The Astronomy Club Presentation

for the TWC Board. July 9, 2002

This was a power point presentation.
wcac_presentation_2002.ppt (881KB power point file download)
The 14 slides are listed below.
Each heading in bold is a new slide.
The pictures used within the slides are coming soon.

| Current Stories/News | Past Meetings | Past Special Events | Past Horizon Newsletters |

The Wilderness Center Astronomy Club

2002

Membership

• Membership is at 73 with 5 new members since January.
• Members range in skills from novice to advanced.
• Includes 3 students.

Educational Outreach

• 597 school children attended WCAC Outreaches. Now the most popular TWC astronomy program.
• Public viewing night attendance ave.  50/night.
• Adding a planetarium show before every public viewing night by popular demand.
• Club Days and Family Day were supported with planetarium shows, observing and other programs.
• Astronomy programs were held for Summer Days Enrichment .

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Telescope Stewardship

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Observatory

• Keller telescope is working. Used at all Friday public viewing nights and TWC open houses.
• However, drives do not function properly making the scope difficult and frustrating to operate.  Want to improve the drives for easier operation.  This will allow for more people to use the scope. We are working with Howard Rubin to get grant money to do this.

Observatory (Cont…)

• Resetar telescope donated this past year. (10 inch Meade LX200) Used with public programming at TWC observatory.•Recently donated TV and VCR are used with club members video cameras.
• This allows those who can’t reach the eyepiece to view stars, planets, Moon and Sun.
• Also allows showing of objects on cloudy nights.

Planetarium

• 30 Planetarium shows given since July of 2001 by club members on Sundays and TWC open houses.
• Message of Starlight, Discover The Moon, The History of Telescopes, What’s Up – Current sky for the public viewing night.
• Working on advertising Planetarium shows for better attendance.
• Recent donations from within the club has allowed the audio system to be operational.

Planetarium

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Sharing with other clubs at TWC

• Develop special programming to share knowledge and enthusiasm of astronomy.
• Artistic Endeavors
• Backpackers
• Geology
• Nature Photo

Member volunteerism

• Volunteer Hours
• More than 1000 hours of volunteer time have been given by WCAC members since mid-1999.
• Building Upgrades.
• Telescope Refurbishment – Keller and Giust.
• Planetarium Installation & Maintenance.
• Programming.

Member volunteerism (Cont…)

• Astronomy Club and donations.
• In Addition, $4,800 of the Astronomy Club’s funds given to support the above work.

Member volunteerism (Cont…)

• Personal donations of equipment and materials by WCAC members include:
• Personal Computers
• VCRs
• Audio Equipment and speakers for the Planetarium
• Speakers for the Planetarium
• Bulletin Boards
• Library Cabinet
• Display Materials
• Telescope Materials/Parts

Horizon Newsletter

• Quarterly publication.
• Averages 20 pages.
• Published since 1983.
• All "home-grown" content - club news, how-to's, reviews, and general interest articles.
• First-class appearance thanks to John Waechter.

Web page

• More info can be found at - www.twcac.org
• Informs the public about current astronomical events, the club and what we and TWC do.
• List club activities, news and AEB calendar.
• Area for club members to post items pertaining to astronomy (pictures, articles, information).
• We get over 100 visitors per day mostly from NE Ohio but as far away as Japan and Europe.

| Current Stories/News | Past Meetings | Past Special Events | Past Horizon Newsletters |
 

Last updated March 25, 2002 by Bill Castro