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71st Annual
Meeting The 71st Annual Meeting of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology was called to order at 8:40 a.m. by President Dr. William C. Johnson. The roll call showed a quorum to be present with representatives of the following chapters: Allegheny #1, North Central #8, Forks of the Delaware #14, Somerset #20, Schuylkill Valley #21, Ohio Valley #22, Westmoreland #23, Bald Eagle #24, Conejohela #28. All officers of the Society were present. Minutes of the 70th Annual Meeting were accepted as distributed on a motion entered by Mark McConaughy and seconded by Verna Cowin. A review of the written treasurer's and Elmer Erb Trustees' report presented to the board of directors was reviewed for the membership. Roger Moeller Business Manager reported the membership at 422 members for 2000 and institutional and life members at 270 with a list total of 708. Many members are in advance of 2000 for payment of dues. This gives a false impression of funds available. The 2000 suggested Budget was accepted on a motion by Mark McConaughy and seconded by Karen Rockey. PASSED Committee Reports: Annual Meeting-Mary Alice Graetzer thanked the host chapter North Central #8 on behalf of the Society. She announced that the Forks of the Delaware would host the 2001 Annual Meeting at a site to be announced. Philip Perazio announced the theme for that meeting: "2001 A Spatial Odyssey". The Society needs host chapters for 2002 and beyond. A commitment 2 years in advance works best for planning the annual meetings. It also aides in avoiding conflict of dates with other societies. Awards-Donna George reported that the awards are ready for presentation at the banquet. She announced that the committee would be working on guidelines for nominations of awards. She also announced that a new rule was passed at the board meeting. Beginning in 2001, only 2 Archey Awards will be given per year. Archaeology Month Planning-Philip Perazio outlined the planning
and discussion from the board meeting. He set a deadline of July 1,
2000 for calendar of events entries to be sent to him. He and Valerie
Perazio, representing PAC will be assembling the Calendar. All chapters are asked to help with planning local events, promoting Archaeology Month and meeting deadlines for information for the calendar and newsletter. C-14-Jim Herbstritt submitted a written report. Any new awards will be announced at the Banquet. A complete report of the C-14 awards was published in the SPA Newsletter. ESAF representative-Amanda Valko reported on the last meeting and announced plans for the 2000 meeting in Maryland on Nov. 2-5. ESAF is in good financial health. No publication awards were made last year and ESAF encourage applications. PAC representative-Mark McConaughy reported that PAC will be involved in the Archaeology Month Funding by contacting all consulting firms to support the project. Publications-Michael Stewart reported that he has 8-9 manuscripts on hand some lengthy and has enough for at least the next two issues of the PA Archaeologist. Special Publications will be looked at. The updated publication guidelines will be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal. Newsletter-Judy Duritsa asked the members to adhere to the deadlines set in the newsletter and thank Tom Vallana who does the newsletter production for carrying through during his recent illness. Site Survey-Kurt Carr presented a written report of site recordings for 1999. Lancaster County has the greatest number of recorded sites and Washington County has the greatest density of sites. Kurt Asks that members continue to record sites for the protection and conservation of the resources. Chapter Reports-written copies of the chapter reports are available from the Secretary. President William C. Johnson asked for a motion from the membership to ratify the actions of the Board of Directors of the Society for the previous year. A motion was entered by Verna Cowin and seconded by Mark McConaughy. PASSED Election of Elmer Erb Trustees- two members for six year
terms to serve until 2006. The motion to close the nominations was entered by Kurt Carr and seconded by Mark McConaughy. PASSED A motion to have the Secretary cast the ballot was entered by Mark McConaughy and seconded by Kurt Carr. PASSED Deceased members were announced. Dr. James W. Hatch Discussion and Announcements Amanda Valko asked for support for an appeal to The Carnegie to fund a Western Pennsylvania Display Room at the Museum of Natural History. She has asked that all members and the SPA write letters to Jim Richardson in support of a facility to showcase and research Western Pennsylvania History and Archaeology. The Boy Scouts of America have a local history badge and are without resources to earn this badge. She is asking for a coordination of interested organizations to approach The Carnegie in support of the room. Community interest and support would be instrumental in establishing the need for such a facility. The membership was receptive to the project. Everyone is asked to write in support. Contact Amanda Valko at Allegheny Chapter #1 to coordinate support for the project. The State Museum's Section of Archaeology is moving. The facility will be closed from September 2000 to September 2001. They must move 1.8 million objects. There will be no new loan programs. Workshops in Archaeology and the Curation Symposiums will not be held. Collections and file research will be unavailable. Compliance collections will be received and the Historical Archaeology Field School at Ephrata Cloister will be conducted. Noel Strattan reported that the site files and Survey Records will probably be closed for about one month probably in September. An on line site form should be up and running at that time. City Island will again be the open for Archaeology Month Activities. More information will be presented at a later date. Bob Nale commented on the membership decline and Brian Fritz offered the idea of promoting the journal as a way of encouraging new memberships by making the journal more visible to more interested people. Discussion: Everyone should be working to promote the SPA especially with the materials provided during Archaeology Month. More visibility for chapter events and monthly meeting would help generally with the availability of member ship forms and copies of the journal for review. An announcement was made that a committee will be reviewing the Society's Constitution for possible revision. There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 9:50 a.m. Respectfully Submitted, Judy M. Duritsa
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