Kentucky Society of Natural History
Minutes of Board Meeting
October 21, 2012 7:30 AM
Morehead, Ky.
Members Present:
Jeff Foster, Pat Meyer, Berl Meyer, Cindy Payne, Daniel Foster, Wally Roberts, Larry Hilton, Chris Bidwell,
Susan Wilson
Non-members Present:
Margie Conard, Ken Conard, Mary Alice Bidwell
President Jeff Foster brought the meeting to order. The Minutes from the spring 2011 meeting were approved. The Treasurer’s Report was read and the financial statement of KSNH JAN. 1 – Oct. 15, 2012 distributed and discussed.
Jeff Foster stated that the Hampton Inn had been very convenient and accommodating for this fall conference.
Old Business:
Spring Conference, April 26-28, 2013 Pine Mountain State Park
Wally Roberts stated that the deposit of $150.00 has already been sent to Pine Mountain State Park for the last weekend in April, good dates to see both birds and wildflowers, especially the pink lady slippers.
A new group rate may be able to be arranged with the new manager which would save the 6% sales tax.
Reserved are 17 double rooms, 4 large king size rooms, 4 handicap accessible cabins, 3 one bedroom cabins and 3 two bedroom cabins. The fees are $89. 95/room, $120/1 bedroom cabin and $150./2 bedroom cabin. The Ray Harm room will be available for our programs. Rooms will be released on March
27 th , 2013. Each person will take care of their own meals.
We need increased advertising about our Spring Conference with a push to get articles in the newsletters early. The general agenda for the Pine Mt. Conference is needed in the winter newsletter to spark interest emphasizing the wildflowers, the New found Gap area, etc. The full agenda can be put on the web when it is complete. Jeff Foster requested assistance ling up speakers for programs and leading hikes. Wall suggested several possibilities and will follow up on these. Student presentations were suggested, as well as Sean Murphy discussing black bears, Dean Henson @ the parks and hikes with local biologist Tom Toole. Mark Evans was mentioned as a possible speaker.
Fall Conference, October 18 – 20, 2013 Shawnee State Park, Ohio
The prairies, even in early to mid September are finished blooming, and although unusual areas, their beauty and interest would be disappointing at this time. The dates for the fall conference, therefore, were changed to the above dates. Jeff is already trying to line up speakers for this conference, and has a contract pending with Shawnee. The room rate will be $85/night for doubles and 2 bedroom cottages will be $129/night. This park has a good number of rooms, and a meeting room available for $100 each evening. We may include a Thursday early bird meeting. (The Falls of Ohio Chapter in Louisville would take place one week later, in that case) The price for Thursday night would be $69, pay on your own. As of now, the cut-off date is August 1, 2013 but Jeff will try to get a later cut-off date. If 30-35 rooms

commit, we may be able to get a group rate. The buffet is $18 /plate but there are options on sandwiches. There is no buffet in the restaurant.
Future Conferences include the Smokies in Spring, 2014, to try to coordinate Spring Break with a late
March or early April conference. The site could be the Old Gatlinburg Inn, located near the chair lift.
The have meeting rooms and a new visitor’s center. Another option could be the Clarian Inn, near the edge of town nearest the Park. Jeff will make contacts.. The Fall Conference, 2014 will be at Ken Lake,
Spring 2015- Natural Bridge, and Fall 2015- Mammoth Cave.
By-Laws:
The By Laws will have another full year before being brought to the general membership for approval.
New Business
Chris Bidwell will be president in 2014.
Coordinators should be members in good standing. Mark Gumbert, Joe Settles, James Kaiser and John
Macgregor will perhaps help with the Spring Conference.
Newsletter: Timing is important in getting out KSNH INFORMATION. A Fall-Winter newsletter combined would be useful now, with Dec. 1 to be the cut off date. Group Emails may get people’s attention.
The Photo show was very good, full of old conference pictures and Susan Wilson requests more photos.
Grants: There were 3 grant applications this year. Wally Roberts suggested that a baseline poster could help generate scholarship applications. It could be a generic poster, one in which dates could be updated and could be sent to biology departments at different schools, detailing the grants. Wally stated that he would send Jeff information to go on the poster. Jeff would design the poster and get it printed at Staples. The cost would be about $15/poster, which would also carry our logo.
Logo: Berl Meyer changed the logo to reflect more real representations of our native tree, bird, mammal and flower. Berl stated he would make the requested changes and submit it to approval of the board through Email.
Pat Harigan is requesting money for her book. Berl Meyer suggested a separate account for donations for books.
The 75ath anniversary will be celebrated next year. Different expressions of celebrating this significant date were discussed including the suggestion of new name tags, a new T shirt or polo style shirt to be sold, and new lapel pins with the logo and the 75 th anniversary date. Berl stated he would look into the shirts and lapel pins and send board members the pictures on the computer. Susan Wilson suggested that a postcard with SAVE THE DATE go out to all members, and stating that if you attend the Spring
Conference you will get a 75 th anniversary pin free. This idea was accepted by all members.
Daniel Foster suggested adjourning the meeting and Wally Roberts seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 AM.
Margie Conard, Acting secretary