Minutes
Annual General Meeting Thursday June 28th
Venue: Cliddesden Primary School

Meet and Greet: The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting commenting on the good attendance.

Correspondence: The Secretary reminded members about the forthcoming SAGAS summer meeting on the IOW.
Russell Palmer read a letter he had received from Sir Patrick Moore.

The Chairman then declared the AGM open.

Treasurer’s Report: presented by Brendan Shaw.  Finances healthy at the moment.
Report attached to Minutes as hard copy.

Secretary’s Report: John Stapleton presented an analysis of the year’s attendance and shared the forthcoming syllabus dates.

Chairman’s Report: Dave Shave-Wall added comments about the Practical meetings following the Secretary’s previous comments.  They are to be held between October and May only next year (coinciding with the dark skies and possibility of observing).

The Chairman then stood down and the election of officers commenced initiated by the Vice Chairman Bob Trevan.

Election of Officers:

Chairman   Dave Shave-Wall nominated by Bob Trevan and seconded by Andria Harbinson.  Carried unanimously.

The Chairman informed the members that all of the Committee were willing to stand again except Dave Worley.
Dave Wright proposed the committee en-bloc. Seconded by Ian Piper and carried without objection.
Neil Perry gad been approached about the vacant position but was unable to accept a proposal.  John Stapleton proposed Dave Wright but he also declined.  The position is currently left vacant as the committee have the power to co-opt as necessary.

Treasurer’s Recommendation:  A formal vote was taken to accept the Treasurer’s recommendation to raise the annual subscription to £15 and to waive the £1 meeting fee for members (providing the finances remain healthy) and to keep the visitor’s fee at £2.  This was proposed by Dave Shave-Wall and seconded by Andria Harbinson.  Carried without objection.

Any Other Business:  A vote of thanks was proposed to thank the committee for all their work by Geoff Trussler and was seconded by Ian Piper.  

Break:  Michelle Palfrey and Brendan Shaw had provided cake.  Thanks was proposed.

The chairman thanked the Honorary President, Guy Hurst, for attending the AGM and invited him to say a few words.  Guy talked about the Bradford Robotic Telescope and the TA annual meeting to be held on October 20th.

News: The chairman gave his customary selection of news items including the DAWN mission to asteroids Vesta and Ceres, pictures in various wavelengths of Eta Carinae and the Atlantis shuttle mission to the STS.

What’s Up?:  Given the light evenings the chairman mentioned Jupiter and Mars and noctilucent clouds.

Astronomical Sizes: A short presentation by the chairman based on some models found on the internet.

International Year of Astronomy 2009: The Secretary gave the FAS/SAGAS presentation to the meeting in order to raise awareness of this event.  Society events to be discussed at the committee meeting.

Next Meetings: 26th July Alan Lorrain  “The Sun”

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