Norwood was designated as the 22nd Dark Sky Community in the world in February of 2019

Three years of hard work, paperwork, and long nights were put in by Creighton “Woody” Wood, Bob Grossman, and Val Szwarc to make this happen. Since then, the Norwood Dark Sky Advocates have kept a relationship with the town and have maintained the standards implemented by DSI.

Meet the Board of Directors!

Creighton “Woody” Wood

Creighton Wood, a.k.a. “Woody”, was a Research Cartographer (Map Maker), Computer Specialist, Database Designer and Programmer, Programming Instructor, Computer System Manager, and all-around general computer Geek, at the US Geological Survey, National Mapping Division in Denver, Colorado until he retired in May of 2004. He now lives with his wife, Peg, on their Piñon Wood Ranch outside Norwood, Colorado (near Telluride) where they have horses for Peg to ride, Alpacas for their fiber to spin into yarn and other products, and BIG dogs to protect the Alpacas. His hobbies are weather observation, photography, woodworking, and reading (mostly about science) and, of course, astronomy and astrophotography. He has built an Astronomical Observatory on their ranch. His likes are Science, Classical Music, 60s and 70s Rock ‘n Roll, good food, learning, and teaching whenever the opportunity shows up.

He and a co-chair were the driving force behind getting Norwood designated as an International Dark Sky Community in 2019, and is now giving talks and presenting star-parties in Norwood.

Ellen Metrick

Hailey Bruinsma

Hiya! My name is Hailey Bruinsma and I have been a photographer for more than half of my life. I moved to Norwood in the late summer of 2025 and very quickly fell in love with this place, its people, the landscape, and most importantly, the night sky. The first time I really experienced the stars was on my first backpacking trip in 2015, almost exactly 10 years before I moved to Norwood and photographed the milky way behind the town sign. On that backpacking trip I captured my first astrophoto and it sparked a love for the stars in me that blossomed over a decade into a deep passion for astrophotography. I was voted onto the Board of Directors in January of 2026 and my hope with this position is to keep the night skies about Norwood as dark as possible, to educate as many people as possible about protecting our darkness, and to bring our community together over art and our beautiful starry nights.

Nathan Cook