Category: Uncategorized

As you saw last month, the website server has been restored and updated.  I believe all is working as it did before, please let me know of any issues you find.

Changes you may see:

• Some of you, depending on email address, may have to re-confirm your membership. This is inconvenient but expected - your memberships haven't changed.
• The server is a bit more responsive, especially on phone data connections.
• Back-issues of posts and newsletters older than two years have been archived to save space - if you need them, ask the Webmaster to retrieve them.

Dues Payment methods for the September due date will be in place for the June picnic, you won't need to wait until mid summer.

Services you can find at the website

• The most current calendar of events and locations. See the Events menu.
• Signup sheets, available in real time. Look for Signup Sheets under the My USS Nokomis tab.
• Manage changes to your password and email address. See My Settings, again under the Mu USS Nokomis tab.
• Link to current Nokomis merch at Merchandise under the My Nokomis tab.  You can suggest new items too!

And, as always, if you hear of folks having a hard time getting email, let Phill know.

Greetings, Crew!

We've had some fun in the past weeks, with more coming right up. Time flies!

Special thanks to Dave for sharing a fun-tastic bowling party with us. We had a great time at Park Tavern, with a sizeable group bowling and others doing the cheering. The food was good, the facility was great, and the company was the best.

Next weekend we have our next chance to support the community as we make blanket for My Very Own Bed. You don't need any special skill to help, and if you want to hang out and visit, that's OK too. We need a cheering section (see above). Thanks in advance to Lynne and Phill for hosting the meeting and activity.

The next community support activity we'll be doing is volunteering for the Special Olympics USA Game in June. This is a huge, nation-wide event with 16–20 sports, featuring 4,000 athletes, 1,500 coaches, and 10,000 volunteers.  We are targeting June 21st to sign up, volunteering to hand out food to athletes and coaches in Blaine. There are also unlimited opportunities on the U of M campus from the 21st to the 26th. Let me or Emma know ASAP if you are interested, or let us know at the meeting.

We're also looking forward to our 42nd annual anniversary picnic and meeting on June 20th, the CONvergence Blood Drive, Garden Party, MN United Loons Game, and more. Plus, there's a new season of Strange New Worlds coming in July. It's going to be a fun summer!

See you around the Galaxy!

Mary

It's hard to believe, but we've hosted 49 blood drives so far and the 60th year of Star Trek will see our 50th drive! It's on July 3rd at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis during CONvergence. Sign up here to donate and spread the word.

A new server with our restored content came online early in the morning of 15 April. I'm checking and optimizing the site on its new machine.  This special edition newsletter is the same content as the monthly newsetter prior to the April meeting (though I did correct some content).  I'm using it as test data to ensure our newsletter mailer is still 'Fully Functional'.

The new server is the same in name, but has a new IP address.  That shouldn't affect deliverability.   Please send any bug reports to Phill.

Geeky Details (if you care)

The server is now 10 years newer, based on AlmaLinux 9.7, MariaDB 11.4, and PHP 8.0-8.5.  The PHP update will enable some more flexibility in web page construction.  I've already modernized several plugins and verified the backup facility.  I'll update the member manager and signup sheet manager;  security has been consolidated into fewer packages.

Greetings, Crew!

There’s been a lot of news in the Star Trek world recently. The cancellation of Starfleet Academy leads the pack. I am a firm believer that all Trek is good Trek, as the alternative is no Trek, so I’m disappointed. I really enjoyed the show, even though young adult shows have never been my favorites. Well, except for Smallville!

Another nugget is the upcoming Season 4 of Strange New Worlds, set to happen in mid-to-late summer. I’m betting that it coincides with the 60th anniversary in September, cause why not? And the casting of McCoy and Sulu is intriguing, isn’t it? And there are rumors flying about the upcoming Star Trek: Year One, which would follow Captain Kirk and The Crew in the early days. Supposedly it’s been officially pitched – we’ll see!

And then there’s the real world, where this has been one heck of a year already. We hope you’ll take a break and join us for some fun at our meeting on Saturday and at the Bowling Party on April 25th. It’ll be fun to see you.

See you around the Galaxy!

Mary

The May meeting will take place at Phill and Lynne’s home in Dayton (details later). Starting times remain the same.  More details in the next newsletter.

After the meeting we have a community service opportunity. We’ll be tying fleece blankets for needy kids. We’d like to complete as many blankets as we can, and that takes many hands. Please mark your calendar for the May 9th meeting date as an all-day event, and join us to make lives better.

This year is an even year, and that means an election. We are currently accepting nominations for all Governing Board positions. Nominations opened at the March General Membership Meeting and will continue until the vote is taken at the May General Membership Meeting. All positions are open to nomination. You can nomination another, or nominate yourself. Positions include:

• Captain/President
• First Officer/Vice President
• Science Officer/Chief Financial Officer
• Operations Officer/Secretary
• Chief Medical Officer/Newsletter and Historian
• Chief of Security/Membership

Anyone can choose to run for an office, so step up if you have a desire to help guide your club.

Our Good Friend Dave Morem won a Bowling Party at his Christmas Party, and he's willing to spend his newfound bounty on us!

We’ll have up to four lanes and snacks available for purchase.  The site will set up lanes depending on how many are bowling and are there when we start, so please be on time.

Date:            April 25, 2026

Where:

Park Tavern and Lanes
3401 Louisiana Ave. S.,
Saint Louis Park, MN 55426 (952) 929-6810

Time:            Arrive at 1PM *sharp* or before, so lanes can be set up. No late starts, sorry!

Our ask:  Please respond back to this email as soon as possible if you are coming, how many people you’ll bring, and how many are bowling or just watching.  Dave needs the info for reservation no later than the April 11^th meeting.

Oh, yeah – Remember to wear your Nokomis Bowling Shirts!!!

Our server for USSNokomis.org failed during an upgrade, on Friday, April 3rd. Not only does it support our website, it’s the librarian and mailer for the Newsletter. That’s why you’re seeing this improvised PDF, sent from Phill’s personal email.

Our service provider tells me the new server is in place and coming back to life as of Sunday evening. Next comes installing and hardening the system followed by migrating system data, which should take a day or two.

The site will be available as soon as we can. If all goes well you’d never know something under the hood had changed, but nothing is ever that smooth. If changes are minor I’ll include details in the next newsletter; if they are major I’ll send out a supplement.

Thanks for your patience. Neither I nor the Board know anything other than this or can speed anything up, so there’s no need to call, text, message, or email.

- Phill

[Ed Note: Server online and being checked out on 15 April.  See article from that date.]

Thanks to everyone that volunteered or donated at our drive at MarsCon. We had a little adventure when the big bloodmobile didn’t show up! They sent out a smaller, new one that worked just great and we were able to have a productive day after all. We collected enough blood to touch about 60 patients’ lives, and that’s what it’s all about. Our CONvergence drive on July 3rd will be our 50th blood drive!!! Since our start in 2001 we’ve impacted thousands of lives, and we hope you’re all proud as you should be.