Spring 1999 MIRA Holiday Potluck
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 One
of my favorite MIRA events has always been our Friends of MIRA Holiday Potluck. Long
before I joined the staff here I enjoyed meeting old and new Friends every year in
December, and hearing in person what had been happening at MIRA during the past year.In recent years this MIRA tradition had fallen by the wayside, mostly because the search for a good central location and for a date that everyone could agree on cancelled each other out. "This season is too busy!" became the refrain, and several years passed with no potluck to commemorate them. This year’s MIRA Holiday Potluck was a memorable event. The food was wonderful (above), the company excellent. Dinner included festive music on the keyboard from our own very talented Bob Webb (at bottom left). Dr. Ana Dodgen (below, at left) came with her growing family. Also visible are (l. to r.) Laura Cohan, Tanya Dodgen, and Sandra Weaver. (Photos by Gordon Jones)
Administrator Laura Cohan enjoys happy memories with fellow ‘98 eclipse cruisers Ralph Carmichael and Lorene Hall. (Photo by Gordon Jones) And so over fifty of the Friends of MIRA gathered on December 6, a brisk short winter Sunday. We all enjoyed the tri-tip barbeque talents of Vince Halter, as well as the rest of the delicious feast that everyone brought. Bob Webb contributed to the evening with festive holiday music at his keyboard. The Student Observatory was opened for the evening. Barbeque chef Vince Halter (at left, with helper Roc Trout) cooked up amazing tri-tip for the crowd.(Photo by Gordon Jones)
Our holiday potluck has always been an opportunity to thank all of our wonderful volunteers, and it was my privilege to acknowledge many of their contributions with "MIRA Stars." By evening’s end it was easy to tell who these generous folks by their glittering "stardust."
The crowning decoration was our "Astronomical Tree," shown at left with some of its creators, (l. to r.) Emily & Laura Cohan, Erika, Matt, & Monica Treadway, and Ellen Cohan. Erika Treadway & Sarah Cohan are shown above at one of the work parties to make the sun, planets, moons, comets, galaxies, hundreds of stars, and a black hole. (Photos by Kim Treadway) |
Things have definitely changed now. With our own Richard W. Hamming Astronomy
Center and the Weaver Student Observatory ready next door, the Friends of MIRA Steering
Committee all agreed that the time for a holiday potluck had come, and that we wanted to
host a memorable party.
A raffle provided an exciting and successful fundraiser for the evening,
raising over $250. A very nice 4-inch telescope donated by Harriet Hardman was the grand
prize in the raffle, along with a smaller telescope and many other fine prizes. Our
student volunteers won some of the prizes, student David Eckles won the smaller of the
telescopes, and Roc Trout was the grand prize winner.
I want to thank the many volunteers who put so much effort into making this a
very special evening, including: Monica, Kim, Matt, and Erika Treadway, Khoi Nguyen, Norma
Johnson, Emily, Sarah, and Ellen Cohan, who all created the "Astronomical Tree,"
which was decorated with handmade ornaments featuring our solar system, galaxies, comets,
stars and a black hole. The students from this group also made the hundreds of paper stars
that decorated the tables, along with the centerpieces designed by Norma Johnson and Kris
Houser. Vince Halter
organized, purchased, and cooked the delicious
meat, and Patti Compton and Roc Trout manned the serving tables. Gordon Jones donated the
tree, and Bob Webb played the music. Arthur Babcock, Roc Trout, and Vince Halter fetched,
carried, set up, scrubbed, cleaned up, and returned all of the tables and chairs, many of
which were generously lent to us by the Lyceum of the Monterey Peninsula.