Text Box: 20110806KBACAMin 1

The Astronomy Club of Augusta held its annual picnic from Saturday, August 6^th to Sunday morning the 7^th. Members began arriving around 7PM and continued until a total of 29 were in attendance.

We were blessed with unusual ACA picnic weather, i.e. it did not rain, although it was hot and cloudy. The tables Text Box: were decorated with colorful sparkles and Kenneth's balloons and set up inside so air conditioning saved us all. As everyone arrived, some helped Tedda finish up in the kitchen, while others kibitzed with Stan at the BBQ outside on the patio, all the while with various pre-dinner snacks. Everyone brought wonderful contributions to the picnic Vesta Fiesta feast, including BBQ chicken and ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie platters, crisp green, macaroni and bean salads, squash and chili casseroles, baked beans, hot corn bread, corn on the cob, thirst quenching punch, and icy soft drinks. It was an incredible repast!

Text Box: Before tackling dessert, Stan and Tedda showed us 4 sample polo shirts in various colors embroidered with our ACA logo that they ordered for a good deal. Everyone seemed to like them, and we will see if we can get a good price for a larger order. John White gave us a brief talk on the eye and the telescope, encouraging us to look long and hard for more detail. Text Box:

Desserts included yummy homemade cakes, chocolate chip cookies and homemade blueberry and strawberry ice creams. Text Box: The piece de resistance had to be Dave & Sheron's colorful Vesta Fiesta cake decorated (by Publics) with an icing photo of Vesta, titled Vesta Fiesta, with August 6-7, 2011, and Astronomy Club of Augusta. With that and 40 lit candles on a Saturn ring we sang Happy Anniversary to Wes and Gloria Sloan and clapped for their 39th anniversary. Later we crowned Gloria with the Saturn ring hat of candles, and took photos of them and others at the party, as seen on this page.

At Mike's request, Tedda took a large group out to see the blackberry bushes in Text Box: the fruit orchard. As the evening cooled and just before dark, it was a pleasant walk. We also went over to the small garden to see the asparagus, basil, etc., and then over to the large garden of corn, veggies and watermelons to talk about deer and coyotes and crows. The children played chess, thump chess, ping pong, and bounce ball. We continued with informal discussions of life and astronomy. First timer, Dave Dolin pronounced that the picnic was fun.

As it was still cloudy and we really couldn't view Vesta at opposition or count meteors, most slowly gathered up their things for a late night close to the celebration. Ron and Kenneth stayed to view Ron's DVD lectures of Basic Astronomy. We watched several hours of it, drank coffee, and decided that short sections of it would Text Box: be great to present at our meetings.

Stan, Ron, and I eventually did see Jupiter in the early morn, and the famous red spot! The view is still difficult with the Tele-view, so the alternate tripod and goto that John mentioned earlier will hopefully help. The 8"Meade gave its usual great view. About 7AM Stan served us blueberry waffles, bacon and eggs. Thanks Stan! And another wonder-filled time at the DSO-NMR corral was over for a while.

Respectfully submitted, Kenneth Beard