Tag: 2015

Nokomis at the Science Fair

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20150228_093027Wow, that was a big event!  This year's Twin Cities Regional Science Fair had more than 180 student projects and nearly as many judges.   We had five of our members help out at the Fair this year, thank you very much.  Art Johnson, Lucia Johnson, Jim Kline, Rich Perry, Lynne Tauer and Phill Goldman.

This was our 22nd year working with the fair.  We've had 10-12 folks (sometimes more) involved every year since March of 1994.  Thanks for the literally hundreds of volunteer hours helping to make the future come true.

April General Membership Meeting

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The April 2015 General Membership Meeting will be held on April 11th, at the Oxboro Library in Bloomington.

***Here’s the map and meeting location details.***

Come and hear about

  • The Chuckwagon Dinner event - It's Coming up FAST!!!!
  • How did MarsCon Go
  • Blood saves lives, and our way of helping
  • Our year to host the All-Ship's Picnic and the Holiday Party in December
  • .. and More

 

Leonard Nimoy Memorial Blood Drive at MarsCon

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As fans throughout the world struggle with ways to honor and remember Leonard, we have found a great opportunity to do both. We offered our services to the MarsCon convention committee, and they have accepted.

On Saturday, March 7th, the 10th annual USS Nokomis blood drive at MarsCon will be dedicated to Leonard Nimoy's memory. We have extended the hours to 10:30 am to 4:30 pm to accommodate more blood donors and added additional signup slots. If the day goes smoothly, we may be able to collect up to 50 units of life-saving blood. That's a potential of 150 lives we can touch in honor of our favorite Vulcan.

We also have another duty that day. We will be accepting donations from convention attendees for the COPD Foundation, one of the charities designated by the Nimoy family. As Leonard died of end-stage COPD and the Foundation's mission is to educate, prevent and treat COPD, the convention committee and our board members believe that it is a perfect choice.

If you are not planning to attend MarsCon, please consider dropping by to donate blood or bring your COPD Foundation donations to the March meeting.

Mary

St. Pi’s Party is March 14th!

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For quite a few years, Jack and I have hosted beer tasting parties. First, they were at my house with food and beer. Then, we upgraded to the Barn Tasting Beer Dance and enjoyed several years of bonfires and dancing with our food and beer. Recently, we've hosted the parties at hotels where a soak in the hot tub was substituted for the dancing with the food and beer. This seems to be working pretty well, so we're at it again this year. However, our traditional date is a pretty big deal this year. Why? Think about the date. 3.14.15. Sound familiar? It should - it's PI! Therefore, instead of having a St Patrick's Day party, we're calling it the St Pi Day's party. 

You are invited to the Residence Inn Roseville at 2985 Centre Pointe Drive, Roseville MN 55113 any time after 4:30 pm on March 14th (the day of our March meeting). Please bring some food to share. Let's see how many people can bring Pi-themed food. Think about it all of the possibilities: anything round will work, including anything in a round bottle or bowl, meatballs, cookies, etc. You could even bring a square pizza, since Pie Are Squared! I can guarantee that we will have a special toast at 3.14.15.9:26. It will only come once in our lifetimes!
And then, of course, there's the beer. Please bring at least a six-pack of your favorite to enter. We will taste in elimination rounds and the tasting will be blind. Two winners will be chosen, along with the winner of the coveted Bad Beer Board. The decisions of the judge will be final. Don't forget to eat between rounds!
If you'd like to get a room at the hotel, visit www.marriott.com/mspro . Studio rooms start at $103 and "sharable" rooms start at $113 (today's rate). See you there.
Mary

The Twin Cities Regional Science Fair takes place THIS MONTH!

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The Twin Cities Regional Science Fair takes place on Friday February 27th and Saturday, February 28th.

For the 22nd Year the Nokomis will be helping out with the Twin Cities Regional Science Fair.  We started back at Augsburg College in 1994 with 120 displays and 90 judges. Now, the fair has 350 displays and well over 450 judges.

We could sure use your help.  If you have a scientific or math background, you qualify to judge at the Fair.  If you'd rather not judge or don't have that kind of background, we can use you too.  If you're willing to work through logistics like entering scores or checking kids in, then please consider volunteering as well.  You can sign up at the TCRSF's own web site.

The event takes place at the Field House, University of Minnesota. A rough timetable of events:

Friday
9:00AM Set up (lots of manual labor)
2:00PM Start checking in the students
4:30PM Judging Opens (runs until about 10PM)

Saturday
10:00AM Start of award ceremony
12:00PM Begin takedown
2:30PM Lunch and fun.

Please consider whatever time you might be able to give.  Even a few hours is valuable. Thank you.

Phill Goldman

 

Sledding and Sliding on Valentine’s Day

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03082008_Tube1.ashxIn the ancient past, when we had a sledding and sliding party there was snow for sledding and sliding. It's been an awful century (!!) for that, so we're scheduling something a bit more certain.

After we finish our February General membership meeting we'll dress up and head down to Elm Creek Park for a long sliding hill and lots of fun.

Elm Creek Park, in Dayton/Maple Grove MN, has a tubing hill that MAKES snow, and has a moving sidewalk lift too. Add a warming house with hot chocolate, and it's sure to be fun.

Feed My Starving Children in January

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Duefmsclogo to popular demand, we are returning to Feed My Starving Children to pack meals for children in need. During the summer, we packed over 15,000 meals in an hour and a half, and we can do so again! Join us on January 27th from 6 to 7:30 pm at the Coon Rapids location. Following the packing, we will have dinner at a nearby restaurant. Sign up today at www.fmsc.org

MarsCon 2015 Blood Drive

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Every minute of every day, someone needs blood. That blood can only come from a volunteer donor, a person like you who makes the choice to donate. There is no substitute for your donation.

The USS Nokomis sponsors a blood drive at each large science fiction convention in conjunction with the American Red Cross.

Once the drive is scheduled, to register for the drive click here.

January General Membership – Starts PROMPTLY At Noon

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The January 2015 General Membership Meeting will be held on January 10, 2015, at the Wescott Library in Eagan, MN.  We've met there before, many times over the years.

Please: Arrive Early.  Start On Time. Stay On Topic.

As you've read, the Visitation and Funeral for Juana happens later this same afternoon.  We'll meet at our normal time, but we'll need to start on time and stay on task so we may all attend.

We will start promptly at 12N whether we have quorum or not.

More inside...