6-7pm Appetizers and mingling
7-8pm Annual Meeting
8-9pm Potluck dinner
A special thanks to all who helped set up, brought food and drinks, and cleaned up.
Call to Order: 7:08pm
President: George Armistead
Vice President: Linda Widdop; Secretary: Gregg Gorton
Attendees: 40 members present
George welcomed all to the meeting. Damien Ruffner, Education Manager for the Discovery Center, described the center’s mission and facilities. He invited members to sign up as volunteers. The Annual Members meeting is used to elect Officers, appoint new Council Members, and announce Fellows and Honorary Members. There were no new honorary members announced. Two new Fellows were announced:
- Barbara Bassett for her work with the Club on Council and Communications Committees. She is also the Facebook administrator and replenished the DVOC hat inventory.
- Lauren Diamond for her work with the Club on Council and Banquet Committee chair. Lauren did an outstanding job with the banquet and provides the Club with amazing graphic design work.
New Officers
Art McMorris, chairperson of the Nominating Committee, acknowledged the rest of the committee: Barbara Granger, Anita Guris, and George Armistead. The Slate of Nominees for 2020-2021 had been announced at the two December meetings. All officers were unanimously elected.
President – Linda Widdop; VP – Gregg Gorton; Secretary – Barb Bassett; Treasurer – Marty Dellwo; Councilors-at-Large: Katrina Rakowski, Dan Efroymson (rotating off: Navin Sasikumar & Barb Bassett)
Welcome Linda
It wasn’t until 1983, that women were allowed to join the club. Now our membership is roughly 50/50. As far as officers, Barbara Haas was Treasurer and Sandy Sherman was Treasurer and first woman President. “It is about time that we have another woman as President”, as George welcomed Linda Widdop.
Linda completed the rest of the meeting. Not being an ornithologist or trained in science, she never thought she could be a member of the club, let alone President. She just enjoys birding. She attributes joining the club to members, Patty Rehn and Dennis Brennan. Our diverse backgrounds, quality programs, and social engagements (AKA Cherry Street Tavern) are a few things that make this club special. She volunteered for committees and other tasks just to help the club continue its long tradition. Then along came Art representing the Nominating Committee and who can say no to Art? She is looking forward to helping this prestigious club going for many years to come.
Thanks Bert
Linda presented Bert with a special award recognizing him for his work for the Club: Treasurer (12 years), Club Historian, and tremendous mentor for officers and council members.
Reports
Council:
None
Treasurer’s:
Bert Filemyr presented the details for 2019. Bottom line is that the Club is in good financial shape and we should spend additional monies in support of ornithology.
Trustee’s:
Chris Walters noted that the full Trustee’s report will be presented at the next meeting, 1/23/20.
Committees:
Membership:
Bonnie Witmer presented the summary of new members for 2019.
Conservation:
Nothing to report.
Billings:
Art McMorris encouraged all to send in your number of birds seen within the DVOC area during 2019. The top birder(s) will be asked to submit a full list. You no longer need to sign up for the Billings Big Year. Just “Go Birding!”.
Cassinia:
Matt Halley announced that Volume 77 is ready for publication and he is fielding manuscripts for Volume 78.
Field Trips:
Linda Widdop: See websites for details: https://dvoc.org/activities/field-trips/ and http://birdphilly.org/events.html
–>Please contact Linda Widdop if you want to lead a trip outside Philadelphia: Linda@techimpact.org
–>Please contact Tony Croasdale if you want to lead a walk inside Philadelphia (for DVOC’s BirdPhilly initiative): Tony.croasdale@gmail.com
Announcements:
Holger Pflicke reminded everyone that the biannual Breeding Bird Census in Philadelphia is coming up.
Next meeting is January 23rd. In February, the normal 1st and 3rd Thursday schedule will resume.
ALL CBCs east of the Mississippi, were once reviewed. Bert now combs the DVOC archives for interesting facts. This year’s presentation was “An Interesting Meeting”. A pdf of the presentation (thanks to Navin Sasikumar):
https://dvoc.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/FromTheArchives9_Kellogg_Web.pdf
Additional information from Bert:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Kellogg_(naturalist)
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=charles+kellogg+bird+calls
7:55pm We adjourned for the potluck dinner. A wonderful time was had by all.
For additional photos see the Club Facebook page or group.