Minutes of the monthly meeting of Sangamon Astronomical Society held February 19, 2004 at 7:00 PM at the Morgan Stanley office on 3731 W. Wabash Avenue, Springfield, IL.

The members of the Board of Directors are:

Larry Hardy
Mike Robertson
Ray Watt
Fred Pilcher
Glenn Cunningham

Updates

Treasury Report:    no report

Planning and Grants:    no report

Observing Program:   no report

Public and Private Events: A plan to combine the Astronomy Day event with the Christmas Telescope Event and the viewing of a comet in April was presented. No plans for an exact date as of yet. The Messier Marathon will be held on March 19th - 20th. Thats two nights of viewing. The cost is $5 per night for camping. The park is reserved so we are all set. Please email SAS_SKY@HOTMAIL.COM with your intension of going.

Star Party:    Ray Watt annouced that this years Illinois Dark Skies Star Party will be co-hosted by the St. Louis Astronomy club. SAS is excited about this new cooperation between the two clubs and is looking forward to the event. Everything is nearly ready. The Lions Club of Springfield will be providing the meals this year. And the mass mailings have gone out.

Larry Hardy presented a new draft of the ByLaws to the club and asked for comments on the proposed changes. A motion was brought forth by Don Walker to change the bylaws so that the club will release all financial records in February. Another motion was made that the President and not the Treasurer make a presentation of the budget in November. Both motions passed.

Glenn Cunningham continued the new SAS Trivia 50/50 Split. Eight Members offered up a dollar to try an answer the question "Name the five brightest stars ". There was no winner, although many came close, and so all 8 dollars were donated to the club.

Larry Hardy appointed Larry Trutter as the clubs International Dark Sky Association Liason.

Presentation

Larry Hardy brought in a very interesting video on the Hubble Space Telescope.

The meeting was adjourned at 9pm.