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In the twelve years I
have been coming to Table Mountain, it was one of the strangest with the
coming and going of the crowd. Some
came early in the week and left by Thursday or Friday.
Just as you thought we were going to run out of parking a group would
leave. It was hard to keep track of where you were full and where
the spaces were.
The
weather was hot during the day and fair to good viewing most nights.
There were moisture layers moving in and out during the early evenings
but good early morning viewing most nights.
There was some good sightings of the International Space Station along
with many Iridium flares. I miss
the two great nights of Tuesday and Sunday.
Some said that Tuesday was one of the best nights ever.
I have experienced a few of these type nights and they are truly
unbelievable.
Everyone
had a great variety of vendors to choose from.
This year the vendors came from everywhere.
There were vendors from New York, Canada, Kansas, Arkansas, California,
and New Mexico, as well as the Northwest vendors.
From eyepieces to jewelry, weather equipment to espresso. All in all
there were sixteen vendors in total, one of the largest showings ever.
This really helped
increase our door prizes. With
the vendor donations we gave away over $11,000.00 in prizes.
From t-shirts and hats to two Dobsonian scopes hand signed by the
John
Dobson himself. Many people left
Table Mountain very happy. Thanks
to Anacortes Telescope and Wild bird and Meade Telescope one person left with
a LX-200 GPS with a full package of accessories.
This
year's event seemed to be well accepted by all. If I were asked to rate this
year's event, I would give it a 7 1/2 to 8.
If the weather had been just a little better, we would have a perfect 10.
Mike
Fry
TMSPA
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Student Program Report
Student Program 2002 was very successful. With the help from
Girl Scout Troop 1865, and several others, our programs were well attended and
enjoyed by all.
This year we added a few new components. First, we added a
geological and botanical component. John Benham was great talking about the
geological formations in the surrounding area. We purchased 5 G Picks and 20
safety glasses. The kids loved banging rocks to find cristobalite, quartz and
geodes. Our group didn't find any geodes, but a lady found several specimens
of geodes near the campsite. Next year I'd like to buy 5 more G picks and
glasses. Viva Worthington, USFS botanist joined the group to be a walk along
guide.
On Thursday, science teacher Alison Morgan provided a course
on spectography. Her hands on demonstration was really awesome. Parents found
the tent too hot and left, as did several of the students. We definitely need
a better tent for our programs.
We made the stomp rockets an official part of the program.
On Saturday, we had a contest to see whose rocket could be shot the furthest.
Age groups were 7 and under, 8 and 9, 10 and 11, 12 and 13, and 14 and over.
Next year, I will break down the contestants in groups of 3 so that each
contestant will get a ribbon.
