THE DARK-SKY OBSERVER

SOME THINGS THAT MANY OF US IN THE ASTRONOMY CLUB DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT DAVE WAS THAT HE SERVED IN THE AIR FORCE 22 YEARS AND RETIRED ON DISABILITY, A MASTER SARGEANT; THAT HE WAS INTO AMATEUR RADIO & HAD BEEN A 'HAM' FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS: THAT HE WAS COMMANDER OF THE SULLIVAN CHAPTER OF THE DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS, AND THAT HE AND HIS BROTHER BUILT COMPUTERS FROM 'JUNK PARTS' AND GAVE THEM AWAY TO AREA CHILDREN SO THEY COULD BECOME ADEPT COMPUTER USERS BY THE TIME THEY WERE OLD ENOUGH TO OBTAIN THEIR OWN - PRETTY IMPRESSIVE !!

His funeral services were at the EATON Funeral Home at Springfield & Clark, in SULLIVAN, on Wednesday morning, the 28th, and further Military Funeral services were held at Jefferson Barracks Cemetery where he's buried. His mother, a sister and two brothers survive Dave. I attended the services both as a representative of the Eastern Missouri Dark-Sky Observers astronomy club and as a friend.

According to his sister-in-law, during the last conversation she had with him, he was telling her about astronomy & the club and how much he was enjoying the experience of belonging to such a great organization. He was certainly 'on fire' about astronomy. His enthusiasm was infectious and those of us who were acquainted with him will certainly miss him. He was becoming a regular fixture at the ECC observatory on our Public Observing nights, even though he had a longer drive than MOST of us.

I believe that I can speak for ALL of us in offering to his family our heartfelt sympathy.

The meeting on September 11th at ECC was attended by around 50 people, including quite a few of Rick's physics students. There were, however, several individuals & couples that came, including some ECC staff. The sky was clear & steady & the temperature was pleasantly cool with very few mosquitoes.

The 'Open Telescope Night' at ECC, on the 25th, was attended by around 30 people. A Girl Scout group came, so there were kids all over the place, who apparently had a good time. Unfortunately, I didn't get off work 'til 11:00. so, by the time I got there, everyone had packed up and gone home, so I opened it up again & did some observing for a couple of hours, looking at Jupiter, Saturn and several star clusters in Cassiopeia and Perseus.

The first meeting of the ROLLA chapter of the EMDSO, didn't quite meet with my expectations for a University town the size of Rolla. I e-mailed meeting announcements to both Newspapers and all 4 radio stations. I expected from a half-dozen to 20 people to show up, but only ONE person came. She says that she's definitely a novice, but has been interested in astronomy