I met so many nice people during the August 23rd event For Spacious Skies: A Day to Celebrate the Sky! The weather provided a dramatic “sky backdrop” to all of the events – a typically beautiful Northwest Connecticut sky throughout the day.
The photograph above is of the Friends of the Eric Sloane Museum tent several hours before opening, complete with our brand-new banner hanging above. A nice selection of drinks and snacks were awaiting visitors to the Eric Sloane Museum who came out to celebrate the sky. And celebrate we did!
An impromptu “fan club” quickly surrounds guest meteorologist Mike Cameron from Channel 3 WFSB in Connecticut. Mike provided a great in-depth look at the difficulties in forecasting the weather of Northwestern Connecticut, something echoed by Eric Sloane some 40 years ago when he was writing of weather patterns of the same geographical region – “…if you don’t like the weather now, just wait a few minutes”.
John Pawlowski was so kind to come over and fix the attention of everyone in the audience by creating a cloud in the gallery of the Eric Sloane Museum.
Some of the many children in attendance at the event working on a cloud mural together.
A number of young pilots assemble their balsa gliders and rubber band-powered planes to take part in the flight competition held on the grounds of the Eric Sloane Museum.
Getting ready for a test flight….
The afternoon sun begins to wane as the pilots test their skills…
At the end of the day, the Friends of the Eric Sloane Museum presented Barbara Russ with a new weather station to be used in the museum. Barb requested the weather station through the friends as it would allow the museum to become a weather reporting location and it can be used with school tours and children and young adults to make weather observations and data-driven meteorological prediction.
From Left: Meteorologist Mike Cameron, James Mauch, founder of the Friends of the Eric Sloane Museum, and Barbara Russ of the Eric Sloane Museum.
Internationally acclaimed meteorologist Jack Borden, who launched the “For Spacious Skies Project”, steals a moment with confirmed fan Mike Cameron. Mr. Borden spoke with participants about becoming more aware of the sky and all that it has to offer to us.
The day is winding down and the parking lot is beginning to thin out after the August 23rd event For Spacious Skies: A Day to Celebrate the Sky! Throughout our journey home, the panorama of the sky at dusk reinforced what excites, motivates, and encourages people like Jack Borden and Mike Cameron. Look at the sky, folks…you won’t ever be disappointed.
It was a wonderful day, full of enthusiastic and curious people who ranged in age from 2 years old to 91 – more about my new-found 91 year old friend in my next post. He absolutely made the day for me…