England Tour 2009
How can I help “get the flock off the rock?!
(our fundraiser!)”

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Yes, it's true!  The Black Sheep Morris Dancers will be touring England in 2009.  Thanks to a generous donation from our banjo-playin' Jim, we are now hard at work planning and fundraising.  Long have we talked of taking our Canadian version of "border style Morris" back to it's roots!

The 2009 tour will begin with the premiere Morris event, the Upton Folk Festival, May 1st, 2009!

Our next England Tour meeting, Dec. 27th, 7:30 pm at ?

ITINERARY:
(Revised Feb. 26, 2009)

• Wednesday, April 29          Leave Bowen on 12:30 ferry – Flight out of Vancouver at 5:30

• Thursday, April 30              Arrive London, drive to Hillview our accommodations

• Friday, May 1                    Beginning of Upton Festival – No Morris schedule but concerts, ceilidhs, and lots of pub-crawl type events

• Saturday, May 2                 Dance, watch other sides dance, generally bask in the excitement that

                                          is Morris dancing!! More workshops, ceilidhs, and much pub stuff!!!!

• Sunday, May 3                   More Dance, The Morris Parade, more pub stuff, ceilidhs….

• Monday, May 4                 Day Trip – First stop Avebury Standing Stones and then we will spend a few hours in  Bath

• Tuesday, May 5                 Day Trip - Ludlow Castle then to Kidderminster to catch the Severn Valley Steam Train Luke and his classic coach will then pickus up at the end of the line in Bridgenorth. We will then go a short distance north to Ironbridge Gorge. We then hope to meet Brian Jones’ old side the Shropshire Bedlams and Martha Rhodeb’s Tuppenny Dish. (Bedlams to confirm)

• Wednesday, May 6            Sheep Scatter. Hopefully meeting with Jay and Linda at the Fleet Inn in the evening (Jay to confirm)

• Thursday, May 7                Day Trip – Tour the Cotswolds we may take in Buford, Lower Slaughter, Bourton on the Water, and maybe Stow on the Wold. We will tour the Hook Norton Brewery and then head over to Cookley to meet up with     Foxs  on their practice night

• Friday, May 8                    Leave Upton for Uppergate Farms on to     Black Sheep Brewery for a tour, dinner and dancing with other sides (maybe even another Black Sheep side) – Jay is arranging this evening for us

• Saturday, May 9                 Holmfirth Festival of Folk - Morris, concerts, workshops etc

• Sunday, May 10                 more Morris, concerts, ceilidhs etc

• Monday, May 11               Tired Sheep

• Tuesday, May 12               Leave Uppergate at about 2 am. Fly out of Manchester at 6:30 am Arrive Vancouver 12:30pm
   



• Upton:        Booked: 10 dancers, 2 musicians, 1 spousal type – 13 total

                  Not booked, but coming: 1 dancer, 1 dancer/musician – 2 total

Saying no but still hopeful they will change their mind: 1 foreman, 1 musician, 1 dancer – 3 total

Grand total of 18 if everyone can come (16 beds at Hillview, can add as nec)

• Holmfirth:   Booked: 8 dancers, 2 musicians – 10 total

                  Not booked, but coming: 1 dancer, 1 dancer/musician – 2 total

Saying no but still hopeful they will change their mind: 1 foreman, 1 musician, 1 dancer – 3 total

• Grand total of 15 if everyone can come (17 beds at Uppergate, room for Luke)
   

• The link to Sheep Tour 09 Map

 Accommodations:

• Hillview Near Upton (all the sheep)

• Uppergate Farms Near Holmfirth (17 sheep)

 Some sites of Morris sides we will encounter on our travels

Upton:   Carreg Las        Foxs       Wayzgoose  

Holmfirth:  Boggarts Breakfast       Rhubarb Tarts  

FROM OUR MEETINGS:

Present: Jim, Tess, Stuart, Dwayne, Martin, Graham, Barry

Day Trip Presentation

 See “Day Trip Handout” for more info and links – emailed  a few days ago

 Each day trip will cost £300 in Luke’s Classic Coach. The other quote we received for similar days was £1200. The present sheep decided to say yes to all the day trips as well as Luke’s quote of £575 for the trip from Hillview to Uppergate, on to Black Sheep Brewery and back to Uppergate.

 Banking

As the Bank is getting low – there is not enough in the bank to pay for the ground transportation (£280 from Heathrow + (3 x £300) for Day trips + £575 to Holmfirth = £1755 – at the moment our dollar is pretty good against the pound but the rule of thumb has been about 2 – 1 so gueestimating: £1755 = $3510. It was suggested that all sheep able to pay their own accommodation and transport do so now so that we have the funds to cover the ground transport. (Tess to do break down for meeting minutes email. See below)

It was also decided that all sheep that can put in $50 now to cover breakfasts – as we have kitchens it will be fairly easy to make sure that we all get at least 1 good meal per day - no matter how busy and chaotic it may get during the day. Some of us will want to make a more meals ourselves (meals out there are generally expensive and veggies are almost non existent). We can work that out a little closer to the date of departure. We are just looking to ensure 1 easy meal a day to get us going.

The breakdown of how I came to these numbers is also attached as and excel file named “sheep bedding” (thank you Jim)

 T-Shirts (again)

Dwayne will scope out silk screening places to produce some t-shirts in Geralds design tweeked by Bob. Every one agrees that it is beautiful piece of artwork, but wait……there was much more discussion (again) some sheep thought we needed something much simpler like a logo (stop me if you have heard all this before). Some sheep thought that this had all been discussed – the time for ideas past some time ago, artwork for your ideas was asked for and no one produced any logotype designs. It was decided (again) at the next meeting there would be more designs ready, and there will be yet another vote – if you can imagine. Baaa…..

 Fundraising

Barry is the lead fundraiser for the March 12 Doc’s event. He had much to report and will send out an email to all sheep regarding how this event is shaping up and what he still needs.

 February 13 – “Happily Never After” event As I am writing this after the event took place I can happily announce that the event netted us $500 from ticket sales and $66 from the sheepy banks. Woo Hoo.

 BagMan

As BagMan, Barry also brought up the subject of yearly dues ($30) – With the added expense of the trip – should the dues still be paid – it was decided that they are two completely separate entities and that yes – dues should still be paid. There was also much discussion regarding the Legion. Some of us are members and there is usually a push for all sheep to become members – some are resistant and would rather pay a couple bucks each practice for use of the space. Maybe we should organize a flat rate for the year. Nothing was resolved, but there was lots of discussion.

 Dancing

Dancing was discussed – which dances to do, practices, new dances, weaker dancers…. there was much good discussion about it all. Foreman Graham feels practices are going really well especially since touching on more dances every week. Some of the dances that we haven’t done in a long time are looking really good.  BUT he gets really pissed off when people don’t show up on time. 7:15 !!!!! This gives him time to teach the newbies – with the help of the rest of the flock, and then lots of time for full-on practice for the seasoned sheep. It is one thing to be late sometimes, but when most of the flock show up at 7:40ish and chat until 7:50ish then there is a 20 minute break at 8:15 – not a lot of time for practice is left. (He is not alone in this). Grahams words of wisdom were something to the effect of: yes the England trip is important but not to the exclusion of the future of the Black Sheep. We still need to spend time focusing on newbies, new dances and all things Sheepish.

 That is about it – feel free to correct and/or add things as required

 Tess Taylor

Arctic Sheep

Present: Jim, Tess, Stuart, Dwayne, Martin, Brenda, Ross

Insurance – DONE ! ! ! !

Bowen Island Black Sheep have joined Open Morris, an umbrella organization open to all Morris sides. Open Morris provides us with 10 million pounds liability insurance.

Bank: After paying Hillview for the owing balance (reduced by £600 since last meeting) we have $2001.19 in the bank. We still have £130 to pay for the last night at Uppergate Farms, as well as any ground transportation deposits.

Good to Know – At Hillview we will need to have our own towels, none are supplied.

Ground Transportation:

o         would cost quite a bit – minimum £700 to rent a  7-seater for April 30 to May 12, London to Manchester. We would need 3 for the first portion of the trip and 2 for the Holmfirth section. Other concerns are who can drive and who would drive and not drink.

o         We seem to be leaning towards hiring a coach and driver for the primary routes and local bus and taxi while at the festival.

o         Tess is contacting Luke to work out details of primary routes, and some “optional” days that would include meeting with Foxs and meeting with Brian Jones and the Shropsire Bedlams. This would still leave us a couple days of “sheep scatter”

o         There is no car rental in Teweksbury Worcester is the closest location (only 1/2 hour away). So those desperate for the convenience of renting a car can easily do so.

o         No decisions made, but we are getting closer to agreeing J

Fundraising:

                Feb 15 Winterfest: this conflicts with a concert at Black Sheep Manor, but it is a pretty easy $250. Decision at Wednesday Practice is that Squire will leave concert for a quick dance and process down the cove, many sheep will be there to dance and carry on, Squire will then leave and go back to concert. Any chance Brian Jones could come out that night as back up?

                Feb 13 Tir Na Nog Event. We now know what is expected of us. We will do a few dances outside before the performance, we will sit in the balcony above the stage and make smart remarks at the performers, Bob will play something, Martin will tell a story and Graham will MC.

                March 12 doc’s Event. Barry is primary organizer but has just come back from vacation and is not available tonight. Date has been confirmed with Basia. Someone (sorry didn’t write it down and don’t remember who) knows a ceilidhs band that is available and would like to play – lots of interest from most sheep at the meeting about this. Lots of ideas flying around for silent auction: Ross will make something, Martin will put in something kayaking related, Dwayne may be able to get a laptop. There should be 50/50 draw. Update after Wednesday Practice: committee formed – Barry, Dwayne, Leah and someone else (sorry, forgot who, please speak up and let us know) Stuart brought up the lack of “Charitable Donation” tax benifit of any donations making it harder to get them. Dwayne will look into getting under someone else’s (arts council?) umbrella to be able to give out receipts.

                T-shirts: Although at last meeting it was decided to make decisions on this at this meeting, the primary t-shirt artists were not at this meeting. Dwayne wants to just get a couple made and said he will use a design by Gerlad, tweeked by Squire to have a shirt made (and will likely put Peter’s work cloud on the back – at least for his own shirt as there was some opposition to the two sided shirt) These designs (Gerald’s and the word cloud) seem most popular for two separate shirts. There was some discussion of putting “sponsor’s” names in the word cloud (some sheep liked this fine, some really didn’t). I missed this (sorry, not paying attention) but apparently it was agreed that Dwayne would get 40 T-shirts printed.

Advertising the trip: We should have an article written up in the Undercurrent about the trip mentioning the 2 fundraising events (dates and general idea, but not highly detailed) to be followed by advertising for the fundraising events, as we get closer to each date. Although Graham was not at the meeting, he was elected to write said article.

That is about it – feel free to correct and/or add things as required

Tess Taylor

Arctic Sheep

Present: Jim, Tess, Stuart, Squire Bob, Graham, Dwayne, Ross, Martin, Leah, Gerald, Brenda

How many sheep are going to England?????

Upton:        Booked: 10 dancers, 2 musicians, 1 spousal type – 13 total

                  Not booked, but coming: 1 dancer, 1 dancer/musician – 2 total

Saying no but still hopeful they will change their mind: 1 foreman, 1 musician, 1 dancer – 3 total

Grand total of 18 if everyone can come

Holmfirth:   Booked: 8 dancers, 2 musicians – 10 total

                  Not booked, but coming: 1 dancer, 1 dancer/musician – 2 total

Saying no but still hopeful they will change their mind: 1 foreman, 1 musician, 1 dancer – 3 total

Grand total of 15 if everyone can come

Hillview (Tewkesbury accommodations) discussion

• Deposit has been paid; amount owing will break the bank.
• Original booking was for 20 Sheep, Jim will call and reduce to 15 (due to the way the cabins are set up, it will be 16 we pay for)
• Do we need to get able sheep to put more money in the bank for deposits on rental cars or coach and driver etc ? (next meeting)

Ground Transportation

• Mini bus and driver (using Luke and other companies) discussed for the main routes with local transportation (bus and taxi) being used in the area of festivals – affordable, but many sheep want more ease of transport from accommodations to both festival sites and local attractions (pubs etc)
• Rental cars do not need a special license unless they seat >9
• High price of parking a concern
• Alcohol, sheep and cars don’t mix – out of present sheep; only Leah can drive and not drink – should we look into a regular taxi pick up for the festival nights??
• How many sheep can drive in England??????? Crazy drivers there, really.
• Tess will research: rental cars (2 x 8 seat vans or 3 cars) from Heathrow to Manchester, parking in Upton and Holmfirth, set time taxi pickups on festival nights

Insurance

• Martin has discussed insurance with VMM we can be covered under their policy, if we like, but only while dancing in Canada. When they have gone to the UK they are covered under their “Morris Ring” connection, which we cannot (and would not want to) be a part of.
• It would probably be easiest if we got our own policy for dancing in Canada, and add a one-time “England” rider on it
• Bowen Insurance needs to know who underwrites the policy for VMM – Martin will find out and call her.
• Squire Bob will contact June from Tiddly Cove to ask how they were insured when they went to England.
• Perhaps the Sheep could become members of the Chamber of Commerce and obtain insurance through them – Martin will look into this.

Fund Raising

• Feb 13 - Tir-Na-Nog  Coffee House kind of event. They plan on 60 – 75 people, $15/head ($900 – 1125 split 50/50 we can also have donation collection pots out as well) We will dance and take the door etc. Bake Sale????
• Doc’s event – Date set at Thursday, March 12 – Tell your friends – Barry is the organizer for this event. Dwayne is starting to collect for the Silent Auction – this does not mean that other sheep should not too.
• T-shirts to be discussed at next meeting

That is all I can think of – add anything I might have missed

Next meeting should be Jan 27^th (as per last years schedule) maybe Squire Bob and Jim should confirm this.

Non-Sheep Tour things discussed: Feb 15 House Concert at Black Sheep Manor, Folk Life Festival in need of financial assistance – should the Sheep send a cheque?

Tess Taylor

Arctic Sheep

• Group booking is no longer available to us as more sheep than originally planned are only traveling 1 way with the sheep leaving us without the numbers for a group.  Sheep will have to book their own flights.
• Priorities Discussed:

1 – sheep booking flights

2 – everything else – fund raising, t-shirts, dancing……

• Dancing and practices were discussed – as we have had a recent influx of new sheep the practices of late have concentrated on teaching new sheep as opposed to the old sheep practicing. As the sheep want to put their best hoof forward in England an idea was put forward of devoting the first have of practice to teaching new sheep dances and the second half on practice, practice, practice for the sheep that are going. Ideas of declaring which sheep to dance which dance etc was also touched on and will have to be discussed further with more sheep Graham and more of the sheep in general.
• Budget and bank account were brought up – Uppergate Farms (Holfirth accommodations) have received the cheque for the full amount for 17 people for 3 nights (1673.72) Hillview has yet to receive the cheque that was mailed at the same time. We have yet to receive deposit (“commitment”) cheques from some sheep....if you haven't yet could you please give a cheque or cash to Jim at the next practice.
• T-shirt designs from Gerald, Bob M, and Tess were brought forward. Too many great designs to chose from, not enough sheep to vote, Gerald wants to combine a Tess idea with one of his and bring a visual next meeting. Everysheep liked something – what to do?????

• From the Itinerary Handout:
• Option “A” (see itinerary handout) pretty much tossed as “stuffy” and un-sheepish
• Option “D” (Martin) proposed – stay at Hillview for the full 10 days dance with local sides as available
• People unable to commit to the full 10 days was discussed – as there will be more than enough sheep to play and dance for the full 10 days, some shorter commitments should not be a problem
• Fundraising options discussed:
  • Many sheep are able to pay their own way
  • Valentines day event - nixed
  • Pub night sometime in February – agreed – Barry to head the event
  • Recycling – agreed should it become available to us – almost all the sheep were able to commit to some volunteer time
  • T-Shirts – agreed – committee needed? Anyone with ideas or ready artwork should bring it to the next meeting. T-Shirts can also be used for gifts on the tour
  • Hat Passing – nixed
  • Weddings, Parties, Anything – nixed
• The Classic Coach looks amazing! – Squire Bob will get pricing etc.
• Rough Budget worked out as $2250 - $3400 per sheep
• Tour Meals
  • We will take full advantage of the self-catering cabins and likely have breakfast at the accommodations and prepare boxed lunches to be the bulk of our daytime meals. Most nights we will be out and about, thusly eating on the road. Proposal to pool “food” monies for both groceries and group meals out. Sheep will be individually responsible for any other meals
  • Proposal to have sheep work in pairs to prepare 2 meals each 
  • Sheep individually responsible for alcohol
• Update: It is not official, but as per the mood at the pub following last nights practice it looks like the “Upton and Holmfirth” combo is way ahead of all other options.
• I have heard back from the largest self-catering cabins in Holmfirth they have accommodations available for 17 for the 7, 8, 9th and I have asked them for the 10th as it seems likely that we will not leave until Monday. Check them out   http://www.uppergatefarm.co.uk/properties.html  (the 3 night price is 905 pounds or about 55 per sheep)

• Tentative trip dates:
    - Depart Vancouver Wednesday April 29th, YVR
    - Arrive England Thursday April 30th, settle in to accommodations
    - Upton Festival Friday May 1st to Sunday May 3rd!
    - Monday 4th - Thursday 7th, dance out various pubs & locales with local hosting Morris sides
    - Friday 8th &/or Saturday 9th, special events TBA
    - Depart England, Sunday May 10th
    - Arrive Vancouver, Monday May 11th, back to reality!
• Possible accommodations: Hillview Lakes Cabins in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, just 10 mins from Upton.
• Bank account opened by Jim and Barry
• Possible bus and dedicated driver for ground transport throughout our stay
• Possible/suggested fundraising events for the Sheep:
  - Valentines dance (replacing the old "Endangered Species" event)
  - BIRD (not available)
  - "Sheep for Hire" for weddings, barmitzvas, and funerals?
  - T-shirts for sale min. $20 donation...    etc.
• Discussed a minimum $100 monetary commitment from all "committed" sheep by end of October
  - further discussion of minimum committment, proposed commitment across 2 weekends (May 1 - 10)
  - further proposed that any sheep paying "full cost" can opt for a lesser committment (possibly 5 days?)
• Committees formed:
  - Accommodations...        Jim, Sarah, Tess
  - Transportation, ground...   Jim
  - transportation, air...       Bob D., Jim
  - Budget/Finance...       Barry, Dwayne, Tess
  - further itinerary...       Tess, Sarah, Bob D, Brian J
  - fundraising/marketing...    Dwayne, Peter, Ross
  - promo events & materials...    Barry, Brenda
• Deferred for further clarification:
  - "Roll call" & clearly define commitment deadlines, participation dates, and $$$ (Finance committee?)