Author: Phill Goldman

Each Fall we ask you to pay your dues, and everyone in the Nokomis thanks you for staying up to date.  Dues ensure that the basics of the Club are covered.

Producing and sending the Newsletter – Forty years ago this was printing and postage and was our largest single expense. Now it covers the Website’s hosting and registration.  We’re keeping that expense as low as possible by using NO pay-for-use software, and a very inexpensive hosting service.

Banking and Finance – When the Nokomis was born and we were Searching for Spock, the main banking costs were physical checks and a monthly fee since we were a low-volume use organization.  Now those costs are gone, but we have new costs in electronic service fees like everyone else.  Did you notice we didn’t raise the dues to cover those charges?

Cards, Flowers, and Memorials – We occasionally receive requests to recognize life events. When this happens, the Nokomis may send flowers or a card as appropriate, or make a contribution to a charitable organization if the recipient prefers.  Like all costs, these have risen dramatically since 1984.  Many years the Dues covers this completely, but not always.  We’ve chosen to keep dues the same and supplement from fundraising or donations.

Meeting Locations – Though most of our locations are free, we will rent a site for regular meetings when needed, like the Anniversary Picnic.  At the founding we met in people’s homes and yards.  We outgrew that and started using public sites like libraries. Sometimes these library rooms charge nominal fees to groups like ours to raise revenue.

ZOOM – Clearly a new expense, Virtual Meetings became a necessity during the Pandemic and now form the basis of our hybrid meetings.  Every month we have up to a dozen people attend online.  The Nokomis pays for the subscription, and the added hardware and effort to set up are donated.

Individual Dues started at $10 per year in 1984 and has only been raised once, to $15 per year roughly 20 years ago.  Would you guess that $10 dues in 1984 would be the equivalent of $31.75 in 2025 according the US Bureau of Labor statistics?  Diligent effort on keeping costs low allows us to keep dues at the same level for decades at a time, and there’s no increase planned for the foreseeable future.

In a very real sense, YOU keep the club running with your dues.  Thank You!

If you need help with paying your Dues, the Nokomis may be able to help.  It’s never our intent to exclude anyone for financial reasons. 

MeTV's Collector's Call describes itself this way "Step inside the nostalgic world of personal collections. Explore the amazing treasures of toys, books, memorabilia and more. Meet the real people with a passion for their possessions."   Sunday, August 10th collector Denise Davis shows her collection of Star Trek memorabilia.  "Denise Davis may be a Star Trek collector, but she's no typical Trekkie. Her passion for collecting all things Star Trek began after reading collector's books and deciding she too wanted to collect, but not the usual type items. Today Denise will show us her vast as the galaxy collection, including a hard-to-find Lt. Uhara doll, a Star Trek lamp with some serious sentimental connections and even some Star Trek clothespins. We've brought along our expert and fellow Star Trek fan, Mark Short, who'll appraise Denise's collection, and then attempt to make a trade. While Denise is leery of giving up anything in her collection, Mark's brought an item he knows Denise wants, and hoping resistance is futile."

The show airs in Minnesota over the air on Me-TV, KSTC channel 5.3 and on cable channels throughout other services.

See all the info at The show's website link.

The Governing Board held their brief check-in meeting on August 7th, and as we expected there's not a lot of urgent things to handle.   We have just a few reminders and a change

• We had penciled in an Apple Orchard trip, we're moving that later in the fall to make room for the Sound of Music 60th Anniversary event, see the article later in this quick note
• There is still no General Membership meeting in August (on the 9th or otherwise). See you in September
• The guest list is final for the Garden Party on the 23rd, thanks for all the interest!
• Send your ideas to the Board for calendar items or activities, the September 4th Board meeting will compose the basic calendar for the next year.
• Meeting locations are set for September (St Anthony) and October (Penn Lake Library).  Both are repeat locations.

By the time we all get together Strange New Worlds will have completed Season 3 - so far, it's been odd but fun.  Definitely  a different flavor of Star Trek!

Let's see if we can make use of the personals this year.  Got an announcement?  Send it to Phill and we'll get it on the next Mailing!

See you in September!

• Phill

The original Sound of Music has been restored and remastered in 4K and will be showing in several local theaters.   We'll be attending after the September meeting at 3:00 PM at the Emagine White Bear Township theater.  Since it's so close we're not coordinating purchases, everyone can get their own through Fandango (start your purchase here).   It's a small theater and could fill up quickly.  The meeting is in St. Anthony and should be over with plenty of time to make the theater.

Remember to leave some time afterward for a group meal!  If you have a moment, let Mary P know if you're going so we can plan the after-movie location.

Emagine White Bear

1180 County Road J
White Bear Township, MN 55127

Thanks to Rich Perry for the suggestion and for leading the way!

At our September Governing Board meeting just after Labor Day we will be putting together the calendar for our upcoming year. You are invited to include suggestions for social events, fundraisers and charitable activities. Anything goes, as long as other crewmates are interested in your idea. It helps if you give us as much information as possible, including a suggested date or dates, cost if applicable, what's included in the activity, and so on. It really helps if you are willing to do the legwork, like setting up the reservation or being responsible for other details.

Let a board member know about your ideas and/or come to the meeting for discussion.