JD McCarty Center in Norman OK - 2025 Camp ClapHans Summer Camps
OKC Astronomy Club has again been invited to hold star parties for the JD MaCarty Center Camp ClapHans Summer Camps for children with disabilities! This will be our 10th year working with JDMC holding star parties for their camps!
Sharla Bardin, the Public Information Officer for JD McCarty Center, has once more asked if any club members would be willing to volunteer to bring telescopes and answer questions during star parties for these camps.
This year JDMC is hosting 6 one-week summer camps. There will be one star party per camp in June and July. The star party for each camp will take place on Monday for each camp, with an alternate of Tuesday or later that week depending on the weather.
Each camp session will have up to 12 children attending, ages 8-18 plus several adult counselors who also like to look through eyepieces and work with the kids to help things go smoothly. Setup starts at 7PM, and the kids are generally off to bed by 10PM or even earlier.
Anyone with a telescope and who enjoys working with kids is welcome to attend. We have a few volunteers who have regularly attended in the past, but fresh faces are always welcome! There is plenty of space for setup with a large open field. Since the kids will only have an hour or so after twilight before they generally need to head off to bed multiple scopes looking at different objects works very well.
Ideally we would like to have at least two volunteers/scopes for each night, but there is room for at least 5-6 setups easily. Many of these kids have limited mobility with varying levels of physical disability, and a few may have difficulty using eyepieces, so at least some easy viewing options would be best. Chairs, stools, and small step ladders are also good things to bring along. Adult camp counselors will be there to assist.
If you have the ability to provide video camera projection that would be a great bonus, as some children at each camp might not be able to use eyepieces for direct viewing.
The summer camp star party dates for 2025 are:
- Monday June 2nd - (Tuesday June 3rd tentative alternate)
- Monday June 9th - (Tuesday June 10th tentative alternate)
- Monday June 16th - (Tuesday June 17th tentative alternate)
- Monday June 23rd - (Tuesday June 24th tentative alternate)
- Monday July 14th - (Tuesday July 15th tentative alternate)
The JD McCarty Center is located at 2002 E. Robinson in Norman OK, which is to the East of Norman and away from most lights. The camp sessions are held on the JD McCarty Center campus in their camp area, which is a large open area with a few camp buildings away from the rest of the complex. There is good visibility to horizons in all directions, with moderate light pollution.
For more information, check out our postings in the Public Outreach section of our Discussion Forums at www.okcastroclub.com or contact Chris Petroff at quartermaster@okcastroclub.com.