June Work Party

Thanks to all those who participated in a productive work day. It was a warm and humid day, but the predicted thunder storms held off and we got a lot done.

Thanks go to Steve Pielock for his non-stop mowing. He kept the tractor moving so he could sun-burn evenly. What Steve couldn't get with the tractor, Dan Carnevale took care of with his weed eater.

Joe Zuraw had the chainsaw buzzing at the bottom of the hill, and with Ray Burk's assistance cleaned out much of the ice-storm damaged brush and small trees along the roadway.

Barry Hervieux did 'pick and shovel' work to get the conduit buried between the solar panels at the warming hut and the telescope storage shed. Meanwhile, his daughters Stephanie and Samantha helped me clean out the remnants of the mouse nests in the telescope storage building and the rocker boxes for both the 18" and 24" scopes. They then proceeded up to the pavilion and sweep out a year's worth of accumulated leaves and dirt.

Peter Scherff added a vintage "Arrunah Hill" (sic) sign to the telescope storage shed, and helped with the 24" mirror cleaning and remounting. With Steve's careful hand and lots of distilled water and alcohol (for the mirror, not the workers!), the 24" mirror is now back to operational if slightly tarnished condition. Pete took the 18" mirror home for a good cleaning.

Thanks to John Davis for his running to Worthington for gasoline for a lawn mower that wouldn't start, and his assistence and alway-wise counsel.

DeeDee Pielock also provided general assistance and helped run the Arunah Hill Days planning meeting. AHDays '07 will be upon us before you know it.

Now that we have easy access to both the 18" and the 24", let's enjoy them! We'll be planning some impromptu star parties this summer, contact me if you'd like to be on the email invites or check back on this blogspace. I think the first will be the weeken of June 15 & 16, the "Short Nights Star Party". Late sunset, but we'll have Venus and Saturn too keep us busy while we swat bugs and wait for the end of twilight. We also have the town of Windsor Star Party that weekend, after th public program we can then head back to Aruanh Hill.

Later this summer look for the kickoff of the work on the telescope restoration building, and the pouring of a couple of observing pads down-ramp from the telescope shed.

All-in-all a fun and productive day on the hill.

-Ed F