After-Action Report: Farpoint ’08
It was wonderful seeing everyone during the weekend. It was incredible watching Sonny Wright, Joe Horton and Michelle Podesta, Beryl, Janek, Larry Neigut and several others transform pieces of wood and fiberglass into a perfect replica of a colonial viper from Battlestar Galactica.
All I can say is WOW. Great job guys at it brought a lot of fun to this year's Farpoint.
Beryl Washington provided her own special effects touch to FP with her red dress that she wore especially for a certain BG guest at the con but others got to see her in it to…or was she only in the heads of a few of us??? Hmmmm? Again…WOW!
Jeff, Laura Emily and I thanked everyone who came out to our Milk Shake Party on Saturday night which also served as a celebration for our daughter ship, the USS Britannic, who noted their 1 year commissioning anniversary.
The SF Region 7 meeting at 9am on Saturday was also interesting as due to necessary sound checks and technical issues we got shuffled from one side of the Valley Room to another and had to compete with some singing. I'm glad we didn't try to sing back and drown out our competition as that would not have been easy on the ears. Then we moved over towards the Viper. We still got a lot accomplished. RC Joe presented the annual MSR awards and each of our regional staff members spoke about our respective departments.
As sector chief of NJ I was very pleased to present the list of community service projects that our chapters had done during the past year. We also got to hear from Capt. Judy of the Avenger and Adm. Mark Hanford of the ISS Lexington speak about the plans their chapters have later in the year.
I plugged the NJ Sector Polar Bear Plunge coming up this Saturday involving members of the USS Challenger and the USS Avenger. This year's theme is comical Super Heroes with the likes of Soup Man, Bunny Man, Capt. CornFusion and USS Challenger Asst. Security Chief Col. Patrick Comune's alter ego has yet to be determined but it should prove to be interesting as we plunge into icy water in Seaside Heights NJ at 1 pm to help the cause of Special Olympics. Avenger member Patrick Barnes has made the costumes again this year so they should be very interesting to see. For those who wish to join us either in the plunge or to watch Pat, Patrick, David Singleton and I boldly plunge into the cold surf, let me know. After the plunge we'll be going out for a group lunch and later in the day for those who wish to stick around, Challenger will be hosting a game night at my place.
It was great to see our new Fleet Admiral Sal Lizard on Sunday. He was knocking at my room at 7:20 a.m. to say hi having been found by R7 Chief of Staff Capt. Wayne Augustson who was having an early breakfast in the hotel. Sal spoke with a number of SF attendees during the morning into the early afternoon.
Everyone seemed to be enjoying this convention, its guests and panels, and mingling. By early Sunday afternoon it looked like everyone was ready to head out early this year and thus we closed down the recruiting table around 2:30-3 p.m. Conversations lasted longer and included the usual parking lot chats so for Emily and I our real departure didn't occur until around 3:30 or so.
Adm. Bob Vosseller
R7 Recruiting Officer
R7 NJ Sector Chief
CO USS Challenger NCC-1676-D