If you haven’t heard yet, July 3’s Star Party was one of the most exciting we’ve had in a while. Besides being one of the most attended, there was a bit of both excitement and a bit of inconvenience when the sprinkler went off, not just once, but twice unusually early! The first time was at 9 p.m. There were a few chairs and even the base to a 10-inch Dobson telescope were set up in the area of one of the spraying sprinklers and all received some moisture as a result. Fortunately for the folding chairs, their material allowed them to withstand the unexcepted drizzle. The telescope made of particle board, a material known for not doing well when encountered with moisture, faired favorably, as well. This caused many of us to muse as to if it had happened before. Most of couldn’t recall another incident, except for our star gazers who stay after midnight. Two of our stargazers that usually stay late, confirmed that the sprinkler usually doesn’t go on until midnight.
As if the sprinklers going off weren’t surprising enough, they actually when off again, about 20 minutes later, but this time the spraying sprinkler that caused the mishap previously, no longer had a sprinkler head causing a very large stream of water to shoot up to around 10-feet straight into the air. We’re not sure who alerted the fire department but we’re assuming someone did because next thing we knew the San Mateo County Fire Department truck was pulling into Crestview’s round about. By then the stream of water had been running for about 15 minutes. The firemen had a special tool to turn off the streaming sprinkler. It seemed it was the only sprinkler running at that time, too. All that were near gave a cheer when the ceased. Kevin Simpson, our most notable sharer of the skies and board member, offered the firemen to take a quick look through his telescope before leaving. They did and like most, were fascinated with what they saw. Kevin gave them one of our cards so they could look up the Star Party schedule. Perhaps in the future, we’ll have some firefighters and their families joining us, too!
One of the board members is followed up with San Carlos Parks and Rec Department about the incident and as it turned out, the maintenance crew was watering earlier during last month’s heat wave. The crew now has a list of our upcoming Star Parties so they should know when to put on the sprinklers at a later time.
