B.C.A.A.S. BOARD MEETING MINUTES
April 22, 2004
President Ron Kunkel called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. In attendance were Ron Kunkel, Linda Sensenig, Melody Gardner, Ryan Hannahoe and Barb Geigle. Barb handed out copies of the Minutes from the February 16 Board Meeting.
Treasurer’s Report: Linda reported a balance of $$$$$. She noted that Mr. Dobson had the missing check; Donna destroyed it and cashed the new one.
Old Business: A) The expenses for Dr. Lebofsky’s visit totaled $1,250. It was noted that there is no speaker for September. Linda stated that new member Glen Hacker has volunteered to do a talk. Barb suggested that Bruce Dietrich might be a good choice as well. B) There were 4 astronomy related projects at the Science Fair, so all were awarded prizes. C) Ron and Ryan discussed their trip to the Officer’s Retreat sponsored by MERAL at the Green Bank Radio Observatory. Clubs from PA, MD, VA and WV attended; Ryan gave a talk. D) The Great Outdoor Expo was terrible this year. It was held at RACC and the location was inadequate. The vendors were split between 2 buildings and it was crowded. Traffic was blocked due to the foot race, and attendance was poor. Dave Brown gave a talk, and only a few people attended – mostly club members. E) Ralph, Melody, Ron and Mike attended the organizational meeting of the PA Astronomy Co-Op. 14 clubs attended and the meeting was well organized. The purpose of the Co-Op is to facilitate communication between clubs. There will be a web site with a calendar of events. About 9 clubs have committed to join; several others needed Board approval first. The annual dues will be $25. The charter and by-laws were worked on. Each member club will have one official representative and the reps will elect officers. Temporary officers were selected until then. Ron is the secretary. F) Barb showed the Night Sky Network Kit. She and Michel will do a program on it for Member’s Night. G) It was suggested that we have no traveling speakers in January, February and March due to possible weather conflicts. Perhaps we can schedule Glen Hacker for a winter month. Ron will call Bruce Dietrich about speaking in September. He will also send out an email requesting volunteers for member’s night. H) Ron hasn’t been able to find the emails from his old computer regarding possible buyers for the Cave and Unitron telescopes. He suggested setting them up at NEAF, but we would need cash or a certified check. Ron will send the specs and photos to Barb to email out to the local clubs. I) Linda handed out a revised financial report for 2003 – we made a profit last year!
New Business: A) Earth day will be April 25 (rd May 2) from noon to 5, with setup starting at 9:30. B) There will be star parties at the Heritage Center on 5/7, 5/14 and 6/11 (rd on Saturday). C) The star party at Blue Marsh is 6/4.
D) We will have a Venus Transit Watch at the Flying Field on June 8 at sunrise. Although it is a club program, invited guests are welcome. E) Ron described the new hydrogen-alpha Personal Solar Telescope that Coronado just came out with, that is $500. We may look at purchasing one in the future. F) As Linda has run out of return address labels, it was decided that we should purchase 2 rubber stamps – one for return addresses on envelopes, etc., and one with the club’s info that we can put on brochures, etc. Linda will email Ron with the info needed so that he can get them ordered. There was also discussion about having business cards printed up that members can hand out. Melody suggested the web site, Vistaprint.com. G) Melody hasn’t heard from Linda Hitchcock at Blue Ball Elementary School yet. Linda will get in touch with Tom Boussom to see if we need to schedule a program for Hawk Mountain.
The next Board meeting will be June 24 at 6:30 pm at Barb Geigle’s house. We will be having a cook-out. Barb will supply burgers; everyone else is to bring a covered dish.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Geigle, Secretary