It is with no small amount of pride and happiness that I report to you that the State-Of-The-DVAA is good; real good. The year was filled with outreach and star parties, all sorts of public and private meetings, professional and amateur speakers (although you’d be hard pressed to say which was which!), dark-sky observing, astro-camping, scholarship, mentoring, a profound sense of community, and more. What I’m most happy to report, however, was that year was full of volunteerism. Indeed, there was an expanded sense of participation, whether it be the efforts of our committee chairs and officers or the regular members, you all did your part. You served the DVAA and the public alike, for which I thank you.
It would be impossible to fully enumerate the accomplishments of such a year so I’ll content myself with highlighting only three:
- The first, by any measure, would have to be our smash-hit Astronomy Fair, a Janet Rush innovation that will surely become an annual event. Bravo Janet!!
- The next would have to be our Membership Drive. We’re just getting started but I am thrilled to report that we’re beginning to get our membership mojo back. The surest proof that the DVAA is alive and well is that a new set of volunteers have stepped up to the task of nurturing our community; which may be, in and of itself, the best news of the year!
- Lastly, I’d like to expound upon the unexpected pleasure of clouds, or what my friends in the St. Louis Astronomical Society (SLAS) love to refer to as M111. As any astronomer knows, clouds suck, but I learned some four or five star-parties back that that doesn’t always have to be the case. The dozen or so attendees should have never come out to VFNHP, let alone stayed on the field for hours—there was literally nothing to be seen above except thick thick clouds—but reveling in the wonder of astronomy with a few of DVAA’s finest was star-party enough for them. Indeed, it turned out to be a surprisingly perfect night; without a doubt one of the best star-parties of my life and that’s saying something.
The thing about the DVAA is that we have the best members in the world, and I couldn’t be prouder. Better still, our public is amazing and they routinely come from far and wide; at the November star-party from as far away as DC, Bethlehem and Dover. In all truth the sky was less than perfect—clouds and sky-glow, plus more than a little mud!—but even so an oft-repeated refrain was “It was entirely worth it!” Needless to say their heartfelt appreciation is nothing short of an inspiration, and one of the many reason’s I’m thrilled to be your president. With luck you’ll return me for another year of service.
Of course, none of this gets done it’s my own. There are too many volunteers to thank but I should at least mention my team; our present slate of officers and committee chairs: Jeff Oaster (Vice President); Janet Rush (Secretary, Newsletter Editor & Outreach); Harold Goldner (Treasurer); Irv Schlanger Member-at-Large ; Nate Prentice (MSSP & Door Prizes); Barry Johnson (Light Pollution); Andrew Hitchner (Observing); Jeremy Carlo (Programs); Bill McGeeney (Publicity); Brad Lukach (Scope Rentals); Brian Lee (Welcoming).
Anyway, 2018 was great but I betcha betcha betcha 2019 will be even better; with your help of course…