GRAFTON – Over 150 people gathered at the Willard House and Clock Museum in Grafton to gaze into the night sky with numerous high-powered telescopes. The telescopes were spread out on the Willard House’s large lawn, which — because of the limited light pollution in the area — allowed for picturesque views of the night sky.
The July 26 event, which was sponsored by Webster First Federal Credit Union, was the result of collaboration between the Willard House and Clock Museum, the Grafton Public Library and the Aldrich Astronomical Society. Celestron Telescopes provided the telescopes for the stargazing, and donated three instruments to Grafton’s library.
There were far more visitors than organizers had expected. Attendees traveled from as far away as Boston.
“If you look at the audience here, it’s so diverse. We’ve got people from — I don’t know — ages 2 to 80 here, and it’s really interesting that this has attracted this much attention,” said the Director of Development at the Willard House and Clock Museum Robert Gierschick.
Gierschick noted that the event drew people of different abilities. Several people learned how to use telescopes for the first time. Longtime hobbyists also felt welcomed.
Despite the event being sandwiched between two cloudy, rainy days, there wasn’t one cloud in the sky by the time people approached the telescopes. Members of the Aldrich Astronomical Society helped attendees focus the telescope and get the best view possible.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better night. This is literally perfect weather… We were watching the weather for weeks, keeping our fingers crossed, and we were really fortunate,” Gierschick said.
M.J. Johnson, one of the NASA Solar System Ambassadors, gave a presentation on the James Webb Space Telescope, sharing his love of outer space with the local community.
The event is just one of myriad activities happening at the Willard House and Clock Museum in the next few months. Find more activities here: https://willardhouse.org/.
“The Willard House and Clock Museum has a wide variety of programming for wide varieties of ages and interests,” said Gierschick. “We plan on expanding our offerings to our community.”
