By Paul Ostwald  (with input from Fred Schaaf and Ray Maher)

1989

The SJAC was started in 1989. An organizational meeting was held in May of that year at the Millville Library. Fred Schaaf was the founder of the club and the first President. Other early members of the club besides Fred included Ray Maher, Nelson Biggs, Tom Connelly, Harry Kouhoupt, and Harry Maloney. Early observing sessions were at various members’ homes.

1990

Starting in the early 1990’s meetings were held at Vineland City Hall – where they continued to be held until 2003.  

1992

In 1992 the first club dinner was held. Around this time the club first contacted Belleplain State Forest and began to hold observing sessions there – a club tradition that continues until today.

1993

Around 1993 these observing session at Belleplain were call SkyWatches – and began attracting more members of the public. This has been an important part of the club since the early years – it is not just for members observing, but for showing the wonders of the night sky to the public.

1994

Several changes occurred in 1994 – the newsletter was now mailed to all members. Previously it was available only to those members who provided a self-addressed, stamped envelope. To help defray this increased cost of the newsletter yearly dues were increased to $10.

1994 also marked a memorable observing event – the multiple parts of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 struck Jupiter. The comet left markings from the impacts that were observable in telescopes of the size owned by many club members.

1995

In June of 1995, the club received from Conrad Goeringer, a Meade DS-16 for club use.  At the time this was the largest telescope in the club available for use at public Skywatches and other club observing events. Many hundreds of people, if not a thousand or more observed through this scope over the next 10 or so years.

During 1995 club membership totaled about 80 people.

1996

1996 was the first of two memorable years for astronomy: in March Comet Hyakutake made a sudden pass through the sky. It was bright on the weekend of March 22^nd – 24^th. Public Skywatches were held at Belleplain each night with the attendance for the three nights totaling over one thousand people!

SJAC also went On-Line – this year marked the beginning of the club website.

1997

1997 was the second memorable year – this year Comet Hale-Bopp was the “star” of the celestial show. Unlike Hyakutake, that was best observed for only a short time, Hale-Bopp was bright and visible to the naked eye for several months!

Due to the interest from these two comets, membership in the club swelled to over 200! This was the high during the first 20 years of the club. In 1997 the club reached an organizational milestone – it became incorporated as a non-profit organization in the State of New Jersey. The first club brochure was produced and a phone hot-line was available for information about celestial happenings and club events.

Another club first occurred in 1997 – the club hosted the South Jersey Star Party at Belleplain from September 26^th – 28^th.

1998

1998 was a much more “normal” year for observing, but the club rode the wave of interest generated by the two great comets of the previous years. Indeed, the second Star Party was a great success and was attended by about 135 people. This is a record for a club star party that has not been exceeded.

1999

1999 marked the 10^th anniversary of the club – a picnic was held at Belleplain celebrating this milestone. The club also started holding members-only Skywatches at Belleplain. This helped provide additional observing time at a great site (Belleplain) for members. Public Skywatches continued to be held, of course.

2000

The year 2000 marked another first for the SJAC – the club sponsored a bus trip to New York City to visit the Rose Center for Earth and Space and the newly redesigned Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History. This was a memorable trip and a must see if you have not been there.

This year also marked another significant milestone in the club’s relationship with Belleplain State Forest – the SJAC became an Officially Recognized Friends Organization of Belleplain State Forest. An “Officially Recognized Friends Organization” (ORFO) is a designation of the Division of Parks and Forestry of the NJ Department of Environmental Protection.

The club continued to improve the way it communicates with members and the public by establishing an “e-group announce list”. This list is open to the public and various announcements of club activities and celestial happenings are posted there. This list continues to the present day. The club also modified its charter and elected its first board of directors.

2001

In 2001 the club conducted another bus trip – this time to the National Air and Space Museum, in our nation’s capitol – Washington, DC. While bus trips were a relatively new club activity, 2001 marked the 10^th club dinner, held in the fall. During the summer member Val Nowak hosted a club picnic at his home near Mays Landing – the first of several he hosted.

2001 marked another first – the club supported Kids Camp at Belleplain in October. Kids Camp is an outdoor experience for Middle Township Middle School students – ½ the school camps out at Belleplain for several days, the other half is there the next week. The club hosted an observing session for the students each week – weather permitting. This is an important part of our public outreach program and continues to the present day.

Capping off 2001 was the Leonid meteor storm in November. Those who attended the SkyWatch at Belleplain likely saw more meteors that night than they will the rest of their lives!

2002

2002 was a year of change for the club. After serving a club president since the club’s formation, Fred Schaaf stepped down as president. The Vice President Ray Maher became president.  Changes also occurred at Belleplain State Forest – Tom Keck, the superintendent at Belleplain, who had been there for many years, left Belleplain to take a higher up position elsewhere in the state. Tom was an ardent supporter of club activities at Belleplain.

A highlight of the year was the club’s 6^th Star Party in the fall – the speaker this year was Derrick Pitts from the Franklin institute in Philadelphia.

2003

The year 2003 again marked a number of “firsts” for the club. The club presented its first “Good Neighbor Award for Outdoor Lighting Excellence” to Gentilini Ford in Woodbine. We nominated Gentilini for the 2003 International Dark-Sky Association lighting award and they received First Runner-up!

This was also the year when observing was first held at what has become known as “SOS” – the Steelmantown Observing Site. This site is also located within Belleplain State Forest – but is several miles away from the Recreation and Athletic field – where public SkyWatches and the Star Parties are held. SOS is open to all members for observing any night of the year!

In 2003 the club also received 501(c)(3) tax exempt status from the IRS. This is a significant designation and allows, among other things, anyone to make donations to the club and be able to deduct them on their federal taxes. Meetings of the club were also moved to a new venue this year – the Petersburg Branch of the Cape May County Library.

The observing highlight of 2003 was the Mars opposition – several hundred people attended Skywatches in August. Mars was at its largest in quite a few years.

2004

2004 marked another first for the club – the first spring star party was held at Belleplain. This was in addition to the fall star party that has been held since 1997. The Spring Star Party was a “no-frills” event. No food was provided, no speakers, no raffle – just camping and observing! A lot less work for club members hosting the event!

Several excellent speakers were at the fall star party – noted astronomy author Phil Harrington (below) and Stuart Jordan of NASA Greenbelt.

The observing highlight of 2004 was the transit of Venus on the morning of June 8^th. The weather was great all over South Jersey and club members observed this event from several locations.

2005

2005 was highlighted by two very different things. The club obtained a used shed and had it moved to SOS. A heater was installed in the shed – providing a warmroom at SOS. Much appreciated when observing on cool or cold evenings!

This year the club also awarded its second “Good Neighbor Award for Outdoor Lighting Excellence” to the Super Wawa store and gas station in Marmora. Club member Bob Lovell made the presentation.  This was a new facility replacing a smaller store previously at this location. The new facility has very good lighting.

2006

2006 was a year of change for the club. The last club dinner was held – reduced attendance was a factor in discontinuing a popular club tradition. Another change involved the Fall Star Party – it was also turned into a “no-frills” event. Attendance has been dropping and the number of club volunteers needed to run a “full frills” star party was much larger and involved a lot of work. This was an experiment that has seemed to work.

During 2006 another milestone of sorts was set – club member Bill Warfield got a new telescope. Not just any telescope, but a large Dobsonian with a 25” mirror! This is the largest telescope that any club member has, at least so far!

2007

2007 marked another “Good Neighbor Award for Outdoor Lighting Excellence” given by the club. The recipient this year was Atlantic Cape Community College. They established a campus in Cape May County and again – received the award due to the excellent lights that was installed on this campus.

2008

In 2008 the club participated in Harborfest in Cape May on June 21^st. Several hundred people stopped by the club booth – on display were photographs by club members and displays about the detrimental effects of light pollution. The public was also able to observe the sun through several members’ telescopes.

2009

That brings us to 2009 – the twentieth anniversary of the club. It is also the International Year of Astronomy. This is not due to our club anniversary, but is in honor of the 400^th anniversary of Galileo’s first observations with a telescope.

The club has a new look this year too – Jim Castelli submitted the winning entry in a contest for a new club logo – it is on the cover of this newsletter! We also have tee-shirts for sale with the new logo!

While the star parties are still “no frills” we have added a day this year – the events now start on Thursday. And after total wash-outs of both Star Parties in 2008, we had a very good spring star party with excellent skies for the first two nights.

(Note:  The remaining years are under construction.)

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