The Ohio Valley Skeptics is a new organization committed to encouraging critical thinking in all walks of life. OVS encourages the critical investigation of paranormal and fringe-science claims from a responsible, scientific viewpoint and the distribution of the results of such investigations to the public. You are cordially invited to become a charter member of OVS.
The Ohio Valley Skeptics will meet at the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History, 1720 Gilbert Ave. on Saturday, November 9, at 10:00 AM. The meeting is open to the public. After a business meeting to consider by-laws and other organizational issues, OVS President Joe Gastright will give a presentation on 'The First New Age: Paranormal Beliefs in Cincinnati, 1840-1880.' Dr. Gastright, an educator with a strong interest in science, holds an M. Ed. in chemistry from Xavier University and an Ed. D. in educational research and measurement from the University of Cincinnati, He is also past-president of the Kenton County, Kentucky, Historical Society. He will describe how Cincinnati participated in the rise in occult and paranormal activities that occurred in the United States during the nineteenth century, and how that resurgence of magical thinking is paralleled by today's New Age activities. The meeting will be followed by an informal lunch at a nearby restaurant for those who are interested.
The October 12th meeting at the Blue Ash Holiday Inn began with a business meeting at which committees were formed to write by-laws and recruit experts to act as resource people for journalists. The business meeting was followed by a videotape of a program from Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers series, 'Things That Go Bump in the Night.' The program reports on and offers non-supernatural explanations for a wide variety of incidents often attributed to poltergeists, a kind of ghost alleged to be adept at secretly throwing rocks, moving furniture and breaking china. Most of these effects are believed to be the activities of disturbed adolescents, one of whom was taped in the act of breaking china and then hopping hastily back into bed and calling her mother to come witness the damage done by the 'poltergeist.' The meeting was followed by an informal lunch.
Officers elected at the first meeting of the OVS, Sept. 20, 1991, to serve until the first annual meeting in April are: President: Joseph P. Gastright; Secretary, Mary Pacinda; Treasurer, Richard G. Shepherd; and Newsletter Editor, Virginia Jergens. Publicity Chair Porter Henry and Media Resources Chair Richard Boznian were elected at the October meeting. Members of the Media Resources Committee are Chuck Rodway and Carl Bunde. A By -Laws Committee was also formed. Members are Dick Shepherd, Mary Pacinda, Chuck Rodway, and Holly Norton. The by-laws committee hopes to present a draft to the membership for discussion at the November meeting.
R.C. Bozian, M. D.
R. D. Bozian, M. D.
Carl A. Bunde, M. D., Ph.D.
Richard A. Davis
Oran B. Dent
Kenneth DeWeese
John E. Fischer
Joseph F. Gastright, Ed. D.
William H. Giles
Ken MatthewsRobert Hartmann
Porter Henry
Robert Paul Howard
Carolyn R. Hunt
Hermon R. Isaacs
Virginia H. Jergens, Ph.D.
John S. Kennedy
William Kennedy
Richard H. McGrath
Richard HildebrandJim Magus
Dan Nagle
Helen E. Norton
Mary Pacinda
Howard E. Rissover, M. D.
Charles P. Rodway
Claudia Sawyer
Richard G. Shepherd
Nicholas A. Forte
Bring your favorite skeptical clipping, cartoon, book, or whatever to the next meeting and share it with your fellow skeptics. Pres. Joe Gastright got skeptical sharing going in a big way by bringing a whole carton of books to the October meeting. Among them was a skeptic's treasure, Ivan Stang's High Wierdness by Mail: A Directory of the Fringe: Mad Prophets, Crackpots, Kooks, and True Visionaries. This compilation will allow you to keep up with the competition by filling your mailbox to overflowing with free information from every kind of pseudoscientific organization. It's available in paperback from Simon and Schuster for $9.95. Order through your local bookstore.
The museum is at 1720 Gilbert Ave., east of I-71 and north of downtown Cincinnati in Eden Park.
If you come from the north on I-71:
Drive south on I-71. Take Exit No. 2, Gilbert Ave. and Reading Rd.
The exit ramp forks. Take the right fork, marked Reading Rd. In a
block or so you will come to two left turn signs, the first to Reading
Rd. and the second to Elsinore. Turn left on Elsinore. Go about one
block to Gilbert Ave. Turn left on Gilbert. On Gilbert you will see on
your right the museum, a large building hung with red banners
advertising the Planetarium. Go past the museum to the Planetarium
parking lot, which is to the left off Gilbert. Park in the Planetarium
lot, and cross the street to the museum.
If you come from the south on I-71:
Drive north on I-71, Take Exit No. 2, Reading Rd. and Florence Ave.
The exit forks. Take the right-hand fork to Florence Ave. At the
stoplight, turn right on Eden Park. Drive one block and turn right on
Gilbert. After one long block on Gilbert, you will see the Planetarium
parking lot on your right. Park there and cross the street to the
museum, a large building hung with red banners advertising the
Planetarium.
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Ohio Valley Skeptics is an independent, nonprofit, scientific and educational organization. We share the philosophy of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, an international organization which investigates paranormal events, sponsors workshops, and publishes Skeptical Inquirer, a journal of investigations of paranormal claims. OVS meets regularly on the second Saturday of each month and publishes The Ohio Valley Skeptics News. OVS plans to sponsor public lectures, assemble a panel of experts for news media to consult, and investigate local paranormal claims. Annual dues are $10.00 for regular members, $5.00 for full-time students, and include a subscription to The Ohio Valley Skeptics News.
Copyright 1992-2005, The Association for Rational Thought