By Elliot Kirschbaum

Paul Kreiss has joined Debbie Terry and me on our coordination team. Paul has taken the lead for our blockbusting efforts by planning, organizing, and carrying out Atlas surveys in several not Atlased or under-Atlased blocks. Additionally, he will be working closely with Debbie on a wide range of Atlas planning and implementation activities.

Paul can be reached at:

2603 Talbot RD
Baltimore, MD 21216
(410) 367-8194

Nancy and I have moved to Shepherdstown, WV, which is right across the Potomac River from Sharpsburg, MD. I will continue on the coordination team. I will concentrate on database related activities such as block assignment and data review, while Debbie and Paul will continue to perform the coordination activities that require a more local presence.

I can be reached at:

72 Heather LN
Shepherdstown, WV 25443
(304) 876-6881

County Atlas Progress

At the end of the 2004 season, we have records for 74 of the county's 79 blocks. A total of 142 species have been observed during the breeding season, with 25 possible, 11 probable, and 106 confirmed breeders. Sixteen species of warbler have been found as well as an unexpected Blue-headed Vireo carrying nesting material at Soldiers Delight and a pair of Ruddy Duck with chicks at Druid Park reservoir.

By Ajax Eastman

Now most birders are familiar with the wonderful tale of New York City's "Red Tails in Love", as beautifully chronicled in Marie Winn's book, and the PBS documentary "Pale Male." If you missed either of those wonderful tales, you certainly heard about the dismantling of Pale Male and Lola's nest last winter just before nesting time, by the board of the "up scale" apartment house where Pale Male's nest resided for the past 12 years, resulting in an enormous brouhaha. Birders, New Yorkers, editors, T.V. news, etc. all rushed to defend the hawks, demanding that the hawks be allowed to build a new nest. The pigeon deflecting structure upon which the hawks built their previous nest had been removed along with the old nest so when the hawks attempted to build a new nest, there was no structure upon which to anchor the new nest and materials kept falling to the ground. The apartment house Pooh-Bahs after enormous negative publicity and picketing, finally relented and replaced the pigeon deterrent structure and Pale Male and Lola immediately commenced building their new nest. By now, presumably New York City has some new baby hawks adding to the previous broods totaling 23 fledglings, fathered by Pale Male across from Central Park during the past 12 year. It is certain that Pale Male and Lola will continue to draw the birders and onlookers who appreciate the bit of wildness in their urban midst.

I am hoping that the unnamed B & O hawks will continue to find Baltimore to their liking so that we can claim our own "Red Tails in Love."

By Carol Schreter, Recording Secretary

At all four meetings the board grappled with revisions to the BBC Bylaws and Manual of Operations, with the help of a sub-committee composed of Catherine Bishop, Joel Martin and Peter Webb. The proposed revisions are described in this issue of Chip Notes.

In 1989 when the current Bylaws and Manual of Operations were created, there were up to 600 paid BBC members. BBC's membership now hovers around 300 people. Just 14 new people joined this year.

Thus, it has become increasingly difficult to fill the many elected and appointed leadership positions. As the board revised the governing documents, all current leaders agreed to keep their positions for another year. Instead of having a Nominating Committee, the Board will now be responsible for finding suitable candidates.

As of June 2005, help is needed with these roles:

• 1 or 2 MOS Directors, to attend quarterly statewide meetings.
• Publicity person.
• Auditor, an annual audit of BBC finances.

Budget: BBC Treasurer Martie Dunn reports that BBC's income exceeded expenses by $1,425 for the year ending in April 2005.

Cylburn: Patsy Perlman, our Bird Museum representative, tells us that the Cylburn Carriage House will be minimally improved over the summer. It will open to the public starting in October 2005 with a temporary Nature and Bird Exhibit.

The new Gwynns Falls Trail: For bikers and hikers, a new 15 mile greenway trail connects Leakin Park to the Inner Harbor. The Conservation Committee is looking for someone willing to create a one-page handout describing: 1) the best spots for viewing birds; and 2) what birds one might see there. For more information, go to www.gwynnsfallstrail.org

By Carol Schreter

This was a busy year for the BBC Conservation Committee, thanks in part to the energies of two new members, Bryce Butler and Wendy Olsson. Our most notable efforts, and successes, involved protecting public lands and public education.

Our year started on a positive note. Lake Roland was rezoned in August 2004 from one house per acre to one house per 25 acres. To improve communications about Lake Roland, in January 2005 BBC Conservation Committee members Bryce Butler, Wendy Olsson, Peter Lev and I met with the Baltimore City Chief of Parks, Mr. Connie Brown.

As you may recall, Baltimore Sun investigative stories in the fall of 2004 revealed a secret deal to sell land purchased with Program Open Space funds and the existence of a Dept. of Natural Resources' (DNR) list of state properties deemed "excessable."

"The public opposition was quite amazing," according to Anneke Davis, the BBC Conservation Committee Chair. "The public said: This is our land. This is our heritage." In response, the state legislature: 1) reduced the Governor's proposed cuts to legislatively dedicated Program Open Space funds; and 2) is demanding an oversight role in any future sale of state lands. Watch for a referendum on the ballot for the November 2006 elections. [For a legislative update, go to www.PartnersForOpenSpace.org.]

BBC played no small role in the public outcry. First, on October 7, 2004, the Sun printed my Letter to the Editor titled "Supporting slots [and horse farms] is the wrong way to save open space." Information I provided at that time about cuts to Program Open Space funds over the previous three years prompted the Sun Letters Editor to pose this Question of the Month for November: Do you think the State should be making more of an effort and spending more money to protect and preserve open space?" The 18 affirmative responses printed in the Editorial Section on November 27, 2004, included letters from six organizations and four BBC members: Anne Brooks, Rob Olsson, Martin and Paula Schugam.

Meanwhile, Peter Lev investigated the quality of wildlife habitat of the two parcels in Baltimore County that were deemed "excessable" on the State DNR list, and sent his reaction to the MOS Conservation Committee.

In January Bryce, Wendy, Joan Cwi and I attended the Environmental Summit in Annapolis. To keep other BBC members informed and involved, Wendy activated our e-mail Conservation Alert System; she sent out messages in November and February. In April, Wendy sent BBC members a Conservation Alert about DNR's State Forest Management Plans.

Chimney Swifts: Our most visible success this year involved the BBC SwiftWatch Team: Alice & David Nelson, Joan Cwi, Bryce Butler and me. Maryland Public Television filmed a story in the fall of 2004 about the migrating chimney swifts of Hampden. This aired in March and April of 2005 as a segment of "Maryland Outdoors" and will be televised periodically. We got three local newspapers to pre-announce the TV show. We now have a quality tape we can use for educational purposes.

Baltimore Green Week: On April 3, 2005, BBC set up a booth at Baltimore's first Eco Festival, part of Baltimore Green Week. There, we met other conservation-minded people staffing the other booths. Bryce organized the BBC booth, and was assisted that day by Wendy and Rob Olsson, Joan Cwi and me.

Shade-Grown Coffee: Our BBC flyer "Where to Buy Shade-Grown Coffee in the Baltimore Area" got a companion this year. At the request of MOS, I created a similar flyer for use statewide. This year I distributed 1,600 copies of the statewide flyer and 250 copies of the Baltimore flyer. The shade-grown coffee story was reprinted in the DNR magazine Maryland Natural Resource (Winter 2005 issue) and the newsletters of the Friends of Blackwater and the Maryland Conservation Council.

Do you wish to be notified by e-mail of critical local conservation issues?

Cromwell Valley Park is a wonderful spot in the Baltimore area to take in the spectacular autumn hawk flights. Join Jim and Joanne Meyers the Tuesday after Labor Day at Cylburn to hear about the new hawk watching facilities at CVP and the hawks that fly over CVP on their way south.

October 4 "Important Bird Area" David Curson , Director of Bird Conservation- Audubon MD-D.C

David will introduce us to the Important Bird Areas program in MD. Those of us who attended his lecture on cowbirds several years ago at Sherwood House and have joined him on bird walks at Patterson Park, know what an informative and enjoyable evening is in store for those who come to Cylburn the first Tuesday in October.

November 1 "Seasons at the Fort" Jim Peters. Jim single-handedly took on the project of turning the urban wetlands of Ft. McHenry into a micro- habitat for resident and migrating birds. It is beautiful spot for birders to view these birds. At our November lecture Jim will share with us 6 years of monitoring birds at Ft. McHenry.

Please note these dates on your calendar. We are grateful that Shirley and Raymond Geddes will run the "social hour" which begins at 7:00 pm. Lectures begin at 7:45. Arrive early, visit with friends and exchange bird sightings and stories.

By Peter Lev

Cromwell will soon have two separate advisory groups: the Friends of Cromwell Valley Park, which has been around for a while, and a new Recreation Council group. BBC members are encouraged to become active in both.

By Wendy Olsson

Baltimore City has modeled its new "Urban Weed Warrior" program off of an innovative Montgomery County program which has the goal of eliminating these nonnative thugs from the landscape. A tough task but necessary since many of these alien invaders do not have natural predators in this area.

Baltimore's Dirty Dozen

Pretty much any bird habitat you go to in our area has a problem with at least one of these species: Japanese Stiltgrass is a significant problem at Soldiers Delight, while beautiful Milford Mill Park is under assault by Garlic Mustard, English Ivy, and Tree of Heaven. As these plants replace our native species, native birds have shelter, food, and nesting sites which are less suitable, putting a greater threat on bird populations. Some invasive species also carry diseases which can devastate our native trees, shrubs, and plants.

So what can you do?

Compiled by Mary Chetelat

March 6-Loch Raven. Debbie Terry led a group of 8 (including 2 folks who were not BBC members on a walk at the Loch Raven "Old Picnic Area Trail" and Paper Mill Flats . On this cloudy cool day 34 species were seen on the Picnic Area Trail and 17 species were viewed at Paper Mill Flats, Horned and Pie-billed Grebes, Hooded and Common Mergansers, Pileated Woodpecker, Brown Creeper, Bluebird, Wood Duck, Green-winged Teal, American Wigeon, and Cooper's and Red-tailed Hawk were some of the birds seen.

March 12-Middle Creek WMA. This refuge north of Lancaster PA had its typical dazzling display of about 80,000 Snow Geese. There were also about 4000 Tundra Swans and miscellaneous waterfowl. There was a Tree Sparrow at the Visitor Center. On the way home many participants stopped at Mark Linardi's brother's house in Fawn Grove, PA for an excellent display of displaying Woodcocks at dusk. 7 participants. The weather was sunny with moderate temperatures. Leader: Steve Sanford.

March 26-Sea Watch at Ocean City. Five birders, none from Baltmiore, had a good day watching thousands of seabirds go by, some in good view, especially gannets. An excellent day for Red-throated Loon with 140, 3,500 scoters, 170 Red-breasted Mergansers, 1 possible red Phalarope again, and a distant Brown Pelican at Assateague Island. Future sea watch will expand to both days and maybe first weekend of April. Leader: Kevin Graff: 40 species.

April 17-Kevin Graff-- Cylburn. 10 birders - It was a nice day to be out, but a little chilly with temperatures in the 50's warming up to 60's. 10 birders came up with two Double-crestedCormorant flyby, many gnatcatchers, heard three Palm Warblers, nice look at Eastern Towhee, and some swallows at lumberyards with a total of 38 species total. (Reported by Kevin Graff).

April 24, 26, 27 & 29-Chimney Swifts in Hampden: The BBC SwiftWatch Team followed up the "Maryland Outdoors" segment that was broadcast in March and April with 4 announced counts. The high count was 1,208 Chimney Swifts on April 29. The 26 attendees included 10 locals from Hampden and a photographer from Smart CEO magazine. Trip leaders: Alice and David Nelson, Joan Cwi, Carol Schreter

April 24-Granite Area/Patapsco Valley State Park. Keith Costley, trip leader, and 8 fellow birders were treated to 50 species. Highlights would have been the Cerulean Warbler, 2 Great Horned Owls (fl) and 4 hawk species + an Osprey. Good hunting grounds?

May 3-Lake Roland. The walk had a total of 52 species of birds, including at least 15 Solitary Sandpipers and 8 Spotted Sandpipers.Blue-winged and Black-throated Blue Warblers were new year birds for Lake Roland as well.

May 7-Patterson Park, Baltimore. Due to northeasterly winds on this day, migrants were rather scarce. Still, 35 species, including Veery, Ovenbird, Eastern Towhee and Rose-breasted Grosbeak were observed. Several newcomers to birding saw life birds and all were impressed by finding "non-urban" birds in a very urban park. At the very end of the walk (after, unfortunately, some of the people had left), a beautiful red-headed woodpecker appeared in an oak tree right overhead and put on a great show! Trip Leader: Dave Curson. 12 participants.

May 10-Lake Roland. 71 species!! A great day! Orioles all around and singing. Good views of a White-eyed Vireo. An Acadian Flycatcher doing its "Pizza" call. 9 Warbler Species. **A Semipalmated Plover**. Mid-May is ALWAYS great! Trip Leader: Ruth Culbertson. 20 participants.

May 15-Oregon Ridge: Bryce Butler led a group of 7 and they enjoyed seeing 52 species including a Wood Thrush observed on its nest and a late Dark-eyed Junco. The most fun must have been the little-grey-ball-of-fluff Carolina Wren fledgling being noisily attended by 4 adults, all encouraging the fluffball to fly up out of reach, which it finally succeeded at doing

May 17-Lake Roland. 70 species! Another great day, with 11 warbler species (including a Wilson's Warbler), the Yellow-billed Cuckoo some of us were thinking about, and an Adult Barred Owl with a young one. Trip Leader: Josie Gray. 22 participants.

May 24-Lake Roland. 5 intrepid birders braved cool, overcast and rainy weather and were rewarded with sightings of "both Night Herons", Blue-winged Teal, Wood Duck, Mallards with ducklings and Canada Geese with goslings, Semi-palmated Plover, Orchard and Baltimore Orioles and 5 warbler species among the 38 total species recorded. Trip Leader: Shirley Geddes.

May 31-Lake Roland. 51 species were tallied on this last day of May, Highlights included male and female Indigo Buntings, a pair of Belted Kingfishers making a rattling good show, the Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned Night Herons, a Green Heron, and an appearance by the nesting Pileated Woodpecker. Trip Leader: Paul Noell. 14 participants.

.June 4-Birds of the Jones Falls. Highlights of this trip included a territorial male Kentucky Warbler singing in full view, numerous orioles of both species including 2 active nests, a beautiful pair of Wood Ducks, a 2nd -year Yellow-crowned Night Heron, and close looks at Cedar Waxwings, Yellow Warblers, and other warblers. 51 species. 6 participants. Leader: Brian Rollfinke

By Joseph Lewandowski

March 20 - The first Sunday walk at Cylburn greeted six birders with a dark, foggy overcast day in the lower 40's. Twenty-Four species hit our bird list with a great view of a Fox Sparrow and notable birds such as the Great-horned Owl, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Wood Duck, and Carolina Wren.

March 27 - Same as last week, overcast and cool, temperature at 40ºF. Six birders again walked the trails, but only twenty-one bird species were tallied. Great-horned Owl, Cowbird, Kestrel, Red-tailed Hawk, and Carolina Wren were some of the more eventful finds.

April 3 - Bad birding day. Overcast and windy, temperature again at 40ºF. Three birders & sixteen bird species. Flicker, Red-tailed Hawk, Wood Duck, Red-winged Blackbird, and Carolina Wren were the best birds of the day.

April 10 - This Sunday was a little better, sunny and mild, temperature in the 50's. Ten birders came out and Cylburn is finally starting to bloom. Daffodils and the Magnolias are blooming and the tulips are starting to come up. Birding has not picked up. Only twenty-two species hit our lists. The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Rough-winged Swallow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Chipping Sparrow, White-breasted Nuthatch, Canada Goose, and Wood Duck were our treat this day.

April 24 - It has cooled down here in Baltimore. Sunny, windy, and 40ºF again. Five birders came out and saw our first warblers, a Black-and-white Warbler, Yellow Warbler, and Yellow-rumped Warbler. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Solitary Sandpiper, White-breasted Nuthatch, Pileated Woodpecker, Black-crowned Night Heron, and Rufous-sided Towhee were the best of the twenty-six species seen.

May 8 - A windy day at Cylburn with sun and blue skies. Temperature still cool, in the 50's. Eight birders trucked the trails and aggressively picked up thirty-two species of birds. House Wren, Red-tailed Hawk, Barn Swallow, Wood Thrush, Catbird, Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, Killdeer, Yellow Warbler, Redstart, Warbling Vireo, Brown Thrasher, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Black-and white Warbler, Parula Warbler, and a Black-throated blue Warbler were our Cylburn specials of the day.

May 15 - Temperature 55ºF, overcast, warm, and humid. Tulip dig time at Cylburn and the grounds are loaded with people. Seven birders and another thirty-two bird species count. House Wren, Magnolia Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Barn Swallow, Wood Thrush, Catbird, Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, Great Blue Heron, Acadian Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Veery, Yellowthroat, Redstart, Grackle, and Mockingbird filled our binoculars. We even saw a box turtle on our path, a nice touch to this Spring day.

May 22 - We are getting into Spring now& Sunny skies and 60-degree temperatures. Cylburn gardeners have planted flowers in the circle before the mansion house and the trees of the Arboretum are in bloom. Of the five birders to join us today, we had our youngest birder; a baby in a backpack carrier. Need to start our new members off at an early age. Birds were not cooperative, only seventeen species. Barn Swallows and a Wood Thrush were the only notable birds.

May 29 - This was the last walk of the Springtime. Four birders came out, twenty-five birds seen. House Wren, Cedar Waxwing, Barn Swallow, Chimney Swift, Catbird, Pileated Woodpecker, Chipping Sparrow, Great-crested Flycatcher, Veery, Acadian Flycatcher, and Warbling Vireo were of special note. To top off this trip, we spotted a milk snake and garter snake along the route.

That sums up Cylburn. Not a great Spring, but one with interesting finds along the way and of course, good company. See you in the Fall.

Joe Lewandowski

By Kathleen Woods

Let us first dispel the popular myth that a mother bird will not feed its young if a human has handled it. That is absolutely not true. Perhaps the myth started with the actual fact that handling a bird or mammal w ill certainly leave your scent on the animal and thereby attract predators to the nest the parents have left scent free.

If a baby bird falls from its nest, the best thing you can do is to put the baby bird back. If you cannot get to the nest but the parents are hovering, make a nest using an old berry basket or old nest or even an old margarine tin with holes poked in it. Secure the new nest to a tree or bush near the old nest. The parents will return within one hour. Perhaps the nest has been destroyed by a storm and several baby birds are on the ground. Again, in sight of the parents, put the baby birds together and place in a safe spot in a tree or bush.

A fledgling is a baby bird hopping on the ground still being fed by a parent. This is their most dangerous time. Yards should have piles of brush for shelter., or low bushes under which to hide. Put the bird in these bushes or on a limb; the parents should return shortly.

If the bird is bleeding, weak and shivering, or attacked by a dog or a cat, it needs intervention from a wildlife rehabilitator. Put paper towels in the bottom of a box or carrier (no wire cages) with air holes in it. Put one end of the container on a heating pad, use an old sports bottle full of hot water, or nuke a ziplock bag ½ full of uncooked rice as warming agents. Cover the bird with a towel or washcloth, pick it up and place it in the container. Keep the bird in a warm, dark, quiet placeBBC Merchandise

By Patsy Perlman

Thank you, Joy, for all you do!

We have also found ourselves operating with differences between the task responsibilities outlined in our current Bylaws and Manual of Operations and the actuality of which people are really doing those tasks.

The Board has concluded, after doing a streamlining of our operating budget in order to bring our spending (per member) down closer to the levels found in other chapters, that it would be appropriate to follow the budget streamlining with a streamlining of our organization, both to reduce the load on people seeking candidates for office and also to have a reduced, streamlined re-organization of our Club offices to go along with streamlining of our expenditures and operations. The re-organization would require some changes in our Bylaws and Manual of Operations to reflect those changes and keep us legal as a non-profit organization.

What we came up with, in brief, was to reduce the number of Officers to more closely match the need and duties to be met, as follows:

We propose reducing the number of Chapter Directors from a fixed number of six to:

.. a Director for each one hundred members or part thereof.

That's the exact wording now found in our State MOS Bylaws for determining the number of State Directors each chapter (including our Baltimore Bird Club) should have representing us at Maryland Ornithological Society Board meetings.

It works out that for a club membership of 305, for example, we would have 3 Directors for each of the first three 100's plus a fourth Director for those remaining 5 members who would represent a "part thereof", that is, the beginning of a fourth set of 100. That would give us a total of 4 Directors, rather than the old fixed number of 6. To get up to 5 Directors by the "new" system, we would need a Club membership of 401.

The Corresponding Secretary, not having enough duties, will be dropped (her suggestion).

We also propose, with the reduced number of people serving on the Board, to reduce the quorum, required for attending Board members to be able to vote, be reduced from the old number of 10 to a new fixed quorum number of 7.

We also concluded that the two-year alternating terms for Directors we've had before have been too confusing, so we propose that they follow the same term as all other Officers - that is, now all elected officers and appointed officers will serve one-year terms.

Replacing officers or Directors as needed is now up to the Board.

Since nobody has volunteered to serve on the Nominating Committee (we kept last year's slate for legal purposes), we propose dropping the Nominating Committee, and leaving it the Board's responsibility to come up with a slate of officers for the next election.

Some duties currently specified by the Bylaws or Manual to be the responsibility of officers but which are actually being done by other people, will be dropped from the official document and allowed to be unofficially performed by the actual people who are doing those tasks.

And now, here are the proposed line-by-line changes, old and new versions:

BYLAWS

• current: .. consistent with those of the state organization
• proposed: .. Individual, Household, Junior, and Sustaining.
• reason: we've dropped "Life" membership class.

• current: .. Corresponding Secretary ..
• proposed: drop Corresponding Secretary
• reason: not enough duties; other officers can absorb those tasks.

• current: .. on May 1 and shall hold office for one year through April 30 of the following year ..
• proposed: .. on September 1, and shall hold office for one year, through August 31 ..
• reason: to be consistent with the State organization and to correspond with the season of our activities and of the season of our annual budget.

• current: State Directors shall be elected in the same manner and at the same time as the officers .. in accordance with .. the State Bylaws ..
• proposed: delete section; State Directors will, as officers, be elected for the same term as the other officers above, and will already be in accordance with the State Bylaws.
• reason: The old section 3 was made necessary by the different times for the terms (May - April) in the old Section 1, which does not agree with the State Bylaws. It was also contradictory, specifying both May - April and Sep - August terms for the Chapter President. With the proposed revision of Section 1, we will be in compliance with State Bylaws and the contradiction will disappear. We won't need to spell out in Section 3 what is already set in the revised Section 1.

• current: One half the Chapter Directors shall be elected each year and shall serve for two years.
• proposed: delete section 4; State, Chapter Directors and all other Officers will be covered in the proposed new section 1, and sections 3 and 4 won't be needed. This would have Chapter Directors elected for the same one-year term as all other elected Officers.
• reason: to avoid confusion with the alternating two-year terms, and to bring the Chapter Directors elected in a manner consistent with other Chapter and State MOS procedures.

• current: The Nominating Committee ..
• proposed: drop the Nominating Committee; instead add its duties to the Board's duties.
• reason: We can't find people both knowledgeable of our Club's members and willing to serve on a Nominating Committee. The people listed on it for this year agreed on the condition they wouldn't actually have to do anything, just fill the positions until we change the Bylaws.

• current: .. this Committee ..
• proposed: .. the Board ..
• reason: see above section 1

• current: .. six members ..
• proposed: .. a Director for each one hundred members or part thereof ..
• reason: With a Club half the size of the 600-member Club which required 6 Board members, we no longer need 6 Board members; instead, the State Directors formula, good enough for the State MOS, seems a more appropriate number. With our Club membership currently at about 305 members, that would give us 4 Chapter Directors (and also 4 State Directors to attend State MOS Board meetings). That means we don't have to try to find 6 people willing to serve as Chapter Directors on our Board, just 4.

• current: Ten members of the Board shall constitute a quorum.
• proposed: make that 7;
• reason: even with 6 elected Chapter Directors, we sometimes can't get fully 10 people to come to a Board Meeting; with three less people (Corresponding Sec'y and two Directors), we must reduce the number of people required for a voting quorum. So that becomes: Seven members of the Board shall constitute a quorum.

MANUAL OF OPERATIONS

• current: .. by the Bylaws Committee ..
• proposed: drop Bylaws Committee
• reason: this most recent review and revision was done partly by the Board, at Board meetings, and partly by an ad hoc group of three people, at the Board's request, then presented to the Board for further revision by the Board and then approved by the Board. Future revisions will probably also be mainly done by the Board, with small ad hoc groups of people assigned to do some of the proposed revision, to be revised again by the Board before approval. It will probably also be some years before any further revisions are considered.

• current: .. the same as those set forth in the MANUAL OF OPERATIONS of the State organization ..
• proposed: .. (shall be) Individual, Household, Sustaining, and Junior.
• reason: State classes include Life, which our Chapter no longer offers.