AstroAssembly 2006

AstroAssembly Chairperson Ted Ferneza organized one of the best AstroAssembly events ever held by Skyscrapers. Many of our guests came up to me throughout the day and evening to favorably comment on practically everything, from the quality of the speakers to the banquet buffet. I pointed Ted out and asked them to express their praises to him, for all of it was very well deserved.

Thanks to Roger Rivers of Rivers Camera and Telescope and Tony Costanzo of Astronomy-Shoppe for bringing their astronomical items to sell. We also appreciate their generous donations for the raffles. We also want to thank all the vendors who showed their support by donating astronomical items for our door prizes and raffles.

Many thanks to our Friday evening speakers Dr. Ian Dell' Antonio, Dr. Mario Motta and Dr. Michael D. Stage. The new Friday night format was very well received.

Thank you to Gerry Dyck, Dr. John Delano and Dr. Steven Dubowsky for their Saturday daytime presentations. And a special note of appreciation to our keynote speaker Dr. Sidney Wolff, who was kind enough to give her presentation during her vacation to the East Coast.

A special thank you to Kathy and Steve Siok for organizing and operating the Stardust Grille, as well as the wine and cheese reception! And once again we thank Scott Tracey for performing his master of ceremonies responsibilities so well, and also for his AV technical services. And thank you Rick Lynch for assisting the presenters with their computer needs.

And last, but certainly not least, a well deserved thank you to the Skyscrapers Trustees, all the volunteers who helped prepare the grounds for this event, and all the other Skyscrapers who helped make AstroAssembly 2006 an absolutely tremendous success.

Congratulations to everyone on a job well done.

And a special thank you to everyone in the astronomical community who attended (120 attendees, not including the speakers!!)

A special note of appreciation to master optician Paul Valelli for professionally cleaning the front element of the Clark objective early Friday evening at AstroAssembly. He did not need to remove the lens assembly from the cell. Paul also stated that the crown and flint should not have to be removed from the cell to clean the other surfaces for at least 25 years. Thank you Paul for your expert assessment.