We began the meeting with a moment of silence in honor of the passing of our esteemed colleague and long time member Dr. Lee D. Miller.
Chairman Joe Riddlebarger called the 2008 SLS Business Meeting to order at 4:22 p.m. on Thursday June 26th in the Auditorium of the Bost Extension Center at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi. Members who signed in at the Business Meeting were:
| James & Eleaner Adams John Beck Charlie Covell Thomas C. Emmel Jeffrey Marcus |
Deborah Matthews Lott Eric Metzler Jacqueline Miller Bob & Beth Patterson Kelly Richers |
Joe Riddlebarger Don Stillwaugh J .D. Turner Reed A. Watkins |
In Treasurer Jeff Slotten’s absence, Joe referred members to Volume 29 No. 4 (2007) of the SL NEWS for the most recent Treasurer’s Report. Production and mailing of NEWS, as usual, constitutes the bulk of the organization’s expenses. The Minutes of the 2007 Annual Meeting also appear in this issue.
Under Old Business, Debbie Lott reported that Volumes 7 through ll of NEWS have been scanned. The intention is to have them available as pdfs in an archive on the SLS Website with a running lag being kept from current issues. Debbie was commended for her efforts.
Under New Business, the 2009 SLS Annual Meeting was briefly discussed. It was mentioned that SLS usually holds a joint meeting with the Association of Tropical Lepidoptera, but the ATL meeting will be held in conjunction with the Lepidopterists’ Society Meeting in Mexico in 2009. Chairman Joe deferred further discussion on this matter until the Board could meet.
Next, the Chairman reported on the status of the John Abbott Award. The SLS Board of Directors intended to submit a ballot of three eligible recipients prior to the Annual Meeting. Unfortunately, two of those nominees declined and others could not be found in a timely fashion. Since the SLS Constitution prohibits the granting of the Award without at least 3 nominees, no award was granted this year. A question arose as to the names of the previous award winners and it was stated that this information is available on the SLS Website.
The final item on the Meeting’s Agenda was the election of new officers. The membership was first reminded that several officers are looking for others to take over their positions; in particular, the Treasurer and the NEWS Editor are seeking capable and willing replacements. That reminder notwithstanding, the following slate of seven officers which comprises the SLS Board of Directors was submitted to the attending membership:
| Chairman — Joe Riddlebarger NEWS editor — J. Barry Lombardini Website Manager – Dave Morgan Member-at-Large — Tom Neal |
Secretary — Don Stillwaugh Treasurer — Jeff Slotten Membership Coordinator — Marc Minno |
A motion to approve the slate was quickly made and seconded. The motion passed with no [dissenting] votes.
Joe opened the floor for any final items. Jackie Miller requested authorization to share E-mail and postal addresses with ATL in order to cut down on redundant labor. No one seemed to object and without a formal motion and vote, Joe gave her permission to do so. Tom Emmel offered the facilities at the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity in Gainesville as a location for the 2009 SLS Annual Meeting. Charlie Covell motioned to have the Secretary compose a letter of appreciation to J. Barry Lombardini in praise of his efforts as Editor of SL NEWS. It was quickly seconded and passed unanimously.
With no other items from the floor, Joe adjourned the Meeting at 4:32 p.m. and the attendees posed for a group photograph (page 101).
[Reprinted from Southern Lepidopterists’ News Vol. 30 No. 3]