Minutes of the monthly meeting of Sangamon Astronomical Society held June 19, 2003, at 7:25 PM at Don Jardine’s home

Attendance:
Rick Branson
Glenn Cunningham
Larry Hardy
Anthony Hopp
Darren Hulskotter
Don Jardine
Luis Perez
Ryan Reeves
Mike Robertson
Henry Rohs
Jim Rosenthal
Larry Trutter
Donald Walker
Ray Watt
Matt Will
Clarke Woodruff
Kerry Wright

Guest: Thomas Garber

Meeting
President Larry Hardy called the meeting to order and presided over the same. This was a quorum meeting. Larry Hardy introduced a new club member, Ryan Reeve. Welcome to the club, Ryan!

Larry Hardy encouraged the club members to bring friends to the meeting.

A motion was made by Ray Watt and seconded by Mike Robertson to pass the minutes of the May 2003 meetings. The motion was passed.

Club treasurer, Clarke Woodruff, presented the treasury report to the club. A motion was made and seconded to accept the treasury report. The motion was passed. Luis Perez passed out the reimbursement forms to the club members. It is extremely important to keep track of expenses for the club, especially if we are going to be a 501c3. organization. What should be included on the reimbursement form is your name, address, phone number, who approved the purchase, the date, receipt number, date reimbursed, a list of items and costs, and the reason for the items purchased.

Anthony Hopp gave some details of the expenses for the club to have a web site. It is $40/year for domain name management, $17/year for domain name renewal, and $25/month WEB Hosting. A motion was by Jim Rosenthal and seconded by Don Walker to continue to have a web site for the club. The motion was passed. A motion was made by Ray Watt and seconded by Rick Branson to allow the treasurer to pay the bill for the web from now to October and then afterwards pay for the whole year. The motion was passed.

Star Party Report
Luis Perez provided report on the number of people for the star party. He had mail more than 300 forms to potential attendees, including the vendors. We need to have some more speakers for the Star Party. If you know of someone who would like to be a speaker at the star party, please have that person contact Larry Hardy. Larry Hardy asked for volunteers to contact schools/college/universities, vendors, and to send email. Several club members volunteered at the meeting to perform those important activities. Thomas Garber has joined our club and will be one of the speakers at the Star Party.

Federal No for Profit Organization Report
The club president, Larry Hardy, presented his status report. The club has been denied that 501c3 non profit status due to an issue with incorrect wording on the club’s purpose. Larry Hardy and Clarke Woodruff put together a response to challenge the IRS’ decision. Copies of response were handed out to the club members at the meeting. Due to a short deadline set by the IRS the response was already sent. Larry Hardy asked each members to carefully review the response. If we are denied again then we will not be a nonprofit organization. One of the public outreach projects listed in the report is the setting up an observatory at Jim Edgar Panther Creek (JEPC). Larry will contact one of the state park officials to discuss the project. It requires commitment from the club members to make the project successful on an ongoing basis.

Public Star Party in late July
Larry Hardy suggested having a public star party in June. This will allow the public to participate in observing, to know more about astronomy, a chance to join our club, and be aware of the Illinois Dark Skies Star Party. The planet, Mars, was suggested as a possible observing target if it is visible during the public Star Party in late July.

Monthly Presentation
We need additional volunteers to give presentations during club meetings. There are three meetings that need to have presentation. Please contact the club secretary if you like to give a presentation.

Observing Contest
Don Jardine reported that Darren Hulskotter is the only one who submitted the report and Darren’s observing report is good. Darren won the contest and will receive a prize, congratulations!

Observing time!
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45pm. After the meeting, members observed with their telescopes set up in Don’s backyard. Very impressive display in the backyard - there were at least nine telescopes set up. Members have had fun observing that night.