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BluewaterObserva
Postmaster
Reged: 05/18/04
Posts: 5748
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Our 2nd ever Astronomy Day Presentation, was to be at a large Boy Scout gathering / camp out on top of a very high Mtn Pass. Well, it has been solid cloud cover, raining, thundershowers for a week straight and early reports said it would be so at the location of the boy scout gathering through Sunday. So we told them we may have to cancel. The scout masters took a very negative attitude with us, being very derrogatorry and such, with one of many comments, Boy Scouts never cancel!!!
Ok, so flash to today, Friday, the weather reports now say it will clear and be an awesome night up on the pass, so I call to tell them that we will be there, and he now tells me, the Boy Scouts are cancelling!!!!!
Well anyways, with the campsites resevered, we are still going up for our regular dark sky observing sessions, so we'll be there, and they won't!!!
Anyways, I was quite taken back by the scout masters responses and attitudes towards us possibly cancelling because of the weather. I mean thundershowers at 12,000' with no chance of observing, I'd thought they may have had a little understanding anyways. Rant off.... lol
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David Knisely
Postmaster
Reged: 04/19/04
Posts: 13646
Loc: southeastern Nebraska
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That's nothing. During the apparition of Halley's Comet, we had an angry gentleman come to Hyde Observatory, demanding to see the comet, even though:
a. it hadn't risen yet.
b. the sky was cloudy.
c. it was SNOWING!
It just goes to show you that you can't please everyone (so you just have to please yourself). Clear skies to you.
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David W. Knisely . . . . . . "If you aren't having fun in this hobby, you aren't doing it right."
Hyde Memorial Observatory
http://www.hydeobservatory.info
Prairie Astronomy Club
http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
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square_peg
Postmaster
Reged: 03/26/04
Posts: 36712
Loc: Maple Valley, WA
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You should have pointed to a random point in the sky and exclaimed that it was the best view you ever had. Then when he saw nothing but white you could tell he must not be looking straight into the eyepiece or something. 
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Tom (Pegster)
DSH-8 (GSO Dob)
15x70 Oberwerks
ED80/SVP
WO 66P
Sears Discoverer EQ 60/900
8x42 Regals
History is Philosophy teaching by examples.
Thucydides
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BluewaterObserva
Postmaster
Reged: 05/18/04
Posts: 5748
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Well, we ended up going up Saturday in late afternoon, it was fairly cold / rainy and yess it even snowed for a while a couple of times. They had rented nice ATV's for the scouts, and nobody was using them. So we took off on one, for about a 20 mile trail system exploration, dang it was fun, we went for the total thrill type ride on the way back.
But it did clear Sat night, we had an extraordinary time with the scouts. And I persoannly had one of my best nights of observing in a long time, after they all conked out by midnight. Gave away 4 pair of 10x50 binos, and all turned out extremely well in the end. Our 2nd Astronomy Day presentation was a way big success!!!!!
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Rusty
Postmaster
Reged: 08/06/03
Posts: 19246
Loc: Brooker, FL
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I suspect that's something out-of-the-ordinary for Scoutmasters (they're human, too [aren't they?]).
Our club does several events a year for the Scouts (Astronomy Merit Badge), and we've had excellent cooperation, even to the point of clearing nearby light pollution...(I wish I knew their secrets).
Anyway, it's good to hear the end result worked out well, and good on you for sticking it out!
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N11GPS Fastar//TOA-130S//MK66 Std//AT6RC//Vintage C5//Megrez II 80mm APO//SolarMax 40
NJP Temma II//Sirius EQ-G
Too Many Astro-Cameras//Mallincam Color Hyper Plus
Two not-spoiled Golden Retrievers - Casey and Nelson
Lot 19 Deerlick Astronomy Village (Canis Major)
Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering. - Arthur C. Clarke
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BluewaterObserva
Postmaster
Reged: 05/18/04
Posts: 5748
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Well, since the event, I guess he has felt pretty small about the way he was treating us, I actually do not think he had any grasp of the type high end presentation we are doing and how much effort we have put into being able to offer it. I actually talked to a member of a local astro club, that said they had some issues with this same individual. He is a bit of a hot head, and is particularly bad if he doesn't get his way 100%.
Ever turned small groups of 3 to 4 kids per scope (30 in total) loose with their own scopes to point and play with?
We had 10 st80's setup on tripods, man you should of heard the giggles and general atmosphere around the scopes. With only two of us there conducting the lab, it got a little to out of control, I generally like to have 4 people help with that size group for our hands on observing labs. We at least got everybody to find Jupiter and M4 and observe them on their own. But the kids drop'd off back to their tents fast after those two. Of course it was after 10pm by the time it really got clear and dark enough to observe at all.
I had hoped to start with Jupiter much earlier, but the clouds didn't clear til 10pm just as weather.com predicted for the area.
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