B.C.A.A.S. BOARD MEETING MINUTES
January 4, 2007
A Board Meeting was held on January 4, 2007 at Barb Geigle’s home at 7:00 pm. Dave Brown, Ron Kunkel, Paul Becker, Linda Sensenig, Bret Cadmus, Gene Salvatore, Melody Gardner, Mike Bashore and Barb Geigle attended.
Linda noted that it costs $2.00 to mail the Astronomy calendars to members who don’t come to a meeting to pick it up. It was decided that when calendars are ordered, if a member wants one mailed, they will have to pay $2.00 additional at the time the order is placed, otherwise, they must come to a meeting to get it. Linda then reviewed a financial statement for 2006 that she put together. However, a line item did not get transferred to her final report, so she will correct it and email it to the Board.
There was discussion on new meeting sites. New member Rosemary Sisco had checked out the new Exeter Library. It is a large new building. They are in the process of putting together rules for group meetings, which should be available soon. Dave is going to go next week to check it out in person. Some items, such as can we have refreshments there, what resources are available, etc. need to be clarified. However, it is felt that they would be very supportive of the club. The Flame Room is about 40’ x 25’ and has tables and chairs available and a screen. We can have refreshments as long as we clean up. Linda announced that the Wyomissing Library has no parking lot and charges $25 per meeting for outside groups, or $275 per year.
The Board feels that the club needs an amplification system for speakers or public star parties. Bret is going to check at work to see if he can get some wireless outdoor speakers. We would have to purchase a cordless microphone system, but they are fairly inexpensive.
The public star party schedule for the year was discussed. The Heritage Center needs dates soon so they can put them in their calendar of events booklet. We have tentatively set dates as follows: May 18/19 for the Heritage Center, and September 14/15 for Kaercher Creek. We will also schedule a Lunar Eclipse Watch at the Heritage Center for March 3, with a talk only if weather is cloudy. Ron will contact Kathy Wegener at the Heritage Center. Dave will contact Nolde Forest to set up a date for them, and Melody will contact Blue Marsh Lake. They had expressed interest last year in having both day and night programs.
We would like to set up a system for having impromptu club star watches. We will have a sign-up list for those who would be interested in being emailed or called.
Ryan Hannahoe is our speaker for January, and Lester Baker is our February speaker on telescope making.
Mike suggested we give 2 $50 cash prizes for the science fair this year, which is March 20 with the awards on March 21. He can do the judging on the 20th, but is unavailable on the 21st. Dave can take care of the awards.
Bret had suggested putting some of our money into a CD to earn money. Linda said our earnings on the savings account are very little. Dave will contact Sovereign Bank about a CD.
Paul stated that Mrs. Babel has been unable to locate the counterweight bar for the telescope that she donated to the club. Gene noted that is son-in-law works in a machine shop and could make one if he has the specifications. The scope is a Celestron 11” CI700 model. Barb will do some research on it.
Melody noted that 2008 will be our 35th anniversary and if we want to do something we will have to start thinking about it soon.
We are planning to have a Messier Marathon at the Flying Field on March 16 or 17.
Respectfully submitted
Barbara Geigle, Secretary