Above: The current header for the www.rochesterastronomy.org website. Subject to change (when the template finally breaks).
From the shameless self-promotion department (isn't that the whole site?) – I was honored to have been selected as the Outstanding Astronomer of 2025 by my current home astronomy club, the Astronomy Section of the Rochester Academy of Science ("ASRAS").
Two points to this.
One – I had barely observed all year with more than my trust Nikon Action 12x50s (but don't tell Ryan Goodson) and, with a six- and four-year-old in the house making things occasionally difficult in the 7 to 9 p.m. range, have barely been present at a monthly ASRAS meeting since before COVID. Anyone on the email list who sees the quality of member astrophotography knows that there are plenty of people doing serious, widely acknowledged (featured images in Sky & Telescope and BBC Sky at Night Magazine, which covers a lot of territory), generally stellar (sorry) work that might better fall into the "outstanding" category. My contribution to the club the past two years was the migration of the old website into a new and improved WordPress database and template, getting the online membership forms installed and working with the rather complicated assemblage of membership dependencies within RAS, and attempting to do both sensitive to the inner workings of the club and in the interest of future-proofing its online presence for the next webmaster to come along.
Two – having presided over one club (for a while) and been director of another (and still holding the keys to the website), I know well how much effort it takes to keep the lights on for a group of amateur astronomers with many varied (and not always overlapping) interests. Most of the clubs I've interacted with have been very good at being non-profits – maintaining officer positions, holding meetings, keeping the membership engaged, keeping the observatories clean and ready for public viewings, and being out-and-about in the community when libraries, scouts, state parks, and senior living facilities come calling for public astronomy outreach. All of that volunteering matters a lot, and stepping up in a club to take over even a small thing (that you might even be good at) is not insignificant to those members taking on other additional responsibilities within a club to keep that club running.
Amateur astronomy clubs survive on volunteerism, and sometimes the most useful contributions happen behind the scenes rather than under the stars. That said, clear nights with clean optics and friendly banter are magic, and I hope to get back to it in full force soon (maybe with a kid or two in tow to ruin their sleep hygiene as well).
