We received the following thank you letter for an Outreach Event we held at Roxborough State Park last month. Thanks to our own Steve Barr, Sam Brandt, Seth Weisbrook, and Ed Morrell for making this a success.

This is why we do what we do!

Delayed thanks for a superb evening of night sky viewing back on September 22…Aelin and I were so pleased with how everything turned out that evening: the perfect weather, the great turnout of DAS astronomers and their telescopes, the high attendance rate of those who had signed up for the event (and we had 60 more on the Waiting List!), and the high levels of excitement and interest that everyone showed for seeing objects in the sky through the telescopes, many of them for the first time. I especially enjoyed seeing how excited some of the younger kids got, seeing the mountains and craters on the moon and realizing that really is a sphere up there in the sky, and not just a flat disk. Pretty sure that some new aspiring astronomers and astronauts were created that night.

The only question that remains for us in the park is: How soon would the DAS be willing to repeat this experience for the many who were hoping to come the first time? We do not want to abuse your generosity, of course, and we realize that you no doubt have many other organizations requesting your memberships’ time. But if possible, we would love to be able to schedule an event like this every three to six months, or 2-4 times per year. If that would be overdoing it for the DAS, there are probably are other organizations who could help us, and if you have contact info for any of them, I would be happy to reach out to them. I already know the name of an astronomy professor at Arapahoe Community College who does this kind of thing, and I imagine some of the other CC’s around Denver can host this kind of experience as well.

Thanks so much again for making this astronomical experience possible for us at the park, and please pass our gratitude on to the DAS members who participated.

With best wishes,
Bob

More volunteers are always needed for DAS Outreach Events. Get in touch with Steve Barr at shbarr2001@yahoo.com to learn more about volunteer opportunities.