The Meeting was called to order at 10:35 a.m. with President Amanda Valko-Fritz presiding.  A quorum was present. (Attendance attached)

The minutes of the April Board of Directors were accepted as distributed on a motion by Brian Fritz, seconded by Catherine Spohn. PASSED

Treasurer’s Report—Paul Cowin distributed a year-to-date report of the finances of the Society for consideration.
 
A financial discussion followed:

·    Elmer Erb report—Kurt Carr reported that the Committee is reorganized.  Diversification of the funds are the goal in order to insure a good return and coordinate rollover timing to coincide with the need for cash to finance life memberships, C-14 awards and other expenses.    $72,000 is the total current investment. 

·    Grants and Budget—the Society has a current grant and a new award for 2006-07.  Better planning is necessary to insure that the funding is used for projects in the allotted time period.  We should enter a Nation Register Site annually.  A review of possible archaeological sites to consider for 2007 is underway.  Please make site recommendations to the board.  Possible sites include: petroglyph sites, and Clear Creek. Special photo expenses for the National Register applications will be covered by grant money. Help is available for the process.  Deadline for dispersal of funds for the current grant period is January 1, 2007.  Invoices must be in Paul Cowin’s possession at that time.  Completion of printing and project expenses need to be finalized as soon as possible.  It may be possible to reproduce copies of the educational video from Bill Tippins using grant money.  Speaker’s fees for annual meeting are also covered by grant money.

·    Money from the grant could be used to update the SPA Newsletter.  This would require a professional layout adding color and photos.  Cost for this upgrade will be investigated.

·    Membership concerns—Paul Cowin reports that the total membership is at 411 down from the previous year.  Out of state members have dropped off as well as some institutional members.  New member numbers are up.  All chapters are asked to promote membership in the SPA.  The SPA has a number of membership and promotional brochures for this purpose. These supplies will be inventoried and reprinted if necessary.  Contact the Secretary for a supply of these items.

·    A motion to accept Paul’s revised budget was enter by Paul Raber, seconded by Catherine Spohn. PASSED

Pennsylvania Archaeologist Editor’s Report—A written report was read by the Secretary:

The Fall issue of the journal (Vol. 76-2) is currently at the printer and should be off the press the first week of December.  Boxes will then be sent to Ken Fischer, who stuffs the envelopes and mails them out.  With luck, members will receive this issue by year-end.  The Fall issue is a little light at 60 pages, rather than the 80 pages I usually shoot for.  This was caused by delays in the completion of a major paper, which I had to bump to the Spring 2007 issue.  The lower page count will cause the Fall issue to come in slightly under budget.
 
I anticipate that the Spring issue (Vol. 77-1) will be on schedule, as I already have several good papers lined up. This will in all likelihood be an 80 page issue.  If I receive a few more paper submissions in the next six months, I should have enough papers for the Fall issue, so all looks well for 2007.  I anticipate being on schedule and budget for 2007, assuming the budget stays the same.  Please feel free to forward any questions or comments to me.  Bill Tippins
 
Archaeology Month-SPA 2006—Committee report was made by Amanda Valko.  The mailing, paid by Harrisburg, was on time for Archaeology Month.  The SPA committee, AmandaValko, Brian Fritz, Paul Raber, and Jim Herbsrtitt does not have a chair.  Amanda is willing to take that position after her term as president.  Educational materials need to be developed to accompany the poster. The Education committee will be reactivated with Mary Miles as chair.  Kurt Carr, Noel Strattan and Judy Duritsa will serve.  The committee will help develop materials for Pennsylvania archaeology education as public resources targeting schools.  The materials will be available to groups and educators as well as coordinate with the Archaeology Month themes.  Links to educational sites and archaeological sites will be included.  The committee will work with PAC members to develop pertinent materials for the years when PAC is responsible for the poster.  The PAC poster may be a Pennsylvania Map with locations marked by archaeological sites.  Where possible sites will be marked with historic and prehistoric items.  Coordination with other organizations (e.g. National Parks Services) will also be attempted.

Annual Meeting—Mary Alice Graetzer announced the plans for the 2007 meeting.  Chapter 14, Forks of the Delaware will host in Allentown on April 20-22 at the Four Points Sheraton.  Details will be included in the next SPA Newsletter.

2008 will be hosted by North Fork Chapter #29 in Clarion.
2009  (the SPA’s 80th Anniversary) will be hosted by the BHP in Harrisburg.
2010 will be hosted by Westmoreland Chapter #23 near Greensburg.

A suggestion to apply to the local chamber of commerce for hotel tax funding for non-profit activities will be pursued.  If SPA chapters are eligible, the money will defray some of the meeting costs.

Pennsylvania Farm Show 2007—The SPA will, on a motion for future show participation entered by Meli Diamanti, seconded by Catherine Spohn (PASSED), man the booth in January 6-13, 2007.  Volunteers are needed.  Contact Amanda Valko or Kurt Carr to help.  It is an opportunity to promote the SPA.  We did gain new members from the 2006 show.

Tax Exempt Status—Society Vs. Chapter Update—Doug Stine reported on Cumberland Valley’s quest for non-profit status.  The Chapter completed its requirements and was granted 501 (c) 7 status by the IRS.  North Fork Chapter is also pursuing non-profit status.  The final benefits of attaining the status would be the tax exemption for purchasing and the ability to apply for grants.  More reports and updates will come back to the board at future meetings.

Awards Committee—Catherine Spohn asked for motion to add a new award for a Lifetime Achievement Award, given for extraordinary commitment to archaeology and the society and do not fit into existing award categories.  A motion to form such an award was made by Verna Cowin and seconded by Ken Burkett. PASSED  Updated forms for the awards will be produced.  Estimates for plaques will also be investigated.

National Register Nomination, Shade Furnace—Brian Fritz has completed the application for consideration of the Shade Furnace site by the National Register.  Brian reported on the difficulty of the process.  The application was given to Noel Strattan to be delivered to Harrisburg.  Brian is willing to share information on photos, size of the sites and other special application considerations for other who would be willing to attempt future applications.   The furnace site was in use from 1808-1858 and included 300 plus acres.  The size of the site and varied activities added to the complexity of the application.  The SPA will await news on the application’s acceptance.

Native American Program—The SPA co-sponsored the October Native Program at the PHMC with a $500 education contribution.  Grant money was used.  It was a successful day for archaeology with 5 SPA chapters participating. The concurrent format may be changed in the future to allow more flexibility to attend different sessions.  It appears that the Native American program will be an annual event similar to the old series of Workshops in Archaeology. 

Archaeological Legacy Institute—The Archaeology Channel educational programming has won approval for support from the SPA.  A motion by Ken Burkett to provide annual support of $250 was seconded by Verna Cowin.  PASSED

Consulting Party-Lithic Scatter Update—Paul Raber reported that there is still disagreement among the consulting party entities.  Whatever agreement is reached by the Federal Highway Administration, Penn Dot and others will need to be signed off on by the SPA and PAC.  The outcome is pending.


New Business

Resignation of Mark McConaughey from the position of PAC representative to SPA was accepted.  Paul Raber was appointed as his replacement.

SPA Slide programs/BHP—Email vote—An email vote to allow the BHP to use the SPA slide shows as a link on their website was made by email with no negative votes.  PASSED   The SPA will look at other media, displays and programs developed in the past for future use with the newly reinstated Education Committee.

New PASS Forms—Noel Strattan presented an overview of the forms, which had been previously distributed by email to board members.  Comments were made and discussion of the merits and improvements to the form and system are currently under consideration.  If you have comments please contact Noel soon.  The finalized form will be instituted and available online in 2007.  Please remember to record your SPA chapter information when recording a site.  Your chapter will receive credit towards the annual awards.

BHP 2007 Year of Archaeology—Kurt Carr reports that the BHP will be emphasizing all the state’s archaeological resources, education, and activities.  This will include SPA and PAC cooperative activities and promotions. We should follow up on the Archaeology license plate.  The Archaeology at the Capitol activity will be stepped up to try to get the senators and representatives involved.  If every SPA member alerted their own representatives, perhaps the attendance would improve.   More information will be coming.  Events start with the Farm Show.  Events will be posted on the state website.  We hope to have a link from the SPA site as well.

Chapter Charters—Periodically we receive a request for a copy of chapter charters.  In the past no copies were made at the time of the charter award.  For future chapters, a copy will be made and retained in the archives.  If your chapter becomes inactive, please consider sending the charter to the secretary for record.  If you have your chapter charter in hand, please make a copy and send it to the secretary.  If the old charters are missing, they may be permanently gone.

C-14 Annual Reports—Jim Herbstritt asks that you send a copy of your C-14 reports from the annual awards to him for the record.  A report is also included in the SPA Newsletter. 

Nominating Committee—Ken Burkett is chair of the nominating committee for officers and two directors for the 2007 election at annual meeting.  The slate will be published in the SPA Newsletter before Annual Meeting.

Consignment sale of Pennslylvania Archaeolgist—North Fork Chapter #29 has asked permission to obtain a supply of journals to be offered for sale at the Jefferson County History Center where a new museum with an archaeological display will be open.  The board gave permission to sale our journals with the facility retaining a 15% commission.  Chapters are permitted to obtain SPA merchandise on consignment for resale. 

Discussion for the Good of the Society:

Amanda Valko announced the Celebrity Luncheon series.  The luncheons are held at the Benetti
Hotel & Conference Center in Wilkes-Barre.  Richard Leakey is scheduled
for Thursday, May 10th, 2007.  For ticket information go to the web site www.celebrityluncheons.org.

 
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 2:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Judy M. Duritsa, Secretary

 

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