On the matter of whether the newly revised Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws should be adopted by STARFEET, the final tally was:

Yes 891 votes (73.4%)

No 291 votes (24.0%)

Abstain 31 votes (2.5%)

Unreadable 1 vote (.08%)

In total, 1,214 ballots were received and certified by our CPA firm, Turk & Giles in Joplin, Missouri. Of those received, 9 had votes for the Bylaws but no vote for either candidate; 31 had a candidate vote but no vote on the Bylaws. The remaining one ballot listed as “unreadable” was an unfortunate mishap during delivery. Each ballot was stamped with a control code to verify that each member voted only once (you might have noticed it on your own ballot). One ballot arrived at the CPA office with the postcard partially torn. The missing area included the control code.

With no readable control code, this card was reluctantly declared invalid by the Inspector General.

And now, by the authority given to me as Election Coordinator by the current STARFLEET Constitution, I declare this election to be officially completed and instruct the current Commander, STARFLEET and his EC team to begin making arrangements to transfer all materials connected with their offices to the new Commander, Dave Blaser, and his team.

I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank MY team in coordinating this election. Wade Hoover put in countless hours and kept things on-time and professional during this entire process. Dennis Rayburn as Election List Lead Moderator was far from the catastrophe that many predicted, and did an outstanding job managing the chat list.

Neither I nor any member of the AB or EC received even a single complaint about Dennis’ performance. And finally, I’d like to thank the Election Packet Assembly Team in Kansas and the Mailing Team in Texas for getting thousands of packets assembled and mailed out to members on September 1.

As a final note, the 2010 Election Chat List, as has been done in the past, will be kept open for one additional week for supporters and candidates to wrap up any unfinished business. On Saturday, November 27, the Election List will be shut down (as the campaign is now over), and any further discussions can move over to the various STARFLEET-related lists.

I congratulate both candidates and their teams for running a refreshingly positive and civil campaign. Anyone who was around back in 2007 will hopefully agree that things went MUCH smoother this year…and that deserves a huge “thank you” from me and the Election Team.

So please join me in welcoming the first-ever non-U.S. resident to hold the position of Commander, STARFLEET: Dave Blaser. Whether you voted for Dave’s team or Emmett’s, the campaign is now over, and I hope everyone will agree that it’s time for us to all come together in friendship and cooperation….and of course, in our shared love of Star Trek.

Rear Admiral Jon Lane
Chief of Communications and 2010 Election Coordinator
comms@sfi.org

The turnout was not as high as some years but the Halloween spirit was plentiful with an abundance of Halloween decorated desserts, music in the background featuring everything from Monster Mash to Meatloaf’s Time Warp.The party included guests from the USS Avenger and the USS Sovereign. Admiral Bob Vosseller (your’s truly) got into a situation as “The Situation” from Jersey Shore complete with foam 6 pack abs.

Challenger XO Jeff Victor traded in a SF uniform for a new Battlestar Galactica uniform. The only thing he was missing was the XO flask. Todd Brugmans was a silly superhero while Annie Slonski was a lady pirate.Challenger finance officer Julie Victor was appropriately garbed in a costume with paper money plastered to her and dollar sign frame glasses.

Challenger Pat Comune who heads the chapter’s Marine Strike Group donned a kilt for the occasion.Kevin Victor wore a bright green Frankenstein’s monster shirt with what appeared to be Dracula’s pajama bottoms. He looked comfortable.Conversations ranged from the status of sci fi shows like Fringe, V, and The Event to current horror films like “Paranormal Activity 2”

There were plenty of laughs to be heard and even a few comments on Election Day which was just days away.The party lasted from 7 pm to the witching hour of midnight. No one really wanted to leave but many of us had busy plans for Halloween day itself.

I was one of those people and hit Atomicon XXII a comic book show that featured Tom Palmer, long time Marvel Comics artist and colorist whose work is well known on The X-Men and Tomb of Dracula. Tom rarely makes comic book show appearances but he was very friendly. He said he enjoyed working most on Marvel’s Star Wars title for years. A group of people came in dressed as DC comics superheroes including the original Sandman with gas gun, The Question, Red Tornado and Zatanna.

I donned my Captain Corn Fusion costume fresh from my appearance at Zooloween, a collectible show that also held a costume contest earlier in the month. I knew there was no way I was going to get a prize this time but that was okay, it was just fun to be in costume for a short time at the show. I raided the organizer of the show’s 25 cent book box bringing home a horde of Aquaman, Sub-Mariner, Spider-man, Captain America, Morbius the Living Vampire, The Shadow, Superman, JLA and numerous other titles.

Visiting my long time friend and Challenger’s Chief Medical Officer David Singleton’s home, I even ended up tagging along for a few blocks trick or treating discovering that some folks were giving away healthy treats like cheese and crackers, juice drinks, Welch’s fruit snacks and Rick Krispies treats. A far cry from what I recall getting when I went out as a kid to trick or treat. All in all a pretty spooktacular time as the season of fright concluded.

Check out the photos!

We’ll be doing some dune grass planting soon and we can probably mix that with a social event like dinner and a movie. I’ll be checking out the supplies of dune grass from the Toms River Rec Dept. that supplies it for the dune program this weekend.

Beyond the club business we also got caught up with some of the new and returning TV shows that we are all fond of and in some cases, fear loosing.

I want to close this post by wishing a certain ship’s counselor a very happy birthday in advance. Emily Vosseller will observe a birthday on Thursday. A big happy birthday wish goes out to her a few days early.

Our next regular meeting will be held on November 7 at the Seaside Heights Community Center.

Take care all, have a great week.
Adm. Bob Vosseller
CO USS Challenger NCC-1676-D