This argument over chartering a bus for the upcoming eclipse in May needs to be put on hold until the next meeting. First, I agree with Siegfried and Chuck that there needs to be restrictions on how the club expends its funds. Has a survey been taken to establish just how many club members would be interested in a chartered trip to St. George? Is it possible to do one before the February meeting? I would be happy to volunteer and do a phone survey to see if the interest is there in the membership. I do have a suggestion however. If there is enough interested members in making the trip by bus, perhaps we could come up with a compromise. I just talked with a representative at "Le Bus" about options for such a trip. She says if we had 50 members take a turn-around trip (drive-down, view the eclipse and then drive-back the same day) it would be about $40 per person. The group would have 5 hours to work with once off the bus to view the eclipse due to the fact that the bus operator has a 15-hour driving time limit once he leaves the bus yard. She gave me the price of $1,017.90 for that option. I asked her about a over-night option so members could do some stargazing and then sleep over in a motel in St. George. That bumped the cost up to $1870 since they'd have to pay the operator an extra day's wages. Now for my thoughts on a compromise. Since this wouldn't be a public outreach adventure by any means, perhaps the membership could vote on a one-time 50/50 deal. The club would pay out $20 towards a member's seat (for a total of $1,000) and the member would be responsible for the remaining $20 (based on the 50 riders on a turn-around trip). The member would of course be responsible for any taxes, luggage fees, etc. Once a member has reserved a seat, they must keep to their commitment unless a valid emergency comes up and he/she can fill that seat with another member who couldn't get a seat due to the bus being filled. As for the over-night option, it's basically the same, except the member would be responsible for their room as well. And perhaps a motel/hotel can be contracted for a discount for such a large group. Another thing to consider is food. Members could either bring their own lunch bags or maybe the club could find a vendor who would make a quantity of "box lunches," in which the cost is shared equally by each member. A couple of large coolers with dry ice should do the job. Just my two cents. As I am now a retired bus driver this month, I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of old friends and meeting some new ones in February! Tom Sevcik