The 4th annual Nebraska Star Party was held August 2-9, 1997 at Merritt Reservoir in northwest Nebraska. The event attracted 330 participants from as far away as Brazil, Belgium, and Hawaii. NSP has been growing by leaps and bounds since its inception in 1993, particularly because of its dark skies and other recreational opportunities. This year's weather was not as good as in the past. Those fortunate enough to arrive a day early enjoyed perfect skies on the night of Friday August 1. The transparency and seeing were as good as I've ever experienced. Saturday evening began with a brief thunderstorm, but the skies cleared off around 2:00 am. Sunday night was a night set aside for observing with the general public. Lorri May of South Dakota, presented a constellation talk that was broadcast live over the Valentine, NE radio station. The skies remained partly cloudy throughout most of the night. I took the opportunity of the radio broadcast to let the world know that Dave Knisely, NSP Clear Skies Coordinator, had been officially relieved of his responsibilities. Unfortunately, the NSP staff appointed me to the position the next day. I hope that teaches me to keep my mouth shut. Sunday night also featured a 10 minute program about NSP on Nebraska Public Radio with interviews from NSP. Following the early evening ice cream social, Monday night became totally cloudy and featured the first meeting of NSP Astronomers Anonymous, where several attendees admitted their addiction to astronomy as they suffered withdrawls from observing. Laser wars flared up shortly after twilight. Of course the newly appointed Clear Skies coordinator humbly took blame for the clouds. Tuesday night started off cloudy, but around midnight the skies nearly totally cleared off and those fortunate enough to still be awake enjoyed the NSP skies once again. Wednesday featured the NSP beach party and barbecue. Events included volleyball, horseshoes, kite flying, a sand wedge contest, a 3-legged race, and a water balloon slingshot contest. Being Clear Skies coordinator, I was naturally nominated to be the target for the waterballoons. When the slingshooters could not connect, nearly 50 children took it upon themselves to ensure the clear skies coordinator was adequately baptized with water balloons, sand, and lake water. It must have worked, for that night was clear.Thursday featured the annual canoe and tubing trip down the beautiful Niobrara River. Nearly 200 attendees participated in the activity, which has over the past 4 years turned into a six hour long water fight. The Gehringer/Hamilton/Scherping aqua-commando force took dug in deep on the first island and camoflaged by tall grasses, proceded to hydro-assault more than 180 passersby with waterballoon slingshots and waterguns. Realizing Tom Miller was extremely well armed with newly acquired water cannons, "yours truly" attached himself to Tom's floating fortress following the breakup of the GHS team. The battles were mightly and the fighting fierce, but the Scherping/Miller team once again walked away wet but victorious.

Friday was a day filled with programs, door prizes, and vendors at the Valentine, NE high school. Vic Winter showed slides of comet Hale-Bopp. Bob Linderholm talked about his project of searching for asteroids. Brenda Culbertson gave a talk on binocular astronomy. Tom Gehringer shared his experiences in using the Mt. Wilson telescopes (remotely) with his astronomy students, and Rich Wilds gave a presentation on observing occultations. Vendors included Pocono Mountain Optics, AstroSystems, Star Master, Mag-1, and Astronomy-To-Go.Thursday and Friday nights were clear but very windy, making use of large scopes difficult at best. Many astronomers enjoyed the opportunity to delve into binocular viewing. Several observers were amazed to find the Veil an easy target in 7x50 binoculars and it was even seen in 6x30's. It was a great example of how great the skies can be at NSP. Incidentally, Alan Skruggs of Amarillo, TX was appointed NSP "Wind Coordinator", a position he will carry into next year. Overall, this year's Nebraska Star party was a huge success. The funfilled activities during the day more than compensated for the scarceness of clear skies. It was great to see old faces again and meet new friends. On a personal note, I was especially happy to find a lack of coyotes in the campground this year. Special thanks go out to Jason Stahl for being this year's NSP Coordinator, to Jim Rippey for organizing the ice cream social and beach party, to Tom Miller for handling pre-registrations and for bringing and sharing his boat, to John Bruce for handling treasurer's responsibilities, to Clark & Deb Cheney for handling door prizes, to Bill O'Donnell for putting together the NSP program booklet, to Mark Dahmke for maintaining the NSP web site, and to Dave Hamilton for helping with registrations and numerous other functions. Also thanks to all of our speakers and to the many other who helped make NSP-4 the best ever. An extra thanks to Dave Hamilton for volunteering to be coordinator of NSP-5.