Doug's Introduction

Doug noted he was running the meeting in place of Chris Stevenson, who sends his regrets. All the executive members introduced themselves and gave a brief description of what they do. Doug finished with the benefits of membership.

What's Up

Robert Babb

Jupiter is up high and bright, close to the moon. Robert went over all the planets and what they are up to in the coming month.

The Orionids will be tonight and tomorrow morning. We watched them in realtime via http://www.spaceweather.com.

Comet Hartley is visible with a greenish tint. You will need binoculars, or better, a small scope. Maps can be found on our page.

There are some observing sessions temporarily booked for around November 16 (the Leonids are on the 17th). We may also have an Admiralty House session, but not at the peak time (full moon by the weekend). Members should watch for email notifications of any sessions.

Observations

Tim Caruk: Jupiter pictures.
Ben Llewellyn: 3 sessions. Uranus by Jupiter with a small scope. Observations of the four moons.
Doug Grouchy: Jupiter and Uranus in his funny binoculars.
Garry Dymond: spectra of Jupiter, Uranus, and a few stars. He also has a radio meteor detector and another to detect storms on Jupiter.
Gary Snow: Sundog over Newfoundland Dr., about 20 degrees south of the sun as it set. No rainbow. It was gone by the time he got home to look for his camera.
Richard Newman: Saw Venus in the daytime, up to 3 weeks ago.
Robert Babb: some images of M27 (Dumbbell). Vulpecula. Built a binocular mount using a tripod (balance arm). He found the monopod design in S&T too flimsy.

Calendars

Joe provided a sign-up sheet for those wanting to order calendars. They will be $15 each.

AGM Reports

Treasurer

The only formal report was provided by Joe English, our treasurer.

Joe provided the financial report for the fiscal year of Oct. 1, 2009 to Sept. 30, 2010.

We average about 46-48 members per year. As of a couple of days ago we had 34 Regular members, 3 Life (one now deceased), and 1 Associate member.

A $74 membership can be broken down into $47 for National, and $26.65 for our Centre, with a $0.35 processing fee.

Apart from all the usual income and expenses, it should be noted this year we purchased $2 million of Director's Liability Insurance through Volunteer Canada. This cost us $100 for a Volunteer Canada membership, and $448 for the insurance. It should be noted we have general liability for public, sanctioned events through the national organisation, but they do not provide director's insurance.

Doug Grouchy audited our books and noted that all deposit slips, cheque books, and bank statements were in good order.

Elections

Glyn George acted as Returning Officer.

Randy Dodge commented on how the slate was created. This does not preclude other people from running. You are welcome to self-nominate if you want to get on the executive.

If people running were not on the prepared slate, the nominators are listed as well.

President: Chris Stevenson, by acclamation
Vice-President: Richard Newman, by acclamation. Doug Grouchy withdraws.
Secretary: Randy Dodge by acclamation.
Treasurer: Vacant. Randy Dodge removed by previous election. Joe English declined. Vacancy was filled later by reopening this election.

Doug Grouchy, by acclamation. Fred Smith proposed, and Randy Dodge seconded. After the body of the elections was completed it was decided to reopen the vote for Treasurer, by general agreement.

Observing Director: Robert Babb, by acclamation.
National Representative: Joe English, by acclamation.
Librarian: Fred Smith, by acclamation.
Webmaster: Craig Peterman, by acclamation.
Education Director: Vacant. Greg Baggs was on the slate, but not currently a member.
Equipment Director: David Bourgeois, by acclamation. Randy Dodge withdraws.
Membership Director: This is an appointed position by Council. Gary Case is interested.
Past President: Vacant automaticaly appointed position. Doug is on the Council, so this position hasn't been filled.
Auditor: Garry Dymond, by acclamation. Doug Grouchy proposed, and Fred Smith seconded. This is not a Council position.

Any vacancies will be filled as per our constitution.

Other Business

Garry Dymond hopes to run a NOVA course (New Observers to Visual Astronomy). This is now a national, beginner's astronomy course. This would be run once per month, with observing after the sessions, if possible. We could hold this at the planetarium and use the nearby driving range for observing. The course would be no fee, for members only.

In response to a query from a member, it was noted we have a public meeting, so other groups are welcome.

Gary Snow wondered if we could check with the Geo Centre to have a few meetings. We could have a meeting with a movie in their theatre, for example. It was noted this was discussed by the executive before and that the GeoCentre is interested in hosting us. There could be practical problems of access due to staff limitations and the like. We can look into it.

Coffee

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David Bourgeois

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