Madison Astronomical Society

MAS is Having a Picnic

members having a good time at the 2024 MAS picnic
Members enjoying the 2024 MAS picnic at YRS.

On Saturday, September 20th, 2025 at 3:00 PM, MAS is having its annual picnic (rain date Sept. 21st). It’ll be held at our observatory in Green County, the Yanna Research Station (YRS).

Sometimes a picnic is just a picnic. The MAS picnic is much more.

Every club picnic is a blast. People bring their own drinks and a dish to pass, and the club supplies plates/plasticware, burgers, brats, hotdogs, buns, and condiments. We light the grills, volunteers tend the cooking, and people mingle around YRS, greeting old friends and meeting new ones. It’s often an opportunity for new members to see YRS for the first time and maybe get their observing orientation. After the sun goes down, some may call it a night and go home. Others—if the skies are clear—will stay and have a star party.

Wisconsin state journal newspaper blurb from May 1940 announcing MAS's plans for a picnic

Since its founding in 1935, MAS has been hosting a club picnic nearly every year, making it one of the club’s oldest and most anticipated traditions.

This is the May 8, 1940 blurb from the Wisconsin State Journal.

The earliest record we have of a club picnic is a mention in meeting minutes from June, 1939. MAS was planning a joint picnic with the Milwaukee Astronomical Society on the grounds of their observatory in New Berlin, WI.

As much as we love our monthly meetings and observing outings, social events like the picnic are special, too. People bring spouses, significant others, children, and friends. It’s a chance to see one another outside the restrictive timelines of our meetings, or the anonymizing darkness of star parties. And food and drink often bring out the stories, humor, and camaraderie that may be lacking at more structured events.

Members will receive info regarding the picnic by way of normal club email announcements. Nonmembers may attend as the guest of a member.

We hope to see you on September 20 (21) for this year’s picnic. Below are a few pictures from picnics of the past.

1960 MAS picnic at a park somewhere in Madison.
1960 MAS picnic, probably at Burrows Park. The two men in the center are Dr. Charles Huffer and Harold Porterfield. Huffer was long-time UW astronomy professor and served as club secretary for 20 years. Porterfield was a long-time member and former president of the group. Both Huffer and Porterfield were on the verge of retiring from their respective careers and it’s possible this picnic was used as an occasion to celebrate their considerable contributions to the club.
1967 photo of MAS members at a picnic at the Oscar Mayer Observatory.
1968 picnic at the Oscar Mayer Observatory. The man kneeling in the background lighting his pipe is club president Ted Wysocki. The woman standing facing the camera is Ted’s wife Celle (pronounced “seal”) who was also an active member. The dog was owned by a family that lived near the Oscar Mayer property and was practically the observatory mascot for the late 60s and early 70s. He appears in many photos though nobody recalls his name.
MAS picnic in 2003 or 2004 at YRS.
2003 picnic at YRS. Standing from left, Tim Ellestad, Matt Mills, Doc Greiner (waving) and Neil Robinson. Leroy Yanna can just barely be seen sitting, partially hidden by Matt’s arm.
2010 MAS picnic at the Yanna Research Station
MAS picnic, June 2010 at YRS. Too many members to list but the author is standing at right with his back to the camera and coat over his left arm. He’s talking to Dan Strome, Jim Lattis, Jeff Shokler, Martin Mika, and Mark Hanson.

(Posted by John Rummel, September 2025).