50 years of the TCAA

On Thursday evening, February 4th, fifty years to the minute that the TCAA came into being, Historian Carl Wenning held a solitary vigil outside the doors of the Normal pool cabana starting at 7:30 p.m. He spent 30 minutes thinking about the past, and reading aloud the minutes of that first meeting. He thought about the great generation who founded the TCAA and laid the foundation that had been built upon for the past half century. Reminiscent of the 25th anniversary celebration at this same location, Carl read aloud part of the current history as it approached completion. He said a few silent prayers….

Two nights later, on Saturday, February 6th, the club’s golden anniversary was celebrated formally with a gala affair at Ewing Manor & Cultural Center in Bloomington. About 30 members and guests were in attendance. Some of the club’s earliest members – David B. Williams, Bill Blunk, and Barry and Carol Beaman – were present. Also in attendance was Vernelle Armour, son-in-law of John and Bertha Kieviet. Sharon MacDonald also made an appearance. The evening began with an informal reception over hors d’oeuvres and the strains of a piano music provided by Kerry Meyer, a friend of Dave Osenga. A banquet meal was served “down the spiral staircase” and early member Barry Beaman delivered a keynote address speaking about the early years of the club and his work at the IWU Behr Observatory. He finished his talk with a description of what worthwhile work amateur astronomers can still do today.

Figure 53: Dinner banquet at Ewing Manor 50th anniversary celebration

As part of the club’s 50th anniversary celebration, the TCAA hosted the NCRAL 2010 regional meeting on April 16-17, 2010, at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Bloomington. The theme of the meeting was Generations: Past, Present and Future of the Telescope.

Participants learned about the beginning and evolution of the telescope – hearing about the people and their scientific instruments that have expanded our understanding of the universe. The gathering provided a peek at the future of modern astronomy by unveiling current and planned developments in space science. The meeting featured invited speakers external to the TCAA: Charles D. (Tony) Keyes, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD; Jimmy Simek, NASA-Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH; Michael E. Bakich, Astronomy magazine, Milwaukee, WI; and Daniel Holland, ISU Physics Department, Normal, IL. TCAAers Carl Wenning, Dan Miller, Bobby Arn, and John Werner also provided talks.

Unique local resources provided for a variety of interesting Friday evening activities. The Challenger Learning Center generously ran a mission for our meeting that enlightened participant to the complexities of space exploration. About half of the attendees took part in a “retro astronomy” night by taking a meal at the Steak and Shake Restaurant in north Normal, watching Earth versus the Flying Saucers (1957) at the Normal Theater, and attending a live planetarium program at ISU presented by former planetarium directors Carl Wenning and Mike Bakich.⁸⁵

Figure 54: NCRAL 2010 formal group photograph taken by Bobby Arn

At the end of the meeting, the planning committee publically honored Carl Wenning, NCRAL 2010 chairman, registrar, and speaker coordinator, with a framed embroidered meeting logo. He accepted it on behalf of all those who helped present the gathering, and acknowledged their contributions. On April 20th he again personally and publicly thanked the planning team who held 17 planning meetings and managed the work on the days of the event:

William Carney – door prize manager
Lee Green – web site manager and co-registrar
Dan Miller – public address, projection, assistance with astrophotography contest
Dave Osenga – public address, projection, backdrop
John Werner – promotion and marketing, astrophotography contest
Duane Yockey – treasurer, accountant, and hotel liaison

He noted the presentations of Dan Miller, Bobby Arn, and John Werner who gave excellent mini talks dealing with a wide variety to topics. He also acknowledged assistance provided by others from time to time and at the meeting: Brian Barling, Ed Duran, Paul Pouliot, and Tom Wieland who, along with others, worked the registration desk. He also thanked Bobby Arn for serving as official photographer of this event. For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that Carl also gave an hour-long presentation dealing with Galileo and his telescopes.

Carl noted that as TCAA historian, he truly felt that NCRAL 2010 was a crowning achievement in 50 years of TCAA history. He stated that our founders, John and Bertha Kieviet, would be quite proud of our service and accomplishments.

⁸⁵ Mike and Carl were classmates at Ohio State University during the early 1970s.