InOMN Valpo, Oct. 8, 2011

Astronomers were in high demand everywhere last Saturday, October 8th. I was asked to work at three different sites for International Observe the Moon Night, including with Chicago Astronomers, but had to turn them all down. I wanted to do a hometown session. Calumet Astronomical Society had a Girl Scout event in Country Club Hills, and in the west or near-northwest suburbs (I've forgotten exactly where). Indeed, people like us were in high demand all over the planet for InOMN 2011.Since the date of InOMN 2011 was announced a few months ago, I'd planned to do a session at Valpo's new Central Park Plaza, sometimes referred to as Valpo's Millennium Park. The lighting in the area make it hostile for astronomy, but it's central location in the city makes for decent foot traffic. I spent four nights there from October 1st through the 6th, getting familiar with both the location and our Moon.I invited my friends through Facebook, my atheist Meet-up group, and asked for any interested astronomers to join me on the private CASX boards, but otherwise didn't promote it. I had a few people interested, and Calumet Astronomical Society member Jeff offered to bring out an extra scope. ...