The Lake County Astronomical Society

Leon Fasano Proclaimed "Father of the LakeSky Telescope"

April 18th, 2008

At the April business meeting of the Lake County Astronomical Society (LCAS), President Marlon Cowart recognized Leon Fasano of Trevor, Wisconsin, on behalf of the officers and members of LCAS, for his skills, enduring effort, and dedication which lead to the creation of the LakeSky Telescope. Over a period of many years, Mr. Fasano personally dedicated himself and lead the effort to refurbish the 2000 pound Nishimura telescope mount, and created a brand new 20 inch telescope to place on that mount. Mr. Fasano completed much of the work himself, committing several thousand hours of effort on the project, using his garage as workshop for the effort.

In recognition of this tremendous effort, President Cowart presented Mr. Fasano with proclamation below, declaring Mr. Fasano as "Father of the LakeSky Telescope", as well as granting him lifetime membership in LCAS. Mr. Fasano also received an engraved astronomy laser pointer to commemorate this great accomplishment.

The Lake County Astronomical Society is currently seeking a permanent site to place the LakeSky Telescope, intent on creating a new observatory in the Lake County area. This observatory would feature the 10 foot long, 20 inch aperture LakeSky Telescope created by Mr. Fasano, and would allow LCAS a means to host students and the community, to share the night skies and their celestial wonders.

President Cowart (left) presents the proclamation and gift to Mr. Fasano (right) during the April 18 LCAS business meeting at the Volo Bog State Natural Area, Ingleside, IL.