||| FROM MICHAEL ARMENIA for ORCAS ISLAND LIBRARY |||
At the upcoming Library Fair on August 10, the Friends of the Orcas Island Library (FOIL) is hosting the Second Annual Qwackwace, a rubber duck race event as a benefit for the Ken Gibbs Memorial Fund for Youth Science Education.
For three hours from 11:00 to 2:00 PM during the Library Fair, fair goers can take part in up to 12 races (approximately one every 15 minutes) where rubber ducks wind their ways through a complex of water raceways to the finish line, resulting in prizes for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place ducks of each race. Non-winning racers will each receive a ‘Lucky Duck’, a consolation miniature rubber duck for future luck! Each person can enter up to three ducks in each race at a cost of either $1, $5, or $10 per duck, with a maximum total of 24 ducks in each race. Prize values will vary accordingly with the entry cost for the winning ducks which will be indicated by the color of the duck. The proceeds from duck entries all go to the Ken Gibbs Memorial Fund for Youth Science Education.
FOIL is seeking donors, either private persons or local businesses, that could furnish merchandise or gift cards in various amounts. If a local business would like to be a sponsor rather than a prize donor, business names will be advertised on stickers placed on the ducks that are in the racing event. The cost for this sponsorship and advertisement will be $25 per duck. Prospective donors and sponsors can contact or Lynnette Wood at lnmiwood@gmail.com.
Ken Gibbs was a past President of FOIL and a dedicated volunteer at the Orcas Island Public Library (OIPL). He passed away in 2022. Because Ken was passionate about science and youth education, a fund was set up by OIPL through the Orcas Island Community Foundation (OICF). In fundraising now, we hope to achieve a level of investment that will ensure science-related
programming of a considerable merit to OIPL every year in perpetuity.
To read more about the fund, please see this article. To donate directly to this fund, please visit.
The Friends of the Orcas Island Library Association is an all volunteer, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.
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This is a great way to honor Ken, a volunteer at the library that would light up your day.
Ken, an astrophysicist that held a PhD in physics with a specialty in very high energy (VHE) gamma ray astrophysics made many contributions to the world of science.
Ken’s 1986 University of Arizona PhD dissertation entitled “Application of Imaging to the Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique: Observations of the Crab Nebula and Pulsar” paved the way for the first detection of a source, the Crab Nebula, at TeV energies in 1989 and the birth of a new branch of astronomy.
Ken was employed by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory as Operations Manager for VERITAS from 2001 to 2011 where he was a leader in the design, construction and initial operation of the VERITAS array. Ken also made outstanding contributions to the CASA/MIA air shower experiment at the Enrico Fermi Institute of the University of Chicago from 1987 to 1993 and the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina from 1995 to 2001, with which he was a senior research associate. The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) radio telescope also benefited from Ken’s expertise when he served as its project manager from 2014 to 2015.
ACADEMIA– https://independent.academia.edu/KennethGibbs1