MARCH 1 NOVAC BOARD MEETING
19:30 Pete Johnson, President, called the board meeting to order.
Pete Johnson informed theboard that our point of contact at Crockett Park, Bonner Davis, is  changing jobs and will be going to Franklin Park.  Hopefully, this will not impact NOVAC's use of Crockett and Pete plans to meet with Bonner's replacement.
Pete Johnson discussed the upcoming Astronomy Day public event at Crockett Park on April 8.  Ed Witkowski will take care of advertising.
The board decided to postpone the raising of dues pending savings in newsletter postage as a result of using bulk mail rates.
Greg Piepol will be taking over the NOVAC web site coordination.  The board has decided to move the web site to another host that will provide more access flexibility for updates and maintenance than is currently available at GMU.
Ian Keith presented options for replacing the current NOVAC Hotline with a commercial voice mail number.  Pete Johnson is currently paying the cost of this out of his own pocket.
Craig Tupper listed the upcoming general membership meeting programs.
Pete Johnson adjourned the meeting at 21:00
Submitted by Kevin Brown, Secretary

MARCH 11 NOVAC GENERAL MEETING
18:05 Pete Johnson, President, called the meeting to order.  The prospective and new members introduced themselves.
Pete Johnson briefly discussed the upcoming Astronomy Day public event.
Pete Johnson informed the membership that a vote on a dues increase is postponed indefinitely until the impact of the postage savings, as a result of using bulk mail for the newsletter, on the budget is evaluated.
Ed Witkowski informed the membership of upcoming public outreach events.
Craig Tupper, Vice President, listed the upcoming meeting programs.
Ian Keith gave the sky tour.
Sean O'Brien announced the dates for the Sky Meadows public astronomy programs for the April  - October 2000 season.
For the main program, Dr. John Rummel gave a presentation "looking for Life in All the Wrong Places".
Pete adjourned the meeting at 20:00
There were approximately 54 in attendance.
Submitted by Kevin Brown, Secretary

APRIL 5 NOVAC BOARD MEETING
19:30 Pete Johnson, President, called the board meeting to order.
Pete Johnson met with the new point of contact at Crockett Park, Chris Breman.  NOVAC's use of Crockett will continue as before.
Pete Johnson recapped the public event that was held at Mickie Gordon Park on April 1.  Despite less than ideal weather, approximately 100 people showed up.
The board voted to present an award to Elliott Fein, the recently retired newsletter editor, for his service to the club.  Elliott has been doing the newsletter for the past 5 years.
The board decided to continue using bulk mail for the newsletter.
The board decided to create a revolving fund to purchase ATM (amateur telescope making) components.  Members interested in building a telescope can than purchase the components from the club at cost.
Greg Piepol informed the board that NOVAC now owns the domain names novac.com and novac.net and that the web site re-hosting effort is underway.
Pete Johnson informed the board that the NOVAC Hotline has been changed and is now (703) 758-4455.
Ed Witkowski listed the upcoming public outreach programs.
Pete Johnson adjourned the meeting at 20:30
Submitted by Kevin Brown, Secretary

APRIL 9 NOVAC GENERAL MEETING
18:00 Pete Johnson, President, called the meeting to order.  The prospective and new members introduced themselves.
Pete Johnson gave a recap of the public event held at Mickie Gordon Park on April 1.
Pete Johnson informed the membership of the new NOVAC phone hotline and the new web site hosting.
Pete Johnson gave an overview of the ATM special interest group.  The ATM group meets at Pete's house on the Sunday evening following the regular membership meeting.
Ed Witkowski discussed the public outreach program and listed the upcoming events.
Bob Gent made some comments about the local light pollution efforts.
Tom Dietz outlined the club observing trip to Spruce Knob, WV on the weekend of June 3.
Ian Keith gave the sky tour on the upcoming conjunction of the moon and planets in May.
For the main program, Dr. Peter Chen gave an update on his large, lightweight optics project.
Pete adjourned the meeting at 20:00
There were approximately 43 in attendance.
Submitted by Kevin Brown, Secretary