NORTH AURORA DAYS
COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
Monday, June 13, 2023
Call to Order
Mark Gaffino called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm.
Attendance
Mark Gaffino, Holly O’Brien, Julie Shoemaker, Lynn Miller, and Natalie Stevens
Approval of Minutes
Lynn Miller made a motion to approve the May 8, 2023, meeting minutes, which was seconded by Holly O’Brien
Motion to Approve: All in Favor
Discussion
Committee members provided individual updates on work progress since the last meeting.
Holly O’Brien updated the committee on the alcohol selection for the beer tent. She said Superior had just sent over the document to sign today, but she noted there was no red wine offered as they had requested. She also noted that in discussing with the North Aurora Mother’s Club they had chosen to raise the prices to $7/$8 to be more in line with rising costs and also to counteract the new restocking fee that is being implemented by Superior of $1 per case. She provided as an example that last year they had to return 72 cases of one selection of Bud Light and those numbers will add up. She said this year she is ordering less quantity in general although there will be more options with the acknowledgement if they sell out of one particular type then they sell out of it for the weekend.
O’Brien and Lynn Miller discussed the schedule for staffing the beer tent. Miller confirmed with Community Relations Coordinator Natalie Stevens that the local liquor license had been applied for and picked up and was now pending at the State level.
Julie Shoemaker updated the committee on the various community events. She said the fishing derby had been finalized and Stevens informed that registration had gone live on the North Aurora Days website. For softball Shoemaker confirmed they were going to go with 12” softballs, which Stevens said she would order. Stevens also said she would doublecheck with the park district to make sure the bases would be available at both diamonds. Shoemaker said she was working with Woodman’s about possibly sponsoring t-shirts for the participating teams. She said the fun run would officially be taking place at Goodwin Elementary and it was broken up by age group. The Village agreed to pay for the DJ and Shoemaker advised she would get the contract sent over.
Stevens brought up the sponsorships and mentioned there was a business in town, the cannabis dispensary, that had submitted for sponsorship. She wanted to discuss with the Committee about where they stood with an adult-type business as a sponsor. Shoemaker, O’Brien and Miller all noted that the business is legal in Illinois and said they did not have any issues with allowing it to be a sponsorship. Chairman Gaffino said he was split, but would go with the Committee’s decision. It was noted the committee did not want any items marketed to children given the nature of the business and Stevens said she would inform the sponsor contact of such.
With no further discussion, Julie Shoemaker made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:40 pm, which was seconded by Lynn Miller.
Motion to Adjourn: All in Favor
Respectfully submitted,
Natalie Stevens
