Our annual business meeting will take place at St Luke Evangelical Lutheran Church at 7 PM on Monday, April 10. First up will be The Birds and the Bees, presented by Tracy Snyder, Penn State Bee Monitoring program.

The rest of the meeting will involve elections for new directors, voting on proposed changes to our Constitution/By-Laws, and reports from officers and committees. For the elections and voting to be valid, we must have a quorum, so PLEASE VOTE! There are three ways you may vote: in person at the April 10 meeting, sending an email to mailto:ConAudubon@outlook.com, or by calling Valerie Barnes at 717-352-4397.

VOTING:

1.  Nominees for Director are Jim Hook, Linda Kaiser, and Cindy Thrasher. You may vote for all three or fewer. 

 Jim Hook: VOTE Yes or No

 Linda Kaiser: VOTE Yes or No

 Cindy Thrasher: VOTE Yes or No

2. Please see the file named ConstByLaws2023-03-13.pdf to review the proposed changes to our Constitution/By-Laws. Proposed changes are marked in red.

Article II: Most local-only members renew their membership in September, but some are on a different schedule. Insertion of “normally” in Section 6.b. acknowledges that.  VOTE on this proposed change: Yes or No

Article IV: Proposes that all officers (including President and Vice President) may be re-elected for multiple two-year terms. This gives us more flexibility going forward. VOTE on this proposed change: Yes or No

Article V: Adds language clarifying that officers and directors are immune from personal liability for actions taken on behalf of CAS. As mentioned last month, we have been reviewing our organization’s liability insurance coverage. These new clauses are proposed as a result of that review. We will be purchasing new liability insurance for officers and directors; these new clauses support the coverage provided by the insurance. VOTE on these proposed changes: Yes or No.

Officer and Committee Chairs: Please send a written report for this fiscal year to Valerie Barnes (barnesva4@comcast.net) and ConAudubon@outlook.com by April 3. Please report status, accomplishments, the number of people reached by your endeavors, expenditures, plans and requested funding for next year, and hours spent. Our current fiscal year runs from June 1, 2022 – May 31, 2023. If you need to update your report after April 3 (perhaps because not everything is finished yet for the fiscal year), just send a revised file to Val and the CAS email address. During the meeting on April 10, we’ll ask you to present the highlights.

It’s spring and thoughts turn to our gardens and yards, in addition to migrating birds. To see stellar photographs showing birds on native plants from National Audubon Society visit: These 12 birds are thriving with native plants  And, from Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Landscaping for Birds: 7 Important Plant Group

National Audubon announced that they are keeping the name “Audubon”. See more details regarding the decision by visiting https://www.audubon.org/news/open-letter-ceo-audubons-name

We have many Upcoming Activities scheduled this spring. As always, please let the field trip leader know in advance that you plan to attend. And check the Calendar on this website for updates.

We have many Volunteer Opportunities coming up. Please help represent Conococheague Audubon at these community outreach events.

• Monitor Bluebird Trail boxes. Contact Dorian/Lynn Runt, adamsmail@centurylink.net or 717-352-4995.
• Clean up and help maintain the native plants garden at Norlo Park. Contact Josh Donaldson, jd425@embarqmail.com or 717-264-6920.
• Be at our table during the Conococheague Institute’s  Get to Know Nature: Learning then Conserving event planned for Saturday, April 15, 2023 during some portion of the time span 10am to 4pm. Contact Terri Kochert, bobterri81@comcast.net or 717-263-3692.
• We are looking for help at a new Bird Day event being planned by the Franklin County Visitors Bureau for 4 and 5 May. Contact Terri Kochert, bobterri81@comcast.net or 717-263-3692.
• Monitor birds on Michaux State Forest, Contact John Greer, jngreer@aol.com or 443-255-8871 or Sue Greer, Sgreer412@gmail.com or 443-255-9559.
• Plant trees at the new Furnace Run Park in Southampton Township ~April 14-16. Contact Ron George, writinron@comcast.net or 717-446-4183.
• Beginning Birders’ Workshop is scheduled for Saturday, June 3 at Caledonia. Volunteers needed! Planning sessions will occur at 6:15 PM prior to our April 10 and May 8 regular meetings at St Luke Evangelical Lutheran Church. Contact Dave Cooney Jr. at (717) 264-2116 or slant1cm@yahoo.com, or Janet Tice at (717) 372-0379 or jwtice1@comcast.net.
• Coming on 4th Saturdays this summer, June – September: display table at Chambersburg Farmers’ Market. Details TBD. Contact Terri Kochert, bobterri81@comcast.net or 717-263-3692.

We are planning next season’s activities on April 11. See the calendar event for Zoom information. If you have an idea for a program or a new field trip, please participate in the meeting. All field trip leaders should participate to set the date for your trip.

It’s not too late to sign up for the field trip to Magee Marsh in Ohio, May 15-17. Contact Terri Kochert, bobterri81@comcast.net or 717-263-3692

Good birding!

Valerie Barnes, President