Holiday Potluck & Meeting

Building twin 3/4 scale reproductions (Castor and Pollux) of Skyscrapers' 8" Alvan Clark refractor

Pot Luck starts at 5:30pm

Please bring an appetizer, main dish, salar or dessert. You are also invited to bring cold drinks, chips, dips, etc. Skyscrapers will provide: coffee, water, plates, cups and napkins

Please let Kathy Siok know what you plan to bring (kathys5@cox.net).

Meeting / Program at 7:00pm

"Building twin 3/4 scale reproductions (Castor and Pollux) of Skyscrapers' 8" Alvan Clark refractor"

Allen Hall and Dick Parker will talk about the building of their 3/4 scale replicas of the 1878 Alvan Clark telescope at the Seagrave Memorial Observatory, cared for by the Skyscrapers. The talk will include photos from the first light ceremony and Stellafane 2016.

Dick Parker has been involved with amateur telescope making since he built his first 8 inch Newtonian reflector in 1962. A time when that was a giant telescope. Dick has held telescope mirror making workshops in his home since 2000, has assisted with testing at the Delmarva Mirror making seminar for the past 8 years, and assisted some with testing at the Springfield Telescope Makers mirror class. Dick has shown to be proficient at making Newtonian reflectors, Cassegrain reflectors and 6 and 4.5 inch refractors with both airspaced and oiled elements and won 1st place optical prizes at Stellafane in all three categories. Dick was on the team with the restoration of the Seagrave telescope in 2010.

Al Hall has been a member of Skyscrapers since 1971. He rebuild the flyball governor on the 8-inch Clark telescope from old photographs and memory, and spearheaded the restoration effort in 2010. He has won numerous awards at Stellafane.