Great Lakes Region
Indiana
Kentucky
Lower Michigan
Ohio
Regional Information
GREAT LAKES REGION HISTORY
The Great Lakes Region of the Astronomical League (“GLRAL”) became the League’s eighth region at ALCon 1954 in Madison, Wisconsin. A year later, at ALCon 1955 in Seattle, permanent boundaries were established by the League Council. The states of Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, and lower Michigan were assigned to the GLRAL.
Two charter members of the League, the Louisville Astronomical Society and the Detroit and Warren Astronomical Society, were central figures in the founding of the new region. In 1957, Louise Kleinman of the Louisville Astronomical Society won a book award for suggesting the winning name for the League’s new magazine, Reflector, and, in 1962, the Louisville club hosted a highly successful GLRAL convention at the Kentucky Hotel. The event featured lectures, papers presented by junior members, a banquet, a picnic, and an observation at the Star Lane Observatory. Margaret Back of the Detroit and Warren Astronomical Society was one of the earliest proponents of a league of amateur astronomers in the late 1930s and early 1940s before Pearl Harbor tabled the effort. Following the war, when the League finally came into being, the very first League convention was hosted by the Cranfield Institute of Science in Bloomfield, Michigan, and the host was the Detroit and Warren Astronomical Society.
In the 1960s, a time when junior societies abounded, the League’s Junior Activities section was centered in the GLRAL. Daniel Kleinman, president of the Louisville Junior Astronomical Society (“LJAS”), won the Astronomical League Junior Award in 1960. Another LJAS president, J. Richard Gott III, won the Astronomical League Junior Award in 1963, chaired the League’s Junior Activities Section from 1964-65, and won the Astronomical League Award in 1998. Yet another LJAS president, Chuck Allen, served as president of the League from 1998 to 2002 and again from 2024 to present. Gary Ross of the Grand Rapids Astronomical Society chaired the League’s Junior Activities Section from 1963 to 1964.
GLRAL history in the 1970s and 1980s is still being researched, but, in the 1990s, the GLRAL enjoyed a revival through the conduct of competitions. Chuck Allen became Regional Chair in 1991 and immediately began giving the region a significant presence at two events: (1) Hidden Hollow Star Parties held near Mansfield, Ohio in 1991, 1992, 2022, and 2024, and (2) NIAGfests held at Camp Crosley in Indiana from 1993 to 1998. Winners were identified in multiple categories of astronomical imaging and telescope building. Overall winners in imaging or telescopes (or both combined) were also recognized. From 1993 to 1998, an annual GLRAL quiz was also conducted with medals, certificates, and prizes going to the winners.
Regional Chairs. Recent GLRAL Chairs: Chuck Allen (1991-98), Ron Whitehead (1998-2019), and Terry Mann (2019-present).
Regional Awards. The Great Lakes Region presents one award a year. Since an award was not presented last year. This year only (2024) The GLRAL will present 2 awards, The Hans Baldauf Award and the Great Lakes Region Society Award. In 2026, the GLRAL will be presenting The Great Lakes Media Award.
- Hans Baldauf Award 2024, For individual observational skill, astrophot ography, and contributions to science (variable star estimates, comet discovery, observing)
- Great Lakes Region Media Award 2026, For society Web site management, media, newsletter, FB
- Great Lakes Region Society Award 2024, For society service (outreach)
Current Officers 2024:
- Chair Terry Mann starsrus2@earthlink.net
- Region Representative Deloris Mlay mmlay@neo.rr.com
- Vice-Chair Michael Mlay midel1994@yahoo.com
- Secretary Rich Krahling secretary@wro.org
- Treasurer Chuck Allen chuckallen@gmail.com
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The Future. Today, the Region is host to 24 clubs and over 1,800 members. We have our own website, developed in 2021 by Regional Chair, Terry Mann. As we look ahead to the Region’s 70th anniversary in 2025, we have plans to meet at both the Indiana Family Star Party and the Hidden Hollow Star Party and to lay the groundwork for a regular regional convention. We also look forward to playing a significant role at ALCon ’26 in Cincinnati, It will be the first GLRAL-based national convention since 1998.
League Involvement. Three members of GLRAL clubs went on to become League presidents: Chuck Allen of the Louisville and Evansville Astronomical Societies (1998-2002, 2024-present), Bob Gent of the Richland Astronomical Society (2002-06), and Terry Mann of the Miami Valley Astronomical Society (2006-10).
League Conventions. Before the GLRAL was founded, Astronomical League national conventions were held in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, in 1946 (host: Cranfield Institute of Science) and in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1949 (host: Cleveland Astronomical Society). After the GLRAL was founded, national conventions were held in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 (host: Detroit Astronomical Society), in East Lansing, Michigan, in 1974 (host: Kalamazoo Astronomical Society), and in French Lick, Indiana, in 1998 (hosts: Louisville and Evansville Astronomical Societies).
Two present or former GLRAL Chairs, Terry Mann and Chuck Allen, also co-chaired the League’s ALCon ’21 Virtual convention during the COVID epidemic. ALCon ’21 Virtual was a three-day, six-session event that achieved over 850 registrations, $10,000 in club-donated door prizes, and 100,000 views and featured multiple professional speakers including keynoter Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the discoverer of pulsars.
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