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Greetings, Crew!

This week we celebrate the International Day of Human Space Flight. April 12th, 1961 was the date of the first human space flight, carried out by Yuri Gagarin. On April 7, 2011 the General Assembly of the United Nations declared April 12th as the International Day of Human Space Flight “to celebrate each year at the international level the beginning of the space era for mankind, reaffirming the important contribution of space science and technology in achieving sustainable development goals and increasing the well-being of States and peoples, as well as ensuring the realization of their aspiration to maintain outer space for peaceful purposes.”

Also on April 12th, 40 years ago, the first space shuttle flight occurred with the launching of Space Shuttle Columbia from Kennedy Space Center. I remember being in school and having the TVs brought in so we could watch! Check out this video and get goosebumps like I did HERE

We also celebrated the accomplishments of our members after Saturday's meeting with the C.A.T. Show. See the article in this newsletter about some of the wonderful things we saw. We've always known that we have a huge talent pool related to props, sets and costumes, and there are so many other amazing skills and ideas, too!

Tonight is the April installment of TC Trek Trivia, and you're all invited to join my team. The theme is United Federation of Cool Cats. I love these theme teasers because they always get me thinking - what could it mean!??? Let me know ASAP if you want to join the team and I'll send along the link.

Finally, we have a fun opportunity for those who like to make stuff. Click HERE for the Facebook event: Cutting Board Class @ Barley John's. We discussed doing this last year, but it got cold before we could set it up! On June 6th at 1pm, the class will take place on Barley John's patio. You get to learn about types of woods, pick your colors, and design your own board. They go back with the woodworker to be finished and then are delivered back in a few weeks. I will pick up the boards for anyone that wants me to, and get them to you. You can also enjoy a Barley John's beer or other beverage during the class. There are limited spots due to seating, so check it out now.

See you around the galaxy!

Mary

Starting this week we're having another online party and the proceeds will go to charity. This time our chosen recipient is Feed My Starving Children. We've had a long-standing tradition of packing food in January and July at their locations in Coon Rapids and Eagan. This January we couldn't go, so we're donating funds instead! They use the donations to purchase the food that is used in packing events. Never fear, we plan to return to in-person packing on July 20th at the Eagan location, but we'll help this way in the meantime!

Watch the website for an online ordering link. Please share our link far and wide with friends and family and let them know our party goes until next week. The more people, the more we raise to help our charity, and also we all know somebody who's always on the lookout for a Pampered Chef party! Keep your eyes on our Facebook page too, where we'll post the link to the online party group. Terry (our great PC rep) will also post some recipes and ideas and stuff. Since we have over 200 followers, we hope to get some sales there, too.

The C.A.T. Show at our April membership meeting was a blast. Interestingly, the Zoom format was a plus, as we could get up close and personal to the creations and see their detail. Our members are quite talented, as we've always known, and they shared many accomplishments great and small. Some representative samples are shown here, and others included electronics, culinary projects, home improvement, physical activity, and more! Let this serve as inspiration to everyone, and we'll do it again!

Monday was First Contact Day, and two important revelations were made during the panels.

First, Star Trek: Picard dropped a new teaser trailer that gave away the big surprise. Check it out HERE and get excited! Once you do, you can catch the discussion between Patrick Stewart, Wil Wheaton and the mystery guest right HERE

Pretty exciting stuff, but there's also a Save The Date that was announced during another panel. On August 12th, we can expect to start the new season of Star Trek: Lower Decks. We'll be planning for a group viewing, and the location will be determined by the circumstances. Let's hope we can go to a restaurant and enjoy a traditional premier party together! Finally, Paramount+ has renewed Lower Decks for a 10-episode Season 3!

Greetings, Crew!

We have some fun plans for the next couple of months, starting in April with the C.A.T. Show (more on that below). We also hope to have an in-person meeting and picnic in July, to get back to packing food for Feed My Starving Children, and to get back in the tradition of Garden Parties. Stay tuned for all of that!

There are also fun plans in store for First Contact Day! Next Monday is the pre-anniversary of First Contact with the Vulcans on April 5th, 2063, and Paramount+ has a bunch of programming planned. According to startrek.com, the "virtual event will honor and commemorate this future date by providing Star Trek fans exclusive programming, including themed panels with the cast and creatives from classic and current Star Trek television series and cast from Star Trek: First Contact, exclusive news from the Star Trek Universe on Paramount+, curated episode marathons, the return of the #StarTrekUnitedGives initiative and more." There are six panels that look pretty fun, including the Star Trek: First Contact 25th Anniversary, Second Contact, Women in Motion and Star Trek: Prodigy. Check out a cool video and all the details HERE 

See you around the Galaxy!

Mary

Many of you will remember past years when we had a fun event called the C.A.T. Show. No, we didn't flaunt our felines, we strutted our stuff! C.A.T. stands for Art, Craft and Talent, and the source of these is our members.

In those other shows, members shared props they built, a dramatic reading, beadwork, sewing, painting, and many more items. Some bakery was made and shared. One unlucky soul slashed himself with his own bat'leth, but we won't talk about that...

We've decided to bring back the tradition after our April meeting. The virtual format might make it even easier to share, since you don't have to lug your wares to a meeting. For example, I can't bring my newly painted front door to a meeting, but I definitely can show a picture on Zoom!

Although it isn't true for everyone, as some of our members had a frenzy of additional work and stress during the last year, for many there was a little more time to create. When restaurants, gyms and other venues weren't open, extra energy could be funneled to creativity.

If you aren't one whose last year included the creation of new and wonderous things, you can still participate. I happen to know someone whose dream of watching more TV (and just sitting down) came true this year. That person might share a review of a show she watched or something she learned on reality TV (OK, that part didn't happen). Maybe you tried takeout from a new place or found a new recipe. Tell us about that! Maybe your model collection has a new, or newly painted, piece. The point is that everyone has something to share and it would be fun for everyone to participate. If you don't have something specific to share, just hang out and be part of the audience.

You can send an email in advance to let me know you'd like to participate, or just bring your item/thought/picture that day. We're very informal, you know. No matter what, it will be fun to share!

Mary

Nobody guessed - or even tried to guess - the identity of the baby in last week's picture. It may have been a hint when we wished him a happy 90th birthday - yes it was William Shatner!

Greetings, Crew!

I hope everybody's well. Here are a couple of reminders for this week:

There are just 9 days left to be part of the Indiegogo campaign to fund the Star Trek: Voyager documentary. Coming out from the same folks that brought us For The Love of Spock and What We Left Behind (which were both amazing!), the new film just got a title: To The Journey: Looking Back at Star Trek: Voyager. Why would you want to back the project? Outside of being involved, you can actually get your name in the official end credits of the film and get lots of other neat perks. The link to check out all of the great swag and info is HERE 

I know I sound like a broken record on this one, but PLEASE send me those recipes! I've received some great ones and need more. Also, if you have had something at an event that was made by someone else and was memorable, let them know! In an informal conversation the other day, several of us had lightbulb moments, like "Hey, what about that potato salad - can we get THAT ONE?" You know the drill - email me at

Did you wish happy birthday across the ether to William Shatner on Monday? To honor his 90th birthday, he is working to create an AI (artificial intelligence) version of himself. Future generations can interact with it, ask it questions, etc. According to DailyStarTrekNews, he said, “This is for all my children and all my children’s children and all my children’s loved ones and all the loved ones of the loved ones. That’s my gift to you down through time.” Maybe we should all do that? Hmmmm....check out the article HERE 

That's all for today. See you around the Galaxy!

Mary

Here's another picture to guess. Who is this little guy?

Email Mary your answer at the address above.