Minutes – January 9, 2025 | Delaware Valley Ornithological Club

The annual meeting was in-person only and took place at the Discovery Center.

Call to Order: Barb Bassett

Call to Order: 7:15 PM

Attendees: 38

Barb began by making some short remarks, welcoming everyone to the 135th Annual Members’ Meeting of the DVOC. Barb noted that the club was the oldest continuous Ornithological Club in the United States and then praised the club and its ability to change over the years.

Due to some technical difficulties, Linda then proceeded with Field Trips.

Once the technical difficulties were resolved and Linda finished going over the upcoming field trips, Barb then went through the agenda for the night.

Election of Officers and Council – Art McMorris

The nominating committee, composed of Anita Guris, Patrick McGill, George Armistead, Linda Timlin, Gregg Gorton, and Art McMorris had come up with a slate of nominees for the current year. The nominees are:

Officers (for 1-year terms):

President: Barbara Bassett

Vice President: Navin Sasikumar

Secretary: Manny Dominguez

Treasurer: Martin Dellwo

Councilors-at-Large (for 3-year terms):

Perri Strawn

Robert Karchnyak

Nominees were announced at each December meeting. There were no nominees from the floor. All nominees were elected unanimously by acclamation. Nilesh moved and Linda seconded.

Art thanked all those who were stepping down or were at the end of their terms. He also thanked all those who agreed to serve, as well as those that were continuing their service.

Election of Fellows and Honorary Members

Barb Bassett began by asking all current fellows to stand for applause.

She then announced 3 new fellows:

Peter Hamner

Karyl Weber

Perri Strawn

Art McMorris then took to the lectern to announce that Matthew Halley was nominated by unanimous vote to be the newest Honorary Member of the DVOC

Honorary Members are chosen based on attaining special prominence in their ornithological work and contributions to the Club. Honorary members present at the meeting included Bert Filemyr, Art McMorris, and Paul Guris.

Art then highlighted some of Matthew’s accomplishments and contributions to ornithology, his publications, contributions to the club, his work on Cassinia, the club awards he has won, the 6 programs he’s presented to the club, and his frequent acts of kindness.

Art asked for a vote, and everyone in the room was in favor, saying “hell yea” with a large round of applause and a standing ovation.

Matthew was hugged by other present Honorary Members and was asked to say some words.

He thanked all the members that were present, struck by the moment, emotionally remembering those that we had lost. Matthew spoke about how we are carrying the legacy of those that came before us, and that now we are all writing the history of the club. He mentioned likely being the youngest Honorary Member and again thanked those who nominated him and everyone at the club.

Another round of applause followed his remarks.

Barb then came up to mention that the club needed a chair for the Archives committee, and that Matthew would be taking that on. He would be joining members: Bert Filemyr, Chris Walters, and Gregg Gorton

Committee Reports

Membership – Rebecca Reicherter

Rebecca gave an overview of the membership of the club, highlighting that the club gained 41 new members, 60% of them in Philadelphia

Women were a majority of the new members – 60% women to 40% men.

She then went through 2024 by the numbers:

446 – members total

41 – new

16 – household memberships

4 – student membership

2 – gift memberships

49% – heard about DVOC by word of mouth

7 – new members/month in most popular months: April and May

1 – new member/month in the least popular month: August and September

25% – mentioned Heinz in their bios

Treasurer’s Report – Marty Dellwo

Marty gave a detailed report of the club’s income and expenditures.

Marty invited Paul Guris to speak about the New Bins for New Birders (NB4NB) program, and highlight a grant the club made this year.

The report concluded that the Club’s finances are positive, and we have money to spend.

Field Trips – Linda Widdop

If you wish to lead a field trip, contact Linda: linda@techimpact.org

Upcoming field trips:

DATE	TIME	TRIP	LEADER
1/18/25	11:00AM – 12:30PM	Winter Gulls at Glen Foerd	Holger Pflicke
1/25/25	1:00 PM – 4:00 PM	Winter Birding and Board Games
2/02/25	8:30AM – 2:00PM	Barnegat Inlet Bird Walk w/ Liberty Bird Alliance	Linda Widdop and Leigh Altadonna
2/15/25	10:00AM – 11:30AM	Winter Gulls at Glen Foerd	Holger Pflicke
3/2/25	10:00AM – 11:30AM	Winter Gulls at Glen Foerd	Holger Pflicke
4/22/25	3:00PM – 5:50PM	Birding for Wellness	Holly Merker

Billings – Art McMorris

Send checklists to Art for the 2024 Billings Year by January 31st. The DVOC member with the most birds in the Delaware Valley region will win. For efficiency, you can just let Art know your number of species and you only need to submit the full checklist if the number is greater than the current largest number.