NESTVAL 2024 at Westfield State!

 First time in my memory, that Westfield State University hosts New England St Lawrence Valley Geographical Society!

For a link on the meeting see Upcoming Meeting – NESTVAL (aag.org).

And register here.

Time to think about model rockets

 It was in February last year when I got back in model rocketry.  I had done it as a kid back in the sixties and it was a lot of fun.  I picked it up again, briefly in the nineties.

But last year it was a weekly activity, launching every Sunday or so.  We did it over the Spring during the beginning of the Covid, during the hot and dry summer and well into the fall, until it got too cold.

I also shot some video footage to post in Facebook and Youtube.

Here are a few of the better ones.

 

Here is another one too.

WSU Faculty Showcase

 here are the slides from my animated slide show presented 1 December 2020 via Zoom.

Big Bertha Rocket Launch

 Typically every Sunday, I go up to campus and shoot some model rockets with friends.  We are getting some spectators now and every one is wearing a mask and practicing social distancing.

I also do some video taping and here is one I did, (but downgraded from MP4 to MPG due to Blogspot's file limitation).

Baby Bertha has been flying since the spring but is in need of repair. So I build Big Bertha last week and am testing it.  Two flights in the video including one with an on-board camera.

It is a lot of fun.

Model Rockets

I am returning to my teen age years with model rocketry. There is something about model rockets, the "safe" version of fireworks, that kids and adults like.  Me, building a rocket from a kit and then shooting it up into the sky and hoping the rocket doesn't land in the top of some tree, boy that is fun.

Well, truth be told, I have lost several rockets in trees, and recovered two of them. One two stage rocket got carried away in the wind to never be seen again.  I got four rockets needing the repair of fins, tubing, and other damage from crashes.

Graduation Tourism

Across the country, college graduations are celebrating the latest bunch of students finishing higher education.  And with the ceremony, come mom and pop, grand parents, spouses girl friends or boy friends as all of the people descend into the towns that host an institution of higher learning.

What kind of impact does that have on hotels restaurants, campus bookstores selling t-shirts?  And what about traffic jams.

This is an example of impacts of short term tourism.  The best thing for people living in college towns may be the quiet the summer brings.  The shot is from last year's WSU Graduation.

Professor Little to speak at Westfield State

Annual Westfield River Symposium

2013 Westfield River Symposium

Our Urban Watershed

Saturday, March 23, 2013
Westfield State University - Scanlon Banquet Hall

8:00-8:30 Registration Exhibits available for viewing from 8:00 to 12:15

8:30-9:35 Welcome Brian Conz, WRWA Vice President
  Keynote Address Mark Cresotti (City Engineer, Westfield)
Search for the Holy Grail


9:45-10:30 Concurrent Sessions I
Streams Behaving Badly: Martha Naley (US Fish & Wildlife Service)
The West Parish Water Filtration Plant - Filtering the Water Supply for Springfield and Beyond: Thomas LeCourt (Springfield Water and Sewer Commission)
The Columbia Greenway: Past, Present and Future: Joe Giffune (Friends of the Columbia Greenway)

10:40-11:25 Concurrent Sessions II
Municipal Stormwater Management: Casey Berube (City of Westfield, Water Resources Dept.)
Maintaining River Quality in Difficult Times: David Billips (City of Westfield, Water Resources Dept.)

11:30-12:15 Viewing of Exhibits and WSU Student Posters
Confirmed Exhibitors:

Concerned Citizens of Westfield
Friends of the Columbia Greenway
Friends of the Keystone Arches
Friends of Robinson State Park
MA Div. of Ecological Restoration
MA Div. of Fisheries and Wildlife
Massachusetts Forest Alliance
Naturalists' Club (Springfield)
Nature Pods
Western Massachusetts Fly Fishing Association
Westfield River Watershed Association
Westfield River Watershed Invasive Species Partnership
Westfield River Wild & Scenic Advisory Committee
Wilderness Experiences Unlimited
Winding River Land Conservancy
WOW Express (USFWS)

For more Info, see http://www.westfieldriver.org/symposia/symposium19.html