, it also depends on how many, I mean, it doesn't matter even if they're doing like five performances at five minutes each, whatever. So I don't understand what we will be contributing to. That's the bottom line. All right. Hailey, are you okay mixing it? Yes, I am. And let me put that in better words for our minutes. Are you okay removing it completely? Yes, I am. Haresh, are you okay removing it completely? Yes. Sherry, are you okay removing it completely? Yes. And Kevin, are you removing it completely? Perfect. Thank you. Unanimously passed. The next one is folktales and origami for families. Seems like this is a repeat of something presented. I think she's from Hamden, Connecticut. She's not even from the state. Where is she proposing to do this? She's done something at other Massachusetts libraries, so I think that's why she was trying to, yeah, repeat the same function. Wow, okay. Yeah, there was a letter of support from the library. Okay. I mean, any other year, if they'd said that they were going to perform in the library and if there were very few applicants and it looked interesting, it's not a whole lot of money, I might have said yes, but given our constraints this year, I don't know. So, Kevin, what about you? Are you okay for taking this out completely? In other words, you want to remove it completely? Is that what you want? Yeah, that's the question. So should we remove it completely? Yes or no? Okay. And Sherry? Should we remove it completely? Sherry? Did we lose her? Oh, potentially. She's on mute, but I don't know. Okay. Hailey, let me go back to you. Yes. Naresh, are you okay removing this completely? Yes. I would nix it, I'm sorry. Okay, no worries. So Sherry, are you okay removing it completely? Yes, please. Naresh, are you okay removing it completely? Yes. All right, unanimously done. Okay, the next one is I'm autistic and I'm fantastic. It's from music and dance. Yeah, both of these, similar situation. Yeah. Kevin, go ahead. I would keep that one because that sounds like it's kind of cultural. It is cultural, but also they have two of them. Music and Dance EDO has two of them. And let me get to some of the questions I had, right? Where is it being held, the first one? Yeah, so we don't have. Yeah, there's not, I recall there wasn't really a commitment, and again, the connection to Wayland was lacking. And it doesn't have information about who is performing and what the content of the production is, and the biggest thing for me, yeah. Okay, in that case, I'd ax it, nix it. Okay. I want us to look at their other submission and if we want to mix both or do we want to consider one over the other. So let's take a look at the next one from Music Dance EDU, which is the Hip Hop Chair Dance for Seniors. Yep. So I would favor of keeping this one. So they did it last year. And it was received well at the Senior Center. And I think the lady came to our... Not party, reception. And she made us all dance and she was really engaging. She knows what she's doing. And yeah, I think we did a line dance and even the kids joined in and everyone there joined in. So I was kind of impressed with how she organizes and how she enthusiastically performed, you know, like made us perform. And as far as I know, the The Senior Center folks said it was well-received. So I would like to keep number 20. Okay. All right. Well, you explained it well, so I'm in favor in keeping it if the community has enjoyed it and it's local. Okay. I'm in favor as well. Yeah. It's at the Wayland Senior Center. It happened last year. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So the specific question is, are you for removing the Autism Musical and Keeping the Hip Hop Musical. Yes, from my end. Yes, from Sherry. Yes. Yes, from Hailey. Yes, from Naresh. Yes, from Naresh. Kevin? Yes. Okay. All right. So that's what we're doing. We're going to keep the hip hop, but remove the autism one. All right. So we are at a good clip. Can you guys just explain to me what the Wayland Freedom Team is expecting? Because I'm not seeing an event. It's just Wayland Freedom Team. It seems so that was operational support for a phone and website? Yeah. So it was not for any performance or event, but it was more for their building their website. Why can't they do a free Facebook page? I'm just not seeing the point here. If you have a follow-up question that will help you repay this better, we can ask. Okay, yeah. Like, why do they need the website versus a free Facebook page? Because this is something operational and we have so little funding and so many actual cultural events. Yeah. So, that's one of the other things that I've asked is, can the, how will, you know, what are the specific programs, how will the website and phone line directly support those programs, can the applicant identify any public activities, if they've planned them, and so on. So, what other questions should I ask, Sherry, I will ask about,
Why not something free like Facebook? Anything else? No, that's it. If there's a free option or a cheaper option, I just don't see the point. Okay. All right. If they come back and give us some answers, we can look at it next week and see if we want to fund them or not fund them.
Does that work for everybody? Hailey, does that work for you? And since we're on that topic, one more question. The next one, the Silk Road, that's already been shown in other libraries. So I'm just trying to see if he's done something new. If not, I don't understand. Okay, so we'll come to that because that's not next in the, is it? Sorry. Yes, it is. Sorry. Okay. All right. So let me finish the voting for this and then we'll come to that, Sherry. Clarification and discussion for next week. Hailey, are you okay with that? Yes. Naresh, are you okay with that? Sure. Sherry, are you okay with that? Yes, please. Kevin, are you okay with that? Yes. All right. So we will table that until next week. I've made a note in my notes to reach out to them. All right. The Silk Road. Sherry, can you repeat your question? So I looked up the person who asked for the grant and this event and he's held this event already at other venues. So unless it's doing something additional or new, I'm not seeing this as being one of my top choices to order grant to. It looks like he's just repeating the same video everywhere.
It's a video? Yeah, it does say it's a video. Okay. Any comments from other members about this? No comment. No, I'm okay with, again, if it's a program that's already been presented in other places and there's not a super strong connection to Wayland, I would be in favor of removing. Kevin, are you okay, removing it from the funding? Yes. Shari, are you okay with removing it? Yes. Naresh, are you okay with removing it? Yes. Haley, are you okay with removing it? Yes. All right, this is also removed. Okay. So, yeah, go ahead. Yeah, a quick question. So, since the removals were kind of easy, Do you want to sort of review the first four or five because they're very high? Yeah. Yeah. So that's what I want to flip. And I want to go to the classical concert series by the Wayland concert series. And that's got our first ranking. Does anybody have any issues with keeping them in the funding cycle? No, I support keeping them in the funding cycle. All right. And Naresh? Yes, I support that too. Keeping them in the funding cycle. Sherry? Let's keep them. Thank you. Kevin? Yes, let's keep. The next rank number two is the Chinese American Association's Lunar New Year. And I know we fund it every year. It's very popular. People attend it and have really enjoyed it. Yeah, I agree. And it's worth to keep it. I support to keep it. Me too. Let's keep it, please. Kevin? Yes, let's keep it. Perfect. All right. Then we have the rocking recovery performances. It did get a high rank, but Hailey just pointed out that it is for an event in 2026. I agree with Hailey and you that if it already occurred, it's not the right cycle for granting. Yeah, I assume I just want to... Just check. I assume it already, like, if it wasn't, I didn't see it on the arts. Oh, wait, no, here we go. Yeah. That is, yes, it is occurring 26, so I vote to remove. Okay. Naresh, are you okay removing it? Sure. Kevin, are you okay removing it? Yes. Okay. I have to ask Hailey again. Are you okay removing it? Yes, I am. And Sherry, are you okay removing it? Yes. All right. Unanimously removed. All right. The next is the Pirates of Pisans by Sudbury Savoyards. Anybody have any objection of keeping them in the cycle for discussion? I support keeping them. Me too. I support keeping them. I support keeping them. They're in Sudbury, but that's right next to us. Yeah. Kevin? I support keeping it. Perfect. So we will keep that. The next is the Oompa Meisters, Wayland's New Year Brass Celebration. So, yeah, go ahead. Oh, no, I'm sure we're about to say the same thing. I don't know that this had a... Event date or commitment and limited Wayland connection, but I'm open to... Oh, I just assumed they were doing a New Year's Eve celebration or a concert in Wayland. Yes, so it is the Wayland Brass. They're doing something on January 1st, right? Correct, on January 1st.
Yeah, so I was, I'm open to discussion, but I like them. I just didn't think we should do the full 1,200, but I thought we should fund them a little bit. So the questions I had was, can they secure an accessible indoor venue for, because of the timing, right? Like January 1st, coming up soon. If they want a committed local host, can they secure that venue? Again, timing, promotion, venue, so on. Even if it's a late January, February event, it's tricky. And are the musicians and administrative fees reasonable for the proposed programs? Could have perhaps a smaller ensemble deliver the same experience? These are my questions. And we can either go ahead and take a vote of whether we want to fund them or want clarifications from them. Indoor makes sense. We should get the clarification as far as I'm concerned. Okay, I agree. Okay. Naresh, do you agree that we should get some clarifications? Sure. Kevan, do you agree with that we should get some clarification? Yes. Okay. Does anybody else have additional questions other than the ones that I had? No, I think, yeah, just securing an indoor accessible venue and confirming the budget. Okay. All right. So I will send them an email and try to get some confirmation about that, and we can discuss it at the next meeting. Thank you. Okay, next. The Wayland Community Pool Moodle Initiative. So I had multiple thoughts about this, right? They are asking for $1,500 and I know we had set aside some discretionary budget for them. So this is over and above that. So the discretionary budget was for work that's already been done. Okay. And this would be, I'm assuming, for work that they're going to continue to do in 2027. So if we agree to fund them, how do we handle that? I think it's too much unless they can give us a breakdown why they need even more money and why this much. Okay. So I would say we fund them but give them 50%. Because they're trying to do some anti-racist stuff, you know, and do it in a community initiative way, bring everyone together kind of thing. So I think we should fund them, but it's just that 50%. That's fine. Yeah, I agree. It's for our community. I'm just saying the amounts too high in my eyes too. Yeah. And we've already funded the discretionary. We haven't given it out, but. Oh, okay. Do we have, are we able to discuss that amount or we've already. We haven't committed, we had discussed the, we hadn't committed to them the amount, but internally we had discussed $500. Yeah, okay. I'm not mistaken, Naresh. Okay. Yeah, so just FYI. All the money we didn't spend is in this year's budget now. So we cannot go back and spend it. Okay, it's closed. No, no, no. We had set aside a discretionary amount, remember? Yes, but it's no longer there. Oh, okay, no longer. You had to have spent it. You had to have voted on it and spent it for it to have counted. So it's... It's called Encumbered Funds. And we said our Encumbered Funds was zero. So anything we didn't spend comes into our 2027 budget. We are allocated $6,900, but we actually have $7,900 and something. So those are the money that we didn't spend. Okay. So that's great to know. Since we had thought about giving them 500 already, would it make sense to kind of give them whatever partial of this amount and move forward? So to keep them in the running, discuss how much? I still think it should stay at what Naresh said 750 because they shouldn't assume that. Correct. Agreed. Agreed. So for right now, we're keeping them in the running and discuss the final amounts later. Haley, do you agree? I agree. Nuresh, do you agree? Yes. Sherry, do you agree? Yes. And Kevin, do you agree? Yes. All right. Great. Okay. Meet the artist's native design in everyday New England. This is the Wayland Historic Societies. Initiative. Any questions about this or any thoughts about why they should not be in our list? I think they meet all our criteria. Local, cultural effect, got a really high score. Yeah, this is definitely a go. Okay, so we keep them. Hailey says yes. Nourish says yes. Sherry? Yes. Kevin? All right, so they are still in the running. The next is the Moroccan Gelish Mosaic Workshop. I hope I'm pronouncing that right. It's at the Wayland Library or so they say. I don't know whether they have commitment. I believe this is one that they applied for versus the artists themselves. Oh, it's the library. Yeah. Okay. And this is a repeated offering that was very well received. Okay. Okay. I'm actually always all for funding anything that the library does. Yeah, I agree to. Yeah, I'm in favor as well. Okay. I like this. I say yes. Thank you, Sherry. Kevin? Yes. All right. Okay, the next is the Vox players. That's local, but at the same time, I don't know why it's costing so much. I mean, yeah, the larger budget, I think, is like, this is a very small percentage of it. I had a lot of questions about this. Okay.
So it is a very specialized audience. Not everybody goes to works. So how are they proposing to expand that? What about underserved audiences? How would this strengthen the public benefit case? I mean, if they don't reach the underserved audience, what they're trying to do will not be achieved. Yeah, that was one of my questions. The standard ticket costs, that also is a problem, is 25 to 30. And if they are saying that the grant will support accessible ticketing initiatives, but they don't say the number of discounted and subsidized tickets, or how valent residents who cannot afford standard admission could. Yeah, right. I would like to see them say that it's going to directly subsidize tickets like, you know, Discovery Museum. Very straightforward, you give so much and we are going to take off so much for the underserved population, right? Like, and we have those numbers. So They also have a total cash budget of $25,000, over $25,000, and there's large musician and artist fees, large technical costs, and $6,000 for rights and royalties. Okay, you said it, $6,000 for rights and royalties, that's crazy. That is crazy. That is completely crazy as an artist myself. The theater contributes its venue and facility. So there's the kind of resources and kind taken care of subscriptions, donations, concessions. So it's like, I don't understand this. So the other thing I was trying to figure out, and I didn't have the time to, I hope somebody else has, is Vox a nonprofit organization? Yes. Okay. Yeah. Okay. I don't know. They're in the running. We can fund them partially. We can decide how much we want to fund them or take them out of the running. So the question is, do we keep them and think about partially funding them or take them out? Yeah, I would like to keep them and do a 50% funding. I mean, the percentage we can think of later. Agreed, I'd like to keep that. Yeah, I want to keep that discussion open for when we have because they are our local theater. I would like to keep them, but accessibility wise, they're not the most accessible place. So I want to get a few more questions answered. Okay, so questions answered. How is it going to be accessible and affordable? Okay. Okay, so those are the two things that I already had. Any other questions that we can ask them? Also, the timing of the event. It's running for three weeks in May. Understood, but is it at daytime or nighttime? With the elderly and children, doing nighttime shows mainly are not really great. They typically do matinees on the weekends and evening performances. So there is a mix for both daytime and evening. I will ask them to clarify that anyway. Yeah, I think Hailey is correct. I've been to some work stuff. They do matinees, I think, on Saturdays. Otherwise, it's evenings. They don't do it every day, right? Some days, they don't perform. Yeah. So it's not like a theater. It's not like a movie theater. It's more like a performance. Well, it's more like Huntington Theater in Boston. It's a full-blown theater. It's nice. But as I said, it doesn't have as much accessible seating. Okay. So I will clarify those questions. So we leave it in the running and ask the clarifying questions and then decide. Is that agreed upon, Hailey? Yes. Naresh? Yes. Sherry? Yes. Kevin? We're keeping the Vokes Theatre in the running with the questions answered, correct? Correct. All right. Yes. All right. Perfect. Done. Okay. The next is Chris Swanson's Songs We Loved.
Can we know what the venue is? Because I do see that he is from Massachusetts and was part of a trio, but I just want to clarify that this is going to be in Wayland or nearby. Yeah, that's at the Council on Aging. It's in this way of building, yeah. Okay, got it. Then I'm for keeping it. Okay. That's for Council of Aging and the amount's not a lot. Yeah. Kevin, how about you? I'm for keeping it. Perfect. Naresh? Yeah, I'm for keeping it. Hailey? Yes. All right. Keep it. Anjia Meatball and Murder. And this is a Council on Aging application. And in general, we try to fund the Wayland organizations as much as we can. We don't have to settle on the amount. We keep it in the running and decide the amount later. I would vote to keep it in the running. Naresh? Sure, I would to keep it. Sherry? I would like to keep it, but find out if we are funding for the food, or are they getting food donations, because we shouldn't be just funding a dinner. Yeah, okay. I will ask that question. Kevin? I'm for keeping it, but, you know. Once the questions get answered. Okay, so I'll be funding the food. Okay. All right, so I will ask that question and we will put that in the running. Okay. Matthew Ludwig's cello recital. I would say yes to retain as he's local and it's being presented at a church in Weston, but He's from Wayland, yeah. Yeah, he's been playing for quite a while. I saw pictures of him and his brother when they were in high school here too. They've been playing since then. Okay, so you are, okay, keeping it in the running? Yes. Okay. Just like the Sudbury event was fine, Weston is fine, but Harvard, Winchenden, those are too far. Agreed. Naresh? I'm for keeping it. Kevin? Yes. Perfect. Keep it. So we will give it the High School Drama Festival. Yeah, we have funded them for a few years now. And again, I've not been to any of them, but the feedback has been positive. But I don't know, but I haven't been to any event. I would agree because it is being presented at Wayland High School. Certainly it's... Serving a larger community, but keeping it, but seeing about what amount would make the most sense. Okay. Sherry? I would keep it, but if we have questions, that's fine too, because, I mean, I would rather do this than the dinner. All right. Noted. Kevin? Yes. All right. Okay. Brighter Ignited Interfaith Spring Holiday Celebration. Do they have a venue? I believe, I guess in reading that the, I've not yet attended the annual interfaith celebration, but it does seem like both the Temple and the, um, and the... They're doing this at the Shir Tikva Temple. Are we looking at Tiny Tuti? No, brighter ignited, yeah. Brighter ignited, yeah. Okay, so the brighter ignited and Tiny Tuti are both at the temple. I'm just wondering how much advertisement they're going to do about this, because if it becomes more of just one community, that's not... Really going to work for me at least. No, I completely agree. Yeah, choosing the mosque or the temple, I mean, those are, I haven't seen the inside of the temple, I don't know how big their conference or their like spaces for food and all of that, but I just don't see that as one of the, interfaith itself doesn't. Isn't cultural, that's faith, spiritual, another bucket. So they are saying that it is a spring holiday celebration, right? So... But yeah, we have a lot of religious holidays at that time, and they've mentioned interfaith, so that's why I'm cautioned, because is this, then when you say interfaith, are you coming up with Nauros, Eid, Easter also, and any Hindu faith events, or is it mainly interfaith, but we're going to focus more on some Jewish holiday, and that's why we're doing it in the temple. I don't know, that's why I'm saying the interfaith part is confusing me. Okay. Yeah, their explanation of the celebration and it's seeming that it is an annual event and that this is really just about the art installation that they're trying to support to be there at the event, which does seem, I would say. The art installation at a church or a mosque or any type of venue that only a small group go to, at least I can't support. They can get. Funding from somewhere that is more specific to their organization. So one of the things that they're saying is the integration of art into an existing community gathering that supports broad public access. But Sherry, what I'm hearing you say, where is the evidence that it will have a broader public access? I can't go into the temple, just walk in. I can't walk into the mosque. They have certain times are only open, certain sections you're only allowed to go to. These are not like town buildings, like libraries. This is a very different type of venue. Right. I do believe it's just one celebration on a certain day that they're... Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, but I want to know more. When they say interfaith, I want to know what that means. So should we keep it and then ask more questions? If people want to keep it, then I would say we need to ask more questions. Because if this is just for a Jewish mainly event and they're asking for town funding, I'm not okay with that. If you say interfaith springtime, there are so many other religions with festivals. If they're incorporated too and there's some kind of musical or dance, whatever part of it that's cultural, then that's okay. But if it's just going to be food and prayer. That's really not working for me, because as I said, interfaith and cultural are different. So the way I'm reading it is this is like a cultural thing in an, in an interfaith. Can you, can you go down a little bit? Oh, yeah. Summary, project overview, right, right there. So, so the art display itself, which is interactive, is a cultural experience, but it is at a, oh. It is an interactive thing, so I don't know what the art display per se is, but so the brighter ignited sculptures that I've seen is, you know, you can see some of it in the ICA and you can kind of Like, you know, they have these. Yeah, there it is. Yeah, so that's what it is. So you can go play with the colors, you can press different things, make different. So why does it have to be at a temple? Why can't it be in a more inclusive setting then if it's interfaith and spring? I don't know how to answer that, but this celebration has been happening at that temple for a while now, if I'm not mistaken.
I can ask clarifying questions if that makes me comfortable with it. Yeah, it's presented by Mosaic Interfaith Youth Action. Yeah, I know the Mosaic folks. They've done an event earlier this year that was in the Wayland Community Center. So that's why I'm questioning why it can't be there. I don't know that there is a venue specifically called out in their application. So I do think that would be. Worth clarifying. It says, it just says that these people have been partners, the Islamic and all have been partners. Okay, so clarify venue. Okay. What other questions can I ask them? Clarify the program. What's their agenda? I mean, it's not like $300, right? Anything over $500, we should get more details. Okay.
Any other questions, Naresh, Kevin? No. Okay. Yeah. Kevin, go ahead. No, I don't have any questions. All right. So should we keep them in the running for now and I get some answers? Sure. Yes. I would. Sherry? That's fine. Okay. Yeah, because years ago we had a grant for an event that you and I were part of and part of the money was used towards hiring the Israeli band. So, I mean, that's why I want to understand who are the people who are going to perform? Is this really interfaith? Will everyone feel included? Okay. I will ask them the questions and make sure that I have the answer. Okay. Discovery Museum is the next step. We always fund them. Yeah, I rated this pretty high, so I would favor of funding them for the $400 or whatever. Keep them in the running and we can figure out how much we want to fund them later. Sure. Okay. Haley, you're for it. Naresh, you're for it. Sherry?
I am for asking them a few more questions because this is in Acton, I thought. So are we getting a school bus, so Wayland people going to Acton? That's not Weston or Sudbury, they're not as close. True, true, but they have a wonderful program that this funds the Open Doors Connections allows them to make the entrance free for The underserved population, whether it is from Wayland or whoever, and they have actually, they do show that many people from Wayland do utilize it. If we know that people from our town utilize it, that's fine, because I'm just trying to make sure that since we've turned down other organizations outside of town, that there's a reason for funding them. So if they have a history of Wayland people going, that's fine. Yeah, they do have, and they do a wonderful job. So we fund them every year. And we might not every year give them what they're asking, but they're happy with whatever we give them. Kevin, are you okay keeping them in? Yes. Sherry, are you okay keeping them in? Yes. Naresh, are you okay keeping them in? Yes. Naresh, are you okay keeping them in? Yes. Elia, are you okay keeping them in? Yes. Right. Live Music Making History Live. This is John Waterman's initiative. I do not totally remember what this one was. So this combines live music, original songwriting, and historical storytelling. Some visual presentations, that's what I remember him saying. Oh, here we go.
So. It's like a history lesson of not popular music, but more cultural music, you know. Correct. Yeah. So folk music and this and that and how it happened. Yeah. Doesn't seem that there's a ton of, I guess, yeah, local connection and or. Isn't it presented at the Senior Center? I thought this guy was doing it in Andover. Oh, yeah, this is TBD on date and support. Yeah, unless he can show it's close by Andover, it's over an hour away. Okay, so those are the questions I had. Where will it take place? Who's going to host it? There is no confirmed partner. I would probably be in favor to decline this one. Okay, so let's take that vote. Yeah. Naresh, are you in favor of declining it? No, I would keep them and see if they're in Wayland or in Andover. If they're in Wayland, I would fund. If they're in Andover, I would decline. I'm with Naresh. I just want to know the location. Okay. Yeah, I'm in support of that. Okay. So, Kevin, are you okay with me asking the question about location and keeping them in for now? Okay. So let's do that. I did something, but I don't know what I did. Where did it go? John Wasserman. Okay. Okay. Okay. The next one is Musicians of the Old Post Road. Their concert. We have funded them on more than one occasion. Sometimes we do. I question the amount. They're in Weston. Why isn't Weston funding them fully? Oh, this is for a performance that's at First Parish here. Yeah. Okay, because when I looked it up, they're in Weston. Yeah, the musicians are in Weston, but the performance is at Old Parish. Yeah, I would consider it a reasonable ask, given the larger... budget for that performance that they're asking just to. Yeah, the venue rental is very low, so that's why I would do partial, ask them why the budget's so high. Okay. Yeah, so as always, we don't have to give everything that they ask for. Right. And I know that a lot of people attend. Is this the first parish? Mm-hmm. I'd say, yeah, it does serve a number of Wayland residents. Okay. So keep it in and then decide on the exact amount later. Hailey, are you okay with that? Yes. Naresh, are you okay with that? Yes. Sherry, are you okay with that? Yes. And Kevin, are you okay with that? Yes. All right. Sorry. Wrong color. Okay. The last one, yay, Tiny Tutti. That's a lot of money to ask, and that's happening at the temple, I believe. That one, yeah, this one was another one that was very much, did not seem to have a connection. I believe they were looking at the library as the presenting, but again, no. Yeah, library venue date, so. When I Googled it, it was showing the temple. I might be wrong. Yeah, I mean, at this time there was no... When they put in the application, maybe they didn't have a place, but if they're doing it at the temple, I mean, I would not give that much money because how are they advertising? And is that setting the most inclusive? Yeah, so it seems like it is a free performance, but is potentially being presented and or funded in a number of other... So they have two upcoming dates. One is on February 27th, one is on April 11th. The location is the temple, but are both in the temple? Is one going to be somewhere else? I think one is in the public library, you know? It says right here. Scheduling a date in the public library. Okay. So if they get approval, then we can consider them at the public library. Should I ask them the question? Yeah, might as well. Yeah. I'm okay if it's at the public library. It's a nice idea, but like the mosque, the temple, these places are not, I don't think everyone wants to go in. All right. So thank you. We are through all of these. When we meet in October, I will have answers for all the questions, hopefully, hopefully, I will send the emails out the next couple of days. And actually, I will connect with Hailey and maybe between both of us, we will get this done. And some of you know, I have a family emergency right now going on. I will try my best to get everything. Yeah. Yeah. Before we leave. When was the next meeting? Is it still 11? We still have a couple of things on the agenda. We're not done. Oh, yes. Let me pull that back up. Sorry, Naresh. No, we're good. Yeah. Yes, let me just pull this back up. So next is FY27 goals and priorities, community partners and outreach, expanding access and supporting local artists and organizations. Yeah. So one of the things that... We were thinking about, sorry, go ahead, Kevin. What did you say our next meeting is? We haven't come to that yet. I was just hearing that lost where I had it. So the next item on the agenda is to talk about the 27 goals and priorities for our council. We were thinking about community partnerships and outreach and One of the things that we were talking about is the how do we see if we can do fundraisers right and I know it's late and we need to end in a little bit, but if that's something that all of us can. Come up with some ideas for next time of what we would, what would be a good way to create these partnerships and outreach and maybe do fundraisers so we will have more discretionary funding to do other things, which kind of leads to, you know, expanding the cultural experience for, for Wayland residents, right? Like if we have more money, we can do more. And if we have, if we get more money, what are we going to do? So it's kind of think through all of these things for us. And how do we, how best can we support local artists and organizations other than this whole grant cycle, right? Like what else can we do? Often I tell people if you're doing something it's in Wayland or you're a Wayland artist doing something. We're happy to put up the information on our Facebook page, on our Instagram page. I don't know how many people look at it and follow it, but we can do it for you. But beyond that, what else can we do to support people who are spreading culture within our communities? So, could we introduce organizations to each other, for example, like if the spring festival that Mosaic is doing has performing arts in it, in reality, then introduce them to Vokes, if they don't know about Vokes, things like that, because the setting is more inclusive, it's not a religious place, and so... Yeah, or the Wayland Senior Center, right, like that's a... They did it last time at the Senior Center. That's why I'm surprised that they chose Shirtikva. But that's, yeah. Again, maybe availability and all that. But yeah, if we can make more of such connection, Sherry, and make things happen in a more secular way, great. Yeah, absolutely. That could be one of the things that we are doing. And, you know, I... Honestly, it would be great if we had our own area control over the website area so that we could like start like a section for Resources, right? Like, yeah, enlist and have people list themselves as resources or people going to find resources can find it there. But in the absence of that, at least we can put something on our Facebook page that will help. Exactly. I think Facebook for us is good because that doesn't cost anything compared to like those website costs. And also we can list organizations we've supported and off that list they can see each other's websites, talk to each other if that's something they want to do. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. So we do have the Facebook page. And if we can start collecting this information and make meaningful connections, that will be great. It will mean so much more, you know, being a cultural council in the town than just giving grants out. Right. So I just wanted to do a quick Wayland Fest follow up. I know Hailey, you went to that. So do you have any learnings for us or anything else to share about that? Yeah, I would say Wayland Fest was incredibly well attended. I think I am quite sure that they will be doing it again next year. I think I'd love to make sure that in our preparation for that, as soon as they publish the date, we can try and See where we can have a presence and who, you know, as we grow the council, who can support being there. I had coloring pages and markers and crayons for kids and they really loved that. Engaged a bit with folks from other booths, particularly the Historical Society and just Really for other people trying to give them information about what it is that we do. And I think I would very much support continuing to be there and seeing how we can staff kind of the full day of... The festival, breaking it up so that the commitment is minimal for each of us, but that we can be there since a number of town organizations were also there. And the setup was also they did put a number of the town organizations in one area together. So a very worthwhile event. To support. But I think, yeah, the biggest lesson just being where we'll try and pre-plan a bit more so we can be there for the entire time. But did make a great connection with Scarlett, who's the new director of the Wayland Historical Society. So they've hired an executive director. She's... Young, uh, had grown up in this, in Wayland and worked for the New England Historical Society, um, or There's a organization that is a collective of historical museums. And so she is their first like true employee to be there. And she's trying to find a number of ways to update their programming to be a bit more inclusive of stories from all types of people who have lived in Been through Wayland over, over time. Um, and, uh, not a, not a ton of interest in terms of folks, uh, say either signing up or wanting to join, but just, uh, uh, certainly Awareness was spread and telling more folks about just what the Cultural Council does and its purpose and giving them notice that the deadline was upcoming there for the grants. So I think that if they continue to do it the first Saturday in October, I think that will be easier for us to plan. Exactly. Well, and also just like, you know, knowing that the If the deadline continues to be October 15th for grants, then that will, I think, we'll be able to do that. So I don't know whether it was because of that or what. I definitely saw an uptick in the applications after that weekend. Oh, good. Yeah. Yeah. Before that weekend, it was like still at eight or nine. And then we suddenly went up to 37. That was awesome. Thank you. Thank you for doing that for us. And definitely let's plan this better next year. If it's going to be in the first weekend of October, let's make sure a bunch of us are available to take shifts. Yeah. And I do have some, I wonder if there might be an opportunity for displaying at the town building. Do you have, you know, these, those like acrylic? Absolutely. Yeah, to try it, especially like, I mean, early voting is about to finish up, but at least just where we can display that in the town building, also trying to recruit. Just thinking of reusing materials for Wayland Fest. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. So we do have a board in the town building, the Council Board, and we can put it up if you also have, you know, drawings done by kids. Yeah. We can put those. I have one question, guys, and I'm driving, so I'm going to hang up. Sorry to interrupt. Can you, when you're asking questions of mosaic, check if this is actually for a Purim event. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Yeah. So we can definitely hang up stuff on that. I agree. Yeah. All right. Then what else? So The initiatives, we were thinking about the rail trail banner project, the mural project, of course, now they've asked for funding, so I'm going to take that out of the discussion, but the rail trail banner project, Hailey, now that you have a connection with Scarlett, maybe ask her if that's still something that they want us to partner with? Yeah, okay. All right. That's anything else about the future projects and initiatives? Anybody have any ideas? All right, so let's think about it and come up with some ideas for next time and see if we want to do some fundraising kind of event and raise some funds or donations and such. Other business future meeting schedule, November 11th happens to be our Next time, but it is a holiday. So I have asked for, let's see, the following Wednesday, which is available. Okay. Are we able to keep the 11th? Is there, I guess my question is, is there any? No. Okay. It's a holiday. Okay. No, because town building is closed. It's a public holiday. They won't let us have. Okay. Gotcha. Good to know. At all. So here, the dates that they have is November, the meeting was moved to 11-18. Yes. Okay. So instead of having it on the 11th, we're going to have it on the 18th of November. So I just want everybody to be aware. Yeah. That's how I'll be. Okay. And the Zoom is confirmed? Confirmed. Zoom is confirmed for that. Is there potentially, yeah, I say I have the 11.3. I'm from about 6.30 on the 18th. I am not. I'm happy to adjust forward or backwards or know that that is one that I'm unable to attend. Beyond 6.30, you cannot attend, is that it? I cannot, yeah. Okay. Can we do a non-Wednesday? Like, can we do like a Tuesday or Thursday then? As long as Zoom is available, we can. Okay. If you all pick a date that works for all of you, I will ask if Zoom availability is there. November 10th? Yeah, the 10th or the 17th is that? November 10th or 17th? Okay, so let me ask for those two dates. It's a Tuesday, so will it work for Naresh and Kevin? What is the third Tuesday? I think the third Tuesday, I might have Meeting that day. Okay. So the second Tuesday will work, however, right? Yes. How about you, Naresh? Will November 10th work for you? Yeah, either one. Either Tuesday is fine. Okay. So let me ask for November 10th. Okay. I'll hold both of those just in case and then. Sounds good. Thank you, Sherry. All right. And then also we do need to have a quorum to pass. All the, especially the grants with the money, absolutely have to have quorum we can. And this is quorum for us, right? Like the people missing that are Charles and the two students, which is fine, you know, if they do come next time, it's fine. But if it's the, it's just the five of us, it's still fine. Okay, go ahead. But what I wanted to kind of reiterate is that We do have people who just show up for grant meetings. So I don't know how to handle that because obviously I cannot enforce people to attend these meetings. It is a voluntary post. But if any of you feel strongly about it and we just want to say something, we can. But I understand it's a huge time commitment, and I'm really grateful that all of you do attend and stay on and help me make these decisions. I just have one question. Like today, the ones that we eliminated, they're not fully eliminated? They are, because we have quorum and we can make those decisions. Okay, great. Thank you. Yeah, yeah. All right. Just a thought, but anyway. Do we know, have we heard from Charles recently? When I had said I need a quorum, he'd said, he responded back and said, understood. So, but I, the students, I get it. Sometimes they're free, sometimes they're not. And if they're there, we count their vote. Technically, we're not allowed to count their vote. So it's fine. And I still do because they really have bright ideas sometimes about things. So I like to keep them engaged. Take their inputs, right? Like, open about that. But as we move along, grants are not the only things we will make decisions about. So I really would like to keep all the members engaged and participating in all the decisions we make, not just about the grants. But thank you. I think we've had regular attendance from all of you, and Kevin especially has been doing this. Kevin and Naresh have been doing this with me forever, and I appreciate them showing up every time and participating fully. And I hope we keep doing this, and any new members who come on will also kind of Embrace the spirit of what the Cultural Council is and keep it going. But if you feel that we need to say something about meeting schedules and quorums, we can. I just don't want you all to feel like there are people who are not coming and only show up for votes. And I recognize that some people do. And I also recognize that it might make others feel weird. So, all right. Any thoughts, questions, concerns about that? Nope. Just got to recruit more members so it's easier to achieve quorum. Exactly. I'm going to say goodbye to everyone because I'm driving. But it was nice talking to you all. Bye. All right. We'll call the meeting to end. Anybody motion to end the meeting? I motion to end the meeting. And make a motion that we adjourn the meeting at 8.45. Perfect. Thank you, Kevin. And we have a quorum to end the meeting. Naresh, do you agree? Yes. Thank you all. Bye. Bye, Sherry. Yes. And Sherry agrees and Haley do agree. And Kevin, do you agree? And unanimously agreed, we end this meeting at 8.45 p.m. Thank you all and have a very good night. Thanks.
And it appears that we do not have any public attending, so can move on from that to review the, let's see, the approval of the September meeting minutes. Let me up here. Hello, everybody. Bye. Bye, everybody. We had just called the meeting to order, and we were just about to pull up the September minutes, so. Okay. You want to do that? Do you want me to do that? Oh, no. Yeah, I'm pulling them up right now, so I can share those, and we can get an approval. My screen. All right. Sorry about that. All right. Here we are. Number minutes.
Is this large enough for folks? Can they see it? Well, let me just zoom in a little more. There we go. So we had a call to order, approval of July and August, Marie's resignation, and then confirming. That was that. Are you reading the right one? October 28th is what we need to read. Oh, I was reading the September minutes to approve. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. Should we keep with this one? Just run through them quickly to approve? Or I guess have folks had a chance to review them? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I'm the one who wrote it, so yes. You're right. Yeah. Confirmation of our goals and priorities. Our potential fundraising community engagement, Wayland Fest, as well as current projects and our next meeting and then adjournment. Does anybody have anything major that needs to be changed here before we approve it? No. I do not. Okay. No. Perfect. Thank you. Do I have a motion to approve? I make a motion that we approve the September meeting minutes of the Cultural Council. Thank you, Kevin. Do I have a second? I second. Thank you, Hailey. Are you in agreement, Naresh? Yes. And who else? That is Sherry, yes. I'm here. Yes, we can move forward. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Hailey, can we move forward? Yes, let me just. Kevin, can we move forward? Yes. And I too agreed to move forward and it is unanimously passed. Thank you, everybody. There we go. Okay. So next thing on the agenda was a discussion of an appointment of a vice chair because I no longer have Marie. And Hailey had expressed interest in taking that position. And I would like to move to appoint Hailey as my vice chair. Can I have a second for that? Third. Thank you, Sherry. Naresh, do you approve? Okay, thank you. I saw you nod. I couldn't hear you, but I saw you nod. And Kevin, do you approve? Yes. Sherry, do you approve? Yes. And Hailey, even though it's your appointment, do you approve? I do, yes. And I approve as well, so he is. Now appointed as my vice chair, and even though unofficially she has been helping me, thank you, now she can officially help me with stuff. Thank you, and I will make that change known to the town so that she's recognized as such on our website. And I will also make that change in the Mass Cultural Council site. Great. Okay, then I just put another discussion item that we need to continue recruitment. So hopefully that that is an ongoing effort. And as we have learned through Sherry's appointment that they do not have to be from this town. So please reach out to your friends from other towns and see if they would like to join us. And there is no There is no issues doing that. Okay, I have a question there. I am from Wayland, so that's why, yeah, but if neighboring town people want to apply, it's good to know. But yeah, I've had a house in Wayland for 20 years. Oh, okay, okay. Okay, perfect. So it's just being on two committees. You are on the- Yeah, I have houses in both towns. The native house is my parents. Okay. Okay. Okay. So we'll have to explore that because I had specifically asked and they said there is no rule against being on a town committee that's not your town. So that's an option. So, but thank you for the clarification, Sherry, appreciate that. Okay, so just keep plugging away, we need more members. All right, now for the meat of the thing, it's the council, the grant cycle. And this time we've had 37 applications. I think it is the most we've ever had. Oh, wow, okay. Pitted against the amount we have. It seems like a humongous task, but we will get to it. We will get through it. So what I did was that initial vote that I had all of you do on the spreadsheet kind of gives us a way to At least pick the top few that we can discuss. So what I want to discuss is the bottom few first, right, and then discuss the top few. So I want to rank, let's see the ranking. If I... Is this helpful to display this for? Sure. While you're doing this, Hailey, can you just rank, go to the end and preliminary rank, can you just, yeah, so the preliminary rank column, can you just, is it? Oh, yes, there we go. Sort it, sort it, I think, yeah, just if you can sort it Z to A or A to Z, I don't know which one. Yes, okay. And I know So we have missing... We're missing Charles, I think. Yeah. We're missing Charles' vote. We are missing Kevin's vote. And we are missing both the high school kids' vote. But we still have... Can I give a verbal... Yeah. Yes, yes. So this is not the final approval, Kevin. What we did was that because we have 37 and we just wanted to take the bottom few, talk about why they're bottom few, and then take the top few and go through them and see. So the bottom few is to definitely eliminate them, right? So that's what we will do now. We will take everything that is Below 3, so I think 3.05 is our last one. So let's take everything from 1.55 to So that's the weighted score. So everything that's ranked 37 to 22, let's talk about which ones we definitely want to eliminate. So then we have a better way of working through this. And once we get that number out of the way, let's talk about one to five and see if we definitely want to. Want to fund these people. And when we get out of the way, then the middle portion will be the ones we will discuss in great length, right? So let's start with rank number 37, which is the AI for age for the layman. I am opening the AI age. AI age. Yeah, this is one that I believe was 100 and 140 something cultural councils that this person applied to. Oh, this was the one? Yeah. Okay. In that case, I think, so we have heard about this, that this person is randomly applying to cultural councils and there was a caution sent about that? Yes. An email was sent out to us. It was 90 and now I'm hearing it's a bigger number that he applied to. And honestly, just from the title, it looks educational, not cultural. I don't mind educational, but I think all of us thought it's not going to, it's rank number 37 for obvious reasons. And just given the controversy around this person, so should we. Are we all for eliminating? So let me start. Hailey, are you okay with eliminating this completely? Yes. Naresh? Yes. Sherry? Yes. Kevin? Yes. Okay. So we are done with that. So next one is the Arias Aloft by Opera Unchapped Limited. And I... Recused myself from this one as I am a board member of Opera Untapped and a regular performer with them, which is why I do not have a score list. Okay. All right. I was wondering about that, but clearing that up. So does anybody want to know more about this or have you read about what this is? Yeah, I'm good with its ranking. You're good with its ranking. Ranking is fine. I want to see whether we should eliminate them completely or keep them in the running. Is this happening in Wayland? It would be happening in Lincoln at the DeCordova. DeCordova. Okay, yeah, right now I'm focused more on Wayland since we have so many applications, but not enough funding. Correct. So I would be okay with removing it. Okay, so Hailey is recused, Sherry is for removing it, Naresh? For removing it. Kevin? I would be fine with keeping it, but if you want to remove it, that's fine too. So, I'm also okay with removing it. So, we shall be removing this. Thank you, everybody. Okay. So, the next number 35 is Meditation with Sound Healing by Parley Bonny. Okay. So, Anybody needs to know a little bit more about that? Have you read about it? Sound healing to me is spiritual. It is not cultural, but I'll leave it to everyone. I would remove it. Okay. Hailey? Yeah, I'd say with the number of people impacted and not a super direct Wayland connection, I'm good with removing. Okay. Naresh? Yeah, I'm good with removing as well. Okay. Okay. I will remove that. And the next is... A block party event that already occurred. Okay. So I don't see how a block party is... Something that would be cultural. It's community building for sure, but I don't see it being cultural. Right now we have a lot of events that are really cultural. So if we have not so much funding compared to the number of applicants, I'd remove it. Yeah. So, but according to our, the Bayland Guidelines. Community building is part of what the Cultural Council does. It is... But didn't we not do something for FIFA? That was also community building technically, right? They had a party. So... True, it was also not in Wayland. Okay. And so what, did they have a theme at this community building other than just having food and drinks? So I am, what I'm trying to say is that we shouldn't preclude things because they're community building as opposed to cultural because we do look at programs that engage with our community. I'm not specifically speaking for or against this. I'm just saying that we should be thinking about the Cultural Council being igloo for the community. Having said that, this has already occurred in the past. The funding is for 2027, which is why I said I did not want to fund it because this is This funding is for things that are going to happen in 2027, not for things that happen in 2026. Sounds good. Okay. There is another one on here that was occurring, I think, this week or in the next couple of weeks, that was one of the, what was it, this one, the rocking recovery? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so that's, but it has scored really high, right? Yeah, no, no, I know, and yeah, that was kind of where I was also curious about. Yeah, so yeah, that's why, that is why. So my reason for rejection is that it has already occurred in 2026, and these funding cycle is for 2027, not necessarily that it is a community building event, because we do fund community building events. Okay, so Hailey, are you okay with removing it completely? Yes. Naresh, are you okay with removing it? Yes. Sherry, are you okay with removing it? Yes. Kevin, are you okay with removing it completely? Yes. And I too am okay with removing it completely, so unanimously this is gone now. The next one is Dignity for Youth Assembly. It's about bullying, sorry. And we had said that we're not going to fund it. I mean, we've given it very low ranking. So do we want to completely remove it from the funding cycle? I would stay with that. Yes. Lack of Wayland connection. All right. Hailey is okay and Naresh is okay. Sherry, are you okay with completely removing it? Yes, remove it. Thank you. Kevin, are you okay with completely removing it? Yes. Okay, so it shall be removed completely. Thank you all. The next one is Moving to Heal, Movement for Arts for Adults Affected by Cancer. Similarly, since this is In Harvard, Mass., the lack of strong Wayland connection, I would leave for removal. Naresh? Sherry? Yes, remove it, please. Kevin? Yes. Perfect, this has been removed now. The next is Parent Voices, Our Children, Our Schools, Our Stories by the Wrong Mother Foundation. Again, very low scores across the board for this. So, any reason we should keep it? I do not see any. So, Haley, are you okay to remove it completely? Yes, I am. Naresh, are you okay to remove it? Yes. Sherry, are you okay removing it completely? Yes, please. And Kevin, are you okay removing it completely? Yes. All right. Unanimously, this is removed completely as well. The next bit. I don't even know what this is. Seems to be some Winchenden music festival that's going to happen in Wayland, if I'm not mistaken. That's what they said. That doesn't make sense. Winchenden is a different city. Chances are they're asking for funding for their own event. Yes. Yeah, the application on this one was doing a performance in both Wayland and Winchenden. But again, the group is... Based in Winchenden, so I would say similarly lacks a strong Wayland connection. Other than presenting a performance. Yeah, I think my questions were also like, how will the Wayland people be reached through this? Okay. Hailey, are you okay removing this completely? Yes, I am. Naresh, are you? Yes. Okay. Sherry? Yes, please. Kevin, are you removing this completely? Yes. All right, done. This is removed completely. And the Newton-Bar Oaks 2026-27 season, by their own admission, it's also for the 2026, but maybe it's more for the 2027. Again, I don't see, in this particular one, I don't see where This is going to take place. Yeah, I think there's one or two performances that are nearby, but I also see with our limited funds focusing on specific events rather than general whole season support. Yeah. Anybody feel strongly about having this?
Okay. All right, Hailey, are you okay with completely removing it? Yes, I am. Naresh, are you okay with completely removing it? Yes. Sherry, are you okay with completely removing it? Yes, please. Kevin, are you okay with completely removing it? Yes. All right, again, unanimously, completely removed. The next is Circus in the Community, Extraordinary Arts. This is another one that... That's not happening here, isn't it? Yeah, it's really like a... Slay for a performance opportunity that has been sent to many cultural counselors with no actual event. I think they're trying to tie it to Wayland Fest, but there's no actual... Too shady. Sorry. Yeah, no. I didn't see any commitments from any Wayland organizers. And how realistic is it that we can integrate a performance into a public celebration, right? Yeah, like perhaps it could be something that would exist at Wayland Fest, but as that is not something that we are financially supporting. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I will go now. I will go opposite way. Now, Kevin, are you okay removing it completely? Yes. Sherry, are you okay removing it completely? Yes, please. Naresh, are you okay removing it completely? Yes. Hailey, are you okay removing it completely? Yes, I am. Perfect. This is done. Untapped adventures in our little song book. So this is, yeah, a presentation of... An operatic performance for children that has been done in the Cambridge and Somerville and other libraries, and they're wanting to present it at the Wayland Public Library.
So it has been done in the Wayland Public Library before? It has not, no, but it has been done in other. Yeah. So what is the, one of the questions I had was, has the Wayland Library agreed to host the program? I do not know that that is confirmed, though, could pull up the. Yeah, it's kind of an egg and chicken question. Oh, totally. They say that they've been funded by the Cultural Council, the library may agree to. Yeah, yeah, but it's in this space, but yeah. It's a lot of money, too. It's a lot of money, and they're asking for $2,000 when the other income indicates a $1,600 gap. I'm looking at their administrative costs, which is 600 or is it 25%? I don't understand what that is. So anyway, I don't understand the scale of the event. I mean, if it's going to be a library event, why is it so expensive? It's just... All together, like our Wayland Library children's area is very small too. Yeah. So for a theater group to do something, I would understand if they did it at the Natick or Framingham library, especially Framingham, but ours is so small, it's not logical. Agreed. So, Kevin, are you okay removing this completely? Yes. Sherry, are you okay removing this completely? Yes. Naresh, are you okay removing this completely? Okay, I saw you nod. Hailey, are you okay removing this completely? Okay, I saw you nod as well. All right, we are removing this completely. The next one is Into the Dark Stories from the Shadows. This is another library presentation at Halloween time next year.
And kind of story, storytelling. I recall more about what the... I think the budget's too high. It's a one-person show. Oh, is it? Okay. Then I will probably remove it. Okay. All right. If that's the case. Okay. So, Kevin, you're okay to remove it? Yes. Sherry, are you okay to remove it? Yes. Naresh, are you okay to remove it? Yes. Hailey, are you okay to remove it? Yes. All right, remote. We're making good progress. Good job. Down two. How many more do we have to go through? Quite a few. Quite a few. We're only 10 down. We have 37, but we won't go down every one today. We will go down. We will do the first. 19. Yeah. Yeah. You hear? Yeah. Why don't we do the first 20? Okay. We can do the first 20. Especially since the 19th and 20th, it's the same organization. Yeah. So that's what stood out being strange to me. Yeah. Yeah. I made that. I made that remark as well. So let's do that. Okay. All right, so the next is Liquid Spines Bycatch. I read it. I don't know whether I absorbed what it was. It was the ecological performance sponsored by Arts Wayland as well. That is a dance performance art program, but it does seem like it would proceed whether or not we fund it. It's a one-person show. I looked her up. She lives in Merrimack area. She teaches there. So she's possibly from New Hampshire. Okay. That is fine. It's going to be done in Arts of Wayland. My questions are... Once again, I'm going back to the Wayland factor. Yeah. Just with the funding, giving preferences to people who are in our town or organizations in our town first. So they, because she's also said ticketing will be considered, so what is the cost of admission? If unfunded, how does the $900 request fit into the overall financing? Those were my questions. But, and it's Artswail and Artswail and themselves have asked for a grant. So how does this fit into their overall strategy? That's something that kind of makes me uncomfortable about this. All right. The question is, sorry, go ahead, Kevin. Are you suggesting we remove it? Yes. So the question on the table is, should we keep it and consider it or should we remove it? So Kevin, are you okay removing it? Yes. So I think, yeah, the only The other one that they had actually, yeah, will also be nixed due to its prior, it already occurring, so. Yeah, yeah. I'm also in support of removing. Okay, Hailey's in support of removing. Naresh, are you in support of removing? Yes. Sherry, are you in support of removing? Yes, please. All right. Thank you. The next is Firefly Dance Stories. Are those the two-minute stories that they're going over? The $2,000 budget is what's bothering me. If it was like a $500, it's one thing, but $2,000? So yeah, and they also say that ArtsVayland has committed hosting the first session. Yeah. And the space is being provided free of charge. Yeah, in their budget, they were not paying... Artists, other than just the, like the actual dancers themselves, and it was just the, those producing were receiving pay, so. Right. And then how many performances are actually taking place? You know, what other towns are they thinking of? Is it only Wayland? So those are all my questions for it. But, as Sherry said. If they're going to even have five people performing, but the events are like five minutes each, then this is still a very high budget if they're asking for payment to artists. I mean, it also depends on how many, I mean, it doesn't matter even if they're doing like five performances at five minutes each, whatever. So I don't understand what we will be contributing to. That's the bottom line. All right. Hailey, are you okay mixing it? Yes, I am. And let me put that in better words for our minutes. Are you okay removing it completely? Yes, I am. Haresh, are you okay removing it completely? Yes. Sherry, are you okay removing it completely? Yes. And Kevin, are you removing it completely? Perfect. Thank you. Unanimously passed. The next one is folktales and origami for families. Seems like this is a repeat of something presented. I think she's from Hamden, Connecticut. She's not even from the state. Where is she proposing to do this? She's done something at other Massachusetts libraries, so I think that's why she was trying to, yeah, repeat the same function. Wow, okay. Yeah, there was a letter of support from the library. Okay. I mean, any other year, if they'd said that they were going to perform in the library and if there were very few applicants and it looked interesting, it's not a whole lot of money, I might have said yes, but given our constraints this year, I don't know. So, Kevin, what about you? Are you okay for taking this out completely? In other words, you want to remove it completely? Is that what you want? Yeah, that's the question. So should we remove it completely? Yes or no? Okay. And Sherry? Should we remove it completely? Sherry? Did we lose her? Oh, potentially. She's on mute, but I don't know. Okay. Hailey, let me go back to you. Yes. Naresh, are you okay removing this completely? Yes. I would nix it, I'm sorry. Okay, no worries. So Sherry, are you okay removing it completely? Yes, please. Naresh, are you okay removing it completely? Yes. All right, unanimously done. Okay, the next one is I'm autistic and I'm fantastic. It's from music and dance. Yeah, both of these, similar situation. Yeah. Kevin, go ahead. I would keep that one because that sounds like it's kind of cultural. It is cultural, but also they have two of them. Music and Dance EDO has two of them. And let me get to some of the questions I had, right? Where is it being held, the first one? Yeah, so we don't have. Yeah, there's not, I recall there wasn't really a commitment, and again, the connection to Wayland was lacking. And it doesn't have information about who is performing and what the content of the production is, and the biggest thing for me, yeah. Okay, in that case, I'd ax it, nix it. Okay. I want us to look at their other submission and if we want to mix both or do we want to consider one over the other. So let's take a look at the next one from Music Dance EDU, which is the Hip Hop Chair Dance for Seniors. Yep. So I would favor of keeping this one. So they did it last year. And it was received well at the Senior Center. And I think the lady came to our... Not party, reception. And she made us all dance and she was really engaging. She knows what she's doing. And yeah, I think we did a line dance and even the kids joined in and everyone there joined in. So I was kind of impressed with how she organizes and how she enthusiastically performed, you know, like made us perform. And as far as I know, the The Senior Center folks said it was well-received. So I would like to keep number 20. Okay. All right. Well, you explained it well, so I'm in favor in keeping it if the community has enjoyed it and it's local. Okay. I'm in favor as well. Yeah. It's at the Wayland Senior Center. It happened last year. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So the specific question is, are you for removing the Autism Musical and Keeping the Hip Hop Musical. Yes, from my end. Yes, from Sherry. Yes. Yes, from Hailey. Yes, from Naresh. Yes, from Naresh. Kevin? Yes. Okay. All right. So that's what we're doing. We're going to keep the hip hop, but remove the autism one. All right. So we are at a good clip. Can you guys just explain to me what the Wayland Freedom Team is expecting? Because I'm not seeing an event. It's just Wayland Freedom Team. It seems so that was operational support for a phone and website? Yeah. So it was not for any performance or event, but it was more for their building their website. Why can't they do a free Facebook page? I'm just not seeing the point here. If you have a follow-up question that will help you repay this better, we can ask. Okay, yeah. Like, why do they need the website versus a free Facebook page? Because this is something operational and we have so little funding and so many actual cultural events. Yeah. So, that's one of the other things that I've asked is, can the, how will, you know, what are the specific programs, how will the website and phone line directly support those programs, can the applicant identify any public activities, if they've planned them, and so on. So, what other questions should I ask, Sherry, I will ask about,
Why not something free like Facebook? Anything else? No, that's it. If there's a free option or a cheaper option, I just don't see the point. Okay. All right. If they come back and give us some answers, we can look at it next week and see if we want to fund them or not fund them.
Does that work for everybody? Hailey, does that work for you? And since we're on that topic, one more question. The next one, the Silk Road, that's already been shown in other libraries. So I'm just trying to see if he's done something new. If not, I don't understand. Okay, so we'll come to that because that's not next in the, is it? Sorry. Yes, it is. Sorry. Okay. All right. So let me finish the voting for this and then we'll come to that, Sherry. Clarification and discussion for next week. Hailey, are you okay with that? Yes. Naresh, are you okay with that? Sure. Sherry, are you okay with that? Yes, please. Kevin, are you okay with that? Yes. All right. So we will table that until next week. I've made a note in my notes to reach out to them. All right. The Silk Road. Sherry, can you repeat your question? So I looked up the person who asked for the grant and this event and he's held this event already at other venues. So unless it's doing something additional or new, I'm not seeing this as being one of my top choices to order grant to. It looks like he's just repeating the same video everywhere.
It's a video? Yeah, it does say it's a video. Okay. Any comments from other members about this? No comment. No, I'm okay with, again, if it's a program that's already been presented in other places and there's not a super strong connection to Wayland, I would be in favor of removing. Kevin, are you okay, removing it from the funding? Yes. Shari, are you okay with removing it? Yes. Naresh, are you okay with removing it? Yes. Haley, are you okay with removing it? Yes. All right, this is also removed. Okay. So, yeah, go ahead. Yeah, a quick question. So, since the removals were kind of easy, Do you want to sort of review the first four or five because they're very high? Yeah. Yeah. So that's what I want to flip. And I want to go to the classical concert series by the Wayland concert series. And that's got our first ranking. Does anybody have any issues with keeping them in the funding cycle? No, I support keeping them in the funding cycle. All right. And Naresh? Yes, I support that too. Keeping them in the funding cycle. Sherry? Let's keep them. Thank you. Kevin? Yes, let's keep. The next rank number two is the Chinese American Association's Lunar New Year. And I know we fund it every year. It's very popular. People attend it and have really enjoyed it. Yeah, I agree. And it's worth to keep it. I support to keep it. Me too. Let's keep it, please. Kevin? Yes, let's keep it. Perfect. All right. Then we have the rocking recovery performances. It did get a high rank, but Hailey just pointed out that it is for an event in 2026. I agree with Hailey and you that if it already occurred, it's not the right cycle for granting. Yeah, I assume I just want to... Just check. I assume it already, like, if it wasn't, I didn't see it on the arts. Oh, wait, no, here we go. Yeah. That is, yes, it is occurring 26, so I vote to remove. Okay. Naresh, are you okay removing it? Sure. Kevin, are you okay removing it? Yes. Okay. I have to ask Hailey again. Are you okay removing it? Yes, I am. And Sherry, are you okay removing it? Yes. All right. Unanimously removed. All right. The next is the Pirates of Pisans by Sudbury Savoyards. Anybody have any objection of keeping them in the cycle for discussion? I support keeping them. Me too. I support keeping them. I support keeping them. They're in Sudbury, but that's right next to us. Yeah. Kevin? I support keeping it. Perfect. So we will keep that. The next is the Oompa Meisters, Wayland's New Year Brass Celebration. So, yeah, go ahead. Oh, no, I'm sure we're about to say the same thing. I don't know that this had a... Event date or commitment and limited Wayland connection, but I'm open to... Oh, I just assumed they were doing a New Year's Eve celebration or a concert in Wayland. Yes, so it is the Wayland Brass. They're doing something on January 1st, right? Correct, on January 1st.
Yeah, so I was, I'm open to discussion, but I like them. I just didn't think we should do the full 1,200, but I thought we should fund them a little bit. So the questions I had was, can they secure an accessible indoor venue for, because of the timing, right? Like January 1st, coming up soon. If they want a committed local host, can they secure that venue? Again, timing, promotion, venue, so on. Even if it's a late January, February event, it's tricky. And are the musicians and administrative fees reasonable for the proposed programs? Could have perhaps a smaller ensemble deliver the same experience? These are my questions. And we can either go ahead and take a vote of whether we want to fund them or want clarifications from them. Indoor makes sense. We should get the clarification as far as I'm concerned. Okay, I agree. Okay. Naresh, do you agree that we should get some clarifications? Sure. Kevan, do you agree with that we should get some clarification? Yes. Okay. Does anybody else have additional questions other than the ones that I had? No, I think, yeah, just securing an indoor accessible venue and confirming the budget. Okay. All right. So I will send them an email and try to get some confirmation about that, and we can discuss it at the next meeting. Thank you. Okay, next. The Wayland Community Pool Moodle Initiative. So I had multiple thoughts about this, right? They are asking for $1,500 and I know we had set aside some discretionary budget for them. So this is over and above that. So the discretionary budget was for work that's already been done. Okay. And this would be, I'm assuming, for work that they're going to continue to do in 2027. So if we agree to fund them, how do we handle that? I think it's too much unless they can give us a breakdown why they need even more money and why this much. Okay. So I would say we fund them but give them 50%. Because they're trying to do some anti-racist stuff, you know, and do it in a community initiative way, bring everyone together kind of thing. So I think we should fund them, but it's just that 50%. That's fine. Yeah, I agree. It's for our community. I'm just saying the amounts too high in my eyes too. Yeah. And we've already funded the discretionary. We haven't given it out, but. Oh, okay. Do we have, are we able to discuss that amount or we've already. We haven't committed, we had discussed the, we hadn't committed to them the amount, but internally we had discussed $500. Yeah, okay. I'm not mistaken, Naresh. Okay. Yeah, so just FYI. All the money we didn't spend is in this year's budget now. So we cannot go back and spend it. Okay, it's closed. No, no, no. We had set aside a discretionary amount, remember? Yes, but it's no longer there. Oh, okay, no longer. You had to have spent it. You had to have voted on it and spent it for it to have counted. So it's... It's called Encumbered Funds. And we said our Encumbered Funds was zero. So anything we didn't spend comes into our 2027 budget. We are allocated $6,900, but we actually have $7,900 and something. So those are the money that we didn't spend. Okay. So that's great to know. Since we had thought about giving them 500 already, would it make sense to kind of give them whatever partial of this amount and move forward? So to keep them in the running, discuss how much? I still think it should stay at what Naresh said 750 because they shouldn't assume that. Correct. Agreed. Agreed. So for right now, we're keeping them in the running and discuss the final amounts later. Haley, do you agree? I agree. Nuresh, do you agree? Yes. Sherry, do you agree? Yes. And Kevin, do you agree? Yes. All right. Great. Okay. Meet the artist's native design in everyday New England. This is the Wayland Historic Societies. Initiative. Any questions about this or any thoughts about why they should not be in our list? I think they meet all our criteria. Local, cultural effect, got a really high score. Yeah, this is definitely a go. Okay, so we keep them. Hailey says yes. Nourish says yes. Sherry? Yes. Kevin? All right, so they are still in the running. The next is the Moroccan Gelish Mosaic Workshop. I hope I'm pronouncing that right. It's at the Wayland Library or so they say. I don't know whether they have commitment. I believe this is one that they applied for versus the artists themselves. Oh, it's the library. Yeah. Okay. And this is a repeated offering that was very well received. Okay. Okay. I'm actually always all for funding anything that the library does. Yeah, I agree to. Yeah, I'm in favor as well. Okay. I like this. I say yes. Thank you, Sherry. Kevin? Yes. All right. Okay, the next is the Vox players. That's local, but at the same time, I don't know why it's costing so much. I mean, yeah, the larger budget, I think, is like, this is a very small percentage of it. I had a lot of questions about this. Okay.
So it is a very specialized audience. Not everybody goes to works. So how are they proposing to expand that? What about underserved audiences? How would this strengthen the public benefit case? I mean, if they don't reach the underserved audience, what they're trying to do will not be achieved. Yeah, that was one of my questions. The standard ticket costs, that also is a problem, is 25 to 30. And if they are saying that the grant will support accessible ticketing initiatives, but they don't say the number of discounted and subsidized tickets, or how valent residents who cannot afford standard admission could. Yeah, right. I would like to see them say that it's going to directly subsidize tickets like, you know, Discovery Museum. Very straightforward, you give so much and we are going to take off so much for the underserved population, right? Like, and we have those numbers. So They also have a total cash budget of $25,000, over $25,000, and there's large musician and artist fees, large technical costs, and $6,000 for rights and royalties. Okay, you said it, $6,000 for rights and royalties, that's crazy. That is crazy. That is completely crazy as an artist myself. The theater contributes its venue and facility. So there's the kind of resources and kind taken care of subscriptions, donations, concessions. So it's like, I don't understand this. So the other thing I was trying to figure out, and I didn't have the time to, I hope somebody else has, is Vox a nonprofit organization? Yes. Okay. Yeah. Okay. I don't know. They're in the running. We can fund them partially. We can decide how much we want to fund them or take them out of the running. So the question is, do we keep them and think about partially funding them or take them out? Yeah, I would like to keep them and do a 50% funding. I mean, the percentage we can think of later. Agreed, I'd like to keep that. Yeah, I want to keep that discussion open for when we have because they are our local theater. I would like to keep them, but accessibility wise, they're not the most accessible place. So I want to get a few more questions answered. Okay, so questions answered. How is it going to be accessible and affordable? Okay. Okay, so those are the two things that I already had. Any other questions that we can ask them? Also, the timing of the event. It's running for three weeks in May. Understood, but is it at daytime or nighttime? With the elderly and children, doing nighttime shows mainly are not really great. They typically do matinees on the weekends and evening performances. So there is a mix for both daytime and evening. I will ask them to clarify that anyway. Yeah, I think Hailey is correct. I've been to some work stuff. They do matinees, I think, on Saturdays. Otherwise, it's evenings. They don't do it every day, right? Some days, they don't perform. Yeah. So it's not like a theater. It's not like a movie theater. It's more like a performance. Well, it's more like Huntington Theater in Boston. It's a full-blown theater. It's nice. But as I said, it doesn't have as much accessible seating. Okay. So I will clarify those questions. So we leave it in the running and ask the clarifying questions and then decide. Is that agreed upon, Hailey? Yes. Naresh? Yes. Sherry? Yes. Kevin? We're keeping the Vokes Theatre in the running with the questions answered, correct? Correct. All right. Yes. All right. Perfect. Done. Okay. The next is Chris Swanson's Songs We Loved.
Can we know what the venue is? Because I do see that he is from Massachusetts and was part of a trio, but I just want to clarify that this is going to be in Wayland or nearby. Yeah, that's at the Council on Aging. It's in this way of building, yeah. Okay, got it. Then I'm for keeping it. Okay. That's for Council of Aging and the amount's not a lot. Yeah. Kevin, how about you? I'm for keeping it. Perfect. Naresh? Yeah, I'm for keeping it. Hailey? Yes. All right. Keep it. Anjia Meatball and Murder. And this is a Council on Aging application. And in general, we try to fund the Wayland organizations as much as we can. We don't have to settle on the amount. We keep it in the running and decide the amount later. I would vote to keep it in the running. Naresh? Sure, I would to keep it. Sherry? I would like to keep it, but find out if we are funding for the food, or are they getting food donations, because we shouldn't be just funding a dinner. Yeah, okay. I will ask that question. Kevin? I'm for keeping it, but, you know. Once the questions get answered. Okay, so I'll be funding the food. Okay. All right, so I will ask that question and we will put that in the running. Okay. Matthew Ludwig's cello recital. I would say yes to retain as he's local and it's being presented at a church in Weston, but He's from Wayland, yeah. Yeah, he's been playing for quite a while. I saw pictures of him and his brother when they were in high school here too. They've been playing since then. Okay, so you are, okay, keeping it in the running? Yes. Okay. Just like the Sudbury event was fine, Weston is fine, but Harvard, Winchenden, those are too far. Agreed. Naresh? I'm for keeping it. Kevin? Yes. Perfect. Keep it. So we will give it the High School Drama Festival. Yeah, we have funded them for a few years now. And again, I've not been to any of them, but the feedback has been positive. But I don't know, but I haven't been to any event. I would agree because it is being presented at Wayland High School. Certainly it's... Serving a larger community, but keeping it, but seeing about what amount would make the most sense. Okay. Sherry? I would keep it, but if we have questions, that's fine too, because, I mean, I would rather do this than the dinner. All right. Noted. Kevin? Yes. All right. Okay. Brighter Ignited Interfaith Spring Holiday Celebration. Do they have a venue? I believe, I guess in reading that the, I've not yet attended the annual interfaith celebration, but it does seem like both the Temple and the, um, and the... They're doing this at the Shir Tikva Temple. Are we looking at Tiny Tuti? No, brighter ignited, yeah. Brighter ignited, yeah. Okay, so the brighter ignited and Tiny Tuti are both at the temple. I'm just wondering how much advertisement they're going to do about this, because if it becomes more of just one community, that's not... Really going to work for me at least. No, I completely agree. Yeah, choosing the mosque or the temple, I mean, those are, I haven't seen the inside of the temple, I don't know how big their conference or their like spaces for food and all of that, but I just don't see that as one of the, interfaith itself doesn't. Isn't cultural, that's faith, spiritual, another bucket. So they are saying that it is a spring holiday celebration, right? So... But yeah, we have a lot of religious holidays at that time, and they've mentioned interfaith, so that's why I'm cautioned, because is this, then when you say interfaith, are you coming up with Nauros, Eid, Easter also, and any Hindu faith events, or is it mainly interfaith, but we're going to focus more on some Jewish holiday, and that's why we're doing it in the temple. I don't know, that's why I'm saying the interfaith part is confusing me. Okay. Yeah, their explanation of the celebration and it's seeming that it is an annual event and that this is really just about the art installation that they're trying to support to be there at the event, which does seem, I would say. The art installation at a church or a mosque or any type of venue that only a small group go to, at least I can't support. They can get. Funding from somewhere that is more specific to their organization. So one of the things that they're saying is the integration of art into an existing community gathering that supports broad public access. But Sherry, what I'm hearing you say, where is the evidence that it will have a broader public access? I can't go into the temple, just walk in. I can't walk into the mosque. They have certain times are only open, certain sections you're only allowed to go to. These are not like town buildings, like libraries. This is a very different type of venue. Right. I do believe it's just one celebration on a certain day that they're... Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, but I want to know more. When they say interfaith, I want to know what that means. So should we keep it and then ask more questions? If people want to keep it, then I would say we need to ask more questions. Because if this is just for a Jewish mainly event and they're asking for town funding, I'm not okay with that. If you say interfaith springtime, there are so many other religions with festivals. If they're incorporated too and there's some kind of musical or dance, whatever part of it that's cultural, then that's okay. But if it's just going to be food and prayer. That's really not working for me, because as I said, interfaith and cultural are different. So the way I'm reading it is this is like a cultural thing in an, in an interfaith. Can you, can you go down a little bit? Oh, yeah. Summary, project overview, right, right there. So, so the art display itself, which is interactive, is a cultural experience, but it is at a, oh. It is an interactive thing, so I don't know what the art display per se is, but so the brighter ignited sculptures that I've seen is, you know, you can see some of it in the ICA and you can kind of Like, you know, they have these. Yeah, there it is. Yeah, so that's what it is. So you can go play with the colors, you can press different things, make different. So why does it have to be at a temple? Why can't it be in a more inclusive setting then if it's interfaith and spring? I don't know how to answer that, but this celebration has been happening at that temple for a while now, if I'm not mistaken.
I can ask clarifying questions if that makes me comfortable with it. Yeah, it's presented by Mosaic Interfaith Youth Action. Yeah, I know the Mosaic folks. They've done an event earlier this year that was in the Wayland Community Center. So that's why I'm questioning why it can't be there. I don't know that there is a venue specifically called out in their application. So I do think that would be. Worth clarifying. It says, it just says that these people have been partners, the Islamic and all have been partners. Okay, so clarify venue. Okay. What other questions can I ask them? Clarify the program. What's their agenda? I mean, it's not like $300, right? Anything over $500, we should get more details. Okay.
Any other questions, Naresh, Kevin? No. Okay. Yeah. Kevin, go ahead. No, I don't have any questions. All right. So should we keep them in the running for now and I get some answers? Sure. Yes. I would. Sherry? That's fine. Okay. Yeah, because years ago we had a grant for an event that you and I were part of and part of the money was used towards hiring the Israeli band. So, I mean, that's why I want to understand who are the people who are going to perform? Is this really interfaith? Will everyone feel included? Okay. I will ask them the questions and make sure that I have the answer. Okay. Discovery Museum is the next step. We always fund them. Yeah, I rated this pretty high, so I would favor of funding them for the $400 or whatever. Keep them in the running and we can figure out how much we want to fund them later. Sure. Okay. Haley, you're for it. Naresh, you're for it. Sherry?
I am for asking them a few more questions because this is in Acton, I thought. So are we getting a school bus, so Wayland people going to Acton? That's not Weston or Sudbury, they're not as close. True, true, but they have a wonderful program that this funds the Open Doors Connections allows them to make the entrance free for The underserved population, whether it is from Wayland or whoever, and they have actually, they do show that many people from Wayland do utilize it. If we know that people from our town utilize it, that's fine, because I'm just trying to make sure that since we've turned down other organizations outside of town, that there's a reason for funding them. So if they have a history of Wayland people going, that's fine. Yeah, they do have, and they do a wonderful job. So we fund them every year. And we might not every year give them what they're asking, but they're happy with whatever we give them. Kevin, are you okay keeping them in? Yes. Sherry, are you okay keeping them in? Yes. Naresh, are you okay keeping them in? Yes. Naresh, are you okay keeping them in? Yes. Elia, are you okay keeping them in? Yes. Right. Live Music Making History Live. This is John Waterman's initiative. I do not totally remember what this one was. So this combines live music, original songwriting, and historical storytelling. Some visual presentations, that's what I remember him saying. Oh, here we go.
So. It's like a history lesson of not popular music, but more cultural music, you know. Correct. Yeah. So folk music and this and that and how it happened. Yeah. Doesn't seem that there's a ton of, I guess, yeah, local connection and or. Isn't it presented at the Senior Center? I thought this guy was doing it in Andover. Oh, yeah, this is TBD on date and support. Yeah, unless he can show it's close by Andover, it's over an hour away. Okay, so those are the questions I had. Where will it take place? Who's going to host it? There is no confirmed partner. I would probably be in favor to decline this one. Okay, so let's take that vote. Yeah. Naresh, are you in favor of declining it? No, I would keep them and see if they're in Wayland or in Andover. If they're in Wayland, I would fund. If they're in Andover, I would decline. I'm with Naresh. I just want to know the location. Okay. Yeah, I'm in support of that. Okay. So, Kevin, are you okay with me asking the question about location and keeping them in for now? Okay. So let's do that. I did something, but I don't know what I did. Where did it go? John Wasserman. Okay. Okay. Okay. The next one is Musicians of the Old Post Road. Their concert. We have funded them on more than one occasion. Sometimes we do. I question the amount. They're in Weston. Why isn't Weston funding them fully? Oh, this is for a performance that's at First Parish here. Yeah. Okay, because when I looked it up, they're in Weston. Yeah, the musicians are in Weston, but the performance is at Old Parish. Yeah, I would consider it a reasonable ask, given the larger... budget for that performance that they're asking just to. Yeah, the venue rental is very low, so that's why I would do partial, ask them why the budget's so high. Okay. Yeah, so as always, we don't have to give everything that they ask for. Right. And I know that a lot of people attend. Is this the first parish? Mm-hmm. I'd say, yeah, it does serve a number of Wayland residents. Okay. So keep it in and then decide on the exact amount later. Hailey, are you okay with that? Yes. Naresh, are you okay with that? Yes. Sherry, are you okay with that? Yes. And Kevin, are you okay with that? Yes. All right. Sorry. Wrong color. Okay. The last one, yay, Tiny Tutti. That's a lot of money to ask, and that's happening at the temple, I believe. That one, yeah, this one was another one that was very much, did not seem to have a connection. I believe they were looking at the library as the presenting, but again, no. Yeah, library venue date, so. When I Googled it, it was showing the temple. I might be wrong. Yeah, I mean, at this time there was no... When they put in the application, maybe they didn't have a place, but if they're doing it at the temple, I mean, I would not give that much money because how are they advertising? And is that setting the most inclusive? Yeah, so it seems like it is a free performance, but is potentially being presented and or funded in a number of other... So they have two upcoming dates. One is on February 27th, one is on April 11th. The location is the temple, but are both in the temple? Is one going to be somewhere else? I think one is in the public library, you know? It says right here. Scheduling a date in the public library. Okay. So if they get approval, then we can consider them at the public library. Should I ask them the question? Yeah, might as well. Yeah. I'm okay if it's at the public library. It's a nice idea, but like the mosque, the temple, these places are not, I don't think everyone wants to go in. All right. So thank you. We are through all of these. When we meet in October, I will have answers for all the questions, hopefully, hopefully, I will send the emails out the next couple of days. And actually, I will connect with Hailey and maybe between both of us, we will get this done. And some of you know, I have a family emergency right now going on. I will try my best to get everything. Yeah. Yeah. Before we leave. When was the next meeting? Is it still 11? We still have a couple of things on the agenda. We're not done. Oh, yes. Let me pull that back up. Sorry, Naresh. No, we're good. Yeah. Yes, let me just pull this back up. So next is FY27 goals and priorities, community partners and outreach, expanding access and supporting local artists and organizations. Yeah. So one of the things that... We were thinking about, sorry, go ahead, Kevin. What did you say our next meeting is? We haven't come to that yet. I was just hearing that lost where I had it. So the next item on the agenda is to talk about the 27 goals and priorities for our council. We were thinking about community partnerships and outreach and One of the things that we were talking about is the how do we see if we can do fundraisers right and I know it's late and we need to end in a little bit, but if that's something that all of us can. Come up with some ideas for next time of what we would, what would be a good way to create these partnerships and outreach and maybe do fundraisers so we will have more discretionary funding to do other things, which kind of leads to, you know, expanding the cultural experience for, for Wayland residents, right? Like if we have more money, we can do more. And if we have, if we get more money, what are we going to do? So it's kind of think through all of these things for us. And how do we, how best can we support local artists and organizations other than this whole grant cycle, right? Like what else can we do? Often I tell people if you're doing something it's in Wayland or you're a Wayland artist doing something. We're happy to put up the information on our Facebook page, on our Instagram page. I don't know how many people look at it and follow it, but we can do it for you. But beyond that, what else can we do to support people who are spreading culture within our communities? So, could we introduce organizations to each other, for example, like if the spring festival that Mosaic is doing has performing arts in it, in reality, then introduce them to Vokes, if they don't know about Vokes, things like that, because the setting is more inclusive, it's not a religious place, and so... Yeah, or the Wayland Senior Center, right, like that's a... They did it last time at the Senior Center. That's why I'm surprised that they chose Shirtikva. But that's, yeah. Again, maybe availability and all that. But yeah, if we can make more of such connection, Sherry, and make things happen in a more secular way, great. Yeah, absolutely. That could be one of the things that we are doing. And, you know, I... Honestly, it would be great if we had our own area control over the website area so that we could like start like a section for Resources, right? Like, yeah, enlist and have people list themselves as resources or people going to find resources can find it there. But in the absence of that, at least we can put something on our Facebook page that will help. Exactly. I think Facebook for us is good because that doesn't cost anything compared to like those website costs. And also we can list organizations we've supported and off that list they can see each other's websites, talk to each other if that's something they want to do. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. So we do have the Facebook page. And if we can start collecting this information and make meaningful connections, that will be great. It will mean so much more, you know, being a cultural council in the town than just giving grants out. Right. So I just wanted to do a quick Wayland Fest follow up. I know Hailey, you went to that. So do you have any learnings for us or anything else to share about that? Yeah, I would say Wayland Fest was incredibly well attended. I think I am quite sure that they will be doing it again next year. I think I'd love to make sure that in our preparation for that, as soon as they publish the date, we can try and See where we can have a presence and who, you know, as we grow the council, who can support being there. I had coloring pages and markers and crayons for kids and they really loved that. Engaged a bit with folks from other booths, particularly the Historical Society and just Really for other people trying to give them information about what it is that we do. And I think I would very much support continuing to be there and seeing how we can staff kind of the full day of... The festival, breaking it up so that the commitment is minimal for each of us, but that we can be there since a number of town organizations were also there. And the setup was also they did put a number of the town organizations in one area together. So a very worthwhile event. To support. But I think, yeah, the biggest lesson just being where we'll try and pre-plan a bit more so we can be there for the entire time. But did make a great connection with Scarlett, who's the new director of the Wayland Historical Society. So they've hired an executive director. She's... Young, uh, had grown up in this, in Wayland and worked for the New England Historical Society, um, or There's a organization that is a collective of historical museums. And so she is their first like true employee to be there. And she's trying to find a number of ways to update their programming to be a bit more inclusive of stories from all types of people who have lived in Been through Wayland over, over time. Um, and, uh, not a, not a ton of interest in terms of folks, uh, say either signing up or wanting to join, but just, uh, uh, certainly Awareness was spread and telling more folks about just what the Cultural Council does and its purpose and giving them notice that the deadline was upcoming there for the grants. So I think that if they continue to do it the first Saturday in October, I think that will be easier for us to plan. Exactly. Well, and also just like, you know, knowing that the If the deadline continues to be October 15th for grants, then that will, I think, we'll be able to do that. So I don't know whether it was because of that or what. I definitely saw an uptick in the applications after that weekend. Oh, good. Yeah. Yeah. Before that weekend, it was like still at eight or nine. And then we suddenly went up to 37. That was awesome. Thank you. Thank you for doing that for us. And definitely let's plan this better next year. If it's going to be in the first weekend of October, let's make sure a bunch of us are available to take shifts. Yeah. And I do have some, I wonder if there might be an opportunity for displaying at the town building. Do you have, you know, these, those like acrylic? Absolutely. Yeah, to try it, especially like, I mean, early voting is about to finish up, but at least just where we can display that in the town building, also trying to recruit. Just thinking of reusing materials for Wayland Fest. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. So we do have a board in the town building, the Council Board, and we can put it up if you also have, you know, drawings done by kids. Yeah. We can put those. I have one question, guys, and I'm driving, so I'm going to hang up. Sorry to interrupt. Can you, when you're asking questions of mosaic, check if this is actually for a Purim event. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Yeah. So we can definitely hang up stuff on that. I agree. Yeah. All right. Then what else? So The initiatives, we were thinking about the rail trail banner project, the mural project, of course, now they've asked for funding, so I'm going to take that out of the discussion, but the rail trail banner project, Hailey, now that you have a connection with Scarlett, maybe ask her if that's still something that they want us to partner with? Yeah, okay. All right. That's anything else about the future projects and initiatives? Anybody have any ideas? All right, so let's think about it and come up with some ideas for next time and see if we want to do some fundraising kind of event and raise some funds or donations and such. Other business future meeting schedule, November 11th happens to be our Next time, but it is a holiday. So I have asked for, let's see, the following Wednesday, which is available. Okay. Are we able to keep the 11th? Is there, I guess my question is, is there any? No. Okay. It's a holiday. Okay. No, because town building is closed. It's a public holiday. They won't let us have. Okay. Gotcha. Good to know. At all. So here, the dates that they have is November, the meeting was moved to 11-18. Yes. Okay. So instead of having it on the 11th, we're going to have it on the 18th of November. So I just want everybody to be aware. Yeah. That's how I'll be. Okay. And the Zoom is confirmed? Confirmed. Zoom is confirmed for that. Is there potentially, yeah, I say I have the 11.3. I'm from about 6.30 on the 18th. I am not. I'm happy to adjust forward or backwards or know that that is one that I'm unable to attend. Beyond 6.30, you cannot attend, is that it? I cannot, yeah. Okay. Can we do a non-Wednesday? Like, can we do like a Tuesday or Thursday then? As long as Zoom is available, we can. Okay. If you all pick a date that works for all of you, I will ask if Zoom availability is there. November 10th? Yeah, the 10th or the 17th is that? November 10th or 17th? Okay, so let me ask for those two dates. It's a Tuesday, so will it work for Naresh and Kevin? What is the third Tuesday? I think the third Tuesday, I might have Meeting that day. Okay. So the second Tuesday will work, however, right? Yes. How about you, Naresh? Will November 10th work for you? Yeah, either one. Either Tuesday is fine. Okay. So let me ask for November 10th. Okay. I'll hold both of those just in case and then. Sounds good. Thank you, Sherry. All right. And then also we do need to have a quorum to pass. All the, especially the grants with the money, absolutely have to have quorum we can. And this is quorum for us, right? Like the people missing that are Charles and the two students, which is fine, you know, if they do come next time, it's fine. But if it's the, it's just the five of us, it's still fine. Okay, go ahead. But what I wanted to kind of reiterate is that We do have people who just show up for grant meetings. So I don't know how to handle that because obviously I cannot enforce people to attend these meetings. It is a voluntary post. But if any of you feel strongly about it and we just want to say something, we can. But I understand it's a huge time commitment, and I'm really grateful that all of you do attend and stay on and help me make these decisions. I just have one question. Like today, the ones that we eliminated, they're not fully eliminated? They are, because we have quorum and we can make those decisions. Okay, great. Thank you. Yeah, yeah. All right. Just a thought, but anyway. Do we know, have we heard from Charles recently? When I had said I need a quorum, he'd said, he responded back and said, understood. So, but I, the students, I get it. Sometimes they're free, sometimes they're not. And if they're there, we count their vote. Technically, we're not allowed to count their vote. So it's fine. And I still do because they really have bright ideas sometimes about things. So I like to keep them engaged. Take their inputs, right? Like, open about that. But as we move along, grants are not the only things we will make decisions about. So I really would like to keep all the members engaged and participating in all the decisions we make, not just about the grants. But thank you. I think we've had regular attendance from all of you, and Kevin especially has been doing this. Kevin and Naresh have been doing this with me forever, and I appreciate them showing up every time and participating fully. And I hope we keep doing this, and any new members who come on will also kind of Embrace the spirit of what the Cultural Council is and keep it going. But if you feel that we need to say something about meeting schedules and quorums, we can. I just don't want you all to feel like there are people who are not coming and only show up for votes. And I recognize that some people do. And I also recognize that it might make others feel weird. So, all right. Any thoughts, questions, concerns about that? Nope. Just got to recruit more members so it's easier to achieve quorum. Exactly. I'm going to say goodbye to everyone because I'm driving. But it was nice talking to you all. Bye. All right. We'll call the meeting to end. Anybody motion to end the meeting? I motion to end the meeting. And make a motion that we adjourn the meeting at 8.45. Perfect. Thank you, Kevin. And we have a quorum to end the meeting. Naresh, do you agree? Yes. Thank you all. Bye. Bye, Sherry. Yes. And Sherry agrees and Haley do agree. And Kevin, do you agree? And unanimously agreed, we end this meeting at 8.45 p.m. Thank you all and have a very good night. Thanks.