2008 marks the San Bernardino Valley Amateur Astronomers 50th year as an astronomy club in the Inland Empire. The exact origins of the San Bernardino Valley Amateur Astronomers are lost in the ripples of time. Since its founding in 1958, the mission of the club has been to provide a place for local astronomers to meet and share their enjoyment and enthusiasm of astronomy with like minded individuals. SBVAA is dedicated to fostering astronomy education to the local community through our meetings, outreaches and star parties.
One of the founders of SBVAA was George F. Beattie, professor of mathematics and astronomy at San Bernardino Valley College for over thirty year. Mr. Beattie was instrumental in the forming and organizing of our group. Many times he would have viewing events at his ranch in East Highland. He served as president and club board member until his death in 1972. The Valley College planetarium is named after Professor Beattie.
The club's newsletter, The Observer, has gone through many changes through out the years. Unfortunately, we do not have any copies of our early newsletters. There are copies of all the "modern" editions dating back to 1995 when it was revamped. In 2005, PDF version of The Obverse were first made available. An ambitious project, not yet started, will be make the older edition available online.
The club's website was first made available in 1999. It has gone through many change which can be seen at the Internet Archives site. We are currently working on a new version which will hopefully be released this year.
Other organizations also celebrating their 50th anniversaries: