otaa convention

Convention sociable, except for skies

Admin CuyAstro , ,

Photo: Jay Reynolds reports on DAWN and New Horizons
Jay Reynolds reports on DAWN and New Horizons
The 2015 OTAA Convention, hosted by the Cuyahoga Astronomical Association (CAA), was a friendly gathering featuring socializing, information, and hot weather. Members from area astronomy groups were in attendance, mixing with CAA membership at the Letha House Park Observatory site.

Observatory Director and CSU Research Astronomer Jay Reynolds gave an up-to-date presentation on space mission results from DAWN (at asteroid Ceres), and New Horizons and its just-completed flyby of the Pluto-Charon system.

After the lecture came a convivial cookout and potluck dinner which, in turn, was followed by the highly-anticipated annual door prize drawing. The hoped-for late-night star party was thwarted by clouds that moved in from the north. Spirits remained high, however; this is Northeastern Ohio after all, and clouds go with the territory!

The Cuyahoga Astronomical Association would like to thank the following vendors for their generous contributions to our recent convention.  Their donations of raffle items helped to make the event such a great success.

Astrozap – Member-Owned Purveyor of Telescopes and Accessories

Bob’s Knobs – Seller of Collimation Thumbscrews

OPT Oceanside Photo & Telescope – Sellers of All Manner of Astronomy Gear

Orion Telescopes & Binoculars – Astronomy Gear Galore

TeleVue Optics – Telescopes, Accessories, Imaging

Woodland Hills Camera & Telescope – Serving Photo & Telescope Enthusiasts Since 1952

Annual Convention: July 18

James Guilford , , ,
Saturday Night – July 18

The Cuyahoga Astronomical Association’s Annual Convention, Potluck Dinner, and Star Party will be held on Saturday, July 18, at our Letha House Park Observatory in Medina County. The event will be held, rain or shine.

All CAA members and spouses are invited to attend this event. Starting time will be at 2 PM with registration and sale of tickets for the raffle of door prizes.

Our observatory director and CSU professor Jay Reynolds will be our featured speaker with a talk at 3 PM about NASA’s ongoing missions to Pluto and Ceres.

The potluck dinner will start around 5 PM. The buns, condiments, paper plates and napkins, utensils, and lemonade will be provided by the CAA. If you are attending the dinner, please bring a covered side dish or dessert that can be shared with fellow attendees.

There is plenty of room for parking. The shelter is air-conditioned, and features two modern restrooms and a drinking fountain. In addition to indoor seating, there are outdoor picnic tables on the shelter patio.

Please join us for the activities and a night of stargazing. See you there! Hope for clear skies!

Cloudy convention, warm inside

James Guilford , , ,

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!

CAA Annual Convention coming July 26

James Guilford , , ,

by William Murmann, CAA President

Our officers and board extend a cordial invitation to our club’s Annual Convention at Letha House this coming Saturday, July 26.

  1. Registration will start at 2 PM
  2. At 3 PM, CAA Past President Mike Williams will be giving a presentation about star charts.
  3. After Mike’s presentation, our Observatory Director Jay Reynolds will offer training instructions on the proper way to open and close our observatory roof and on using our observatory telescopes.
  4. At about 5 PM, we will have our Potluck Supper. The club will provide grilled hot dogs, brats, and sausages–plus buns, lemonade, cups, paper plates and napkins, utensils, and condiments, etc. If you plan on participating in the potluck, please bring a covered dish or dessert that can be shared with a group.
  5. After supper, we will have a raffle of items donated by astronomy equipment vendors.
  6. After the raffle, we’ll have time for socializing and setting up equipment, etc. before our star party.

Letha House is an enclosed, air-conditioned shelter that has drinking fountains and two modern, indoor restrooms. We have an all-day and night reservation for the shelter and grounds.

Hope to see you there!