And I was right.

To walk into the original "Clubhouse" is a step back in time. The very walls breathe of the past. Spend a night in the "Dome" and you will feel the spirit of those who made it come to life... And who better to tell the story than the one who was there when it all happened?

"How did it all the come together?

I grew up in Mansfield, went to college at Ohio State. I never knew about this place, yet I lived only ten miles away. While at OSU, I was getting into astronomy, and I joined OSU astronomy club. Of course, I caught observing fever and I lived at Perkins Observatory. There I became good friends with Doug Wereb, Brent Archinal, John Kerns, and Dick Suiter, who were getting their doctorate degrees.

I was getting in astronomy, into being at Perkins, going to classes, pulling the long hours, and burning plates. I became friends with others who also had varied interests. Thanks to the Columbus Astronomical Society, I met members Bob Bunge, Tom Burns, and Bill Burton… We became a virtual “observing clique”.

While still at the OSU Astronomy Club, I began to research the Astronomical League, and came across AL clubs in Ohio. That’s when I found Richland Astronomical Society (RAS). Being from Mansfield, it piqued my interest. Mark Maddox and I decided to come check out the RAS. We found out about meetings…

And we discovered “Hidden Hollow”.

Mark and I came to an RAS observing club meeting. We brought our scopes, then a six inch, to meet a handful of senior members. The club did very little observing but thoroughly enjoyed their monthly meetings. So we show up, walk in and introduce ourselves. Having brought our scopes, we asked permission to set up and capture the night. Curious, the senior members began observing with us. Then they showed us the club scopes that were unused in a roll off dome.

Such beautiful skies! Every time it was clear, we decided to come here because the site was so much better than Perkins. Being as how I’m a local boy, we simply stayed on premises. Then it was very family oriented and we abandoned our old site and this became home away from Perkins. Since we enjoyed it so much, eventually all the Columbus members and OSU members also joined. As the membership grew, the Club became revived from our presence. The “society” of astronomy now moved to this area and began to observe with us!

Then I became president of the RAS. Not long after, I began giving programs, such as slide shows, and the 12.5 Meade was about to become part of my life. I gave presentations to the Club on observing. As a result, this renewed everyone’s interest and the observing started again!!”

(He then goes on to dig in an old filing cabinet to show me old, faded certificates from a time that the whole club was deeply into observing. Such notable names that went on to become physicists and accredited astronomers! I can’t help but wonder what happened to this excitement?)

“We were so deeply into astronomy at that time…. We were observing fanatics. Everyone was into exploring the night… from 1982 to 1985 we were totally into it. The 12.5 Meade Research Grade came along in June 1980. Around 1979 was when it all really began. From that time until about 1985 or 1986 we were into astronomy deep. Very deep.

We had programs, presentations… We were “real”. Our astrophotography copied our programs at OSU. We kept thorough logs and kept track of each other progress. It was one of the most incredible times that any amateur astronomer could have possibly hoped to have been in. We were learning, we were sharing… And we were having the time of our lives.

When Mark Maddox and I first came here, it was not a club night, but I knew the location. Since it was winter and offering perfect observing conditions, we just up and came. The original Clubhouse was all that was here at the time. We had no key and it was dead cold, but we couldn’t believe the beautiful sky. Shocked there was no one here, we set up in the parking lot because on top the hill was so very cold. About halfway through the night, a car arrives… Bernie Dillon. He rolled down the window and yelled out, “Are you supposed to be here?” Smiling to ourselves, we answered that we were with the Astronomy Club, and he left. At that time we carried guns. As the day broke, there was a crow on top of a distant pole… As he cawed out complaining about the coming morning, I took my gun and took a potshot at it. The crow dropped dude… Take about aim!

You get the picture now…. We were alive then. The Club was thriving! The Clubhouse became a bunkhouse full of cots and tired observers. There were people and scopes everywhere on clear nights. We were tireless…

Doug Wereb… Norm Oberly (in Cleveland), and Warren Rupp now come into the picture. Warren was serving on the Board of Directors for Friendly House at that time. Soon enough, along came Stan Vincent, and Harold Bosley (one of the CEO’s of Thermodisc), so the Richland Astronomical Society already had a place to observe, but Warren insisted they check out Hidden Hollow. Now, Warren Rupp didn’t observe, but he took a keen interest… These three didn’t really know of each other, but one night Doug Wereb and I came over observing, and Doug mentioned (he was from Cleveland) he knew Norm Oberly… and knew he had a 31” mirror he had crafted that was in storage because the tube it was originally housed in had broken. The story was that Norm wanted to donate it to a Club, but no one was really able to take it on because of the expense. So, Doug gets contacts Norm and invites him to come observing here, during the peak of our Club’s observing heyday.

It was a beautiful night… Here comes Norm, and we’ve got twenty or more scopes set up. Well, you can imagine Norm’s reaction! He’s in “Observing Heaven”!! Norm realizes that here is a Club who might be able to build the scope to hold his mirror.

At our next Club meeting and I announce the thought of the 31”. Typical reactions, eh? “We can’t do it. Blah, blah, blah…” But hey, Warren is a millionaire, yes? Let’s just see who can do what… How can we possibly pass up a chance at this mirror? Since no one really wanted to run with the ball, I took it. Sure, I felt bad… But they had their chance. If they didn’t want to do it? I would. So, I started things rolling. By then I was talking to Warren Rupp, who told me to draw up some plans on how to get this scope built and told me to contact him personally. Excited, I tell the club what’s going on… and the initial thoughts on how to build an Observatory began. We’re getting ideas on expenses… At that time, to produce an area with a roll off roof, we were looking at around $40,000. Calling Warren back less than two months later, I take the plans to him at his home… Alone. No one wanted to join me. Here I am, in the home of a millionaire, with nothing but my ideas. Hey now, I’m still a pup… but one with ambitions. I enter with my head up, greet Warren, and lay out the plans. He agrees that things look good, but he wanted things professional. He wanted a dome. He didn’t care about the costs. He told me “there were trusts set up for just these kinds of projects”. I told him I would be back.

By now, the Club was feeling pretty dislocated because things were moving, but they weren’t part of it. Contacting Doug Wereb, we needed a scope designer, and the name that came up was Tom Dobbins. Going to meet Tom, we found out that he was as hot for astronomy as us. (He later went on to found Dobbins Instruments.) Telling him about the mirror and the plans, Dobbins became excited by the prospect. He knew the right people to make the schematics to make this scope a reality. We were looking at about a quarter million dollars in plans. He gave me the specs and told me to give it to Warren.

By now, it was just me, Wereb and Tom Dobbins. Hey now, the Club was feeling bad because we moved on this… But you can’t let an opportunity like this go. Now, I get back with Warren at his home about two months after my first proposal. I show him these plans (which still may exist) and seconds later, he looked up at me and said “this is perfect.”

He then asked if this was going to be at Friendly House in Hidden Hollow, and he told me that he was on the Board. Warren took the plans out of my hands then. It was time to make this a reality.

“Thank you. I’ll take care of it now.”

A bit worried, I leave and tell Tom what he said. We were afraid that it would all end there. By the next day, the attornies called from to start the legalities. The Warren Rupp Foundation had taken over. The RAS was left out by now, but the big scope was going to become a reality. Contacting Dobbins, I was told he was working with Rupp and Friendly House. Everything was just approved and both Friendly House and the Camp became a reality. The money to develop the grounds was flowing in. All of the facilities benefited. The grounds became reshaped and everyone prospered. Yet there was no clear cut division between any of these things.

Bernie Dillon then contacted me and told me that there needed to be a Director of the Observatory to keep things legal. I was offered the position and things were finalized. We were now a non-profit organization. The Club has slowly started to die for their lack of enthusiasm and involvement. The chance was there… but no one cared. As with all Clubs, things moved slowly. Complaint upon complaint followed yet we continued.

The scope was done. I was working at Thermodisc and living within two miles of the new Observatory. As these wheels move, one sits outside. Warren Walker. We’ve become public. Warren is a genius and I knew him from work. He knew nothing about astronomy, yet I invited him to come look through the big scope.

Warren Walker simply freaks out when he sees the big scope, he becomes fascinated. He asks to build the drive systems for this behemoth telescope. He immediately begins programming the circuits to make this scope work. He knew nothing of astronomy, but his questions were right on the money.

By then, I had burned out. I got a job offer in Cleveland which eventually became Rockwell International. At this time, Warren Walker and Barrie McConnell were involved. By now, we were having two to three hundred members at every public night. Being burned, I turned over the directorship to Barrie… even though the Club was at it’s peak. I am gone by now… and I didn’t return until 2002.

I quit observing.

And my how the years go by, eh? We get involved in our lives, raising a family, having a career… It just happens. Then I came back for a Messier Marathon.

One night I just happened to be watching the news on the Leonids. I asked my oldest son if he’d like to go watch. I couldn’t believe how many people were still around! We watched the meteor shower and went back. I had been walking past my scope for 15 years watching it quietly rust. I knew then I had to restore my scope. After the Leonids. I began my quest to get things restored once again.

Of course, somewhere along the line, Bernie Dillon decided then that this was the kind of place to have a convention. Friendly House realizes the type of popularity that can come from holding these type of things. This is how the legend of “Hidden Hollow” began. After all this time had passed, now we realize that some people still remember back in those days, eh?

Reunion.

Tom Burns went on to become the director of Perkins Observatory. Tom Dobbins formed Dobbins Instruments. Warren Rupp passed away and Doug Wereb was the head astronomer at Perkins. Dr. Wing and Dr. Mitchell still my friends. I remember my time well with the Schmidt telescope and since it was in the budget? I remember shooting the plates and pouring over them. I was involved. Are those plates from Perkins still there from so long ago? Why not? The Club’s AL certificates still exist. Can I get fired up again? Who knows…

From spectroscopy to galaxies… From redshift measurements to other worlds…

I’ve been there.

And done that."