CAO Fall Work Party Report for October 2025
On the weekend of October 3-5, about 18 Toronto Centre members and U of T students participated in the annual Fall work weekend at the CAO where preparing the site for the coming winter season was front and centre on the agenda. Thanks go to Elaine dos Santos, Ralph Chou and Tony Horvatin for planning and purchasing all the needed foods and materials in the weeks before. Some ambitious tasks were also slated for this event and when the weekend arrived with beautiful, sunny skies and very warm temperatures, we seized the moment to tackle the outdoor jobs to the fullest.
One of these was removing about half of the concrete patio plates from the apron in front of the GBO and replace them with leveled top soil and over seed for grass. This was done because it had become just too difficult to keep on top of the weed growth between the many plates. The new walk up looks fabulous now!
Another major task was the complete reorganization of the garage. This was sorely needed as that area had slowly become clogged with all manners of surplus supplies, equipment, ground working tools and much more. We assembled two six-foot long steel shelving units and bolted them to the floor just in front of the line of lockers. On these was organized much of the equipment, fuel cans and tools that had littered much of the garage floor. Also, everything was removed from the east wall, laid outside, and new hangers and hooks deployed there to organize and store the myriad of garden and ground working tools that we have on hand.
Two sapling maple trees were dug out and transplanted along the driveway to replace trees that had died and the area around the SLO cleaned up and deadfall removed. The sheet metal capping and flashing areas of the THO roof were prepared and repainted with a rust paint. Work to clear out and seal the joints of the remainder of the main observing pad continued and the Uof T crew successfully completed the entire area. The pad looks wonderfully clean now and this permanently flexible crack sealant should keep it looking that way.
Electrical work was completed with new LED ceiling lights installed at the GBO warm room, a new circuit installed to power the coming trailer storage system as well as a new light fixture installed in the garage. The roof sheathing and shingles were completed at the new snow shed to protect the heat pump outdoor unit.
Our volunteers were kept well fed and hydrated throughout the weekend by our kitchen crew, Ralph and Elaine. This was very important this time as the days were unusually hot with full sun – we had to run the air conditioning in the house both days – and drinks, snacks and sunscreen were kept constantly at the ready at the pergola table for regular breaks.
Of course, the usual fall closing jobs were also tackled such as putting up the storm windows, stacking the picnic tables and so forth, plus the week before the pantry room and linen closet received a much needed sorting and cleanup. An amazing amount of excellent work went into this weekend effort at our observatory, and many worked well into Sunday afternoon given the beautiful work weather. A few of the seasonal jobs remain though and these will need to be completed before the winter season sets in.
Aside from all the work, so much fun was had by the participants, and many great conversations and networking took place among members. Photos are by Gaetan Godin and Bob Bowdler. As a bonus skies were great both nights and the UofT students present got to enjoy an orientation at their observatory under clear skies.
A link to Gaetan’s Flicker account with many, many more photos can be found here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/203701971@N08/collections/721577242560925…
Our sincere thanks go to the following RASC Toronto Centre members and U of T students for their very generous donation of their time and talents. Jessica Anirisaihan, Jeff Booth, Bob Bowdler, Melodi Bozkaya, Dave Brodie, Kevin Cheryan, Ralph Chou, Elaine dos Santos, Gaetan Godin, Denis Grey, Nicole Jiang, Tony Horvatin, Tom Luton, Zehao Peng, Mike Reid, Richard Sewards, Don Stewart and Mike Williams.
