It’s time to say goodbye. I will be leaving the SMCAS Board of Directors at the end of May. My wife and I are taking our first step towards retirement and moving to Genoa, Nevada. It was a tough decision to leave the Bay Area, but the spreadsheet said I would have to work a few extra years if we stayed. I won’t be too far away. Genoa is only 20 minutes down the Kingsbury Grade from South Lake Tahoe. This will allow my wife and I to visit our Bay Area friends and maybe a Crestview Star Party or two. I will remain a club member to stay plugged into this group of people I really enjoy. This coming June will be my 12th year as a member, including one of them as President of the club. I still consider myself to be a junior member and astronomy noob compared to some of the veterans such as Ken Lum, Mike Ryan, Ed Pieret, Chanan Greenburg, Ed Lee, Karen Boyer, Mary Ann McKay, Marion Weiler, Bill Lockman and many others.
When I first joined, the veterans were concerned about the survival of SMCAS due to the lack of younger members. I am happy to see, over the past few years, the club has lured budding astronomers such as Kevin Simpson, Michelle Morales Torres, Jason Zaman, Ravi Kumar, and Andy Thanos to the Board. These new members and our current president, Mike Cooke, have created a refreshed, vibrant and growing SMCAS 2.0.
I will carry a lot of SMCAS memories. Some of them include:
- My very first Crestview Start Party – I asked Mike Ryan where the Whirlpool Galaxy was located. Mike simply pointed his green laser at the sky and I slewed my telescope to that spot. The Whirlpool was directly in the center of the eyepiece.
- Also at Crestview – explaining to the police what we were doing there in the dark and once when a member unexpectantly wandered off.
- The 2013 Hidden Villa Star B Que in Los Altos – when ALL of the sprinklers came on.
- Offering views to Star Party visitors who never looked through a telescope and sometimes may have brought and offered wine to the astronomers.
- Successfully navigating COVID – The pandemic forced us to adopt a new technology – Zoom for our meetings including the valiant attempts to Zoom a live Crestview Star Party.
- The list goes on …
For me, the astronomy bug is still burning bright. I intend to take full advantage of the dark Nevada skies to continue astrophotography and even go back to visual viewing. If you ever find yourself coming to the Genoa/Carson City area, drop me an email. I’ll host the Star Party.
Thank you all.
