I am a mamber (and stepped down after 5 years as the first VP) of the
ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY of SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND.
We are a group of amateur astronomers (averaging between 80 and 100 members) dedicated to educating and enlightening the general public about the wonders of the night sky (our last natural resource), and the treasures within awaiting discovery and rediscovery.
We hold annual events, the largest in October, REHOBOTH SKIES, isheld in Rehoboth, Massachusetts where we meet every second Saturday of the month (6:00 p.m. - 12:00 Mn) at the Carpenter Museum.
Our reguler meetings are free and open to the public. Members of the club are able to acquare the use of A.S.S.N.E.'s 6" and 10" reflectors for periods no shorter than two weeks or up to a time when another member requests its use.
The 6" Crition was donated by member Dr. Paul Tung, and the 10", with Crition mirror, was a made through collaboration of the club's many dedicated members.

That's me (sitting) with Tom Perry (Treasurer, red coat)
as we show this group of people the planet Venus during
the day.

     I have been an amateur astronomer since September, 1988.  Using my 4 1/2 inch telescope "Newton" I was able to log over 700 objects, mainly deep-sky subjects as nebula, galaxies, and star clusters, with a healthy assortment of double and variable stars.  My interest in comet observing began in 1989 with the apparition of  23P/Brorsen-Metcalf, which in turn grew into a deep interest in the life of
Rev. Joel H. Metcalf.
     The biography about the Reverend J. H. Metcalf will take some considerable time, because I want to pay homage to his whole life not only to the astronomical portion of it, because he did say that he was "first a minister".  Even though his interest in astronomy was the conduit for this project it was my search for his life that showed me how much more there was, and still is to this man. The main frustration with the writing of this book is not being able to know "the man" or anyone who has had some personal knowledge of him.
    A second project/book, (OBSERVING THE 4.5-INCH UNIVERSE) is a collection of written descriptions and sketches that I was able to log during my five years of using the 4 1/2-inch
Bauch & Loumb reflector,  I began compiling them in manuscript form in order to help new members of A.S.S.N.E who had received the same type of telescope as gifts yet have no idea how to set them up, or what to look for. I joined the Celestial Observers of Rhode Island (later becoming the Astronomical Society of Southern New England) It was through this club that I was able to build an 8-inch f/8. For my 43erd (?) birthday I received the 10-inch f/4.5 "Starfinder".

I am a father of two boys Richard and Joshua Didick of Attleboro, Massachusetts. Richard is now a United States Marine and hopes to make a carere out of it.  Joshua is now at Mt. Ida College in Newton, Mass.
    My wife Deborah Cahoon Didick is a Folklorist with a BA in Art History who has done graduate work in anthropology and archaeology.  She teaches workshops at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  She is also deeply involved in researching her Scottish heritage.
We were married at Brown University's Ladd Observatory, Providence, Rhode Island (under the 12 inch Clark refractor) on February 28th, 1993.
Deborah's daughter, Erika Charles Brien, my step-daughter with her loyal German Shephard, Mackie, are now living in Nebraska, she is attending college for computer graphice and drafting.