Our monthly meetings are 6:30 pm social hour, 7:30 pm announcements and 8:00 program on the first Wed. of each month usually at the Butler YMCA, 339 N. Washington, St. Butler, Pa.
Each meeting includes outing announcements, a featured speaker and slide
show or outdoor educational program and is open to the public.
Please join us Wednesday May 1 for our next meeting. Warren Smith will present a program on northern lights. Many legends, myths and superstitions have centered on the northern lights (Aurora Borealis) throughout history. The early dragon legends of China and Europe are said to have originated from the aurora. Some cultures have regarded the sighting of an aurora as a sign of royal birth; to others it suggests ghosts of the dead or the precursor for war. The Eskimos of North America believed that if you whistled at the aurora it would sweep down and take you from the earth; by clapping your hands one could force it to retreat.
Find out more about these stories, as well as research explaining the phenomenon and its impact on circumpolar populations. Included will be a 30 minute video produced by researchers at the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
