Greetings fellow astrophiles!
The North Sportsman’s Club was formerly known as the North Syracuse Rod & Gun Club Inc. which was established and held their first meeting on April 20, 1961. In April 2005 the club name was changed to the North Sportsman’s Club. Our facility includes a covered shooting pavillion with a range house, rifle and pistol benches, archery range, trap fields and a clubhouse with an attached pavilion. The club is used year round.
On behalf of the rest of the board (and with thanks to CNYO’er Joe Chovan for acting as intermediary), I’m pleased to announce that CNYO has in place an arrangement with the North Sportsman’s Club (NSC, in West Monroe) to use their grounds and their facilities for observing and lecture events in 2014 (and hopefully beyond). Those who keep track of our observing logs know that our first session at NSC (summarized HERE) was a great success, including 30 people (which, for the temperature, wasn’t bad at all) and the first public light of New Moon Telescope’s massive 27″ Dobsonian.
During the several hours of that session that we were out and about (and inside and about to warm up and hang with some of the NSC members serving drinks and keeping track of indoor discussion), we all came to the conclusion that this was an excellent spot for observing.
1. It’s only 15 minutes North of Syracuse on 81 (Exit 32 (first exit after the bridge where the Seneca River empties into Oneida Lake) to 49 to 37 and there).
2. It’s away from nearly all Syracuse city lights.
3. The grounds give a perfect and open view of the East (Northeast to Southeast are clear all the way to the low tree line at the far edge of the range – see below).
4. There’s a low-lying cellphone/radio tower with a red light beyond the eastern edge (perfect for adjusting finder scopes at sunset!).
5. There’s a large open area for setting up lots of scopes.
6. The heated building is perfect for hosting lectures and thawing fingers (and with bathrooms!).
We also found the attending NSC members to be gracious hosts, taking pains to keep people fed and sipping with far-and-away the most competitive snack rates in the business, all the while having great exchanges with the astro-attendees cycling through the building (they even swapped out their outdoor lighting with red bulbs, which made all lives much easier).
The Eastern horizon from the NSC grounds.
We are in the process of putting our 2014 schedule together now that it’s warm enough for most anyone to survive an extended session after sunset. Meantime, the NSC website is always open with additional information about their organization and for those looking to support their club by joining. We will keep you posted!
