TCAA History - Changing Gears

In an effort to get the public more involved with amateur astronomy, regularly scheduled public observing sessions were started in Bloomington’s Ewing Park II in 1995. “Astronomy in the Park” consisted of a five-part series running summer through autumn. The events were very well attended with an average of about 50 members of the general public at each session. The number of club members in attendance ranged typically from 2 to 5. The format of the sessions was a short talk and slide show followed by pointing out of the brighter constellations visible from town. Sessions then culminated in views of celestial objects that could be found using finder scopes and star hopping.

These programs had their start with recognition that significant changes in society were having an impact on the TCAA membership. The mid 1990s was filled with lots of TCAA-related activities – monthly membership meetings at the ISU Planetarium, field trips to locations such as the Adler Planetarium, the Decatur Area Astronomy Club (DAAC) Jamboree, the Champaign- Urbana Astronomical Society (CUAS) and Staerkel Planetarium, and Astrofest, open houses at the Downs observatory, Astronomy Day events in local shopping malls, displays at the Bloomington Public Library, and in-town observing sessions. While the turnout of the general public was generally good at public events, attendance by the membership had begun to wane. Meetings at the planetarium especially were poorly attended. In late 1995 the club leadership began to question whether the club should even hold monthly meetings. Sharon MacDonald suggested quarterly meetings, but the Board decided on meetings during even-numbered months. The months would interlace with traditional events such as the February Annual Meeting, the June picnic, and the December holiday party. It was agreed by the remaining active membership that the club should change its format from being one that is more social to one that is more observation and education/public outreach oriented. The change for fewer meetings was formally made with the creation of a standing rule at the 1996 Annual Meeting.

Despite successful public events in 1995, a drop in club membership became a notable concern of the club leadership in 1996. Efforts were made to grow the membership and included such things as holding a second year of Ewing Park II public observing sessions, viewing sessions for two total lunar eclipses (each attended by 140-150 members of the general public) and Comet Hyakutake (attended by about 400 at a public observing session on March 22 at Comlara Park), the creation of club attire with regalia,⁵³ a club camp out, guest speakers at monthly meeting (physicist Dan Holland and planetarium assistant Paul Iutzi), membership brochures, speaking with the Bloomington High School Astronomy Club under the auspices of Mark Cabaj, the production of a club newsletter of exceptional quality, and even a member-paid support for the StarDate program broadcast over WGLT-FM radio twice daily (thanks to Mike Rogers and Jean Memken). Nothing that the club leadership did had much of an impact on either member participation or club growth. Something was different from the heydays of spaceflight when so many showed a high interest in astronomical events.

During 1996 and 1997 the five-part “Astronomy in the Parks” program continued, but the club’s observatory at Downs saw less and less use for a variety of reasons. During this time – and for about 5 years previous – lots of formal and informal members-only observing sessions were taking place at the homes of Sharon MacDonald near Carlock and Sandy McNamara in Stanford. It is during her backyard viewing sessions that Sandy earned the club’s first Herschel 400 award and where Rebecca Wenning got her start on the Messier observing program.

Within three or four years of being “deeded” the Marie Antoinette Observatory in Downs, IL, problems with the observatory’s floor were noted – wood rot. At this time President Avo Vill began efforts to secure a site for a new club observatory. He approached the leadership of Timber Pointe – the former BSA Camp Heffernon – north of Normal. By mid 1996 mention was made about moving the Marie Antoinette Observatory and Mike’s C14 telescope due to notification and accesses issues, structural problems, and growing light pollution in Downs. Mike’s 14” was removed from the Marie Antoinette Observatory during the autumn of 1997. The dome remained in place temporarily.

Under Avo Vill’s leadership, monthly meetings were again scheduled for the membership by a decision of the Board at the February Board 1997 meeting but, before the year was out, he noted in one of his monthly columns in The OBSERVER that the membership was not showing up for these meetings when held at different venues and featuring special topics (planetarium programs and computer demonstrations) and guest speakers (including IWU’s Dr. Cynthia Hess and UIUC Astronomy Club’s Dan Gosha).

Despite the lack of a suitable observatory, the core members of the club continued to work diligently to fulfill the club’s mandate – shareing the richness of the night sky with the general public. For instance, during March and April of 1997 large crowd attended two observing sessions for Comet Hyakutake at Comlara Park, and members were featured in both radio and TV spots. On May 17 of that year, the TCAA held a joint meeting with the Corn Belt Lapidary and Geological Society to visit with Rev. James Cox who discovered the 1938 “Bloomington meteorite” that was also on displayed, having been borrowed by Carl Wenning from Augustana College where half of the specimen then was part of a meteorite collection. Some five-dozen members and guests were present for this event held at the ISU Planetarium. A nice article appeared the next day in The Pantagraph.

Another high point was reached on September 13, 1997, when 11-year-old Rebecca Wenning earned her provisional Messier certificate. Rebecca, according to Astronomical League President and former TCAA member Barry Beaman, was among the very youngest – perhaps the youngest ever – to earn that observing club award. She had used the club’s 8-inch Odyssey telescope and completed the observations by star hopping in only 9 sessions, averaging one “discovery” every ten minutes. Bob Cuberly also made his appearance at this time, sporting a 15-inch Dobson telescope, larger than the 13.1-inch telescope once sported by member Dr. Allan Griffith. In addition to observing and talks, Mike Rogers initiated the Astronomy Reading Group to get members together for discussions on a regular basis. Discussions were typically held at Barnes and Noble Booksellers in Bloomington, and discussion focused on a different book each month. Reading group activities, public and members-only observing sessions, Astronomy Day events, and special-request talks continued. Sharon MacDonald and Lenore Trainor attended the Universe ’97 proceedings in Chicago and had several amusing adventures along the way.

Despite a strong desire to build a club observatory at Timber Pointe, a decision was made at the October 4, 1997 Board meeting to put development plans “on hold.” The reasons cited included: (1) limited access with a maximum of only five key holders, (2) a horizon substantially blocked by trees as the observatory would not be in the middle of the large open field as was originally hoped, and (3) a lack of financial resources. A fundraiser held earlier through Cub Foods (redemption of receipts) netted the club only $81.43 – far short of the thousands of dollars actually needed.

Several club members continued pursuits of the February 26, 1998, total solar eclipse. Sandy McNamara went on an eclipse cruise in the Caribbean. Sharon MacDonald went to Venezuela, again traveling with Ann Crump. Sharon and Ann viewed the eclipse on a peninsula in northern Venezuela. Despite political difficulties between Columbia and Venezuela, Southwind Adventures (the same group who facilitated the November 3, 1994, eclipse trip in Bolivia) got the group almost to the centerline, to the perfect location. In fact, it was on the beach next to the site chosen for the President of Venezuela, who came in by helicopter to view at the site. According to Sharon, “the security was unreal. We spent time before the eclipse letting some of the troops protecting the president look through our scopes. The outstanding element of that eclipse was the diamond ring effect -- the flash extending vertically was enormous. The team celebrated with “excellent champagne from Argentina served in elegant champagne glasses after the event. A classy surprise served up for us by Southwind.”

Annual meetings during this interval featured the following keynote speakers: former member Daren Drake (1995), Tom Naber (DAAC, 1996), Jim Kaler (UIUC Astronomy Department, 1997), and Curtis Niebur (1998). During the 1996 Annual meeting, Brian Barling and Sandy McNamara were recognized with the inaugural 1996 Founder’s Award – an award established by the ISU Planetarium for recognizing TCAA members who made significant contributions to education and public outreach associated with amateur astronomy. During the 1997 Annual Meeting Lenore Trainor was recognized as one of the club’s Outstanding Amateur Astronomers when she was inducted into the G. Weldon Schuette Society.

Not to be forgotten were the long-serving editors of The OBSERVER – Jean Memken and Mike Rogers – who prepared a 12-16 page newsletter year after year. In 1998 they received the inaugural Mabel Sterns Award on a unanimous vote by the Astronomical League’s leadership recognizing them for publishing the best club newsletter in the nation. Also unofficially recognized were the many contributing writers of the newsletter: Avo Vill with his presidential letters, Sandy MacNamara with her observing columns, Carl Wenning with his minutes and historical documentation, Roger Eggleton with his Astronomy on Stamps series, Mike Rogers with his light pollution series, Bob Cuberly with his “In search of dark skies” series, Lenore Trainer with her travel reports about visits to astronomical observatories, and Jean Memken’s reports of family travels to astronomical sites around the world. In addition to this recognition, Jean and Mike received the 1998 Founder’s Award from the ISU Planetarium for their contributions to education and public outreach in the area of amateur astronomy.

⁵³ Light blue caps and sweatshirts sporting the club’s original hand drawn logo showing Illinois, the Dippers, and Cassiopeia.