A sunset in July on Mount Washington.

Guy Gosselin Remembered and Trustees Honored at 2024 Annual Meeting

By Drew Bush

2023 was a year of progress at Mount Washington Observatory. We made critical investments in educational programs, research partnerships, technology, and efforts to sustain the Observatory financially. Our partners, members, and supporters are the ones who made this possible.

The energy in the room at McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center was palpable when our 2024 Annual Meeting convened with friends, Trustees, and members in attendance on June 1, 2024. Earlier in the day, the Board of Trustees approved two new positions to support summit operations and our educational programs. They then unanimously nominated Trustee Lourdes Aviles to serve as our new Vice President. Read more about Lourdes Aviles HERE.

After lunch, our members, partners, and friends convened for a heartfelt ceremony led by Board of Trustees President Erica Broman. She presented on the Board’s approach to recruitment as we bring new ways of thinking, and Trustees with novel areas of expertise, into the organization.

I presented next (check out my slides HERE) providing an update on all the incredible progress we’ve seen in 2023. It’s you, our members, friends, and partners who have made this all possible. Of course, we also owe a great deal of thanks to the foundations supporting our work, generous granting agencies, and our federal delegation here in New Hampshire. Read more about our supporters in our 2024 Annual Report.

Brian Fitzgerald, our Director of Education, and Jackie Bellefontaine, our School Programs Coordinator, wrapped up the meeting with a report on our booming educational programs. This past school year (which is not yet over), saw 139 hours of school programming over our goal of 84. Next year, we will approach 300 hours of programming during school day, afterschool, virtual, and field trip programs. Check out Brian and Jackie’s slides HERE.

In between, we honored a true legend of Mount Washington Observatory, Guy Gosselin, and five outgoing Board of Trustees members who gave a lifetime to our historic organization.

On February 15, 1961, Guy came to Mount Washington Observatory to become a weather observer and fill a short term several-month position. He stayed for 35 years. He was promoted to chief observer in 1963 and appointed to the director’s post in 1971. He joined the Board of Trustees in 1978. During Guy’s tenure he conceived of our summit museum (now the Extreme Mount Washington Museum) and was instrumental in the transition from the Observatory’s 1937-1980 structure to its current home in the Mount Washington State Park Sherman Adams Building.

Stay tuned! In the coming days, we’ll be sharing a written remembrance and archival video interview to remember Guy, who passed away on March 7, 2024.

We also honored five people who have been mainstays of our organization and who are stepping off the Observatory’s Board of Trustees. Trustees Ed Bergeron, Paul Fitzgerald, Ty Gagne, Jonathan Haynes, and Bruce Soper have given more than a century’s time to the Observatory, and we could not have gotten to where we are today without them. We’ll greatly miss their contributions to our Board of Trustees but look forward to their continued involvement in our work.

This plaque will be given to Ed Bergeron, who is retiring from the Board of Trustees after 17 years of service. Each of our outgoing Trustees (mentioned above) received a similar plaque, which is mounted on a shingle from the former Mount Washington Observatory building.

In the spirt of this wonderful meeting, we would like to offer our thanks for the incredibly generous support we’ve received in 2023 and into 2024 to support our educational programs (from the Sheldon Family Estate, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation’s Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund, The Kendal C. and Anna Ham Charitable Foundation, and The Dorr Foundation), our research and internships (from Eversource Energy Foundation), for technology (from the Northern Border Regional Commission, The Ohnell Family Foundation, The Charles S. Raizen Foundation, and Congressionally Directed Spending thanks to support from U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen and U.S. Congressman Chris Pappas), and for financial sustainability (from the Sheldon Family Estate and many, many others). For a complete list of our foundation and grant supporters, read our 2024 Annual Report.

Drew Bush
Executive Director