SOUTH MOUNTAIN AUDUBON SOCIETY

MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

February 17, 2016

The Board of Directors of the South Mountain Audubon Society (SMAS) met on February 17, 2016 at the Adams County Agricultural Center at 5 P.M.

President Linette Mansberger called the meeting to order with the following board members present: Deb Siefken, Nancy Locher, Cindy Chambers, Carole Simon, Betsy Griffiths, Jon Griffiths, and Mike O’Brien.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

 - The newly amended copy of the SMAS Constitution was presented for recordkeeping.  The amendments were approved on February 8, 2016.

 - Linette has been in touch with Carolyn Mathur from York Audubon and we will be working on some collaboration ideas.

 - There will be a Trivia Night at The Pike on February 19^th to raise money for start-up costs for the Green Gathering.  Linette will attend and invited others.

 - The resolution on changing who will sign checks will be held until Mike Bertram returns from Arizona.

 - Linette corresponded with Joe Albin from Upper Adams School District and he reported that their board voted to accept our contribution of library books and publicly acknowledged our donation at their January 2016 meeting.  Pictures should be on the way.

 - The 2016 SMAS officer list was updated and will be sent to National Audubon and given to Mike for the newsletter.

SECRETARY’S REPORT

     Linette Mansberger presented the December 2, 2015 Secretary’s Report written by Kathy Gelner.  There was a suggestion to include what the minor correction was rather than just listing a minor correction.  (That correction was changing Mike O’Brien’s name to Mike Bertram’s name for assisting Betsy with the Wildlife Leadership Academy scholarship committee.)

Also a minor correction to the December 2, 2015 minutes will be changing the name of Judy Scrip to Judy Scriptuna.

  Resolved that: the minutes from the December 2^nd, 2015 board meeting be approved by the board.

TREASURER’S REPORT

There was no report due to Mike Bertram’s absence.  Mike O’Brien reported receiving 2 additional CBC donations in the post office box.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Programs:   Linette presented a form to be used when securing speakers.  A few changes were suggested and will be made to that form.

Upcoming programs as listed:

          May 16 at 7 PM – Kelsey Frey – Reptiles – Linette will get   additional information on the types of reptiles and forward it to Cindy       for publicity through the Gettysburg School District as well as other           venues.

          June 20 – Tanzania – Deb, Ralph and Linette

          September 19 – OPEN

          October 17 – OPEN

          November 21 – Nancy will check with Ian Clarke about a program at

          the planetarium.  (This was later confirmed via email.)

          Jon suggested as a possibility for a future program to include a hands-              on stream study presentation of aquatic animals.  Linette will look for          resources on this.

Education:  Betsy reported that good feedback has been received from the use of Audubon Adventures at Lincoln Elementary in Gettysburg.

          She also shared information about the Wildlife Leadership Academy committee that met on December 3, 2015. 

          Ms. Harner, principal at Lincoln Elementary, has requested our assistance with the after school birding group again this year.  A number of members have volunteered, so Betsy will work on arranging a schedule for this.

Publicity:  Cindy was successful in getting some written articles into the Gettysburg Times and The Merchandiser.   It was suggested that future articles include the words “free and open to the public.”

Field Trips:  Mike listed 2 upcoming field trips – Pine Grove Furnace on February 25 at 8:30 AM and Middlecreek on March 12 at 8:00 AM

Newsletter:  Any articles for the newsletter should be sent to Mike by late March.  Banquet information will be shared via the newsletter, the website and a special email.

Membership:  Mike reported a membership of about 230.  Linette will contact Lynn Tennefoss about the discrepancy between the emails stating that membership dues are $20 and the mailings that don’t list $20 as a choice.

OLD BUSINESS

There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS

April luncheon – Deb contacted Hickory Bridge and has secured the date of April 23, 2016 for the annual luncheon.  The cost is 17.50 per person (including tax and gratuity).  Ales, soft drinks, and local wines are available at a cash bar.  The group chose roast beef and chicken as the entrees and suggested raising the price to $18 per person to cover the speaker’s and her guest’s lunch.

UPON MOTION DULY MADE, SECONDED AND CARRIED

  Resolved that: The per person fee for the luncheon will be $18.

Green Gathering – Linette spoke with Steve Zimmerman about our interest in participating in the Green Gathering on May 21 from 11:00-4:00 at the Ag Center.  There is no fee.  Brainstorming ideas included free handouts such as stickers or bookmarks, a scavenger hunt for children, items to sell, scrolling pictures with a possible prize for identification, a workshop presentation on local and common birds, and a sign-up sheet for a birding class.  We will make more concrete decisions at the next board meeting. 

(A few days after the meeting, Deb shared with Linette that there will be a public bird walk at Gettysburg National Military Park on that same morning.  We will try to get a few members to lead this walk.)

 

The next meeting of the SMAS Board will be at 4:00 on Tuesday, April 5, 2016 at the Adams County Agricultural Center.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:20 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Linette Mansberger