by Alan B. Rohwer
Sky and Telescope, November, 1986
On September 6th, Stellafane lost a tie to its origins with the death, at age 91, of Ernest V. Flanders. A charter member of the Springfield Telescope Makers, he held many club offices, including president, over the last 63 years.
Called "E. V." or simply Ernie, he became a special source of oral history, delighting listeners with stories of Russell W. Porter, other early telescope makers and their antics. Flanders helped construct the Porter turret telescope and liked to recount such Stellafane lore as the Legend of the Bean Hole and the Great Spring-Well Rabbit Hunt.
Flanders also helped ensure the preservation of Stellafane's documentary history. He rescued an entire collection of Porter's early arctic photographs by copying the unstable nitrate negative and committing them to the National Archives. He transcribed recordings of the club's chef and poet, Everett Redfield. He furnished rare pictures for the recent autobiography of another early figure, Oscar S. Marshall. Flanders played a big part in getting Stellafane elected, late in 1977, to the National Register of Historic Places.
Much younger friends were invigorated by his freshness of outlook and humor. I recall being scarcely able to keep pace with E. V. on a brisk hike up Vermont's Mount Ascutney when he was in his 70's and I in my 20's. About then, he was studying German in preparation to become a foreign exchange student and world traveler. Last December, it was a special treat at a club meeting to see him become a Halley two-timer.
Professionally, Flanders had a long and distinguished career in mechanical engineering. He devised diamond grinding equipment for the mass production of screw threads, turbine engine blades, and other precision parts. This remarkable man also helped found the American Precision Museum in Windsor, Vermont, dedicated to machine tools.
background photo by Edgar Cortes