Happy Birthday, America, from the ridiculously patriotic folks from the USS Challenger! And thanks to all the STARFLEET members that attended our Challenger 4th of July Party. The sun was out, the pool was cool, and fun was had by all.

Now it’s time to rock out with Spock, and enjoy some righteous Space Chicken — 4th of July is more fun in space!

Yeah our dune sign is still not back but at least some sand is. We enjoyed the surf although it didn’t quite seem warm enough to enter the water but XO Jeff Victor and I did get up to our knees.

Pat Comune our Asst. Security Chief and Marine MSG OIC, provided some transport of items and Kevin and I learned the dangers of not checking out the boardwalk shower rinse as in which shower head would turn on, in our eagerness to get the sand off our feet.

Jennifer Thompson our Sci Chief discovered just how quick she could walk back to the bungalow when all those  beverages kicked in and activated her kidneys.

Comm Chief Laura Victor got surprised with an early birthday cake made my Julie Victor. It was chocolate and it was GREAT. A big happy birthday wish goes out to Laura!

The beach was filled with people even at 6:30 p.m. and we enjoyed some interesting sights and conversations.

We returned to the bungalow and had more fun. Thanks go out to Kevin and Jeff for their work on the back yard BBQ which is being prepared this week for our July 3 Ship Anniversary BBQ party.

It was great seeing Ken Fundenewicz and Barbara who stayed over for the night. They put on a great comcs expo. It was also fantastic seeing Ann Marie and her mom who recently officially joined our ranks.

Everyone was in good spirits and it was clear from the temperature that summer 2010 is officially here.

The summer months are always packed with weekend activities. Next Sunday is our June meeting so we want to see as many of you as possible and Command Staff members please let us know if you can not make the meeting. Give me a call on my cell at 856-495-6476. Yes my communicator (cell phone) is back up operating with a full dylithium crystal charged battery which Kenny installed last night and it hasn’t dropped a call yet. HURRAY!

I covered a Memorial Day Parade and service in Lacey Township this morning for work and had to stop into a dollar star prior to said parade to pick up an item when I spotted in the toy section (gee what was I doing there? Actually, it was next to the office supply stuff…really) at $3 a pop, STAR TREK movie action figures from the recent film. I was not collecting them but since I gathered up a bunch for a buck at a recent sale I figured I’d get at least one in a package. One year after the movie and the ST figures that went for about $7.99 each for the small ones are now $3 at Dollar General.

Oh as to who I got…well they had several Kirks and one new Spock and one Nero. Since I had Kirk and Spock you can guess who I now have. <G> Yeah I know Emily, like I need more stuff but it is small and gee I only picked up a small number of comic books yesterday during the show. <G>

As to events coming up, as I said there is a lot of things coming up in th weekends to come, our meeting being the first next Sunday, Sovereign’s 20th anniversary dinner, Abraham Lincoln’s picnic, our BBQ on July 3, Shore Leave 32 the weekend after, IC2010 for those of us going out to Oklahoma, and a Creation Con in North Jersey in early August plus another Atomic Con in late August and Monster Mania Con going on sometime during that month as well. Wow.

Well hope you enjoyed your weekend which along with all its fun and frolics is also about those who served and made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our great country. I’ve covered Memorial Day services for years and never fail to be moved by the comments made.

Take care and see you next Sunday!

Adm. Bob Vosseller
CO USS Challenger NCC-1676-D

The chapter is the oldest in the 7th Fleet and I know we will have a good time recalling old times. I am a founding member of the Avenger and even have the armband (a unique item that was part of our very early membership package) to prove it.

Next month the USS Sovereign will note its 20th birthday which is another milestone for a chapter. Those chapters that make it to two decades have a rich and diverse history. I know I am looking forward to attending both these events and sharing memories of past adventures we’ve had.

LOOKING BACK AND GOING FORWARD

While we will be looking back to a great degree at the aforementioned events, we can also recall a one year anniversary of this weekend. Remember the excitement we had just one year ago when many of us camped out at our local movie theater, in uniform or chapter shirt to promote the big screen return of our favorite sci-fi saga with STAR TREK. That event helped to reinvigorate our organization and ST fandom in general. Many of us recruited a number of new members during the month of May 2009.

It is a year later and I hope that many of those new members to our respective chapters are still involved and possibly an active force in SF and the chapters they joined.

Is ST fandom what it was 12 months ago? Well, to my observation not quite. I’ve noted a bit of lull creeping in again although the online game did help to keep the momentum going. Thus far in 2010 we’ve had a pretty active year. From seeing our MSRs there has been activity despite the snow filled winter. The NJ Polar Bear Plunge and Challenger’s Intergalactic Food Festival received a good turnout and Farpoint got decent representation from SF members. I*Con in Long Island proved to be a blast and involved three chapters and this month’s Trek Olympics in the Maryland Sector will bring together members of chapters in that area and possibly beyond.For most chapters, the summer season is a busy one with picnics and barbeques and special gatherings.

RC NOMINATION PHASE ENDS NEXT WEEK

As we know, the nomination phase for the next RC election cycle has begun and if you plan to nominate a candidate or show support for our current RC, Wayne Augustson who is seeking another two year term, the deadline is coming up this week. Please send in that nomination if you plan to do so.

SHORE LEAVE PLANS MOVING AHEAD

As per tradition, STARFLEET will be well represented at Shore Leave at the Hunt Valley Inn in Maryland on the second weekend of July. The event has some great guests this year especially if you are a Battlestar Galactica fan. We will have a SF table and there are plans in the works for tweaking our approach and bring more snap to our presence at the con with some giveaways and even dancing Orion slave girls on the table…okay, just kidding about that last part but its not a bad idea. We will need volunteers and we know that many of you out there help out once you know your own personal schedules once the con schedule is planned out.

We will have a SF meeting, most likely at 9 or 10 am on the Saturday of the con as always. Other details will be posted in the weeks to come.

IC2010 ALSO COMING UP

A number of 7th Fleet members will be heading out to Oklahoma on the last weekend of July for the Starfleet International Conference. This will be a very interesting year in that it is an election year and most likely, candidates for that office will be presenting their platforms and plans during the IC. The nomination process for SF President begins on June 1 and you will be hearing more about that in a few weeks from now. As next year’s IC will be held in Region 7, there will be a major effort to promote IC2011 at both this year’s Shore Leave and at this year’s IC. Watch for further announcements.

IRON MAN 2 NOW IN THEATERS

I close on the happy note that Iron Man 2 is currently in theaters but of course you all knew that. I will be seeing that much anticipated flick in about three hours myself with members of my crew and two guests from the USS Avenger. It looks fantastic and it should be kick off blockbuster action film for the summer season. For those who do get a chance to see it in the next few days, post some comments (and any spoiler alerts) to the R7 list so we can talk about it.

As always, if you have an idea, a problem, a complaint a question or compliment reach out to Region 7 Command. We are easy to find. Check out the R7 website at http://www.region7.com for the contact information of the staff member you wish to reach.