January 2017 Presidential Announcement
by Steve Siok
It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that member Jeff Padell lost his son Sean this month to a sudden illness. Sean was a teacher and an EMT. He had recently joined Skyscrapers. Sean was an outdoorsman and enjoyed writing and drawing. Please join me in offering our deepest condolences.
For a couple of months the Board of Directors has been discussing the "Library Telescope Program". The idea was first introduced by Francine Jackson, who has been involved with a project at the Cumberland Library. There are also three loner telescopes at the Greenville Library. At the December Board meeting, Steve Hubbard invited John Root, from the Aldrich Astronomical Society in Worcester, to speak about the nearly 100 library telescope programs that he manages in Massachusetts. Aldrich is a sister society to Skyscrapers, having also been founded in 1932. John explained how the program, which was started by the New Hampshire Astronomical Society, is structured.
This program, that is being promoted by the Astronomical League, is currently in libraries around the United States. Local libraries that agree to be involved will be given one or more Orion StarBlast 4.5 inch Astro Reflectors. These off the shelf telescopes are purchased from Cornerstones in Science of Brunswick Maine as part of a bulk order. Minor adjustments are made to these telescopes by a local society to ensure that they are user-friendly to inexperienced observers. The current cost of this modified telescope is $375. Training is provided to the library staff and a video and instructions are available to those who check out the scope. The library takes care of everything relating to the lending and responsibility for the instrument. The astronomy group is called upon to make adjustments to the instruments from time to time and to be a resource.
I would like to issue a challenge to help get this program off the ground in Rhode Island. This is a new way for us to be involved in educational outreach, which is our prime goal. A program like this will start small and grow as the interest and support grows. However, this is still in the discussion phase. We need to find out if there is sufficient interest in the libraries in our state. I am asking you, as a Skyscraper member, to help out by approaching a library near your home to see if there is interest in participating to consider being an ambassador to that library if and when the program is started.
Individuals, companies and organizations provide the monies for each telescope and donor names are shown on each instrument. These donations are fully tax-deductible. Kathy & I are willing to donate to Skyscrapers the costs for two telescopes and will contact the North Kingstown and East Greenwich libraries to determine their interest.
I welcome your thoughts are comments about this new project. Please feel free to contact me at ssiok@cox.net.
I extend a Happy New Year to all and look forward to seeing each of you at our winter meetings at the Community Center.
Steve Siok
President, Skyscrapers
