When Scott Wimpie pulled up in his big ‘ole
plumbers truck the other day while I was out solar observing I was
ready for another yokel with the same old questions “You aint
suppos’d to look at the Sun er’ ya’?”
Well Scott quickly surprised me with his vast
knowledge of telescopes and his ability to recount facts about space
that would have impressed any amateur astronomer.
Seems that Scott has a knack for this stuff. We
spoke for a while about galaxies and planets and all kind of cool
nerdy stuff. Scott then told me how he has been trying to save up
for a telescope and asked me what he should get.
Scott has a young daughter Lexi and he has had
a couple of rough spots in his life. He is as
hard a workin’ man as I have ever met but he just can’t go out and
drop a couple thousand dollars on a high end telescope.
I immediately thought of my friend Jon Wood and how he
welcomed anyone and everyone into the club, including me!
I knew that if Jon Wood were still with us he would have
taken to Scott right away and welcomed him into the
Charlie Elliott Chapter of the Atlanta Astronomy Club and made sure
that he had what he needed to expound upon his already existing
knowledge and wonder about astronomy.
I happened to have an extra scope laying around
that I had been thinking about donating as this year’s 2nd
Jon Wood award and I knew right away that this was an excellent
opportunity to spread the love and passion for astronomy that we all
share.
Join me in congratulating Scott Wimpie of
Monroe, GA on his selection as 2011’s 2nd Jon Wood award
recipient. Scott received a fully complete
Celestron 9.25 inch CPC telescope with GPS guidance.
The scope is equipped with ADM mini rails on top and bottom,
a Willliam Optics 2 inch focuser, several eyepieces, a 25 foot power
cable, full aperture mylar film solar filter and a Orion Glass type
II full aperture filter.
Scott intends to share the scope with his
daughter Lexi and his friends “P” and “Gumbi” as they explore the
universe together. Scott will share the love of
astronomy with his community in the spirit of Jon Wood when he gets
the scope figured out and he will also be the newest member of the
Atlanta Astronomy Club.
If you are interested in helping me share the
hobby far and wide with the Jon Wood award please visit my web site
www.charliebates.org and
contribute your tax deductible support for the program.
(tax
deductible in the United States) 
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