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CAO 2014 Spring Work Party Report

Submitted by hotair@compute… on 11 June 2014

The annual CAO spring work party held on the weekend of the 23rd-25th of May 2014 was an amazing success. Ian Wheelband, supervisor for the weekend, accompanied by Lora Chow and Phil Chow came earlier on Friday to open the CAO for the volunteers and guests. Over 30 volunteers came to the CAO, determined to improve the site and prepare it for this year’s upcoming events and season, while still having fun and getting in some past-midnight observing with fellow astronomer companions. But the night of the 23rd-24th was a very special one, as it was the predicted peak of a new meteor shower, the Camelopardalids. After having observed planets, galaxies, and more in amazing detail, everyone had settled down on the Observing Pad at around 2 AM, and prepared to be amazed by this extraordinary meteor shower.

We think it’s safe to say that we were disappointed. Unfortunately, only a few meteors were spotted here and there, and half of them weren’t even Camelopardalids. Many appeared to be June lyrids, another meteor shower that peaks this time of year. Nevertheless, the optimistic astronomers enjoyed themselves outside on such a beautiful night for observing. Ian, was kept very busy in the Geoff Brown Observatory (GBO) showing the novice (volunteers/guests) sky objects and answering a multitude of questions. Some of the highlights of the night were the bright phases of Mercury, the missing moons of Jupiter, Saturn’s beautiful rings, Mars’s dark spots, M51 (the Whirlpool galaxy), Albireo (a bright double star), and many astounding globular clusters. We were lucky enough to see the transit of Jupiter’s moon Europa. Our Moon didn’t come up until after 5 o’clock creating perfect conditions for dark-sky viewing, allowing fellows astronomer to continue working on their certificate. We were also treated to a very bright appearance of the International Space Station as it experienced sunrise overhead.

As a tradition, each morning was started with a wonderful breakfast (bacon, eggs, toast, fruit, and coffee), prepared by chefs Lora and Phil, giving energy for the labour awaiting us. We also extend a special thanks to all of the volunteers who cleaned up after each meal, especially Lora.

As mentioned before, quite a few tasks were accomplished during the work party. A crew, led by Ian and Tony Horvatin, is very proud of the new curtain set-up in the Orion room, which they worked very hard on. This bedroom now provides privacy to future guests. Another tedious project, done by Sharmin Chowdury and her helper Coralie Seabrook, that took two days, was gripping the outside stairs, which included sanding the front part of each step and varnishing them.

A group of volunteers got together and became gardeners for a day, which included Colleen Durham, Coralie, Katrina Ince-Lum, Tom Luton, and Tony. They cleaned out the old flower bed and planted a new vegetable patch with tomatoes, strawberries, and a rose bush. A few other important tasks that were taken care of were refurnishing the Muskoka chairs, window casings in the basement, weeding and inputting sealing sand into the patio, making improvements to the wireless network, and so much more!

The new Automatic External Defibrillator was installed as well in the side room, the pantry off the kitchen, near the south entrance. Mélanie and Emma Seabrook, official reporters for the weekend, kept everyone hydrated during the day by handing out drinks and snacks. Steve McKinney, Tony, Niels Walkau and Trevor Horvatin spent a lot of time adjusting the security surveillance cameras too.

Of course, the usual spring chores were completed, such as installing the tarp and lights under the pergola, removing the storm windows, and inspecting the generator. Paul Ginsherman further improved the Fred Troyer library hosted at the CAO. The lawn mower maintenance and trimming of the grass was also taken care of by Dietmar Kupke, Joel Parkes, and Doug Carman. They unluckily ran into some problems with the mower, as it was “smoking like crazy”, and had to spend the rest of the afternoon fixing it. Otherwise all went well, and everyone sat down to a well-deserved and once again delicious dinner of chicken stew and out-of-this-world whoopee pies, made by our amazing chef, Lora.

Saturday night we dispensed with meteors and enjoyed dark sky observing. Blake Nancarrow delivered a brief MallinCam training session for a number of the CAO supervisors. We were joined by a few random visitors as well as five members of the Hamilton Centre, including president Gary Colwell. Many packed it in early, being very tired from the long day’s work.

The next morning, all gathered under the pergola for the unofficial closing meeting, (as some volunteers had already left) where Blake and Tony closed up with a summary of all the great accomplishments we succeeded in this weekend. Most of this year’s tasks were completed, creating a better facility for everyone to enjoy.

We would like to thank the following volunteers who came out to the CAO spring work party, including Doug Carman, Sharmin Chowdhury, Phil, Lora, and Skeena Chow, Paul Ginsherman, Justin Good, Tony and Trevor Horvatin, Alan Kosugi, Dietmar Kupke, Steve McKinney, Blake Nancarrow, Joel Parkes, Genevieve, Glen, Mélanie, Emma, and Coralie Seabrook, Michael Storey, Weida, Ruoqing, and Hanning Wang, Niels Walkau, Ian Wheelband, and Lei Xia, with a very special thanks to our first-time visitors Colleen Durham, Wayne Gilbank, Mangesh, Deepa, and Mira Moghe, and Kristin Sweetland. We must also thank Grace Horvatin for a great deal of behind-the-scenes work leading up to the work party including transcribing detailed job lists, organising supplies, packing, and otherwise supporting Trevor and Tony.

2014 CAO Spring Work Party Report
By Mélanie and Emma Seabrook

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Many photos were uploaded to the (private) Yahoo!Group. Enjoy!