Ron, I want to second Brent's comments. I believe the first purpose of any group is fun. If the the club is no longer fun membership drops. That's why we dropped out of the Utah Rock Art Research Association. It became too elitist. Another problem in retaining married male members is lack of family support. If the wife has no interest she is only going to tolerate hubbie being gone so much. Ron, you remember going to Cathedral Gorge SP for Las Vegas Astronomical Society's star parties in Septembers. Remember how many wives and children were there? LVAS realized a long time ago they needed to have star parties where there were a lot of activities the family could do in the day time. The wives became friends and so did the children, At Cathedral Gorge most of the wives would gather at night in one of the rented motor homes (many wifves don't want to camp in a tent) and play cards and do some drinking. They would have similar get togethers when their husbands wanted to go out to some remote locations. The wives would stay in LV and get together. I remember one year we got there a few days early but so had several others . Some children came by and were disappointed to find out we had no children that could join their children's astronomy club which they had made up that week. To join you had to be able to name one constellation. LVAS turned there club into a family club, Memberships are family memberships with both husband and wife having a vote in elections. They also have another SP at Cathedral Gorge in May. The SP had modified the campground to make it more astronomer friendly! They have other group gatherings elsewhere but always with daytime activities for family members. I have a lot of fond memories of the many times we went there. Ron, I also have fond memories of Monte Christo. Deloy Pierce