Things, they are'a changin'

Several years ago, as it became more apparent that returning to our old namesake site was not going to be happening any time soon, discussions began about rebranding the event to break away from the association that we had with Table Mountain. Some of those discussions were passionately argued for the pros and cons of such a change, and preparations were made to start the process of rebranding. But static inertia has a property of its own, and the changeover was delayed.

In 2023, the Directors decided that delay was no longer an option. So here we are, now branding our event as the Washington State Star Party!

We also determined that we needed to find a new location - one that was closer to the population center of the base of our attendees in the Greater Puget Sound area. After examining several locations, we found the Jameson Lake location and believe that it fits the criteria we are looking for. It's significantly closer to the Seattle area than Eden Valley, taking an average of at least two hours off the drive-time to the event. The skies are still reasonably dark. There's more than enough space that we can accommodate our attendees, including more space for RV's. The main areas we'll be using are level parking areas developed by WaDFW and their partners for recreational use of Jameson Lake. It doesn't check all the boxes on our wish list, but it's the best one we have found thus far.

Even with the name change and new location, the core mission of our event reamins the same: hosting an event for amateur astronomers, their families, and the public at large to gather and commune under the stars, build community and perhaps take in some programming suited to the avocation at-large.

The backing organization for the event is still the Table Mountain Star Party Association. This was a business necessity for the corporation more than anything else.

As we move into 2025 and beyond, we will be changing the website URL to reflect the name change of the event but will hold onto and forward tmspa.com to the new website location for a period of time.

We look forward to having you be a part of this onging journey with us, because this event has always been about one thing above all else - you, our attendees who have been part of the Table Mountain family with us over the years.

Respectfully,
Your TMSPA Board of Directors