COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — David Warner spends most of his spare time teaching others about space.
"That black spot is about the size of the planet Earth," Warner said as he watches a child look at a black spot on the sun through his telescope.
It's the moments of awe that keep him going.
"Wow, that's awesome," says 9-year-old Oliver Yeary as he looked through Warner's telescope.
It's that kind of excitement from people young and old that motivate him to show up at events across the area.
"When people say, 'Oh wow look at the flare, look at this I'm seeing something I've never seen before that can't be real' that kind of feedback loop we get is what feeds us to come out and keep doing this every day," Warner said.
When Warner says "us" he's talking about his friends at the Colorado Springs Astronomical Society. The amateur astronomers show up with their telescopes at events all over southern Colorado. Click here for a list of events.
"My telescope's name is actually 'Goldilocks,'" said Warner to a group of onlookers. "It Goldilocks because the telescope is tuned to see right in the middle of not too hot, not too cold, just right."
On this day, volunteers from the Colorado Springs Astronomical Society were at the Colorado Springs Cool Science Festival at UCCS.
"That big red dot is the sun," said Warner to another child looking through his telescope.
Warner volunteers at more than 100 similar events every year.
"It's a sacrifice," Warner said. "But the way that I think about it is I could be sitting at home watching Netflix and eating potato chips on my couch, or I could be outside looking at the stars providing that foundation of hope and inspiration for young and old alike that had never looked through a telescope before."
Warner's sacrifices inspired his Space Force colleague and friend, Patrick Murphy, to nominate him for the News 5 Lighthouse Award. The award recognizes people who go above and beyond to make their community better. I shared what he wrote at a recent meeting of the Colorado Springs Astronomical Society.
"His efforts easily reach 15,000 people, both young & old, and ensure that astronomy remains accessible & interesting for all," Murphy wrote.
That kind of selfless dedication and determination to inspire others is why we chose Warner as the latest winner of the News 5 Lighthouse Award.
We're one human race," Warner said. "We're not black, white, Asian or Hispanic. We're not Buddhist or Catholic or Muslim. We're not Iranian, or American, or Russian, or Ukrainian. We're all one people looking up from this one planet Earth.
If you or someone you know deserves to be recognized for making our community better, we want to know about it. Click here to nominate someone for the News 5 Lighthouse Award right now.
____