Becoming a Member of the
Springfield Telescope Makers

Who We Are

The Springfield Telescope Makers, Inc. is an active amateur astronomy and telescope making club located in Springfield, Vermont. We were founded by Russell W. Porter in 1923, and we are considered by many to be the “Birthplace of Amateur Telescope Making.” Our mission is to stimulate interest in astronomy and allied sciences by preserving and fostering the skill of amateur telescope making. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization of about 125 members. We are an entirely volunteer organization — we have no paid staff. Everything described on this page, from the Telescope Making Workshop to the Convention to the care of the site itself, is done by members giving their time. Unlike most astronomy clubs, our members are geographically dispersed, with most spread over the New England and mid-Atlantic states — distance is no barrier to belonging here.

Our home is Stellafane — literally, a “Shrine to the Stars” — on the summit of Breezy Hill. The Stellafane Clubhouse, the Porter Turret Telescope, and the land around them comprise the Stellafane Observatory National Historic Landmark, and our members are the people who care for it. Today the site has grown to some 87 acres and 28 buildings, including observatories, the McGregor Observatory and Flanders Pavilion, our ATM Museum, and the famous pink Clubhouse.

What We Do — All Year Round

Many people know us for the annual Stellafane Convention, which has drawn telescope makers to Breezy Hill since 1926. But the Convention is just four days. We are a year-round organization, not a convention-based one, and the Convention is only possible because of everything the club does during the other 361 days:

• Monthly meetings held at Stellafane, usually near a new-moon weekend so we can observe together when the skies cooperate. Most meetings are open to visitors.
• Telescope making. We run the Telescope Making Workshop in the fall and winter, teaching people to grind, polish, figure, and test their own telescope optics — the craft that gave the club its name. The site includes a full machine shop, a woodworking shop, and a welding shop, all available to help make a telescope, and we are installing a mirror coating facility. Members also pursue projects of their own, from first mirrors to refractors, and publish their work.
• The Optics Lab. At the heart of it all is a full optics lab where we make and test our optics, testing by autocollimation and Foucault. Our amateur opticians make some of the finest optics in the world — and it shows in where people go from here: a number of our participants have gone on to notable careers in science and astronomy, and several have started their own telescope making companies.
• Public star parties and open houses, including our annual Up-All-Night star party, welcoming the public to the hilltop to look through telescopes — many of them member-made.
• Outreach programs for schools, scouts, and community groups, sharing astronomy and telescope making with the next generation.
• Workdays. Throughout the year, members gather to mow, paint, repair, build, and maintain the site, its buildings, and its historic instruments and museum collection.
• Preservation. We maintain a National Historic Landmark, an ATM Museum, a photo archive of more than a thousand historic images, and a century of club records and history.

What We Look For in a Member

Membership rests on two things, and only two things:

• An interest in telescope making. You don't need to know how yet — teaching you is what we do best.
• An interest in being an active member of the organization. That means showing up at meetings, attending workdays, and helping out in whatever capacity you are able.

A word about the Convention: many friends first find us there, and Convention volunteers are deeply appreciated — it takes an enormous crew to put it on. But because we are a year-round club, helping at the Convention by itself is not sufficient to become a member. What we look for is participation in the ongoing life of the club — the meetings, the workdays, the classes, and the care of the site through the whole year. If the Convention is what brought you to us, wonderful: come back in October, and in February, and in May.

Ways to Contribute — There Is a Role for Everyone

Let us say this plainly: there is no requirement that anyone engage in heavy physical labor. It's available if you'd like it — but every kind of help matters equally here, and members contribute in the ways that suit them best. With an 87-acre site and 28 buildings, there is always plenty to do:

• Grounds work. Eighty-seven acres means a great deal of yard work for those who enjoy being outdoors.
• Machine maintenance. We keep a truck, a backhoe, a front-end loader, a mower, and various other equipment running. If you like machinery, you will find kindred spirits.
• Housekeeping. Twenty-eight buildings all need cleaning and care.
• Administration and record keeping. The organization needs help with administrative tasks and keeping good records — quiet, indoor work that is every bit as vital as anything done with a shovel.
• The working areas of the club. Helping out in any of our activity areas — lending a hand in the Telescope Making Workshop, or in the kitchen feeding a meeting or a workday crew — is every bit as acceptable a way to contribute as any other.
• Website Development and Content Creation. Our website is a major outreach and education vehicle - the is much remote work available in this area.

Whether you swing a chainsaw or a filing-cabinet drawer, you are helping keep this organization strong. All of these areas are important, and all of them count.

The Path to Membership

Step One: Associate Member Come to meetings, join us on workdays, and lend a hand in whatever way you can, throughout the year. Once you have demonstrated your interest in the organization, you can be voted in by the members as an Associate Member. See here for information and opportunites for volunteering either at convention or year-round.

Step Two: Full Voting Member After a year as an Associate Member — continuing to show your interest, participating in the club's activities and work, and making one telescope optic by hand — you can be voted in as a Full Voting Member. And don't worry about that optic: we will help you make it. Teaching people to make telescope optics is what this club has done for over a century.

Everyone Is Welcome

Membership in the Springfield Telescope Makers is by invitation of the membership — potential members are nominated for membership at a monthly meeting and voted on by the Full Members — and every invitation is earned the same way: through genuine interest and participation. Nothing else enters into it. We welcome everyone, and no personal characteristic — age, race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, education, or anything else about who you are — has any bearing on membership. The two things listed above are the only things we look for. You do not need a science degree or a technical background — most of us learned everything we know about telescope making right here, at the grinding barrel.

We also do all that we can to accommodate members and visitors with disabilities. If there is something we can do to make attending a meeting, joining a workday, or working at the grinding barrel easier for you, please tell us — finding a role for everyone is what this club is about.

Come Visit Us

The best way to start is simply to come say hello. We hold monthly meetings at Stellafane, usually near a new-moon weekend — check the Events calendar, and then please contact us before you come, as the site is normally locked outside of scheduled events (see Directions).

Meeting dates and other upcoming events are posted on the organization calendar. To arrange a first visit, e-mail membership@stellafane.org.

Questions about membership? Contact membership@stellafane.org, or write to us at The Springfield Telescope Makers, Inc., P.O. Box 601, Springfield, VT 05156. We look forward to meeting you.