Author: Mary Pucel

We had fun at the party on the 13th of April. We had good food and good beer tasting and there were interesting winners this year. There were only 16 entries - the fewest ever. The coveted Bad Beer Board went to Roxanne for her Beer Cotton Candy. The debate goes on as to whether it actually tasted like beer, but it definitely tasted like cotton candy! Second place was Harrison with Utepils European Style beer from the Minneapolis location. The big winner surprised us. Artie brought Anheuser-Busch's Redbridge, a gluten free, sorghum-based brew. Other entities included Make IPA Piney Again, Raspberry Blush, and the one that made everybody pucker: a citrus Gose whose name I have blocked from my memory.

The potluck was fantastic, and puzzling and games abounded. No matter what we do, we always have fun!

Greetings, Crew!

Guess what I saw!!!??? I saw the sun. Yup, it's true. We still have two-foot-tall piles in our yard, but still...

I hope everyone had a nice St Patrick's Day, even without our party. Emma and I were all dolled up in the Minneapolis St Patrick's Day Parade, so we got to exercise our Irish genes. If you didn't get enough of a chance to get your green on, feel free to be green at the party after the membership meeting on April 13th. Maybe we'll be able to get outside that day! I hope to see you there.

As a reminder, we're looking for input on things to do for our 35th anniversary this year. We have several great ideas for souvenirs and keepsakes. We'll also have our usual anniversary picnic in June and plans for a party in December. If there's something else you have in mind - an event or activity - please let a board member know as soon as possible. We'll entertain all options, and it helps if you have lots of detail and will help to plan the event.

See you around the galaxy!

Mary

OK, here's the deal.

This time it's really real.

The time is near, so grab your beer,

and food you're bringing to the meal.

At 4 o’clock on the big day,

jump in your car and drive our way.

If you don’t drink beer,

then never fear.

If you want to bring something else, you may.

A great time will be had by all

unless we get a big snowfall.

It happened before,

but won’t any more.

So come on over here, y’all!

See, I’m a poet, and you did not know it. What?

Congratulations to the crew that worked at MarsCon this year! It was a great success, for several reasons.

First, we saved lives!! Thanks to Jane, Roxanne, Cathy, and all the fabulous blood donors, we exceeded our MarsCon collections goal for the second time ever, and the first time since 2013! We had several fun gifts to give to donors, including armed forces emergency survival blankets and Game of Thrones Bleed for the Throne t-shirts. Plus, every donor was entered to win a trip to the Game of Thrones premier in April. Best of all, they each received the coolest - and hardest to get - badge ribbon at con! Thanks to everyone, we can touch up to 72 lives with our efforts!

Second, we had an AWESOME party room! The Spectre of the Gun theme worked out really well, and was very popular. We really fit the convention's theme of Legends in Our Own Minds!

The OK Corral, with it's flickering firelight, covered wagon, and towering cactus, was really cool. Wyatt and Virgil Earp could be found there, along with Doc Holliday. We also had a saloon with barmaids, plus well-armed Starfleet personnel. The saloon was servin' up sarsaparilla, and it was a huge hit. Each MarsCon guest of honor was honored by us, appearing on a Wanted poster, complete with mug shot and offered reward. Funny thing, though. It was always 10 minutes to five o'clock PM in our room...

Thanks go to Jim and Pam, Jack and Bob, Dawn and Roxanne, Scott and Amber, and everybody else that helped in various ways, for a wonderful and successful event!

The best news of all is that we won FIRST PLACE in the party room competition! That means we received money to put towards next year's room. What will it be?

Great job, everyone, and way to have a great time!

Trixie May (aka Mary)

Greetings, crew!

The only parts of me that are not buried in snow are my fingers, so I can still type this. It may not last for long, so here goes...

At our last meeting, we discussed fun things to do for our 35th anniversary year. We have our picnic coming up in June, at which we'll revive a sweet and fun contest activity. We are hoping to have pins and t-shirts available. We'd love to hear from you about other things you'd like to do.  Is there an activity that we used to do that you miss? As I sit here looking out the window, I realize that I live in the same house I lived in 35 years ago, and I think that sometimes the tried and true stuff is the best. Alternatively, is there something we've never done that would be fun? Bring on the ideas!

I hope to see everyone at MarsCon and the St Patrick's party. Have a great March!

See you around the galaxy!

Mary

It's time to have fun at MarsCon! We have been working hard on our room, which will feature the Original Series episode Spectre of the Gun. Wear your favorite Wild West gear, come as a classic Trek character, or wear nothing at all (not really but you don't need a costume) and visit with us in room 1113 on Friday and Saturday evenings.

We really need hands to help with the set-up, so if you are available please come and help. Meet us at the hotel after noon on Friday the 1st and help us hang curtains and hold stuff up. On Sunday, please come at 9am to the room and help us rip it down.

Thanks, and see you at the con!

We had a great time throwing axes at Bad Axe Throwing after our last membership meeting. It was great to have our own coach, and he was very friendly and a great teacher. They really do a lot to focus on safety!

We brought in our own potluck meal and were given a nice area with our own seating. At first, the whole crew was throwing, but it wasn't long until some of us dropped out (oh, that was just me). We learned that we have some pretty good lumberjacks and lumberjills in the crew!

We all agreed that it was a fun time and would recommend it to others. If you're interested, check it out at badaxethrowing.com.

Thanks to Emma, Shannon, Harrison and Joey, a group of 14 crew members enjoyed a spectacular evening on February 16th. Check out the remarkable menu!

The evening also featured a murder mystery, in which everyone had a part. Each person received their character and background before the event, so they could plan a costume, and the get-ups for Old King Cole, the King and Queen of Hearts, Miss Muffet, Bo Peep, and nine other fairy tale characters were creative and fun. Joey led us through the investigation and nobody knew the killer's identity until the last minute. It turns out that Wicked Queen Grimhilde - the Fairest of Them All - was the culprit! Nobody was more surprised than I was to find out that I'd pushed Humpty Dumpty to his demise!

Thanks to everyone for their parts in this wonderful evening!

Mary

TC Trek Trivia is the only pub trivia in the Twin Cities that dedicated exclusively to Star Trek!!! Trek Trivia Minneapolis takes place at 7pm on the 2nd Wednesday of every month at the Driftwood CharBar, located at 44th and Nicollet Ave in south Minneapolis.  Each month, dozens of Twin City Trekkies, Trekkers and Trek-newbies gather at the Driftwood in South Minneapolis to test their knowledge of all things Trek! Every  TC Trek Trivia features questions about the seven Star Trek television series (TOS, TAS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT) and all twelve feature films (yes, including the latest from JJ Abrams).

A group from the USS Nokomis has been attending this fun event. We'd love to have you join us. If you're interested, contact Captain Mary.