Looking Back and Ahead

Looking back over my two terms as president of OCA and two terms prior to that as a trustee I can say that it has been a gratifying experience. Gratifying in that the OCA board has accomplished many good things during the time that I have been privileged to serve. I began my presidency with the use of nautical terminology about setting a course and sailing towards it. I think we have done that. I talked about how it takes time for a sailing ship to change course. The course changes were made and we have been sailing well. That's not so say that OCA was on a bad course before. It wasn't. When you step back and look at OCA, its history, its reputation, its resources it is clear that the journey of the past two years is just a small part of a bigger picture. I am proud to have been able to serve an organization that has accomplished all that we have over the years. My thanks to those presidents who came before me who so ability built the foundation from which we press forward. My thanks to the members of the board and to all the "functionaries" who have served the club during these past two years.

In thinking about the specific accomplishments recently I was amazed at how close my list was to that which board member Jim Benet outlined in his letter to the board recently. Here is what he wrote:

"I have enjoyed serving on the OCA board now for three consecutive years. We have accomplished a lot in that period and I am very proud of what we have done. These include building up the OCA library, expansion at Anza of 20 new pad sites in two locations, refurbishment of the 22-inch telescope, building, fixturing, and furnishing the Anza house, putting the club on a sound financial footing, expanding the Outreach program, hosting on AstroImage conferences, developing and maintaining a world-class website, establishing an education link with schools, cleaning up the observatory, expanding the telescope loaner program, supporting the EOA and Astrophysics groups." - Jim Benet

I would add an item or two to Jim's excellent accounting. Because of the work on the club telescope and the commitment we have made to research our ASROC group, led by Minor White and Myke Collins have discovered some twenty asteroids and a rare Trojan asteroid in the past year. When my new observatory goes on line early next spring the rate of discovery should increase. And other research programs will become realities as well.

Although weather has slowed us down we are in the process of expanding the common viewing area at Anza with more concrete pads and the addition of electricity. And finally, a task group is in operation that will eventually bring high speed internet access to our Anza site bringing the club one step closer to supporting remote telescope operations. It's coming. Indeed, the best is yet to come

"The goodness of the night upon you"
Othello Act 1 Scene 2

Russell Sipe