John P Kolb Jr

Astronomy became an interest while in Scouting, and the curiosity continued during my four years in the Marines and through college. I spent 31 years within the soft drink industry, working my way up from a forklift operator to a Vice President. I enjoyed working in the medical field for over 3 years at a multi-specialty clinic as President / CEO. I always try to find time to attend seminars and visit observatories and museums around the world. I’ve also visited with David H. Levy, author of SKYWATCHING and co-discoverer of the Shoemaker/Levy Comet that collided with Jupiter in 1994. I was present at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia during the different impacts of the comet. Betsy and I moved to Ivins, Utah in 1997, and the first thing I did was to make certain that I had a pad for my 2 Meade LX 200 10” / 14” telescopes. Since then, I have given numerous “Star Parties” for Dixie State College students where I lectured for 6 years, Red Mountain Resort’s guests for 12 years and for our friends in the community. While being one of the Deans for Computer University @ Sea on Crystal Cruise Lines, I have been able to visit and see the dark skies from all over the world, including various locations that are cornerstones of the history of astronomy. For us, the saying “Life is a journey, not a destination” is a reality; and as I said for almost three years on a Sunday Smooth Jazz program, 97.1 in Las Vegas, NV, “Choose Kindness, keep your eyes to the sky and please help someone every day, The Wizard and The Lady of the Red Desert.” It was in May of 2012 the VA had to amputate my left leg from a major infection. At that point I knew I had to do something creative. With help from a few friends, we made the work bench, purchased the torch and tools to start flameworking.