Comments and anecdotes about the event:
The event was held in a horse pasture about 15 miles out into the countryside, with really dark skies. Unfortunately, because the children were so young, they only got to view the night sky through the telescopes for a short time before they needed to go to bed. One 6-year-old was fascinated with the myths, and we were able to share both Greek, Roman, and Native American myths. Since it was a library event, it warmed the heart of the librarian, Bryan, for her to ask if there were any books in the library about myths. A two year old, on her first star party, misunderstood what an eyepiece was supposed to do. It took a few minutes to convince her to look through it, not listen to the eyepiece! The green lasers were a hit, of course, and it was fun to show the constellations to the children, and then hand them the laser (with safety rules, of course) and they immediately started teaching the other children what they knew. They learned the Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Drago, Scorpio, Summer Triangle, and Cygnus before they had to leave. Seeing was only moderate because of the smoke from the Canadian wildfires, so the remainder of Ursa Major and Minor were difficult to see.