Author: Mary Pucel

Greetings, Crew!

Can you believe we are starting the 37th year with a USS Nokomis?!?!? Back in 1984, we surely could not have imagined the twists and turns we'd go through. Hopefully, 2021 will be a bright - if strange - new world! I am so excited to see everyone in person!

Thanks to everyone that came to our holiday get-together. It was really fun! It's so nice to see everyone's faces and just sit and have fun. Thanks to everyone that helped to plan the event, too.

True to form, your generosity came through in our Toys for Tots collection. As one of the three major facets of our organization, service to the community is so important to us. It's heartwarming to see it continue while we are living in a virtual world.

Congratulations to Jane, Dave and Emma, who won the fabulous prizes in our fun games! We played Guess the Gift, jointly completed some Mad Libs, and had our first run through a Kahoot Quiz about our members. The Kahoot Quiz was built from the fun facts you've shared with me over the last weeks, and we learned a lot of interesting information. If you haven't sent me your fun facts, please do. If you have sent me facts and have some more, keep 'em coming! The plan is to have another round in February.

Here's some fun news - one of the teams with USS Nokomis members won TC Trek Trivia this month! It was close, and at one point five of the seven teams were tied, but in the end there's always one winner! Congrats to the winners!

As always, don't hesitate to reach out to the board if you have ideas or requests. Have a great week, here's to the New Year, and see you around the Galaxy!

Mary

Here's another of our cute little Nokomis babies. But first, who was that little one last time? I didn't get any right answers, so I'll tell you....

It was Pam! Yes, our own Pam was that cute when she was teeny. Now here's another one to stump you all. Who do you think this darling little one is? Send your guesses to . Don't be shy!

Need something to watch while you hibernate for winter? Here are the top ten fan-recommended episodes of Star Trek, according to StarTrek.com. I personally agree with most of them, but believe they are out of order (and Balance of Terror is missing), but of course with well over 700 episodes to choose from, we can't hope to agree completely!! Check it out HERE 

Did you catch the Cameo message from John De Lancie last week? According to dbr.com, he wasn't specific as to the series, but he did say that he's coming back! "Oh and by the way, here is a little stocking stuffer… You are going to be seeing more of me. Cheers. Merry Christmas," he said.

Can we just stop for a second to recognize that there will be FOUR Star Trek series in production in 2021? Speaking of things we couldn't imagine in 1984 when the USS Nokomis was founded!!! Yes, Trekkies, they are moving forward with Star Trek Discovery, Star Trek Picard, Star Trek Lower Decks, and (drum roll, please) Star Trek Strange New Worlds. If that's not enough to make you need a shot of Saurian Brandy, I don't know what is! Cheers!

Greetings, Crew!

I hope everyone is safe and warm with the big storm brewing today! I will be at the big blood drive in Oakdale and hope to enjoy a Winter Wonderland on trip home. Yesterday's 12 Hours of Giving yielded almost 500 units of blood and we hope to bring that to 600 today - wish us luck in the stormy weather. Of course, as all USS Nokomisites know, nothing is better than the gift of life!

We wish all of you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and best wishes for all of your holiday celebrations this week. We have one more newsletter this year, so see you next week. Take care, all!

See you around the Galaxy!

Mary

Thank you all for supporting Toys for Tots during the 2020 Nokomis Holiday Party.

Toys for Tots makes a difference in the lives of the less fortunate children in our community. The volunteers work very hard to make Toys For Tots a success, but they couldn't do it without the support of dozens of community groups and donors.

Thanks to the help and support YOU have provided, we are able to donate $300.00 to Toys for Tots this year. All of that came in just under 3 days and from nearly a dozen members.

The Marine Corps Reserve believes that "Every child deserves a little Christmas," and together we are sending a message of hope to these families. We hope to give a little joy to some kids this season.  Thanks for sharing in their effort with a bit of treasure.

Thanks to everyone that guessed last week's baby. Not one of you got it correct! That little sweetie was Dawn Hurd, our very own newsletter editor!

Here's another one to test your guessing skills. Who do you think this little one is? Come on, it's more fun when we get a lot of guesses!

Greetings, Crew!

It's December!! Almost time for a Brand New Year! The weather is pretty nice and it looks like we'll get through this odd year after all. At my house we're having some unexpected construction (booooo!), but it's almost over and we'll be ship-shape again.

We have planned a fun get-together for Saturday night and hope you'll be able to join us. Check out the details in this newsletter. If you aren't able to join, drop us a line to say hi. We miss your faces!

My plan is to continue these weekly communications into the new year. It would be great if others would submit content too (shout out to Scott L, who submitted a book review last week). Keep those baby pictures coming and send me other additions if you have them.

Take care, and see you around the Galaxy!

Mary

Here's another baby picture for you to identify. The group has gotten all but two, so let's see how you do on this one. If you have a guess, let me know at , and good luck!

Did you build starship models as a kid, like some of us did? Do you build starship models now? Well, here's the ultimate build for you! Offered by eaglemoss, the new Build the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701-D is here and available for pre-order now. The first 500 subscribers receive free goodies, and you can get the first two kits for only $4.95. Starting in March, four kits arrive every month at $12.90 per kit, plus shipping. After 30ish months you will have an incredibly accurate model with lights and a special display base. Check it out HERE