Abbreviated Summary of Our First NESRA Meeting

Greetings fellow BFF members! Here some abbreviated notes from our first meeting in Hartford, CT on Feb. 12, 2005. Please feel free to submit any ideas or make any suggestions to help us make this new association even better! Looking forward to hearing from all who are willing to share.

DTK

Attendance:

I reserved a place for 10 at our most humble of meeting places -- The PizzaPlus restaurant in Hartford, CT. I arrived early to find New York Believer (NYB) from the New York City area already waiting, with sightings data sheets in hand. NYB has been a student of the Bigfoot/Sasquatch phenomena for the past 20 years. We were immersed in conversation when Hollywood Action Hero, from Springfield, MA arrived. Hollywood is more of the "let's get out into the field" kind of enthusiast who wields a witty sense of humor and a desire to get out there and do something significant. The Beaver from Québec, Canada, walked in next. The Beaver has had his own possible encounter with a Bigfoot-type creature and expressed that he was more than willing to participate in any Northeastern expeditions we undertake. BigDaddy from the Whitehall, NY area made his entrance next. A restaurant chef and former wrestler, BigDaddy has had a longtime interest in Bigfoot and even oversees his own organization.

PinelandsResarcher from NJ, Paul_R from NH, ganglian from southern MA and cjs825 from western MA all stated that they had every intention of joining us but had to work that Saturday. Dogfoot from northern New Jersey wrote in afterward that he had a death in the family and apologized for not being able to make it to our initial founder's meeting.

Name:

We began the meeting by going over a long list of possible names for our group. In the end we decided upon The North East Sasquatch Researchers Association (NESRA).

Organization vs. Association:

We decided that the group we are forming should be an association rather than an organization. An organization is a pyramid-style hierarchy, which tends to become elitist, dictatorial and exclusive in nature. An association is a loose-fitting network of free-willed individuals who relate together around a common cause. Although NESRA makes allowance for a diversity of views and approaches, it will use a unified set of scientific standards and methods for determining and processing collected evidence and data. (More on this at a later date)

The North East Territory:

We used a National Geographic map of the northeast to decide on which states and provinces to include in our definition of the Northeast territory. Although NYB and Hollywood felt we should begin with a smaller defined territory, I suggested that we remain with the National Geographic definition so as to keep our vision large enough to study possible migration patterns. I also felt our target territory should be broad enough for rapid growth via the Internet and my own personal travels through these states and territories. BigDaddy suggested that we start off as a national organization. In the end, we concluded that the Northeast territory would be made up of the following:

Northeastern United States

Connecticut
Delaware
Illinois
Iowa
Indiana
Kentucky
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
New Hampshire
New York
New Jersey
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
Virginia
Wisconsin
West Virginia

Northeastern Canada

New Brunswick
Newfoundland
Nova Scotia
Prince Edward Island
Ontario
Quebec

We also decided that our web site should contain a northeastern database, a North American database and an international database, and that we should receive sighting reports from wherever they may come. For now, however, our investigations will be confined to the northeastern territories. We will also be keeping an eye out for key researchers to represent these various states and northeastern territories.

The Northeastern and North American Hotspots:

We used John Green's sightings totals up to 2001 from the California Bigfoot Encounters web site to determine several Northeastern and North American "hotspots." These are reports collected and investigated personally by Mr. Green over a 46 year period. Maryland, Pennsylvania and Ohio were the most active regions in the Northeast with over 200 reports in each state. Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, New York and New Jersey were follow-up states with over 50 reports each with Michigan and New York nearing 100.

Operational Standards:

We decided to accept the following operational standards that were submitted during the meeting by BigDaddy. These operational standards are not all-inclusive. More standards may be added or amended at any time.

1. Firearms – Safety First

We do not recommend that any member of our association or members of extended expeditionary parties be either armed or unarmed. In the event that a member of any expedition or outing sponsored by our association desires to carry a firearm of any kind, it is our policy that the member MUST notify all other members of the group before doing so. We will not outright prohibit the possession of a firearm by an expedition member provided that said possession does not violate any local, state or federal regulations regarding the possession of firearms in the expedition area. However, anyone who desires to carry a firearm on any NESRA sponsored expedition must first furnish written proof that they have completed an officially recognized firearms safety course (ie a firearms safety course certificate) to a NESRA representative for approval. Additionally, anyone in possession of a firearm on a NESRA sponsored expedition must agree not to consume any type of alcoholic beverage at any time while in the field. We take firearm safety very seriously and we feel this code of conduct is extremely important to ensure the safety of everyone involved. Anyone who decides to ignore these NESRA firearm safety rules at any time will be asked to leave the NESRA expedition area and will lose the right to participate in any future NESRA expeditions. Safety first.

2. Outing Conduct

While attending a NESRA sponsored event, all attendees are expected to conduct themselves in a professional and well-composed manner. A log of activities and findings will be kept and filed for each expedition and outing. While in the field, alcohol use is strongly discouraged as personal safety, accuracy of field reports and public credibility are invaluable to the success of every NESRA expedition. However, anyone over the age of 21 must decide for themselves in this regard as we do not expressly prohibit the use of alcohol, except in the case of any expedition members who are in possession of a firearm as previously stated in the firearms operational standard.

3. Information Sharing

As a group of independent researchers and independent organizations who choose to willingly associate themselves with NESRA, we encourage the free flow of information and ideas between the groups involved. It is our desire to work closely with other Bigfoot groups who have similar intentions. Witness and contact information will be strictly guarded, as the individuals involved have submitted their encounters to each investigator in the strictest of confidence. Specific sighting and encounter locations will be "mapped out" using official mapping symbols and details of each encounter will be made available to all NESRA members. All credit for discoveries and findings will be given to those to whom credit is due, provided proper notes and records are kept and verified.

4. Investigatory Courtesy

Local NESRA groups will be determined by each person’s state or province of residence. When planning any field research, interviews or expeditions outside of your home state or province, out of courtesy for other association members, it is our policy that visiting association members should first contact and invite local NESRA members in the planned area of investigation to join in the activities in case they wish to be involved. If the local association members decline the invitation to be involved then visiting members may proceed with their plans without delay. This ensures that members of local NESRA groups in each region will always know when and where operations are taking place in their own state or province and this will also help in coordinating our efforts.


5. Evidence Findings and Information Discovery

All reports, findings, photos, evidence and sighting /encounter information (with the exception of possible private eyewitness contact information) should be made available to NESRA’s center of operations for compilation within the web site database. Castings and hair samples along with other materials containing possible DNA evidence should be carefully collected to avoid contamination and made available to the presiding NESRA board for submission to a scientific expert for examination and review. The person or persons (or organization) that initially submits such evidence shall remain the sole owners of the submitted material. All submitted materials will be returned in good shape to the evidence owner or owners after scientific review, unless the owner or owners decide to donate the evidence in writing to the NESRA evidence library. Generic reports of the findings, photos, evidence and sightings / encounter information will then be available to the public, while location details and other specifics (Once approved by the submitting investigator) will be made available to investigators who have access to the official “members only” area on the NESRA website.

6. Property, Buildings and Equipment

As a volunteer based association, at this time, NESRA owns no property, buildings or equipment. On expeditions, NESRA will rely on its members to supply equipment for their own use and hopefully to share with other members. If another member somehow damages equipment, the person responsible for the damage will be expected to replace the equipment. We strongly urge NESRA members to begin collecting a supply of their own equipment.

7. Killing/Hunting

As a group of independent researchers and organizations, NESRA takes no official stance on whether or not to kill a Sasquatch/Bigfoot should they prove to exist. "To kill or not to kill" will be the decision of each individual member or organization that chooses to associate with NESRA. However, NESRA does not sanction any activities that would result in the shooting and/or killing of any animal while on an officially sponsored NESRA expedition except in the case of a last resort, where a self defense action might become necessary.

Information pooling:

We decided to pool our sightings and data collections together into a northeastern web site that will be searchable by a wider range of criteria than most Bigfoot databases.

Nonprofit Status:

We also decided that NESRA should seek nonprofit status.

Preliminary Investigation Sites and Dates:

Some preliminary investigation sites and dates were agreed upon. Initial preparations are already being undertaken for groundwork to begin in March to work out the specific details of a future expedition, which will be conducted in the Southern Adirondack region of New York. Details will only be provided to those who become official members of NESRA.

Official NESRA Membership:

Official NESRA membership will be determined by application. Individual investigators and individual organizations who desire to be associated with NESRA will be required to fill out an online application which must then be approved by a board of no less than five members. Until the official board is appointed, a temporary board made up of the five original attendees of the Hartford, CT meeting, will preside over this matter. Applications will be made available online and the application process will commence immediately.

In order to become an official member of the North Eastern Sasquatch Researchers Association and participate in any expeditionary activities, each member must be willing to pay a yearly dues of $15.00 to the presiding NESRA treasurer for the establishment and maintenance of the NESRA website and database as well as for any incidental expenses that NESRA incurs. Financial records shall be available to view by any NESRA member at any time.

NESRA Is a Non-Paranormal Investigation Association:

Although all official NESRA members are encouraged to keep an open mind to suggestions and opinions of others, for the purposes of establishing credibility, NESRA shall maintain a "flesh and blood" view of the Bigfoot/Sasquatch phenomena. Our official stand is that if Bigfoot/Sasquatch exists, it is a flesh and blood, corporeal primate and our foremost goal is for its preservation from extinction.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Keeping it real,

David Thomas King

Sounds good Dave,let me know whats up.

Great work. :clap:

Sounds like a great start DTK. Good ground rules from obviously sound minded individuals. Best of luck.

Excelent work Dave. It seems that you have covered all of the major concerns. I can not wait to hear more.

hi david.... great luck with your sasquatch organization. thanks bill green please keep in touch ok.. p.s. did your organization get any new sightings or evidence this month so far.

Great work guys! A truly noble undertaking. Great rules and soundly based. Best of luck, I'll be following your progress.

Sounds very well-thought out, serious, and professional.
Congratulations and happy birthday.
Here's to wishing for enjoyable, educational, successful outings for the associates of NESRA.
So would that be N, E, S, R, A......or Nesra?

A big for you my friend.

Thanks for your support and encouragement folks.

That would be "Nesra", we wanted a name that rolls off the tongue. (So to speak)

Chuck

hi researchers i hope new sightings etc start comeing in for all us now. also is your organization going to have a free online sasquatch newsletter. thanks bill green

Thanks for all the great comments guys! Any suggestions? Input would be helpful, escpecially from those of you who have groups of your own.

DTK

PS. Bill, we may have something like that in the future.

great job. its good to see that a group has been founded on the east coast is there such a group on the west coast? i have wanted to have get togthers,but, it seems like there are ALOT of EXPERTS on the west coast would love to have an oppurtunity to get back out in the woods with BIPEDAL. take care everyone, keep on looking.

hi david good wintery afternoon so whats new about your new organization are you researching any possible sasquatch activity areas in new england. is your website up & running. have gotten any sightings this month. thank you bill green please keep in touch ok.

Good luck and have fun!

t.

I've never done anything like organize such a group, but it seems to me that an ability to get sighting/encounter information as fresh as possible is a key initial goal.

How to do that?

I don't know.

After the chimp attack in Ca I think you should make sure at least one firearm is present at all times during your trips out to the field!! That attack has changed a lot of peoples minds about bigfoot safety for sure!!

Crew Chief

Well thought out and well presented. Consider me the first applicant from Michigan.

Mick

Lookin' seriously good, there, in all aspects!

Closest thing we have here is the S.O.B.S (Southern Oregon Bigfoot Organization). After reading their latest expedition report, though,...I'm really kinda iffy `bout that bunch anymore. Check it out and you'll see what I mean. Me, I'm a strict flesh-n-blood adherent.

Anyway, good on y'all, best wishes and congratulations!

Alright, I need some people in Az and New Mexico to get with me so we can start up the Southwest Arizona New Mexico Expidition and Research/Expidition Association, or SANE. Or some other cooler name for such an organization.

:doh: Did they say the bigfoot called out "hey Shelly, nice orbs"?

t.

Sounds good. My organization flopped.

S kunkape
T racking
U nder
P ersonal
I nvestigation
D epartment

Is now defunct. PM me for membership fee refund info.

Hahahahahahahaha

You been talking to Dave Shealy ?

Okay, I screwed up. Correcting it here. It's Society, not Organization. Apologies.

Haven't met Shelly yet, personally, but um,...ahhh,...could be, so far as I know!

Dave, Very good approach on the firearms issue. Well thought out.

V-hunter, BigDaddy and New York Believer are the masterminds behind the wording of the firearm clause. We've got some brilliant and dedicated members on the NESRA team....

Welcome aboard, Mick from Michigan. I'll contact you by PM.

Keeping it real,

DTK

David
great work.I will be the second from Michigan as well.Look froward to working with you all.With firearms it should always be safety first.When I am in northern Michigan I always take with me a fire arm.Usauly a pistol.I do not have a conceal weapons permit but am working on that.I hope great things come out of this.
Mark A

Hi Dave,

I am from Orange County New York and would like to get involved in your NESRA group. Let me know how I can help.

Thanks,

GS

Hello GS and Julio 12,

PM me and we'll talk. If the PM feature dosen't work, let me know and we'll comminicate by another means.

Talk to you soon,

DTK

Great job looks like your off to a very good start. Let me be the first to join from the state of Illinois.

Dean

Hey David.....
I also plan to join the group.....Although I'm sure there will be no sightings on LI for me to help investigate.....Do you have any idea when the next meeting will be ...and where? Thanks George

George,

We've been talking about meeting in Whitehall, NY next. No meeting date set yet though.

DTK

David,
Cool, I hope that I can attend.............Keep me posted..Thanks George

Yeah, that is pretty strange to say the least. Orbs, English speaking BF, and EMF disturbances wrapped into one package. Hmmm.

Hi Dave,

Sorry, the PM function does not work for my account at the moment. Maybe one of the forum moderators could look into this?

Thanks,

GS

Hi GS,

That's because you're still new to the BFF. E-mail me at hghost@trysb.net and we'll talk.

Anyone else on the Forums have feedback to give? We would appreciate the input.

Thanks all,

DTK

HI

Please keep us posted on any NESRA updates! When are you meeting next?

Hi What's That,

I just spotted your post. Sorry about the delay in response. We'll be doing expeditions all year (and probably into next year). We're having another public NESRA meeting in Whitehall, NY next week. PM me and I'll talk to you more about it. We'll be getting together from all over the Northeast to get to know each other better. We're also going to watch the UNEDITED version of the Memorial Day video. Someone was kind enough to send me a copy in pristine condition. (This is NOT the LMS version.) You'll get to hear all the family's funny comments and see some footage never seen before outside of the original family members. There are also special enhanced close-ups and replays that are very interesting indeed. If you're interested in knowing specific NESRA expedition information, contact me and we'll talk a bit. There are actually several very remote (and not so remote) locations that we will be targeting using different investigation methods. These are all high activity areas, some unknown to the public.

Contact me,

David Thomas King
NESRA

Great job and good luck with Nesra.
When you decide to come out to Atlantic Canada (New Brunswick)for an expedition or two, I want in. Email me when you do.