The meeting was held at the new Boxford Community Center at 10 Elm Street in Boxford, as well as via Zoom. There were 28 participants (24 in-person and 4 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): Robert from Newbury, Sully from Amesbury Joe from Beverly, James & kids from Boxford

New Member(s): None Present

Officer Reports:

President – Kathi Freeman:

Kathi called for approval of the March Business Meeting Minutes, which were approved by acclamation. One member noted it was a “seriously a riveting read”.

Vice President – Justin Murray:

Justin is planning on working with Ron to coordinate setup of the PayPal QR code site, to help facilitate club donations.

Treasurer – Ron Sampson:

Ron reported things are “status quo.”

Secretary – Tolga Yazicioglu:

Tolga reported no updates.

Membership Director – John Gall:

John reported the club currently has 111 Members, two of which will expire in the next two weeks. Of the remaining 109, 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.

Open on 3/3 – mostly clear, partly cloudy, 39 guests

Open on 3/10 – 25 guests, good mix of students and non-students

Mendel Observatory at Merrimack College – Brewster LaMacchia:

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

Only able to open one night, and had 25+ guests.

Star Parties – Brewster LaMacchia:

Brewster was unable to attend, but provided an update to Kathi. The Star Party at Sanborn Elementary in Andover had approx 125 participants. The next Star Party is in two weeks at Parker River. Sign up at the usual spot on the website.

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 described the Scope Clinic as “A time honored tradition that dates back 25 years. It is about astronomers helping astronomers, and is about giving back to the hobby. Is truly a labor of love. Purpose of the scope clinic is to be the club’s ‘Pride and Joy’. We can help people with any facet of their telescopes, adjustment, alignment of the optics (also known as collimation), or help with the electronics. We stand ready to assist you so you can get the most out of your equipment. Also, we enjoy playing with other people’s toys. Typically we meet people 30-45 minutes before the meeting starts. Some advance notice is helpful so we can bring the proper tools or recruit individuals to help you make the most of your astronomy in the North Shore Amateur Astronomy Club, which is the club that provides the best possible experience in astronomy in this price range.”

At Large Board Members – Cyndi Hopping:

Cyndi was unable to attend.

Old Business:

Membership/Dues Discussion:

Kathi provided a brief update on the Membership/Dues discussion from the last meeting.

Membership took a 3 year dip due to Covid – only just getting back to pre-COVID membership numbers.

Goals with the increase to membership dues is to improve offerings:

- Outreach Activities

- Young Astronomer Program (YAP)

- Telescope Giveaway(s)

The increase would also enable meeting refreshments to be covered by the club instead of Board Members out of pocket expenses.

Kathi opened the floor for discussion.

No comments were made from membership.

Telescope Sales Committee:

Justin reported the 12” DOB (Cat Scope) was sold on Facebook Marketplace! Justin has one more smaller scope that he can dedicate some more time to, now that the cat scope is sold. Will sell as-is, since its more of a antique collectible.

Club Banner Committee:

Jason was unable to attend the meeting.

New Business:

Next Board Meeting is Thursday 4/10 at 8PM. Reach out to Kathi if you’d like to attend.

Massachusetts Space Week, organized by the Space Consortium, is 4/21-4/27.

Business Meeting was Adjourned by President Kathi Freeman at 7:44 PM

Following the Business Meeting, we were joined by Gregory T. Shanons, PharmD, who gave a presentation on a number of smart telescopes now on the market. Gregory is a pharmacist by profession and NASA Solar System Ambassador by passion. Greg is an avid amateur astronomer and member of the St. Petersburg Astronomy Club (SPAC) Local Group of Deep Sky Observers (LGDSO) and Suncoast Stargazers in Florida.

Respectfully submitted,

Tolga Yazicioglu, Secretary

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