FOSL Meeting Report
October 2024

Meeting Details

Location: Sumas Library, Sumas WA
Date: Oct 7, 2024 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Frequency: Monthly
Treats: choux puffs
Attendees: Nancy C., Gina B., Samantha D., Tera K., Sarah E., Bret E., Lizette C., Jessica K., Lee D., Ashlyn D., Deanna L., Cayla S., Judy H., Paul F

Treasures Report
- Current balance: $2257.15
- Outstanding Deposits: $431 (carnival), $15 (merch) $
- Outstanding Disbursements:

Mounted Plant program for adults, Booktober party for kids, WCLS Open Book Festival Nov. 3rd Ongoing: Math tutoring (by Egberts)) Mondays at 3pm, Lunch Break Book club Wednesdays at 1pm, Chess Wednesdays at 1pm

Good:

didn’t lose any money
good turnout ~ 200 people
good money making opportunities
everybody loved the mermaid - some kids super excited and even dressed up as a mermaid themselves
dino dig was great - all picked over and some kids left with handfuls of dinos
blue cotton candy is the favorite - these sold out as soon as they were seen
very successful - had a girl come celebrate her birthday party here since she loves the library so much
“super cool event” - should do it again. Judy loved hearing the joy from the kids with the yells and laughter. Loved that it was at the library building rather than in the gym at the church (Bingo) or even movie in the park.
fishing event was a very successful game - ended up being a passive program. Brett and Sarah have ideas to make it even better next year
oreo in the mouth game - a pretty big hit. should do again next year.
egg relay went well - but maybe next year do an egg toss?
door counts for the library were way up for that Saturday. Highest number in a long time

Bad:

cotton candy - outside, there were too many bees and other flying creatures trying to get to the sugar. had to move inside, but this caused other issues. Deanna and Heather did great with what they had. Suggestion for next year is to have a cotton candy bagging party in advance. Bags can be made up to 3 days according to Sumas Elementary PTO members (who cotton candy machine we used).
pie throwing - 30 minutes too long of a period, should do 15 minutes of the “guest” receiver, then open it to others (ie charge $5 to pie whoever you want if the person agrees). next year have a cut out for the face of the person in a piece of plywood. maybe could make this a dual purpose thing…one side has pie throwing, the other side a backdrop for something else? maybe have better “guests” to try and hit…people from the school (bus driver Kurt Devries suggested), or other people in the community that people would know (pastor?)
relays: need to try to divide up the groups into more fair age categories
prizes: some confusion on who gets to win a ticket for pie throwing (or how many tickets get given out) or for the various games. Need to establish the prizes ahead of time.

Ugly:

cotton candy - hot temperature when inside. caused cotton candy to not work as wll. didn’t have a wooden spoon or great tool to try to get the cotton candy into the bag easily.
schedule: need to have a specific person in charge of each event/thing to do to get them started (Nancy was doing many things at once). In general, have more detailed plan of what each person is supposed to be doing (ie what are they in charge of, etc). could also use more helpers to sign up to come, even if it is just for a couple hours. Probably best to be able to make smaller commitments to the day, so people don’t need to spend the entire day there.
lots of people asking about BINGO - wanted to have that this fall. FOSL is considering having it in the spring.

Ideas for next year (besides what already listed)

corn maze
wagon ride to Mr. Honey’s Pumpkin patch. Kids can purchase their own pumpkins, then come do a pumpkin painting activity

21+ only - plan to have wine, charcuterie, chocolate fountain, carriage rides or photo opportunity of carriage, silent auction
hoping to get many of the items donated, both food and silent auction items
door fee: $15/individual, $25/couple - includes 2 drink tickets, people can purchase 1 extra per person.
partner with Ruiz Family Martial Arts to have the same night be a kids night there (so parents can drop off kids there, then come to the FOSL event).

Dec. 2nd, 6pm (traditionally 1st Monday in December) - does FOSL want to do a bake sale for this? Depends on the layout of the line, and other things

Nancy and Samantha thought this would be a good way to have kids continue to read over the Christmas holidays. If they write down the books they are reading on a paper and we turn those into a paper chain somehow. General idea, not totally fleshed out.

Members please fill out the Update Member Info to have your info added to the site and our records.
Hopes to have a quarterly newsletter - calendar of events, articles (book reviews, short stories, etc)

Dungeon of Doom Haunted Story/House - this is held in Meg K’s basement, attendees should be 10+ due to nature of story, tickets required
Friendsgiving Open House - Sat., Nov 16th 10 - 2