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Oceanside Photo and Telescope (OPT) hosted their fourth annual Southern California Astronomy Exposition (SCAE) on July 12, 2008 for the Seminar Symposium and beginner’s Star Party and on July 19, 2008 for the huge Astronomy Exposition and Giveaway Raffle.  These events were free and open to the general public.  Where else could you find a free event for astronomy enthusiasts?  Only at OPT!

The Seminar Symposium featured talks from some of the most highly respected names in the astronomical community including: Scott Kardel, of Palomar Observatory and highly acclaimed solar imager, Gary Palmer, to name a few.  Actress Arlene Martel, Mr. Spock’s wife, T’Pring, from the original Star Trek television series made a guest appearance and signed autographs for fans.  The Star Party was held immediately afterwards at Palomar Community College in San Marcos.  Technical Support Representatives Mark Vescera and Derek Wallentinsen were on hand to represent Celestron at the Star Party under clear skies!  Hundreds of attendees enjoyed the event, starting with the Sun viewed through the NexStar 8 SE equipped with a full-aperture solar filter.  After darkness fell, guests observed the gibbous Moon, Jupiter and deep-sky objects such as the Wild Duck Cluster (M11), the Great Hercules Cluster (M13) and open clusters M6 and M7.  Dozens of guests stood in line to look through the CPC 1100, the largest scope at the party, with the 2″ 31 mm Axiom eyepiece in place.  Observing went on after 11 PM until the Star Party came to the end on the Ring Nebula (M57) with the NexStar 8 SE.  The SkyScout, newly released SD Expansion cards and the new “wear around your neck” SkyScout speaker were also very well received at this event.  Everyone had a good time - attendees, vendors and the many OPT staff members on hand.  

The Astronomy Exposition took place the following weekend at OPT.  This year, 2 parking lots were needed to accommodate the growing number of astronomical equipment manufacturers that participated in the event.  Mini-Seminars took place throughout the day and a free pizza lunch was provided by OPT.   It wasn’t surprising to see long lines of hungry people!  Attendance appeared to be up, as more and more people seem to be getting into the astronomy hobby.  Victor Aniceto, V.P. of  Domestic Sales; Daniel Fuentes, Repair and Returns Warehouse Departments Supervisor; and Kevin Kawai, Community Relations Coordinator, were busily on hand demonstrating and talking about Celestron’s latest product lineup, which included - the CGE 1400, CPC 1100, Advanced Series Computerized mount, NexStar 8 SE, OMNI XLT 150, SkyScout Scope 90, SkyScout, SD cards, SkyScout speakers and the new Axiom and Ultima eyepiece line.

The Giveaway Raffle was definitely the biggest on record, with over 70 prizes that totaled nearly $50,000!  OPT came up with a very clever way of distributing free raffle tickets and giving everyone a fair chance at winning - A Scavenger Hunt!  The rules were quite simple.  Each guest were given a form to bring with them to have stamped when they visited at least 3 vendors from the top parking lot, 3 vendors from the bottom parking lot and a representative on the showroom floor.   Because of this ingenious idea by OPT, there were a lot more interactions with vendors and guests, which was exactly what the goal was.  Once the required stamps were obtained, guests were able to exchange the sheet for (1) ticket per person for the drawing.  As expected, there were hundreds upon hundreds of guests present during the giveaway.   This year the odds greatly improved for guests to have a better chance at winning  a prize.  Craig Weatherwax, owner of OPT, was the M.C. and throughout the hour, called out winning ticket numbers to the delight of the crowd.  Craig called out the winner of the first Celestron raffle prize - a SkyScout.  Then he called me up to the stage to draw for the second Celestron raffle prize - a NexStar 6 SE.  After I chose and announced the winning ticket, I was surprised to see it was the same gentleman which whom I had spent time with just an hour earlier talking about Celestron mounts.  Last year I spoke in great length with another gentleman who used multiple Celestron products.  As a result, he too, had the winning ticket and was the winner of a NexStar 6 SE telescope.  That now makes me 2 for 2.  I wonder if this luck will carry over to the next person I meet at next year’s SCAE event?  Talk to me, and we’ll find out.

After the show concluded, Craig took all the vendors and his staff out to dinner at an Italian restaurant just down the street from OPT.  The food was very delicious and everyone was hungry after the long, fun filled day.  It was great to see all the vendors come together to dine and engage in friendly conversations in a relaxed environment.  Everyone had a good time and it showed.

Celestron would like to thank Craig Weatherwax and Penny Distasio, along with the entire OPT staff, for hosting and organizing another great successful SCAE event and for making this all possible!  It was truly a tremendous effort and lots of hard work involved.  We do appreciate OPT going above and beyond to accommodate guests and vendors alike.  This truly was the hottest event in astronomy, and the place to be!  Until next year.