Kelseyville >> Far away from city life, with black skies and brightly shining constellations, Lake County is an ideal location for stargazing. And Robert Taylor, former Kelseyville School District Superintendent of Schools, wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity.
In 1982 he founded the Taylor Observatory for the schoolchildren of Lake County, a place where they could go to learn about the solar system. Not long after the place opened, Kelseyville High School librarian and science teacher Evelyn Norton took charge. She ran the observatory for 15 years, during which time the Norton Planetarium was added.
Then around 2003, Kelseyville Sunrise Rotary needed a new project. They decided to tackle the observatory. After putting $30,000-$40,000 into the restoration, the leftover funds were used to establish the Friends of Taylor Observatory (FOTO). The nonprofit corporation acts as a fundraising body and also puts on the monthly public nights at the observatory.
The property is owned by the Kelseyville Unified School District and it’s staffed and administrated by the Lake County Office of Education. A science and technology expert is on hand to run school tours. “We are almost unique in the U.S. by having both a planetarium and observatory available to any student in Lake County,” said Bill Haddon, the President of FOTO.
And now thanks to the hard work of Tom Schleif, a FOTO member, the Taylor Observatory and Norton Planetarium often have a hand-built, steampunk style telescope on hand for guests to gaze through.
Schleif, a retired museum director from Wisconsin, constructed the telescope over the course of six months after receiving an old telescope that had been doomed to the landfill. About six years ago Haddon found the discarded instrument, and as an astronomer he couldn’t bear to see it thrown out. Without knowing what he’d do with it, Haddon took the telescope home, where he stored it in his own little winery. Although it sat there for three years, he never thought about getting rid of it. He knew one day someone would find a use for it.
Then Schleif came along. He’d moved to Lake County and he was looking to volunteer. Having spent 28 years working for a museum, he thought he’d donate his time to a similar organization, such as the Lower Lake Schoolhouse or the Lakeport Courthouse, but his interest in astronomy was peaking, and there was no better group to join than FOTO.
After some online searching, Haddon discovered wooden telescopes. Being a woodworker, he wanted to try creating one himself. When he asked Haddon about building his own telescope, Haddon knew he’d finally found a home for the one he’d rescued.
While Schleif didn’t restore the telescope itself, he utilized parts and pieces — two mirrors and a focuser — to build his own. It took six months of working on and off, and Schleif estimates he put in a total of two and a half to three weeks worth of labor. But while building a telescope may seem mechanically difficult, the most challenging part of the whole thing was constructing the wooden tube and base. The positioning of the mirrors, on the other hand, was fairly straightforward.
Schleif’s telescope quickly became the Taylor Observatory’s pride and joy. During the Kelseyville Pear Festival parade, the instrument rode in the bed of a 1949 Ford Pickup, fake planets dangling over the top.
“The thing is beautiful. It’s just fabulous,” Haddon gushed. “Tom has talent that we wish we all had.”
But Schleif doesn’t just contribute telescopes to the Taylor Observatory-Norton Planetarium. With experience in exhibit design and building, as well as overseeing the restoration of a lighthouse at the Kenosha History Center in Wisonsin, his skills will be helpful as the observatory turns to the future. “We’re looking at putting an addition onto the building,” Schleif said. “My background would come in very handy for that.”
The observatory is open to the public every fourth Saturday of the month. It is located at 5725 Oak Hills Ln. in Kelseyville. For more information call 262-4121.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
