ROOTS OF AMATEUR ASTRONOMY by Keith Venables Amateur Telescope Making FIRST STELLAFANE By 1926, the Springfield Telescope Makers had built a clubhouse atop Breezy Hill on the outskirts of Springfield, Vermont, where they held the first official Stellafane Convention. But contrary to legend, the amateur telescope making movement began much earlier and far away. 22 M A Y 2 0 1 7 * SK Y & TELESCOPE SPRING FIELD TELESCOPE M A K ERS The Real Origins of