April 2022

This is my farewell president’s message. Not that I am going anywhere. Kathy and I have been members for 50 years, starting with the 1972total solar eclipse. We will not cease our dedication. But it is time for others to lead. And I am so encouraged by our slate of officers. Going forward we are in good hands.

The last two years have been traumatic but also transformative for Skyscrapers. The pandemic caused us to cease our normal activities. No meetings or observing sessions. But we discovered new ways to stay connected. The ZOOM platform gave us a way to continue with our monthly meetings. We were able to have remote speakers. Who would have thought Steve O’Meara could talk to us from Africa. Or that John Briggs could give us a tour of his museum. And many of our members who have moved away are joining us for meetings again. Even as we return to Seagrave we will continue this format.

We have also seen an increase in our membership. This may be because of our facebook page and them fact people were stuck at home. We have a 40% increase in total members.

I am very pleased with our push at outreach. We have participated in star parties in Rhode Island and Mass. We are working with scout groups and will soon have an Astronomy club in the Woonsocket library. And we have continued the library telescope project. Now there is a scope in the Scituate library.

So everyone, please get involved. Read the news letter and log onto the Night Sky Network. It contains our events calendar. Look into the Astronomical League observing programs. Thanks to Conrad and Michael for hosting the photography and lunar programs. And I hope some of you listened in on the Kalamazoo program on Beginning Amateur Astronomy.

Keep looking up!

Wishing everyone clear skies.