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Board of Directors
Bedford, PA November 17, 2007 The meeting was called to order at 10:50 a.m. with President Paul Nevin presiding. A quorum was present. Attendance sheet attached. The minutes were approved as distributed on a motion by Brian Fritz, seconded by Kurt Carr. PASSED The treasurer’s report was presented by Paul Cowin. Paul announced that the Society has been awarded a PHMC grant for 2008 in the amount of $5,000. The funds left from the 2007 grant are approximately $2,000. Of this amount, expenses for current National Register nominations and Archaeology Month mailings expenses will be deducted. Financial discussion follows: · Adjustments need to be made to meet costs for the awards committee. ($300) · Adjustments to meet costs for the color edition of the SPA Newsletter ($2500) · Funds to reprint the Discover and Preserve brochures which were approved at the April Annual Meeting (estimate coming-printing delayed until 2008) · Funds to produce educational materials being developed by the Education Committee. (Unknown amount) · Possible to eliminate web server fee with free domain, Brian Fritz will investigate. · Funds to continue National Register Archaeology Site Nominations. Paul Nevin will make future addendums nominations to the existing National Register petroglyph sites. · Possibility of asking PHMC for an increase in amount of grant funding · Contribution to the Pennsylvania Farm Show 2008 exhibit of Pennsylvania Petroglyphs A motion was entered by Doug Stine to use the remaining 2007 grant funds in an equal increment amount for the support of the Pennsylvania Farm Show Petroglyh Exhibit, after the Society reconciles our final annual expenses. Seconded by Catherine Spohn. PASSED Donations for the Petroglyph Exhibit will be collected by the treasurer of SPA and remitted to the Farm Show when needed. Preliminary brochures and announcements for the Petroglyh Exhibit were circulated. A bibliography of Pennsylvania Archaeologist volumes with petroglyph information will be made ready for distribution at the Farm Show. A cast from Ken Burkett will be featured at the 2008 Farm Show along with other documented Pennsylvania sites. Society members involved in these preservation projects will take part in the exhibit. Volunteers are needed to man the display. Contact Kurt Carr to Volunteer. Elmer Erb Permanent Fund—written and verbal report was present by Kurt Carr. The funds remain healthy and profitable. The reorganization plan is for Roger Moeller to have a more active role in handling the investments of the fund. New signature and account information will be in place after conferring with some inactive members of the fund trustees. Pennsylvania Archaeologist Editor’s written report was read. The volume has been on time and within budget. Volumes for 2008 are in progress. The board appreciates the editor’s effort to maintain the publication schedule. The SPA Newsletter is phasing in changes for 2008 with the addition of color, photos and expanded chapter opportunities. Plans for feature articles, chapter highlights and artifact contributions were discussed. Articles on chapter activities will start with Allegheny #1 provided by Jason Espino and Amanda Valko. Steve Warfel sends his appreciation to the board for the article celebrating his retirement. Archaeology Month—Amanda Valko reported on the outcome of the 2007 event and the planning in progress for the 2008 Archaeology Month. Report and Discussion: · Mailings were on time with considerable effort. Future mailings need to be evaluated for place of mailing (IUP or other); cost of mailing (Museum or additional fees), mailing lists must be edited to confirm addresses and culled of old information. Private mailing services are being investigated. · Education Committee will continue to work with Archaeology Month Committee to develop materials for Archaeology Month, lession plans and teacher’s packets. Websites and mailings will be used to get the word out to educators. Grant money has been allocated for this purpose. · Early January 2008 is the scheduled planning meeting for the Archaeology Month Committee. All members should have information on their responsibilities back to Amanda Valko at this time. The Goal is a mid-September mailing. · Poster planning was discussed. SPA will continue the point series as the theme. Jim Woscholo, a designer and 2nd Vice President, has volunteered to serve on the committee. PAC years will likely be project or industrial theme. · PAC and SPA members serve jointly on the planning committee and will consult about sponsors, fundraising, mailing costs and educational materials as well as poster design. · It would be in our best interest to include, local parks and museums, historical societies, and the National Parks Services on our mailing lists to extend the celebration of Archaeology Month into new areas of opportunity. · Direct all helpful information to Amanda Valko, committee chair. Awards Committee--chair Catherine Spohn presented the guidelines for a new Lifetime Achievement Award to be presented as determined at Annual Meeting. The guidelines will be published in the SPA Newsletter and be available on our website. This award is a comprehensive award of appreciation for outstanding members who have made enormous contributions to archaeology in Pennsylvania. National Register Nominations—Brian Fritz reported that the Shade Furnace site has been approved with final revisions to meet criteria A and D. No volunteers have come forth to begin new sites. Paul Nevin will be working on addendum petroglyph sites for the coming year. Contact Brian for help and guidance in registering a site. Archaeological Legacy Institute—continuing support for the project was approved at Annual Meeting for 2008. A fee of $250.00 will be remitted. Consulting Parties—Brian Fritz is requesting a letter from the SPA requesting that the Society partner with the Allegheny National Forest on all the project planning within the system in order to insure that archaeology is considered in all cases. A motion to support this was entered by Ed Kaufman, seconded by Verna Cowin. PASSED Brian and Paul Nevin will consult on the content of the letter to be sent. Future developments will be reported back to the board. PASS form reminder—Noel Strattan issued a reminder that the PASS forms are now online. When completing the form, please include your SPA chapter information to be tallying on a calendar year basis for annual awards. Also note that the cemetery site is available on the state’s website. If you have links or know of additional resources, use the contact on the web page or contact Noel. BHP 2007 Year of Archaeology—Kurt Carr reports that a number of activities have taken place with good results. Events and information on Shawnee Minisink, Fort Hunter, Washington Borough, the Farm Show, historic markers and legislative contact were part of the year. High profile events should continue with opportunities such as the Farm Show. Kurt is in a new position of Associate in Curation at The State Museum after Steve Warfel’s retirement. All state sites face a crisis in curation and support for historic sites. This crisis is defined by the lack of funding for management, storage and publication of the large collection holdings of the State Museum and sites around the state. A statement from Paul Raber and PAC to the legislators is forthcoming. The SPA will consult with Paul Raber concerning this statement and will formulate a suport letter to be sent to legislators and our chapters and members in hopes that they will also contact legislators concerning this national problem. New Business After reconsidering the $2.00 per registration fee assessed by the SPA on host chapters, the board voted to rescind the fee on a motion entered by Noel Strattan, seconded by Doug Stine. PASSED It is felt that the amount of appoximately $200 annually takes away from the host chapter and is nominal enough to have little impact of the budget or SPA general fund. It will be an incentive for the host chapters to keep costs affordable for all attendees at Annual Meeting. SPA Resources—Paul Nevin would like to have a centralized listing of SPA resources: · Promotional brochures, membership forms and Preservation materials are available from the Secretary or from the State Museum SPA Archives. · Tapes and slide shows are available from the Secretary and are available as a power point on the BHP website. · Traveling exhibit (shared by PAC and SPA) is available from IUP, Dr. Beverly Chirulli. · Traveling educational trunks are available through PAC. · Decals, T-shirts and promotional clothing are available through various outlets usually represented at the Annual Meeting book room. · A listing of SPA resources will be compiled. · Educational materials are being developed by our education committee but are available from SAA and other online sources. Glossary for Annual Meeting—since the SPA is an organization of professional and avocational archaeologists, it has been suggested that the program chair for each annual meeting prepare a glossary. The glossary will cover specific terminology and jargon as well as new technical terms being used or introduced by the session papers. A request for such terms will be included in future call for papers. Request for change in time for the Board of Directors meeting held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting for 2008 was made to accommodate the reception being planned at the Jefferson County History Center to celebrate the award winning Native American Lifeways in Western Pennsylvania Exhibit. The Board will meet from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm. on Friday, April 4, 2008. Host ESAF in 2009—Amanda Valko SPA representative to ESAF requested a commitment from SPA to host the ESAF meeting in Pennsylvania in 2009. A motion was made by Verna Cowin to this effect, seconded by Jason Espino. PASSED A committee will be forming to choose a site and plan the meeting. To suggest sites or to volunteer for the committee please contact the Secretary. President’s Notebook—the revised and updated President’s notebook containing information concerning finances, licensing, grants and day-to-day workings of the SPA was handed over to Paul Nevin by past-president, Amanda Valko. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 2:00 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Judy M. Duritsa Secretary |