Last updated 12/13/2023
Unlock the front door and turn on all lights on the way in, including the outdoor front light. Bring in the tub and sound equipment.
Adjust the thermostat as soon as you get in, to give the system time to heat or cool the room.
In hot weather, on the thermostat: set COOL mode, temperature to 68.
In cool weather, on the thermostat: set HEAT mode, temperature to 68.
If the windows are closed, then in cool weather, after 1 to 3 dances, you will probably need to change it from HEAT to COOL, with temperature set to 68. If so, remember to change it back to AUTO or heat at the end.
In warmer weather when it's muggy, it may help to set the fan to ON to keep air moving. If so, change the fan back to AUTO at the end.
This list does not include the window fans, which are NOT your job. During cold weather when the windows are open for fans, it can help to close the door from the stairway landing into the dancing room, which otherwise admits a cold draft.
Leave 1 rectangular plastic table up, on the street side near the door to the stairs. If any other rectangular plastic tables are set up, fold them up and lean them on the wall up by the stage, on the right. There is 1 heavier wooden rectangular table, which is normally leaned on the wall at the back of the stage, to the right, in back of where the piano is stored. If it is out on the dance floor, I suggest putting it away. If any of the 8 round tables are set up, put them away on the rolling table rack out on the stairway landing. There should be chairs set up all along the left side wall - set them up if not. If there are chairs set up elsewhere on the dance floor, put them away.
Set up the cash box. Put in the $50 in seed (kitty) money, which should be in an envelope under the plastic tray in the cash box.
There is also an “extra” change envelope in the cash box in case you run out of $10s, $5s, or $1s, but be sure to put in as many $ as you take out, because that extra is Will Strang's money, not FSGW's.
Put out the admission price display, stick-on name tags, and markers to fill out name tags. Hopefully someone else will put out the flyers.
Get out an iPad to use for check-in and registration, and the matching numbered/colored Square reader to use for credit card payments. Instructions for using that to check-in, register, and take payment are:
Users guide for Event Check-in iPad 2023-05-10.pdf
You will need to register anyone who arrives without preregistering. And you need to check in everyone who attends. This does not include the performers (caller and musicians).
If someone needs a loan to pay, you can make a loan from your wallet if you are willing, but absolutely do NOT short the cash box.
There are typically 0 to 4 credit card payments per dance, almost always by people who register at the door. For example, one long time dancer and former ECDC member always registers at the door and pays by credit card. So, deciding not to take credit card payments should not be done without a really good reason.
Mount the plastic sign on the suggestion box, and put it on the table, at the back by the window ledge. The suggestion box key is in the cash box tray, although we don't normally lock the box, therefore don't normally use that key. It needs to be unlocked to mount/unmount the plastic sign.
Hang the dance list pad up to the left of the caller-side (left) stage steps, with a black marker. There is a hook on the pegboard wall in a good place for this (do NOT take that hook down).
DO NOT Hang the red no-parking-in-front sign at the middle or bottom of stairs, or hang any such signs out near the street. - Then town clerk Nancy Long told us to stop doing that, back in the fall of 2016.
There are no longer blue business-card sized “good for 1 free admission” cards in the cash box, but you might receive one of those from Bill Gawne or Laura Seidel for admission. If so, have then write their name and date on the back, and registrar them as “Free dance card”. Those are given out to Bill for volunteering at the Friday Night Contra Dance, by agreement between Friday Night Dancers and FSGW.
If someone arrives who seems possibly brand new to our dance (even if not new to ECD or FSGW), ask them about that, and if yes, registrar them as “First time free” at no cost.
Someone needs to move the piano away from its storage location backed up to the wall, out to where the pianist wants it. Starting in Fall 2023, the piano is now normally positioned projecting out from the middle of the back wall, so that the pianist faces either stage right (towards the caller) or stage left.
Get the sound gear out and set it up. There are setup instructions with pictures in the black sound bag.
If you have time, and no one else has done this (hint, hint), put out the current flyers, and put the 2 “helping” flyers (in plastic holders) on the stage.
This list does not include the snack and water, and those are currently on hiatus due to Covid. Those are NOT your job. Note that there is a half-page handout on doing snack, a supply of which is in a photo-mailer envelope labelled “ECD Snack Guidance” in the bin. Those can be given to snack people if snack resumes.
You can usually start dancing after 1 dance, or even at the first dance if no one needs special attention and all but 1 or 2 registrants are checked in. If someone arrives while you are dancing, make your best judgemnet whether you can leave their registration/check-in until after the dance, or drop out to do it immediately.
Wild Apricot check-in, done on the iPad (or your smart phone if arranged with he FSGW webmaster in advance), will keep track of the total number of dancers who come, so you need not do that manually.
Count the number of dancers present during the first dance after the break, including those not dancing, and record that on the door sheet as second half attendance.
Fill out the 4 performer checks before the end, except the dollar amounts. At the last dance of each month, fill out the rent check for the following month, put it in an envelope with “FSGW ECD rent for <month> <year>” written on it, and slip that under the right hand town office door downstairs.
Near the end of dancing, fill out the door sheet and do the pay computation:
Take the $50 seed back out first, ideally 9 $5's and 5 $1's, but $50 in any case, and put it in the envelope labelled for it, under the plastic tray.
Count the cash/check income and hopefully it matches the total of A1 + B1 from the door sheet.
The door sheet provides a detailed step-by-step guide to computing payments, so not repeating that here.
Remember to pay Ralph Gordon an extra $5, above the $50 to $60 performer payment, for travel.
On the door sheet, fill in everything: the date, door people, attendee counts, total income, payment computations, caller, musicians, check amounts and check numbers.
At the end, finish and hand out the performer checks.
Remind the dancers to take their water bottles, shoes, coats, sweaters, bags, etc with them, not leave them here.
Take a photo of the completed door sheet and email it to ecdc@fsgw.org
Wrap the income (cash and any checks) up in the door sheet. If no one is pre-arranged to take it to report and deposit, then put it in the checkbook bag, and someone will do that later on. Also pack the checkbook, iPad, Square reader, and clipboard with blank door sheets into the blue checkbook bag.
Take the sign off the suggestion box. Check for any suggestions inside the box. If so, remove them and give them to the ECDC for handling. That plastic box slides apart into 2 parts to open it. It is quite stiff, so be careful, but it does open. The top pulls straight up from the base. After any emptying and reassembly, it goes in the tub at the very bottom, under everything else.
Put the flyers away in their plastic box, along with the name tags, snack schedule and guidance, suggestion box sign, 2 dancer behavior advice signs, and admission price sign.
Pack the suggestion box, flyers box, cash box, and dance list pad in the tub, in that order. The dance list pad goes on top, with the cash box and then the flyers box under it. Any lost & found items can go in next, subject to space limits and if the no one else is handling finding their owner and returning them. The checkbook bag can be put in on top of all that, if it is going home with whoever is taking the tub.
Put away the sound gear in its 2 bags. Be sure to take the batteries OUT of the microphone.
Make sure the piano gets moved back where it is stored, against the back wall of the stage, keyboard facing out, far enough to the right that it will not block any of the movie screen.
On the thermostat: Set the mode to AUTO, COOL temp to 78, HEAT temp to 62, and make sure the fan is set to AUTO.
Clean any crumbs off floor, especially in front and back of kitchen counter, and in front of chairs. Even if someone sweeps the floor, there WILL be walked on crumbs somewhere.
Make sure all windows are closed & locked, including in the 3 bathrooms.
Make SURE the fire stairs door is locked. If allowed to just swing closed, it might not lock.
Make sure all lights are off, including all 3 bathrooms and the outside front door light.
Lock the front door on the way out (make SURE).