Category: Meeting Minutes

President John Reed called the meeting to order at 7:15.

Old business:

The star party at Pinnacle Mountain earlier this month was a big success with clear skies and cooler weather. If only they were all that way.

New business:

We will schedule a work party for the date of the next meeting October 11 to prepare the property for winter.  We will water treat the deck, install a new toilet in the bonus bathroom, and mow the grass one last time.

The RRAC Burgerburn is this coming weekend (9/27) at their site near Nashville. Several members have expressed an intention to go.

On November 1, Woolly Hollow State Park is planning to have another Star Party at 8 PM.  Of course they would like us to attend.

CAAS’s participation in the Pinnacle Mountain State Park Master Naturalist program for a second time has been confirmed.  They will be at CAAS on April 11, 2009 which also happens to be a meeting night so we should have plenty of members there to assist.

Presentation:

John Reed gave a good demonstration of a new software product called GeoGebra (pronounced like algebra) which he used to demonstrate good Newtonian collimation.

The meeting adjourned at about 8:30 to the observing fields.

President John Reed called the board meeting to order at 6 PM.  Officers and board members in attendance were John Reed, Don Ferren, Jim Fisher, Allen Lee, Carl Freyaldenhoven, Don Lewis, and Jim Dixon.

The major topic was the Dark Sky Protection Zone letter to be signed by the four board members and then sent to the Perry County Quorum Court.  Since the letter had been discussed before, all that was needed was a review and the signing. Jim FIsher took the letter for mailing.

We also discussed the unofficial fall work party to get the property ready for winter. Wade is to pick up deck treatment and bring his sprayer.

We also discussed the long term plan to replace the front building which has served us long and well but is now showing its years.

The board meeting adjourned at 6:45.

CAAS members descended on the property last night knowing full well that the clouds and weather forecast meant there would be no observing later.  President John Reed was stuck in traffic so I (Jim D) opened the meeting at 7:15.  The venue changed four times as we started on the deck then went in due to rain then went back out then came back in due to rain again.  There were 14 members and guests in attendance.

Old Business: Since the last meeting there were two star parties, one at Woolly Hollow SP and one at Pinnacle Mountain SP.  Both were successes, especially WHSP where there were perhaps 350 attendees.

New Business:  We have two more star parties coming up, September 6 at PMSP and November 1 at WHSP again.  The November event will mark a change for us, we’ve never done one there beyond the summer.

Rocky Togni brought a spare fluorescent fixture that he had to replace the dead fixture in the bathroom.  I ( Jim D) brought chain to hang it with and Pat Morris wired it. The bathroom is once again fully illuminated.
Jim Fisher and Wade Van Arsdale brought us up to date on two separate light pollution topics.  One is the CAAS Dark Zone Project that has been discussed in recent months.  The letter to the Perry County Quorum Court is nearing completion and he will bring the letter to the next board meeting (in September) to be signed by the board members.  The other topic was the creation of the Arkansas Section of the International Dark Sky Association.  This will be somewhat like the creation of a new regional club, it will not be a CAAS operation although many members may want to join.  Wade and Jim Fisher will  be spearheading this project and will contact other astronomy groups to see who else may want to participate.  We think of dark skies as an astronomy related need but in reality, many areas of interest see a need for darkness at night. Many nocturnal lifeforms are suffering from insufficient darkness and so people with other interests than astronomy may also want to participate.
Pat Morris gave the treasurer’s report.  Things are looking okay.

Presentation: Rocky Togni gave us a well developed talk on variable stars.  He covered the early history and types of stars followed by how amateurs can contribute.  The presentation was very good, thank you Rocky!

Finally, lets welcome brand new member Ernie Shields.  He came to both of the two last star parties mentioned above and made his first meeting last night.  Welcome aboard, Ernie!