Letha House Park

Cloudy convention, warm inside

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by William Murmann, CAA President

In spite of 100 percent cloud cover, thunder, and intermittent downpours, everyone seemed to have a good time Saturday (July 26) at our Annual Convention at Letha House.

About 39 guests attended the event, which included members, several spouses, and about 10 guests from the Black River, Chagrin Valley, and Mahoning Valley astronomy clubs.

We had a lot of good food.  Thanks to VP Tim Campbell, who brought the usual supply of discount-priced brats, wieners, and sausages — thanks to Five-Star Meats for their generous support.  Many thanks to Rich Whisler, who did all the grilling while being protected from the rain by Paul Leopold, Tim Campbell, and Marianne, who held umbrellas.

Many thanks to all those who brought yummy side dishes and desserts for the potluck supper.  We had a great selection of food, ranging from brats and potato salad to pizza, fried chicken, watermelon, and cupcakes and pies, etc.

A special thank you to Gail Korylak who set up the food line and who with her husband Steve did most of the clean-up when it was time to leave.  Gail and Steve have been a big help with our conventions for years.

Thanks also to Mike Williams and Jay Reynolds.  Mike gave an interesting presentation about star charts.  Jay discussed our observatory and gave lessons on the proper way to open and close its roof.

Special thanks to our Secretary Steve Gallant for all the work he did for months soliciting and collecting door prizes for our annual raffle. Thanks to Steve and our generous donors, we had a nice selection of prizes this year.

And speaking of door prizes, a big thank you to CAA member Joe Golias, owner of Astrozap, who donated $200 in gift certificates for this year’s event.

Finally, thanks to our Treasurer Suzie Dills, who did a ton of work signing people  in, selling raffle tickets, making change, and keeping track of all the financial stuff.  Suzie tells me that after paying for expenses the club made money on this year’s convention and raffle.

Thanks to all!  Apologies if I missed anyone.  Next year’s convention will be on Saturday, August 15,  2015.  Hopefully, we’ll have better weather!

Observatory improvements stellar

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by William Murmann, CAA President

Observatory Director Jay Reynolds recently reported the good news about our Letha House Park observatory.

Jay told me that he and Bruce Lane went out last week and made the final adjustments on our 16-inch Meade.  This scope and the recently donated 8-inch Celestron are now fully operational and user-friendly.

When I became club president nearly four years ago, one of my goals was to get our observatory up and running so it would be an asset to our club.

For years, our observatory sat largely unused.  It was full of mice, dead bugs, and spider webs.  Parts of it were literally rotting away.  During the past two years, this has all changed.

I contacted the Medina Park District’s executive director and asked for help getting our building repaired.  He graciously agreed to help, although he didn’t have to because the building belongs to the club and we are responsible for its maintenance.

The park staff replaced the building’s rotting south wall, fixed the leaky roof, and replaced the rotting door frame and door.

We paid for materials; the park district staff donated the labor free of charge.  And, recently, the park maintenance staff restored the fold-down sections of the south wall at my request.  All the labor and materials for this job were donated to us free of charge.

And last month, we installed a new door lock on the advice of the park district’s locksmith, who warned me that the old lock was about worn out and could simply stop working.

The park district, under its current executive director Tom James, has been very supportive of our club. We owe them our thanks, and thanks to the park district’s maintenance supervisor Rick Perry for the excellent work he and his staff have done in repairing our observatory.

Jay Reynolds, who I appointed last year as our observatory director,  has played a key role in restoring our observatory.  He has spent hours and hours cleaning and organizing the building, getting rid of junk, installing the 8-inch Celestron that was donated to our club, and repairing and mounting our 16-inch Meade in a new spot on the old Byers mount that had sat basically unused for years.

Jay, with help from Suzie Dills and others, has made all the difference in giving us a “new” observatory.  Many thanks to all.

Our 2013 OTAA Convention — All Good

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Last weekend’s 2013 OTAA Convention was a success, featuring clear skies (for a change) and excellent prizes!

Thanks to everyone who attended our annual convention Saturday at Letha House! In spite of all the clouds and rain we’ve had so far this summer, we were lucky Saturday with a nice afternoon and clear skies at night for our star party. The star party lasted until about 2:30 AM when a cloud bank with big flashes of lightning was seen moving in from the north.

Thanks to everyone who brought all the good food for our potluck dinner and cookout. We had a lot of good things to eat!

Special thanks to our VP Tim Campbell and to the owner of Five Star Brand Meats for the great hot dogs and brats. Once again, the Five Star company sold the meat to us through Tim at half-price. Members who enjoyed the hot dogs and brats can find Five Star meat products at Marc’s and at other grocery stores in the area.

Thanks also to our Secretary Steve Gallant, who solicited all the door prizes and thanks, of course, to our very generous donors for providing the following prizes given away during our August 3 event:

Bob’s Knobs (http://www.bobsknobs.com/)

2 • Red light key rings
1 • gift certificate for a set of thumb screws

Explore Scientific, LLC (http://www.explorescientific.com/ ) 

1 • 70 Degree Series 25mm Eyepiece

JMI Telescopes (http://www.jmitelescopes.com/) 

2 • $50 gift certificates (credit on orders of $100 or more)

Software Bisque (http://www.bisque.com) 

1 • $99.00 gift certificate

Orion Telescopes & Binoculars (http://www.telescope.com/)

1 • Moon map
1 • Orion Star Target Planisphere
1 • AstroGoggles
1 • Skyline Deluxe Green Laser
4 • Rubber Eyeguard, 1.25”
1 • SteadyPix Adapter for iPhone
1 • StarSeek Tel . Connection Cable
1 • 50mm Spotter
1 • SCT Access to Mak Adapter Ring
1 • Observer’s Eyepatch
1 • 2-inch Parfocal Ring
1 • Deluxe Binocular Strap

OPT Telescopes (http://www.optcorp.com/)

1 • OPT Plossl 40mm eyepiece
1 • stack of brochures about company

Sky & Telescope (http://www.skyandtelescope.com/)

1 • Pocket Sky Atlas

Tele Vue Optics (www.televue.com/)

1 • 2X Barlow

Others:

1 • Alan Bean autographed print

1 • telescope donated by CAA Member Susan Petsche

So long, Venus!

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Photo: Planet Venus setting over calm waters. Photo by Jay Reynolds.
Venus setting over the pond at Letha House Park. Photo by Jay Reynolds.
Jay Reynolds made this photo of Venus setting over the pond at Letha House Park. This week, Venus will be losing one degree of altitude per day as it heads towards its rendezvous with astronomical history — June’s transit of Venus! “So long Venus,” says Reynolds, “see you on the 5th!” Photo Notes: Canon 400D: ISO 1,600, f/2.8, 8 seconds, 24mm, May 11, 2011.