Here is a real scenario: Live in one of the cloudiest/rainiest areas in America. Couple that with two back-to-back years of record rainfall. Decide it is time to add another advanced observing program to the Astronomical League's list. Add 36 dedicated, seasoned amateur astronomers. Add two comets-of-a-lifetime during peak observing windows when you are trying to dig out "a few more in Virgo." What do you have? A 2-1/2 year project to develop the Herschel II Observing Program that was an extremely rewarding project for everyone involved.

Once receiving the go ahead from the AL, we began a review of the 2478 Herschel objects. We omitted the 400 objects in the Herschel 400 program and sorted the remaining objects by type, magnitude and distribution across the sky. We selected over 650 objects for our Observing Team to initially hunt down and consider. At a monthly meeting of the Rose City Astronomers (RCA), we described the project and asked for volunteers equipped with 8" scopes or larger. To our surprise, 30 members came forward. Word spread across the country that the RCA was tackling this project, and we added 6 more observers from Pennsylvania to California.

Realizing the challenge of reviewing such a large number of dim fuzzies, we researched the various computer charting programs available. After much consideration, we selected MegaStar© 3.1 from ELB Software as the most comprehensive to meet our needs. We contacted developer Emil Bonanno in Houston, told him of our project, and asked him if he would contribute a copy of MegaStar for use with this program. Emil graciously volunteered a copy. We can definitely say that, without MegaStar, this project would have been much more complex and time-consuming. For each object, a 2° field MegaStar chart was printed. These charts were invaluable in helping observers locate the objects.

Emil, thank you for donating MegaStar 3.1 for the Herschel II project.

Each month, team members submitted observations which we compared to and verified with MegaStar. Members were asked to evaluate whether they felt each object was "a keeper" for the Herschel II list. We actually divided the objects into "yes," " maybe," and "no" piles. Out of the more than 650 objects, 388 made the "yes" list. Needless to say, 12 "strong maybe's" were added.

It is such a pleasure to recognize all those who participated in and helped with this 2-1/2 year project: first to Richard Poletti for designing the 2478-object database review; to Rebecca Gee, a very talented artist, for designing the certificate and pin; to Douglas Huston, Michael Beal, Jim Reilly, Sue Wheatley, and Brian Skiff for their editing and composition expertise; to Dale Fenske, our tireless ALCOR liaison; and to the data gathering team for logging 945 observations!