April 2023 President’s message
by Linda Bergemann
It doesn’t seem possible that it has been a year since Steve Siok passed the gavel (actually a hammer) over to me. While attempting to run this organization has been somewhat of a challenge and keeps me busy, I have enjoyed every minute of it. Most of all, the people, members and visitors.
Before being coerced into running for President, I was focused on Outreach, sharing astronomy with the public. My one condition for running was that I find a someone that would approach Outreach with the same or more enthusiasm as me. Michael Corvese stepped up to run our Program Committee, and I couldn’t be more pleased. Together, we, the members of Skyscrapers, held an Astronomy Day event in conjunction with the Museum of Natural History and Planetarium at Roger Williams Park, we held a Solar Observing Day, we reinstated regular Open Nights in September, hosted regular monthly speakers, and to top it off, conducted a successful AstroAssembly.
The Trustees have been working diligently to maintain and improve our equipment and facilities for our members and the public. We cleaned up the Meeting Hall to make more room for seating and mingling, started a Telescope Loan Program for our members, erected a dipole antenna for a venture into Radio Astronomy, and are in process of organizing all of our buildings.
Behind all of this is people. Lots of people, all volunteers. I mentioned the Program Committee, chaired by Michael, above. This committee is responsible for all of our events, except our monthly meetings. The Observatory Committee, chaired by Steve Siok, is responsible for Open Nights at Seagrave; there are 20 people on this team that show the night sky to the public every clear or partly clear Saturday night. And, our AstroAssembly Committee, headed by Bob Horton, is already up and running, planning for AstroAssembly on September 30.
If you are one of our newer members and have not partaken in our activities, please do. We are doing this for you. We want your input and your involvement. Interacting with others is part of what makes this hobby fun.
As I finish my year as President, I would like you to know that things are in good hands. And, I want to personally thank all of you who said “yes” when I asked for a favor; all of you who raised your hand when we asked for volunteers. There are many of you out there, and it has been my pleasure to work with every one of you.
Clear skies,
Linda
