The meeting was held at the new Boxford Community Center at 10 Elm Street in Boxford, as well as via Zoom. There were 23 participants (17 in-person and 6 on Zoom). A quorum of members was present, and the Business Meeting was official.

Guests and new club members were asked to introduce themselves:

Guest(s): One Guest Present

New Member(s): None Present

Officer Reports:

President – Kathi Freeman:

Kathi called for approval of the April Business Meeting Minutes, which were approved by acclamation.

Vice President – Justin Murray:

To help the Club with potential donations, Justin worked with Ron to get the PayPal Donation site setup:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=SMYH56KHF46LU

Also created a magnet with QR code that links to the donations page – let Justin know if you are interested in a magnet for Star Parties!

Treasurer – Ron Sampson:

Ron was unable to attend the meeting.

Secretary – Tolga Yazicioglu:

Tolga reported no updates.

Membership Director – John Gall:

John provided a report to Kathi. There are currently 114 Members, with five new members joining since the last meeting. Of the 114, 8 are Honorary Members.

Collins Observatory at Salem State – Dennis Gudzevich:

Dennis provided an update on the Collins Observatory, which has a Meade LX200 12” ACF. The observatory is typically open on clear Mondays 7pm-10pm when school is in session.

4/14 – Opened with 18 guests, observed until 1030

4/21 – Closed for Patriot’s Day

4/28 – Opened and observed until 1045

The upcoming session on 5/5 will likely be the last night of observing for this season. There is construction at Salem St. that will put another building up, and there are open questions on whether we’ll be able to open in the fall due to construction.

Mendel Observatory at Merrimack College – Brewster LaMacchia:

Brewster provided an update on the Mendel Observatory, which has an Optical Guidance Systems (OGS) 20-inch Ritchey-Cretien reflector. The observatory is typically open on clear Wednesdays.

4/9 – Opened with two sessions

4/23 – Opened with two sessions

Unfortunately, Merrimack College has asked us to temporarily pause public observing. This is likely related to a recent injury from a visitor.

Star Parties – Brewster LaMacchia:

Brewster provided an update on recent Star Parties:

4/22 – Star Party at Parker River. Unfortunately, the clouds took a turn for the worse. Despite the clouds visitors got to see Jupiter, Mars, and a couple of bright doubles and clusters like the Beehive. We estimated about 60 people attended. A little after 9 the fog rolled in. A couple Club Members went to the Thirsty Whale per long standing tradition to commiserate.

4/30 – Star Party at Battis Farm. We had three new members come as well as a potential member that brought along his scope to share views with. Total visitors were around 30 people. Clouds were annoying but we did get periods of clear and were able to share views of quite a few objects.

Check the website for upcoming star parties.

Scope Clinic – Bryan Stone & Ron Sampson:

If you have anything on your telescope that you need help with, or if you need help with your telescope, Bryan & Ron can assess your scope, making recommendations, and performing some minor repairs.

Bryan gave a very quick overview of the Scope Clinic.

At Large Board Members – Cyndi Hopping:

Cyndi was unable to attend.

Old Business:

Membership/Dues Discussion:

- Kathi provided a summary overview of the ongoing discussion

- Justin proposed conducting a Special Meeting, potentially via Zoom, to discuss the Membership/Dues discussion in more detail.

Telescope Sales Committee:

- No updates

Club Banner Committee:

- Draft is out for the committee to provide comments and feedback

New Business:

Next Board Meeting is Monday 5/12 at 8PM. Reach out to Kathi if you’d like to attend.

Brewster polled the group on preferred location for Wednesday observing nights. Boxford Common was the most desired from members in attendance.

A club member noted that Bertucci’s in North Andover, a frequent spot for post Mendel observing, has permanently closed.

Business Meeting was Adjourned by President Kathi Freeman at 7:49 PM

Following the Business Meeting, club members participated in Gadget Night!

Respectfully submitted,

Tolga Yazicioglu, Secretary

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