August Business Meeting
Officer for the meeting: Mike Keefe
Club Picnic
The picnic will be at Bond Park on September 23 from 1:30 to 7:30. This will include club members and family. It will be in the Buehler Shelter. The shelter closes at 7:30, so we may have a bit of time after 7:30 as well. The Shelter has access to restrooms, electricity, lights, water and a grill. Capacity is approximately 50. The club will provide the meat and drinks, the club members will provide dessert or a side dish. It is located at the following address:
801 High House RD, Cary, NC, 27513.
What we need from you is someone to coordinate the food, the potluck food (to balance out the desserts and side dishes) and games (Adults and kids). Basically if you are good at delegating, then this is for you.
Phone Number Discussion
There was some discussion about whether the club should keep the phone number. A vast number of club members and the public get information on line. The question that was put to the club was – Would there be a problem to stop? There were about one or two people that do not have email. An informal poll was done with the club members that were in the business meeting concerning how many will use this number for RACOBS. There were only three or five that responded that they use this number. There will be more discussion at the next business meeting.
Big Woods Discussion
Currently the club still has access to this site. The officers worked with the National Foresters to get the criteria that we would need to keep this site. The response was to tighten up the key holder’s responsibilities and communications with the National Foresters. There will be some documentation outlining this.
The responsibilities for the key holders were outlined.
- Key holders need to be actively participating members.
- Key holders should be likely to go out and observe.
- There must always have a key holder on site. When last key holder leaves, then all the people on the site must leave. If there is more than one key holder, make sure there is a handoff between the keyholders when one leaves.
- If a key holder is going out on a non-RACOBS night, the key holder needs to post and notify the foresters. This is to alert them that the site is going to be used.
- Each key holder will be part of the individual contact information. This will be kept on the members only site. This list will be sent on a yearly basis to the foresters.
- There will be a key holders group.
- Key holders must be in charge when out on the site observing. This is to make sure that people behave on the site.
- All the keys have a number. This is to maintain tight control over the keys. Each key holder and only the key holder will have a key. Do not give your key to someone else or make a copy.
Dark sky site committee
There was a call for volunteers to look for a darker sky than Big Woods. There is a need for a lead and committee members. This probably should be concentrated on more to the east. There has been a committee in the past and notes have been kept. This would not have to be done from scratch. If you want to help find a darker site for your observing, then this is the committee
for you.
