NOVINS PLANETARIUM FEATURES SHOWS AND SPECIAL EVENTS

TOMS RIVER – One of the largest and most active planetariums in the state, the Robert J. Novins Planetarium, on the Ocean County College Main Campus, College Drive, Toms River, NJ, is offering a variety of shows and special events for all ages.  All shows begin promptly.  Please plan to arrive at least 15-minutes prior to show time as there is no admittance or re-admittance once the show has begun.

SPRING SKY SHOWS: Now through June 17 (Planetarium will be closed May 18-20) Tickets: $10 adults; $8 seniors (60+) & OCC Rewards Members (with card); $7 children (12 & under); and $35 family pack (two adults/three children).

Dawn of the Space Age (Ages 10 and over) – Look back at the Russian and American ventures into the cosmos from Sputnik to Gemini, Apollo, and Shuttle programs, as well as missions to Mars and the outer planets.  Saturdays at 8:15 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. 

Exploring the Spring Sky (Ages 10 and over) – Explore the season’s constellations, bright stars, planets, and celestial highlights.  Constellation mythology and recent space missions are also included.  Fridays at 8:15 p.m., Saturdays at 1:00 and 7:00 p.m., Sundays at 1:00 p.m.

Kaluoka’hina: The Enchanted Reef (Ages 10 and under) – A humorous story for children, join Jake and Shorty, two adventurous fish on a mission to save their reef from destruction!  You’ll also take a tour of the night sky.  Fridays at 7:00 p.m. and Saturdays at 11:30 a.m.

One World, One Sky: Big Bird’s Adventure (Ages 7 and under) – Sesame Street’s Big Bird and Elmo explore the night sky with Hu Hu Zhu, a Muppet from China.  Children learn about the moon, Earth, bright stars, visible planets, and constellations.  Saturdays at 11:30 a.m.

Touching the Edge of the Universe (Ages 10 and over) – Look at two satellites that were launched into the Universe.  These space telescopes look deep into space to observe the birth of stars and planets, revealing the secrets of the distant cosmos.  Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. 

SPECIAL EVENT: Tickets: $8 per person.

Pajama Night: Story Telling Under the Stars (For children who enjoy bedtime stories) – Storybooks come to life as giant-sized pictures float among the stars.  Feel free to wear comfy pajamas and bring a pillow or blanket.  Saturday, June 16 at 6:00 and 7:00 p.m.

LASER SHOWS: Tickets: $14 adults, $12 seniors (60+) & OCC Rewards Members with card, and $10 children (12 and under).  The planetarium dome fills with color and music as brilliant lasers dance among the stars.  Shows change each month.  Visit our website or call for show times, program titles, and playlists.  Fridays and Saturdays, May 25-26. 

To purchase tickets call 732-255-0400, ext. 2111.  Tickets also go on sale at-the-door 1/2 hour before each show.  Multi-Show discounts and group rates are available, please call ahead.

For recorded show information, call 732-255-0342.  For a list of upcoming events, visit http://www.ocean.edu/planet.htm.

MEDIA CONTACT ONLY:
RoseAnn D’Urso
Manager of Promotional Programming
Executive Producer, “The Best Years”
732-255-0400, ext. 2466
rdurso@ocean.edu
Ocean County College
PO Box 2001, College Drive
Toms River, NJ 08754-2001

Farpoint has come and gone and a lot of fun was had this year as in years past. This year’s R7 breakfast required extra seats as the turnout was fantastic. The SF meeting was also well attended and much was discussed. From reports I’ve heard, everyone enjoyed themselves and the guests were highly entertaining.

IT’S AWARDS TIME AGAIN

Many of you probably watched at least part of the Oscars last night and that should bring to mind that R7 has its own awards program. R7 Awards Coordinator Adm. Beryl Washington posted the details of submitting your nominations. Last year’s winners included the following:

Chapter of the Year: U.S.S. Avenger
Shakedown Chapter of the Year: U.S.S. Storm
Support Ship of the Year: U.S.S. Challenger
Flag Officer of the Year: Glendon Diebold (USS Niagara)
Officer of the Year: Eric Schulman (USS Matrix)
Edgar Torres Memorial CO of the Year: Debbie French (USS Inferno)
Enlisted Member of the Year: Maggie Restivo (USS Richthofen)
Staff Member of the Year: Bob Vosseller (USS Challenger)
Electronic Newsletter of the Year: “The Peacekeeper”- USS Niagara
Printed Newsletter of the Year: “Avenger News”- USS Avenger
Helping Hands: John Wilson (USS DeBraak)

All submissions for this year’s program can be done by going to www.Region7.com (http://www.region7.com/) on the right side of the home page you will find the awards section. Click on it and the award page will come up.

Please click on the award you wish to nominate someone in and the page will come up. Fill in the blanks and then write an informative essay on your nominee. While the box looks small it will hold all you write. “I’m urging you to use the award page. I will no longer cut and paste your information as it stills leave to many blanks,’’ Beryl said.

”Please nominate and honor those on your crew who have taken their dedication to another level. There are also Regional commendations, use them and nominate those who have gone the distance,’’ she added.
All awards must be filed by midnight on April 1.

STARFLEET NEWS

Vice Adm. Laura Victor worked hard on Saturday to restore service to the SF website which had suffered difficulties. Good work Laura though it is a shame that such effort had to be made to correct the issue.
Laura also reminded members this weekend that SF has a Press Kit & PR Guide in the SF website Documents Center: http://www.sfi.org/portal/index.php?option=com_docman&Itemid=475

REGION 7 CONFERENCE 2012

Yes R7 members there will be a conference this year and it will be at the Cherry Hill NJ Crowne Plaza hotel this fall. Our R7 Chief of Staff made the announcement in recent weeks and we are looking for programming ideas. Please contact me at co@usschallenger.org if you have any ideas.

KEEPING UP ON STARFLEET MEMBERSHIP STRENGTH
The Region is in good shape with around 579 members as of Shore Leave 33. We did have a few chapters with lower than the required 10 members. We are working with the USS Top Gun which has its membership number but has had some reporting issues which have now been taken care of and the USS Thor, which has been out of contact for some time. Last month we had a perfect reporting record. Lets keep this trend up!

EVENTS COMING UP THAT ARE OPEN TO THE REGION

The USS Challenger’s annual Intergalactic Food Festival returns this Sunday at 1 pm at the Seaside Heights Community Center in Seaside Height’s NJ. Uniforms/costumes encouraged though not required but what is required is that you bring a food item that will feed 6 people or beverages that accommodate the same. This is an open house event for the chapter and will hopefully introduce fans to Starfleet and we are hoping for some media to be present. If you have any questions visit the USS Challenger website or the USS Challenger Facebook page or e-mail me at co@usschallenger.org

The USS Storm is noting its one year commissioning anniversary on March 25 and is coordinating walk team for an AIDS walk benefit in Atlantic City in May. See their website and Facebook page for further details.

USS Richtofen CO and SF Communications staffer Karen Carothers recently announced that their fourth annual Trek Olympics will be held on Saturday, May 19, at the Hollofield area of Patapsco Valley State Park in Catonsville, MD. Last year, the event had representatives from the Richthofen, Pride of Baltimore, and Matrix.
” I’m hoping we can maybe double the number of ships represented this year. Don’t worry if you don’t have enough available crew to field a team, we can mix and match,’’ Karen said.

Karen stressed that “I REALLY NEED folks to RSVP to me if they plan to attend. The shelter I have is for 20 people. I will happily reserve another nearby if we need it, and there are also a few free picnic tables in the area of our shelter that are first-come, first-serve.’’ For more information contact Karen.

Well that concludes this bulletin. I look forward to seeing many of you at the events coming up. As always should you have any ideas, compliments, complaints, project proposals or questions for the staff of SF Region 7, reach out to us. Our contact information can be found on the R7 website or simply post us an e-mail to this list.  

I just wanted to thank those who came out yesterday and feasted during the USS Challenger’s annual Intergalactic Food Festival that drew at least 20 people including members of the visiting public to the Seaside Heights Community Center in Seaside Heights N.J. where you could sample “Terra Nova Turkey”, BLT subs (“Bantha Lettuce and Cheese”), “Gold Pressed Latinum” Krispie treats, and we even had some tiny green soldiers encased in orange jello trying to escape…”The Blob”. Ariel and Terri Vitalli provided an incredible Star Trek cake that was among the many desserts we had.

Those were just a few of the main dishes and desserts that filled a very large table during the event. Members of the USS Sovereign and USS Avenger participated in the event and non perishable food (of a more mundane variety) was collected for Project Replicator our program to aid a food pantry in Ocean County. The food will be delivered later this week.

Some of our guests came in some creative attire and I dug out my modified sweater monster maroon (thankful it still fit although a tiny bit snug) while fellow Challenger Patrick Barnes wore the robes of a Jedi Knight for the day.

Fun was had by all as we recalled interesting moments of conventions, R7 conferences and ICs gone by plus we had a lively discussion on upcoming films like John Carter that we plan to see.

The Intergalactic Food Festival always marks a celebration of the end of winter (mild as it is) an open meeting for the public to make them aware of Star Trek/Sci Fandom in the area (and the fact we love to eat) and it makes for one nice gathering of friends and fans old and new.

While the Challenger hosts the event, those who came and brought their food/beverage and spirit to the occasion, helped make it a great experience. There was no lack of food and though we’ve hosted this event for close to 20 years now, it is always interesting to see how creative people can get in mixing and matching actual food to the names of galactic treats we’ve seen in Star Trek and other Sci Fi sagas as well as the creation of new alien oddities.

It proves you don’t have to be a master chef to enjoy this event but creativity is a must and if you are in Starfleet or a Sci Fi fan, there is plenty of that to go around.

Again, thanks for attending and for those who missed it, mark the first Sunday of March on your calendar for next year!

Adm. Bob Vosseller
CO USS Challenger NCC – 1676-D
VRC Region 7
co@usschallenger.org