Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society

                   

As many of you will probably agree:  2009 wasn’t a positive year in many respects.  With the housing market still on the ropes, state workers being furloughed, and the private sector hemorrhaging jobs, its been a tough year all around. 

 

The SVAS has shared in this pain as well. Our finances are suffering and the membership ranks have dwindled to the point that the Bylaws mandate that we drop two Director positions this March.  It will be the first time in over 20 years that the SVAS Board will have fewer members than the maximum number allowed by the Bylaws.  Times are tough, and we all have to do more with less.

 

With this in mind, the Board has been brainstorming ways to cut costs, yet bring more value for the member’s dollar.  That’s why you received this newsletter electronically, and why SVAS will be utilizing Constant Contact from now on to deliver SVAS communications to its members.  By eliminating our hard copy option for the newsletter, SVAS will be able to spend more money on its members in more valuable ways. 

 

 

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Here is a list of member activities that will hopefully be initiated during 2010.  They will be sprinkled throughout the year among our regular fare of events, and hopefully will be fun and challenging.

 

 

    March 19 – Annual General Membership Meeting and Election of the Board

 

    May 8 – Astronomy Day.

 

    August 7 – Star-B-Q

 

    Oct 9 – Naked-eye Comet observing and public viewing; we know that’s a member star party night but what an opportunity!

 

 

 

Take-A-Friend-Observing Night – at HGO, Date to be determined

An opportunity for every SVAS member to invite someone they know who is interested in astronomy up to HGO for an evening of observing.  The Board will host this event, where we can showoff BC and the SVAS observatories.  Think of it as a mini-Star-B-Q for prospective new members.

 

Astro-Challenges – at HGO, Dates and Challenges to be determined

Remember the Messier Group?  Well, Forrest and Tom want to expand the concept to include other astro-objects.  The difficulty of the challenge will vary – view planets, Messier objects, Caldwell objects, Double stars, variable stars, etc.

 

Astro-Boot Camp – Locales, Subject, and Dates to be determined

Need to brush up on your Astro-skills, or learn just the basics?  Well, this series of training camps is for you.  An intense session devoted to just one topic and led by an experienced member will be the goal of this effort.

 

Field Trips – Various out-of-town locales, Dates to be determined

We’ve talked about doing this before, now let’s do it.  SVAS sponsored and organized one-day field trips to some of Northern California’s most interesting astronomical sites – Lick Observatory, Reno’s Planetarium, SETI, etc.

 

So, as you can see:  Things are definitely looking up.

 

Ross Gorman,

Vice President