GREAT JOB!!

[Ron Schmit]

OK. Maybe I'm the only on that thinks this forum is the right spot... Here goes.

Hey, a huge shout out and my compliments to the gang that made CWTS work again this year. While I only witnessed Saturday night, it sure looked like a great crowd! Merle, Bob, Bob, Steve, Ben, Ric, Clayton, Bill, Dave, enthusiastic Apollo program fan with the "Volunteer" name tag whose name I do not know... (I'm sure I'm missing a dozen more...)

Those Apollo displays took me right back to my childhood. Damn, I wish we were exploring again!

Really excellent work! Well done!!

Can't say the weather was the best, but in the truest of Minnesota traditions, I'll say it was "not bad!" Ended up with enough clear spots that we could see the Moon, Saturn, A high bright pass of the ISS, a super-sweet Perseid fireball, and at least a dozen deep sky objects.

Again, great job, everyone. Looking forward to CWTS 2015!

[Steve Baranski]

And thank you for the great presentations you put on! I always hear folks saying great things walking out of your presentations, both of the "That is so cool" variety, and parents saying " he REALLY got the kids attention and was able to make it meaningful to everyone"

Thanks everyone who helped out! It was a spectacular show!

[defalkner]

I would like to echo Ron's comments. I was peripherally involved and only got to experience Friday night due do some personal commitments the rest of the weekend. I was also at the July 19th public night.

Bob Kerr did a fantastic job with the displays and Merle and Bob Benson with building the display boards. I want to personally thank Merle for making the two trips to Houston and the Johnson Space Center to pick up and return the Lunar Sample.

As Ron mentioned, there were a number of other members who contributed toward getting Eagle Lake Observatory ready for both events and did a fantastic job both preparing and running the events.

One interesting note is that I met one of the CWTS participants who came from Texas and is a member of the Texas Astronomy Club. They are looking to expand their facilities and he was very interested in what we had done at Eagle Lake Observatory. He was quite impressed and took numerous pictures saying we had a top-notch facility, which we know, of course.

Anyway, well done to all!

[bkerr]

Hi Ron,

Many thanks for your kind words regarding the Apollo exhibit. I agree that the hard work of many paid off with our visitors. But I also want to acknowledge your assistance. The excellent letter you wrote, which we included in our initial proposal, was spot on and helped the NASA curation group form a positive impression of ELO as a suitable venue for the Apollo 15 rock sample. So, thank you.

Bob

[Ron Schmit]

Bob:

That was my honor to be able to provide that for you. I am grateful that you found it helpful.

Everyone working together... Isn't that always when we are at our best?

Great team!

Ron

[merle]

I too echo the comments of the previous posts as well as add my own…


Camping with the Stars – August 1-3, 2014

WOW. In a word, that is how I’d describe this years Camping with the Stars. No rain, no hail, no strong winds or storms in the middle of the night as we’ve had in the recent past. We had a great group of guests, good clear skies for the most part, fantastic speaker presentations, a fabulous potluck picnic and a 3.3 BILLION year old lunar rock on display. Who could ask for anything more? The total number of visitors for the three day event was over 400. By my count, there were 154 registered campers and single day visitors.

I can’t thank everyone enough for the great job done over the weekend, (There were so many key holders and volunteers helping over the weekend, it truly is difficult to mention you all, so I need to give a blanket THANK YOU to all). Thanks to our speakers for their incredible presentations and the many keyholders who manned the telescopes as well as everyone who worked to clean up and prepare the site for the weekend. We have a great site, great equipment and equally as great volunteer keyholders and members. We should all be proud of what this event has grown into.

Look for an article in the next Gemini that goes into more detail about the weekend activities.

Regards,
Merle Hiltner



PS: since not everyone has access to the CWTS Discussions forum, I copied the post to the MAS Star Parties and Events forum.

-