New board of directors and new officers: At the last regular meeting of the Richmond Astronomical Society, the board of directors for 2010 was elected. Many thanks to Chris McCann and Jeff Pike for assembling the slate of board nominees for 2010. Many thanks as well to the outgoing board for their outstanding service in 2009 and to the 2010 board members for volunteering to guide our organization through the next year.
We really could not have the fine organization we do without the directors who handle the administration, planning, accounting and budgeting for our club and without those who coordinate and staff our skywatches, keep our observatory in good shape, take care of our library, prepare our SCC documents, support Astronomy Day and much more. Thanks also to Leslie Bochenski of the Science Museum for serving as our liaison with the museum, making sure we have the access and audio visual support needed for our meetings.
We simply do not say thank you often enough to those who give their time to the RAS. So let’s be sure to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to all those who share their knowledge and skills with us and to all those who attend our meetings and support our events.
The new board of directors for 2010 is listed below. The officers for 2010 were elected from the board of directors at the November board meeting in accordance with our by-laws.
John Barnett (Observatory Director)
Jim Blowers (Treasurer)
Jim Browder (President)
Gary Cowardin
Bill Jeffries
Chris McCann (Secretary)
David Medici (Vice President)
Jeff Pike
Prashant Reddy
Tim Streagle
Betty Wilson
Ken Wilson
Our 60th anniversary celebration dinner will be held on Friday, December 4th, starting at 6:00 PM at the Holiday Inn on Staples Mill Road (2000 Staples Mill Road, near the intersection of Staples Mill and Broad Street). We will be reminiscing about our long distinguished history and enjoying a presentation by Jim Condon on “Weighing a Black Hole.” Jim is with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory headquartered in Charlottesville.
The cost of the dinner is $30 per person. This covers a 3-entrée dinner, cost of the meeting room and some wonderful door prizes that we will be giving away. If you plan to attend, please send your money right away to Jim Blowers at the address below or pay by PayPal through our web site. If paying by check, be sure to note with your payment that it is for the anniversary dinner and drop Jim an e-mail to let him know your check is on the way at treasurer@richastro.org. We are required to provide an accurate count of the attendees to the hotel by November 30, so we need your payment right away if you plan to attend and we really hope you do!
Send payments ($30 per person) to:
Jim Blowers
4514 Foxwood Rd.
Chester, VA 23831-8011
(or send payments through PayPal)
Please join us if you can. It will be a great event and a wonderful occasion to celebrate. Note that this event will take the place of our regular December meeting.
Dues are due! This is the time of year when we renew our membership dues. If paying by check, please make payable to RAS and send to Jim Blowers at the address above or by PayPal on our web site. Standard membership is $30 for the year. Information about magazine subscriptions and observatory memberships is on the web site.
The Cleveland County, North Carolina Astronomical Society will be hosting “BobFest” on January 23, 2010. BobFest will be held at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, NC which is west of Charlotte. This year’s event will feature speakers, vendors, swap-tables, door prizes and an astrophotography/sketching contest. More information about BobFest can be found here.
Ted Bethune has gone international! Earlier this year Ted Bethune visited the 40th anniversary celebration of the Apollo 11 moon landing which took place on July 20, 1969. The event was held in Washington, DC with a number of former astronauts attending. Ted was interviewed on Chinese television. Images of the event are at this link.
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We have added a feature to our web site! Virginia Skylines, a public radio show / podcast is now available on our web site under the “Links” section on the main page of our web site or at this link. Leslie Bochenski produces the show on a weekly basis to tell us what’s up in the sky. Check it out when you get a chance – it’s very well done.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Jim Browder
Richmond Astronomical Society