Minutes of Board Meeting, 5th December 2012

The Board of Directors of the South Mountain Audubon (SMAS) met on December 5, 2012 at the Adams County Agricultural Center at 4 pm.

President Melissa Deitz called the meeting to order with the following board members present: Nancy Locher, Cy Deitz, Mike O’Brien, Mike Bertram, Carole Simon, Deb Siefken, and Elizabeth Weller. Linette Mansberger and Emily Cost were present by invitation.

UPON MOTION DULY MADE, SECONDED AND CARRIED Resolved that: the minutes from the October 24th board meeting be approved by the board.

Mike Bertram reported that SMAS received its annual Audubon Society grant of $621 in October and that the balance on the current account stands at $1553. Additionally, Mike B. reported that Grassroots.org will be hosting the SMAS web-site for free and that the domain name “SouthMountainAudubon.org” has been secured for the next 10 years. Mike will begin to work on the web-site in January of 2013.

Also mentioned at this time: • Linette Mansberger will be giving the presentation on backyard birds to the Homemaker’s Group Luncheon in April. • There was also some discussion around having 1 or 2 presentations available for SMAS members to use when the group receives requests to speak at future events. Deb will check with Bonnie ? to see if her presentation on the birds of Adams county with an emphasis on the battlefields and grasslands could be a future resource. • Nancy inquired as to whether SMAS has a budget for 2013. It doesn’t and Mike Bertram offered create one for the 2012/3 financial year.

Program Chair Deb Siefken reported on upcoming speakers and programs: At the January meeting, Kim Blocher will be speaking on "Native Plants, Wildlife & the Legacy of PA Quaker Botanists"; At the March meeting, SMAS will show Saving Pelican 895; If she’s available in June, Patti Barber, a PA Game Commission endangered species specialist, will speak on the recovery of the Bald Eagle in PA. Emily Cost recommended contacting the Gettysburg Convention & Visitors Bureau to advertise the June meeting. For the January meeting, Carol suggested we contact the local garden clubs and Master Gardeners.

Emily Cost then spoke on behalf of Strawberry Hill. Strawberry Hill would like to collaborate with SMAS and has offered the following suggestions on how they can help:

  • 1. Setting up speakers for programs – this could be Emily, as a future member of the board, using her resources and knowledge on conservation to help with program ideas and securing speakers and/or SMAS and Strawberry Hill co-sponsoring various programs.
  • 2. Advertising SMAS programs on their web-site, through their e-mail marketing, and through the program up-dates sent to children who have visited the preserve. Additionally, SHNP would love the opportunity to advertise programs to the SMAS folks.
  • 3. Possible inclusion in summer camps through SMAS speakers or field trips.
  • 4. Collaboration on various projects, a birding series for example.
  • 5. Serving as a potential meeting spot for board meetings and/or programs.

    • The board then discussed the 2013 election of SMAS board members and officers. The tentative list is as follows:

    Board Members

    • President – Deb Siefken
    • Vice President – Carole Simon
    • Secretary – Linette Mansberger
    • Treasurer – Mike Bertram
    • Director At Large – Nancy Locher
    • Director At Large – Cy Deitz
    • Director At Large –

    Committee Chairs

    • Conservation – Emily Cost
    • Education –
    • Field Trips & Membership – Mike O’Brien
    • Programs – Bob Brandt OR Deb & Emily
    • Publicity – Elizabeth Weller
    As to other tasks from the October meeting:
    • Melissa Deitz plans to contact Celebrate Gettysburg and the Adams County National Bank about advertising.
    • Nancy Locher intends to pass along the SMAS minutes received from Francis Ann to Linette Mansberger.
    • Deb will contact Andy Wilson to see how we might be able to engage students from Gettysburg College.
    With the completion of committee chair reports, the board moved onto new business.
    • Carole will sell leftover SMAS books at the Strawberry Hill Christmas bird count on December 15th.
    • The 2013 April annual luncheon will be at Hickory Bridge on April 20th or 27th.
    • The next SMAS board meeting will take place Feb. 11th at 4pm.

    There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:15 PM.

    Respectfully submitted,

    Elizabeth O Weller