[Friends_of_SSASTROS] Well, it's almost over...

[Mike McCabe]

Let's take a look at where we've been and where we might be going!

An agenda...one of the things I remember vividly from growing up in my parent's house was my father saying "what's on your agenda for today?" when we got up in the morning. Nobody dared to say "nothing". 

This fine line-up of folks will lead our group through 2024. I have all the confidence in the world that it will be another great year!

The final month of the year was another good one if you were able to take advantage of the clear days and nights. Gone are the smoky, hazy skies of this past summer. The nights have been relatively balmy for December evenings in New England, a trend that my heating budget is thankful for.

I started this so-called 'club health report' back in 2017, primarily as a means to assess how well the club was meeting its mission statement and goals throughout the year. We have come through with flying colors every year. We're a very active group that consistently brings a lot to the table from all perspectives. I'm utterly confident that we'll continue to do so.

For the past two years we've revived an older club tradition of having scheduled observing dates at Centennial Field throughout the year. It harken's back to a time when monthly newsletters were mailed to club members. Times have changed. As you'll see in the next slide, the current relevance of this sort of thing begs the question; do we continue making an observing schedule?

And there it is, the outcome for 2023. Of course weather plays a big role in whether or not astronomy observing activities can take place, but there are a lot of other factors at play as well. Whatever it is, my particular opinion about matter is that going forward we just go with spontaneous invites through the group e-mail to facilitate group sessions at the field. Whatchuthink?

We've also lent a supporting hand at the Scituate Historical Society's Full Moon Tower Tour series since its inception back in 2021. As with anything involving viewing the sky and doing it on a schedule, the results have been fairly predictable.

Being able to see things in the sky on six out of eleven planned dates isn't that bad when you consider that the average is more like 25% for a typical one-off outreach event. Our involvement has evolved with these events. At first we were up that tower every time like rats scurrying to a garbage pile. Now we mostly mosey about on the ground with scopes set up to share views with the event patrons. We have a telescope up there that I haven't seen in six months. The last time I saw it, it needed some work. Hopefully winter treats it well.

I wish all members and friends of the South Shore Astronomical Society and a happy and prosperous 2024! Let's make it a good one if at all possible!
Sincerely,
Mike McCabe 
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