20 November
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GRADS Meeting Minutes November 9, 2023

Middlebrook Community Room 6:30 p.m.

Six people were present at the Grant Roberts Area Disability Supports meeting.

Boost for Teachers and Mentors

MaryLou Bullert presented the proposal for 2024. It is included with these minutes. The timeline includes: January 2, 2024-Announcements are sent out.

February 16, 2024-Applications are due.

February 29, 2024- Winners are announced.

Pick-a-Prize Raffle

MaryLou Bullert has organized a pick-a-prize fundraiser. She demonstrated how this fun raffle works. This local project will be started after Thanksgiving with the prize boxes and tickets at The Bank Coffee Shop in Milbank. Proceeds will be split equally between the food pantry and GRADS.

LifeQuest

Laura Maag from LifeQuest has requested funding from GRADS to pay for gas for out-of-town recreational events. The group plans to attend “The Birthday Club”, a play in Watertown, as well as to make a visit to the Redlin Art Center. Laura will submit a bill for reimbursement.

Laura Maag expressed concern that transportation costs to and from work will no longer be covered by the Department of Social Services. This greatly impacts individuals with disabilities who travel to their jobs.

NDEAM Review

Rachael Johnson shared the evaluation of the National Disability Employment Awareness Month event in Sisseton held on October 5, 2023. She requested input from the group for the upcoming debriefing meeting in December. Suggestions included expanding the event by inviting other schools to attend. Perhaps Milbank could host an event, too.

Newsletter

Diane Stewart requested information to add to the upcoming Grant County Arc News. We want to include a big THANK YOU to Arc for helping to sponsor the NDEAM event. We also thank Diane for including GRADS information in the newsletter.

Special Olympics

A request was made for for funding for motel costs for adult participants attending the next bowling tournament. We will discuss this again at the January 2024 meeting.

Financial Report

The checking account balance in First Savings and Trust in Milbank was $3,810.13 on September 29, 2023.

Next Meeting

The January 11, 2024 GRADS meeting will be via ZOOM at 6:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Rachael Johnson

GRADS Secretary/Treasurer

31 October
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GRADS Board Meeting Minutes

GRADS Meeting September 14, 2023

Middlebrook Community Room 6:30 p.m.

Four members attended the Grant Roberts Area Disability Supports meeting.

NDEAM/Sisseton

Rachael Johnson handed out invitations and posters to be distributed in the Milbank/Big Stone City area. Other invites have been sent and posters have been placed in Sisseton, Agency Village and Peever. Ads have been placed in The Grant County Review, the Sisseton Courier, the Arc Newsletter, GRADS website, Facebook, and community calendars in Milbank and Sisseton. The catered meal will be provided by Bobby Jo’s, and the venue will be Family Life Center in Sisseton. The speaker will be Daniel Card from Think 3D Solutions in Sioux Falls, SD. The date is set for Thursday, October 5 and dinner will be served at 6:00 with the program to follow.

ADA Celebration Review

Rachael read the ADA review. One suggestion was to have more fun Bingo prizes. We send a special thanks to Char’s brother and grandson for providing and leading the Bingo game. Thrivent provided funds for the food and Bingo prizes.

Financial Report

Rachael Johnson reported that we received $267.95 from the benefit rummage sale in July.

Next Meeting

The next GRADS meeting will be on Thursday, November 9, 2023 at the Middlebrook Community Room, 902 E. Milbank Avenue, Milbank at 6:30 p.m. We will discuss Boost for Teachers for January of 2024.

Respectfully submitted,

Rachael Johnson

GRADS Secretary/Treasurer

20 July
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GRADS Meeting Minutes July 15, 2023

Middlebrook Community Room 11:30 a.m.

Three people were present for the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) celebration planning session. Rachael has received a Thrivent Action Team grant to pay for Subway sandwiches and some supplies. She will check with Subway on prices and will order the sandwiches before our event. Rachael, Char, MaryLou, & Diane S. will bring bars. Char will make coffee and lemonade. She has already purchased chips. We will all bring Bingo prizes and Char will get the Bingo game.We will use tablecloths on dessert and regestration tables. Vases with flowers will be on guest tables.Tentatively our speakers will be Char Athey (GRADS), Laura Maag (LifeQuest), Diane Stewart (Grant County Arc), Rachael Johnson (Voc Rehab), Amanda Peterson or Lana Smith (ILC) and Mayor Rafety (city of Milbank). MaryLou Bullert will be our MC. Rachael will put news stories in the Sisseton Courier, The Grant County Review and The Valley Shopper. She will ask Cheryl P. to place information prominenly on the GRADS website. Char will make and distribute posters. Rachael will send an email to GRADS as a reminder of this event. Katrina has sent letters out and has RSVPs from 11. We will need to be at the Milbank Visitor Center before 5:00 p.m. on July 31 to set up. We will serve food from 6-6:30, have speakers, and play Bin

25 April
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GRADS Annual Meeting April 11, 2023

Middlebrook Community Room 6:30 p.m.

 

The annual meeting of Grant Roberts Area Disability Supports was called to order by President Charlotte Athey.

 

An election of officers was held. Laura Maag made a motion to elect the same slate of officers. Matthew Athey seconded the motion. All voted in favor via voice vote with none opposed. The officers are: Charlotte Athey-president, Matthew Athey-vice president, Rachael Johnson-secretary/treasurer.

 

The election for Board of Directors was held. Rachael Johnson nominated Katrina Koeppe for the 3 year term. Laura Maag seconded the motion. All were in favor via voice vote with none opposed. The directors are: Brenda Teske (1 yr.), MaryLou Bullert (2 yr.), Katrina Koeppe (3 yr.).

 

Rachael Johnson will file the annual report with the South Dakota Secretary of State. She will pay the $10. fee which will be reimbursed by GRADS.

 

The treasurer’s report was given by Rachael Johnson. The GRADS checking account balance in First Bank and Trust in Milbank was $3,716.52 as of March 31, 2023.

 

Rachael Johnson made a motion to adjourn the annual meeting. Charlotte Athey seconded the motion. All voted in favor. The meeting was adjourned.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Rachael Johnson

Attendance: Charlotte Athey, Matthew Athey, Laura Maag, Katrina Koeppe, Rachael Johnson

25 April
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GRADS Meeting April 11, 2023

Middlebrook Community Room 6:30 p.m.

Five people attended the Grant Roberts Area Disability Supports meeting. Please note that our meeting minutes, scheduled events and much more will be on the website www.gradisabilitysupports.org.

NDEAM/Sisseton

The National Disability Employment Awareness Month event will be on Thursday, October 5, 2023 at the Family Life Center, 404 West Hickory Street, Sisseton. Dinner will be served at 6:00 p.m. followed by a guest speaker and the recognition of local employers/employees. GRADS will contribute $125. toward expenses

ADA Celebration

The Americans with Disabilities Act Celebration will tentatively be held on Monday, July 31, 2023 at the Milbank Community Room/Visitors Center. Subs, chips, bars and beverage will be served starting at 6:00 p.m. Several short presentations will be given followed by BINGO. Katrina Koeppe will send out invitations (mid June?) and will follow up closer to the event. Charlotte Athey will reserve the room, get the BINGO game, purchase paper products, chips and bottled water. Laura Maag may have a modified BINGO game to use. Rachael Johnson will get the subs from Subway and arrange for members to bring bars/cookies. Katrina wil find out the names of the new Independent Living Choices staff and invite them to speak at the event. We will all gather BINGO prizes. We will discuss advertising at our next meeting.

Rummage Sale

We will have a rummage sale on Saturday, July 15 with set up on Friday, July 14 after 5:00 p.m. Charlotte Athey has reserved the Middlebrook Community Room via text. We will discuss advertising and other details at our meeting on June 8.

Projects

Laura Maag, Life Quest, requests funding for field trip mileage. Some ideas she mentioned were trips to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant in DeSmet, Ft. Sisseton events, or a trip to Brookings. She will contact us regarding specific needs. Another idea she presented was for GRADS to purchase state park year passes for 2 vehicles at a cost of $54.

Katrina Koeppe suggested that the 18-21 program may need some funds. We will refer this issue to MaryLou Bullert.

Financial Report

The checking account balance as of March 31, 2023 was $3,716.52. in the First Bank and Trust in Milbank. This includes $1,475.from the Lucky Leprechaun Secret Treasure Box raffle.

Change in Meeting Day

Laura Maag made a motion to move the GRADS meeting day to the second Thursday of the month. Katrina Koeppe seconded it. All voted in favor of the change via voice vote with none opposed. The location and time will remain the same.

Next Meeting

The next GRADS meeting will be on Thursday, June 8, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. at the Middlebrook Community Room, 902 East Milbank Avenue, Milbank. We will finalize plans for the rummage sale and the ADA Celebration.

Respectfully submitted,

Rachael Johnson

12 February
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GRADS Meeting Feb. 7, 2023

Middlebrook Community Room 5:30 p.m.

 

This brief meeting focused on the Lucky Leprechaun raffle and the Boost for Teachers grants.

Lucky Leprechaun Raffle

MaryLou Bullert shared pictures of donated items. Rachael Johnson brought additional items from Doubletree Gallery, 3 Bean Coffee, Teal’s Market and garden/bird stuff. MaryLou had a printout which listed all the gift basket contents. The three baskets have a total value of over $1,000. Rachael and MaryLou will send thank you notes to the contributors. Raffle tickets were distributed. The raffle officially starts today. If anyone wishes to help sell raffle tickets please reply to this message and we will mail some to you.

 

Boost for Teachers

We reviewed applications. It was decided to award four $100. grants for Boost for Teachers to be presented by February 17. The recipients are May Amodia from Sisseton (coffee shop project), Karen Siriban from Sisseton (Cricut project), Michele Benike from Milbank (transition program/ job readiness), and Abbey Trapp from Milbank (support for Special Olympics Track and Field event hosted by Milbank). Congratulations to these teachers and their students. Rachael Johnson, GRADS Secretary/Treasurer, issued the checks.

 

Website

A check for $100. will be sent to Cheryl Pocklington for her work with the GRADS website.

 

Meeting Schedule

We will meet at the end of the raffle for the drawing and distribution of baskets on Wednesday, March 15, 2023 at the Bullert home at tentatively 5:30p.m.

The GRADS annual meeting and election will be on Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. at the Middlebrook Community Room, 902 East Milbank Avenue, Milbank.

25 January
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GRADS Meeting January 11, 2022

Via ZOOM 5:30 p.m.

Five people joined the Grant Roberts Area Disability Supports meeting via ZOOM.

Meeting Times

We will post meeting times on the website and calendar. Rachael will, as always, send the information to our email distribution list. She will send a separate email to Cheryl Pocklington with specific information to be posted.

NDEAM/Sisseton

GRADS will help sponsor this event by donating $100 toward printing, postage, and purchase of certificate covers. The SPED director’s office in Sisseton will design the invitation and poster. Cindy Kirschnan will design and print the certificates. Rachael Johnson will submit the funding application.

Farm Show Booth

We won’t have one this year. We aren’t aware of any transition fairs to attend.

Fundraisers

MaryLou Bullert will do the Lucky Leprechaun fundraiser this year. She will do it through the schools She will not put an ad in the Grant County Review. Rachael Johnson will check with Sisseton’s SPED director to see if tickets can be sold at our schools.

We’re planning a rummage sale on June 11 (or June 18). Char Athey will check with Middlebrook Community Room for availability on June 10 at 5:00 for set up & for June 11.

Website Usage

Cheryl Pocklington sent a chart that shows website usage. The most used months were Feb./Mar. 32

& 37 and Oct./Nov. 30 & 31 respectively. It was proposed that having feature stories could increase usage. Charlotte Athey will contact Cheryl Pocklington to set up a text box for us to use in posting future stories. Ideas for stories include having Katrina Koeppe from Voc Rehab and Janet Guest from Independent Living Choices write about their programs.

We could also include timely topics such as tax information.

Projects

Banner: Laura Maag will get a high resolution logo to Sean Athey who will then make a banner.

Business Cards: Rachael Johnson suggested having GRADS business cards. She will bring a sample to the March meeting.

Financial Report

The balance in the First Bank & Trust/Milbank checking account was $1,962.60 as of 11/30/2021. Char has some money from jar sales to deposit.

Upcoming Meeting

The next GRADS meeting will be on Tuesday, April 12 at the Middlebrook Community Room, 902 E. Milbank Ave, Milbank.at the usual time of 6:30 p.m.

12 November
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GRADS Meeting                                                                                        November 9, 2021

Midlebrook Community Room                                                                   6:30 p.m.

Six people attended the Grant Roberts Area Disability Supports meeting. Please note that our meeting minutes, scheduled events, and much more will be on the website: www.gradisabilitysupports.org.

Fundraiser

We decorated jars for the Gift in a Jar fundraiser. The 3 kinds are oatmeal chocolate chip bread, chocolate chip cookies, and bean soup. Thanks to Cheryl Sieverson for providing colorful material squares. There will be a bake sale and Gift in a Jar sale on Saturday, November 20 from 9-2 at the Middlebrook Community Room, 902 Milbank Avenue in Milbank. We encourage parents and people with disabilities to help sell or to provide baked goods. Rachael Johnson, Matthew and Charlotte Athey and MaryLou Bullert will work. Jars will sell for $8 each or 2 for $15. Bake sale items will be priced: cookies-$5/dozen or $3/half dozen; quick breads- $3/large loaf or $2.50/small loaf; peanut brittle $5. Please bring the marked items on Saturday morning. We will also serve bean soup for a free will offering. Rachael will bring napkins, spoons, & crackers. She will also bring change. Char will bring bowls and a cash box. MaryLou will make the soup and bring gloves and masks. Lara will make posters and a sign for the soup. Lara will send a poster to Cheryl to include on the website.

Christmas Display

LifeQuest and GRADS would like to assemble a holiday lighted display at Hartford Beach. Lara Maag has large inflatables, lots of lights and a pup tent to use. Lara will contact the park manager regarding this. Char Athey will ask Sean  Athey about making a sign for the display and perhaps making a generic one for GRADS to use at our other events.

NDEAM/Sisseton

Rachael Johnson reported on a successful event on October 7 with approx. 40 people in attenance. A big thank you is extended to GRADS and Grant County Arc for helping to sponsor this event. Rachael inquired if Sean Athey would make invitations and a poster for next year’s event. Char Athey will check on this.

Financial Report

The balance in First Bank and Trust checking account in Milbank was $1,718.58 as of 10/29/21.

Next Meeting

The next GRADS meeting will be on Tuesday, January 11 at 7:00 p.m. via ZOOM. Brenda Teske will arrange this. On the agenda will be having a booth at the farm show or a transition fair, quilt project, and NDEAM budget.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:00.

Respectfully submitted,

Rachael Johnson, Secretary

21 June
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GRADS Meeting June 8, 2021
Middlebrook Community Room 6:30 p.m.

Seven people attended the Grant Roberts Area Disability Supports meeting. Attention: Our meeting minutes, events, and much more will be on the website, www.gradisabilitysupports.org.

ADA/ Americans with Disabilities Act Celebration
The ADA celebration will be at the picnic shelter (by the bathrooms) at Farley Park on Monday, July 26, 2021. Individually wrapped sandwiches from Subway, chips, Little Debbie snacks, and bottled water will be served starting at 6:00 p.m. Charlotte Athey will purchase the food, a case of water, and hand sanitizer and bring ice in a cooler. Rachael Johnson will also bring water.
Advertising will include ads in Tidbits, The Valley Shopper, The Grant County Review and possibly the Sisseton Courier. Rachael will submit ads prior to July 16. Laura Maag will post the event on the weekly LifeQuest calendar and Cheryl Pocklington will put it on the website. Sean Athey and Cheryl will make a poster to be displayed at Runnings, the library, the grocery stores, the banks, the mall, Hardee’s, Casey’s, Pizza Hut, Triple Dip Lodge, Unity Square, and Middlebrook Community Room. Rachael will place some posters in Sisseton. Katrina Koeppe will send out letters and make phone calls.
Char Athey and Laura Maag will bring some outdoor games: washer toss, ladder ball, bean bags, and lawn dice. Laura will do a fish craft. She will get the supplies for it. We will need to bring some scissors. Other ideas are to have sidewalk chalk for hop scotch and have a spoon relay.
MaryLou Bullert has items for door prizes. Rachael Johnson has the guestbook.
A short program will follow the meal before the games begin. Katrina Koeppe will give a short presentation on ADA. Janet Guest will briefly share about Independent Living Choices. Char Athey will speak about GRADS. If other agency representatives are present, they will be introduced and can tell about their programs.

NDEAM Event
Rachael Johnson gave an update on the National Disability Employment Awareness Month dinner event in Sisseton. It will be on Thursday, October 7, 2021 at the Family Life Center, 404 West Hickory Street with a box dinner served at 6:00 p.m. The guest speaker, Marcelle Ciampi M Ed., will speak at approx. 6:45. A recognition of local employers/employees will end the evening.

Projects
Laura Maag will submit pictures of LifeQuest activities to be used on the website quarterly.
Making blankets will be a fall project.

Website
There was a question on blog vs. email communication. There was also a concern about accessing calendar information. Cheryl Pocklington addressed those issues.

Next Meeting
The next GRADS meeting will be on September 14, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. at the Middlebrook Community Room, 902 Milbank Aveuue, Milbank.

Respectfully submitted,
Rachael Johnson, Secretary