By Gene Allen, Secretary

Director Rex Parker opened the meeting in the Sherrerd Hall lecture room 101 at 1940 with44 of the 48 seats occupied. He showed numerous images of the many galaxies visible in the spring sky. He then introduced our speaker for tonight, John Horgan, author and Director of the Center for Science Writing at Stevens Institute of Technology. His talk was an update of his best-selling book and was entitled Was The End of Science Too Optimistic? Questions ended at 2100.

Technical issues delayed the business meeting until 2115, at which time 41 remained in the room, only 3 of them non-members.

Election of the slate of officers was the first item. Nominations Chair Michael Mitrano had reported in the April meeting that no one had even asked a question when the membership was polled by email for nominations, which were then closed. The vote was 38 unanimous in favor, more than the 31 needed for a legal quorum. There were more yes votes among those online and several also held proxies. Elected were:

Director: Rex Parker
Assistant Director: Bob Vanderbie
Treasurer: Ira Polans
Secretary: Gene Allen
Program Chair: Victor Davis
Observatory Co-chairs: Dave & Jennifer Skitt
Outreach Chair: Bill Murray

A discussion ensued about the proposal approved by the Board to replace the large, donated, semi-vintage C14 scope in the observatory with a new Edge HD model. We would need additional hardware to support the new scope, so the total cost is likely to reach $12,000. The current balance in the treasury was reported to be roughly $27K, but this large an expenditure requires membership approval of a 30% quorum, currently 61 votes. The approval motion and second was contingent upon securing a renewal or extension of the AAAP lease for the observatory property in Washington Crossing State Park from the NJ EPA. The only dissenting opinion was from Merchandise Lead Facilitator Rich Sherman
who proposed that an 11 inch scope would enable investment in making the observatory remotely accessible. It was pointed out that the observatory is currently capable of remote operation except for the roll-off roof which will not likely be automated anytime soon. The vote in favor counted 30 still in attendance and another 8 online. In addition, the membership was polled by email and as of the date of this submission, online voting recorded another 32 yes votes for a total of 70, exceeding the 61 required by the bylaws. Not one vote against the proposal was recorded.

Outreach Chair Bill Murray reported on three upcoming outreach events:
May 15– a caravan from the Planetarium will add to the attendance at the observatory.
May 16 – stargazing at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm. We have 3 volunteers but need 3 more.
June 6 – stargazing at Rosedale Park

The meeting was adjourned at 2205.

As of May 11, we have 205 active members. So far in CY2026, renewals number 43 and expirations number 22, giving us a 66% retention rate. We have added 19 new members, but only 46% of first year members are renewing.

Submitted by Secretary Gene Allen, May 22, 2026