The Chino Hills State Park Interpretive Association (CHSPIA) held its third fundraiser called Meet the Moon in July 2007 to coincide with the nearly full moon.  Meet the Moon consisted of two events in one.  The first event was a Campfire program where the general public was invited to attend.  The second event was the actual fundraiser, which was a Camp Out and required web registration.

The Campfire Program
One board member led campfire songs with the crowd and had several helpful audience members lead the songs.  As usual the songs were a big hit!  Our Campfire presenter was David Kary, an astronomy professor from Citrus College.  He gave a scintillating presentation on the Moon and space programs and moon walks, including the Apollo moon landings to an audience of nearly 100. Did you know that the dark areas of the moons are called maria (pronounced mar-eh-ah) and the light areas of the moon are hilly and covered with craters. Fascinating!

The Camp Out
Earlier in the afternoon families, the Young Marines and girl scout troop, and friends arrived early to pitch their tents.  Most of the campers were thrilled to view the moon through 12" diameter telescopes provided by members of the Pomona Valley Amateur Astronomers.  We were able to see a close up of the moon's surface, Jupiter's four moons and the double star in the Big Dipper.   There were over 65 of us that joined the Camp Out. Together we enjoyed coffee and hot chocolate in the morning before heading home.  Thank you to all our participants you helped make this event wonderful!
 

Event Sponsors:
Thank you to the organizations that made this event possible: California State Parks Foundation, the Norcross Foundation, Albertsons and Starbuck's.