The Rainbow Connection
The Official Newsletter of the USS Heimdal Decemburr 2008
E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.ussheimdal.org
Hello from Linda!
Hello & Happy Holidays! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving & kept overeating to a minimum.
This month I’m giving Glenda a much deserved break & doing this entire RainCon while she works on a couple of papers that are almost due for the graduate school classes she’s taking. Good luck with the papers, Glenda. All of us are behind you &
think it’s great that you’re back in school.
I can’t believe another year is almost behind us. As always, what a year for the Heimdal! We’ve been chosen as R/1’s Runner-Up Chapter of the Year for 2007 … losing to one of the chapters we launched as a shuttle, so that was almost like winning Chapter of the Year again. We’ve had our most successful charity auction yet, had a fun road trip & some great socials & participated in the Belk Charity Sale twice, bringing in extra income for supporting our charities. Sales of our cookbook have broken the $1000.00 mark. More of our members have taken & passed Starfleet Academy courses this year than in quite a while. We’ve seen our Space Camp
Project to completion & chosen an Amherst County student to send to Space Camp in 2009. We’ve taken care of our Christmas charities & even been able to add extra money to the Salvation Army Food Pantry. And we’ve launched the Heimdal’s 15th. shuttle. We have so much to be proud of.
Not only have we done some fantastic things within our community, we’ve grown even closer as a “family.” It has been particularly comforting to me that you guys are the first people I can turn to in a crisis & know that you will be the first people there to see me through it … as you know I will be & have been for you. I think that is the bond that holds us together, strengthens us & makes us the group we are. As Willy says, “All our friends have SCC numbers!”
As we move forward into 2009, I can’t help looking forward to celebrating our Silver Anniversary in April. It’s such an accomplishment & we seem to have done it successfully & fairly effortlessly with only a few minor bumps in the road. Our
success is due to each of you & what you bring to our chapter by being who you are. I thank you for all you continue to do.
I’m really looking forward to our Christmas Party. I love eating other people’s cooking & we always have such wonderful food at our dinner. Dirty Santa is always fun & it’s just good to share the warmth & cheer of this season with all of you. So I’ll see you there & Merry Christmas … Happy New Year!
December Meeting
Our December meeting is always one of my favorites because it’s our Annual Christmas Party. This year it will be on December 20th. at the Madison Heights Library where we usually meet. We’ll be starting at 6:00 p.m. this month instead of 6:30 because we’re having our Christmas covered dish dinner. We’ll also be playing Dirty Santa & having a wonderful time.
The Heimdal will be furnishing a ham & turkey platter.
Please bring side dishes & des serts, … real food … not just Did we ALL overeat at Thanksgiving or was it
just Linda?
Willy ge ts “Dirty Santa” gift at last year’s party
munchies this time. We’ll also need drinks. The food is always wonderful & I look forward to eating everybody’s cooking & sharing recipes.
After dinner we’ll play Dirty Santa. Everybody brings a gift … $5.00 value … & puts it in a pile! Everybody gets a number. The first number gets to choose a gift. The second number can take a new gift off the table or take the gift #1 selected & it goes on from there. If you’re going to play, you must bring a gift & gifts should be real … not gag gifts. We want everyone to go home with a gift they can enjoy.
Spouses are always welcome, especially at this party, but the Christmas Party is otherwise a “closed meeting” for planning purposes
& ordering the meat tray. If you’re going to bring a guest other than a spouse, please email me at [email protected] . We decided last year to only include smaller children who are Heimdal members rather than bringing other non-member small children. Playing Dirty Santa can get frenzied & it’s hard enough to keep up
with just us.
Now is the time to bring your first canned good for our 2009 Food Pantry collection. Check the expiration date on your canned goods because we don’t want them to go out of date before next December.
Also, don’t forget to bring aluminum for recycling
& used ink jet cartridges for donation to the Amherst Humane Society shelter.
OK … I’m hoping that EVERYBODY will be at the party to enjoy good friends, good food & good cheer. See you there.
November Meeting
Our November meeting was one of our best this year (of course, I think all of our meetings are among the best), but this one wa s great. Cindy
Kozarow from the Lynchburg Police Department spoke to us about Personal Safety. This topic, presented just as the Christmas shopping days were starting, was especially informative & timely.
Cindy told us how to avoid becoming a victim, how to recognize potentially dangerous situations & how to avoid them, what to look out for in parking lots to avoid theft and / or abduction, & how to protect oneself if you become the victim of an attack. She took Personal Safety a step farther & gave suggestions on how to protect your home, property & ourselves while we’re in our homes.
Following her Power Point presentation, Cindy held a Question & Answer session.
Because Cindy is employed by the Lynchburg Police Department, she had to get special permission from both the Lynchburg Police Department & the Amherst County Sheriff’s Department in order to give her presentation outside the Lynchburg area & into Amherst County. We appreciate her extra efforts in bringing this special presentation to us.
Christmas Charities
As of December 1st. all of our Christmas charity donations have been sent. Those include Lynchburg Social Services welfare child, Friends of Madison Heights Library, Birds of Prey, Inc., UVA Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis Fund, Sleepy Hollow ‘No Kill” Cat Shelter &
the Salvation Army Food Pantry.
Kathy & Jim Beck purchased $152 worth of pet foods & delivered them to the Amherst & Lynchburg Humane Society shelters.
We’ve already received a “Thank You” note from The Lynchburg Humane Society telling us how much they appreciate our gift &
how gifts such as ours help support their efforts to keep adoptable animals longer, increasing their chance for adoption.
Glenda (Communications Dept.) purchased gifts for two senior citizens again this year with our $150 donation & Tammy & Jeanne (Medical Dept.) purchased gifts for our Angel Tree child. Glenda & Tammy will tell us at the meeting what gifts they purchased.
In addition to our donation of 65 pounds of canned goods to the Salvation Army Food Pantry, we were able to make a substantial monetary donation to them this year. Year-end payment of club dues brought in $173. That money combined with the $150 donation set aside from our treasury made our total monetary donation to the Food Pantry
$323, which is our largest donation to date. The Salvation Army gets special discounts on food & canned goods so they are able to purchase significantly more food with our donation than we could have. So, because of you (us) coming through with our year-end dues & canned good donations, we’ve been able to feed even more people than ever before & I Thank You from the bottom of my heart.
It really feels good to make a difference, especially at Christmas. We’ve been able to fill extra food baskets, give gifts to 2 seniors who probably would have gotten nothing, help in some small way to fund research into Cystic Fibrosis in memory of Sarah Sprinkle
Cindy Kozarow from the police department speaks to us about Personal Safety at November meeting
“Ghosts of Christmas Past” – l to r: Dan, Karen, Glenda &
Santa Carl
& brought the joy of Christmas to needy children in our area. To me, THIS is what Christmas is all about & I wouldn’t trade the warmth & excitement associated with what we do for all the gifts in the world under my own tree.
Congratulations!
Congratulations to Virginia Williams for taking & passing Starfleet Academy’s Officers Training School (OTS) course. Virginia is promoted to the rank of Ensign in recognition of her hard work. Way to go, Virginia!
Congratulations also go out to Robin Hudson for graduating from Starfleet Academy’s ST: TNG Main Characters Course.
You guys make us proud!
Belk Fundraiser
The week of November 9th. thru November 15th. seven Heimdal members manned tables selling tickets to the Belk Charity Sale. The Heimdal had a ticket table on Sunday the 9th, Monday the 10th, Friday the 14th. & the big sale day on the 15th. All money from sales of the $5 tickets the 9th. thru the 14th. was ours to keep. Money raised by tickets sold by approximately 15 participating charities on the day of the big sale on the 15th. was put together & will be equally dispersed
among the participating charities. Belk will be letting us know soon how much the Heimdal made through our participation.
Tickets the Heimdal sold prior to the big sale brought in $60 & we were able to sell 2 Heimdal Cookbooks at the event for $10 each.
Many, many thanks to Kenny for organizing our participation in the Belk Fundraiser & to Kenny, Linda, Willy, Judy, Virginia, Tim
& Kathy for manning the ticket tables. A special “Thank You” goes out to Willy, Linda, Judy, Tim & Kathy who showed up the day of the big sale & manned our table beginning at 6 A.M. Now that’s going “above & beyond.”
Everyone who participated / volunteered at Belk received a DSA at the November meeting for helping out with this important fundraiser.
Heimdal’s Silver Anniversary Party No, it’s not too soon to be thinking about the Heimdal’s Silver Anniversary Party in April. 25 years is a huge deal for a club like ours &
we’re now among the longest existing Starfleet chapters … the mother to 15 other chapters, including most recently the Ganymede, & grandmother, great grandmother & great, great grandmother to heaven only knows how many more. The Heimdal was mothership to the first Starfleet chapter in West Virginia.
We want our 25th anniversary to be really special, so I have already lined up WONDERFUL entertainment for us. Because these folks are in demand (no … not in demand like Filk Salet … these folks are professionals!!!), they were not available on our regular third Saturday in April. Instead, we have signed them up for April 25th. … so that’s the date of our party.
I’ll be contacting you guys very soon for suggestions for a location fo r the party.
By knowing the date of the party four months in advance, that should give everyone plenty of time to request that date off from work, save up a few extra coins for a really nice dinner & make plans to be there.
How Can I Get a Heimdal Promotion?
Several of you have asked how you can get a Heimdal promotion. First, your Heimdal Membership Handbook has ALL the answers … plus the promotion form you need to fill out to apply for promotion. The Handbook gives a Point System that guides you towards a promotion. You must have 60 Heimdal points to qualify. After filling out the point sheet, it should be turned in to me (Linda) for consideration.
Promotion can be gained automatically by taking & passing OTS – a guaranteed one grade promotion to the officer rank of Ensign without filling out a point sheet.
Some of the things that will gain points towards promotion that you should add to your point sheet are:
Meeting attendance.
Bringing refreshment items to meetings.
Bringing a canned good every month for our Food Pantry donation (Heimdal dues) or making a 12-month donation at the end of the year.
Submitting articles to the Rainbow Connection.
Submitting a report to your Department Chief.
Recommendation by your DC.
Recruiting a new member(s).
Blinded from studying, Virginia passes OTS
Heimdal crew at November meeting
Kathy gets award at last year’s Christmas Party
Participation in fundraisers.
Taking & passing SFA courses.
Everyone should have a copy of the Heimdal Membership Handbook that includes a Promotion Point Sheet. If you need additional point sheets please see Willy.
Remember, you & you alone are responsible for getting promotions aboard the Heimdal. Keep track of your points (the value of each contribution you make is listed in the Handbook), fill out the point sheet & submit it to me … & the rest is history! Good luck.
How Can I Get a Heimdal DSA?
Pretty much anything you do “above & beyond the call of duty” (not stuff required by your Heimdal membership like meeting attendance, keeping your membership current with Starfleet, bringing refreshment items to meetings &
making canned goods / dues donations) will result in a Heimd al Distinguished Service Award. Volunteerism in association with fundraisers, canvassing, participation in recruiting efforts, working on a parade float, putting together a film or slide show for a Heimdal event, securing more than one Heimdal meeting guest per year, purchasing Christmas gifts for our charities & delivering them, hosting a Heimdal Special Event or social … all these actions, plus others that go beyond what is expected, are recognized by DSAs, CORA Awards & Awards of Appreciation.
Don’t Forget … Starfleet Renewals Daryl Gooch – December 30
Kenny Proehl & Chris Thompson – January 27 Jeanne, Tammy, Robin, Melissa, Madison – February 27 Remember … by renewing one month BEFORE your expiration date, you’re guaranteed NOT to be dropped from the Heimdal’s roster. We don’t want to lose even one member of our “family.”
Starfleet’s Thirty-Day Book Program
Emmet Plant is running Starfleet’s Thirty Day Book Program & at our November meeting we voted to participate. Emmet will send a box of Star Trek books to a participating chapter
… at no expense to the chapter … not even for shipping & handling. For each chapter that participates in the program, Emmet will send (at no charge) an equal amount of Trek books to our troops for their reading enjoyment. He will be delighted if anyone who reads the books will send him book reviews, but that isn’t mandatory.
We just received our books from Emmet on December 1st. & Willy will be bringing them to the meeting for you guys to read & enjoy. And our troops also have books because the
Heimdal is participating in the program. How cool!!!!
Here’s an email from Emmett about the project:
In a moment of surprise today, I got a letter from one of the soldiers that we'd sent books to! Roger Harmon and his fellow Marines in Afghanistan wrote in, expressing their gratitude and thanks for the Trek books that we'd sent them. Given how busy those folks are over there, I never expected a reply!
So, I pass these thanks along to everyone that's taken part in the Book Project thus far, as well as those who have written in to express their interest in it. It's unbelievably nice to know that the books are appreciated over there, as well as in the hands of Trek fans here in STARFLEET.
Emmett Plant
Here is the letter Emmett received:
Nov. 13 Mr. Plant,
Thank you so much for your generosity. We greatly appreciate it. The gifts that you and all other Americans send help to make our deployment a little easier. We are winding down to the end of our deployment & hope to be home in time for the holidays.
Your Marines and Sailors have done great things here in regards to making a difference. Our job has been to mentor the young Afghan Army & we have. Of course they know how to fight but we are working to make them professional warriors - not thugs.
And I truly believe we are making a difference. The responsibility we have thrust upon our young Marines & Sailors is tremendous -- but they accept it with vigor. One day we are fighting, the next day we are assisting the people with humanitarian assistance.
Again thank-you for the books & know you can be proud of these young men.
Sincerely, Roger W. Harmon Semper Fidelis!
Filk Salet – these people went “Above & Beyond” &
got DSAs for their efforts. L to R back row: Glenda, Carl & Willy. Front row Bonnie & Linda
Wesley puts on his reading glasses …
… and so does Dee!!!
Ganymede Report By George RECRUITING:
1. Form letter prepared for school system superintendents. This is a combination resource announcement and membership solicitation for science, technology and art faculty. I am generating a list of school superintendents in major cities
nationwide as recipients.
2. Draft information flyer in process (bi-fold 8-1/2" x 11", color, with logos, invitation to join, and FAQs).
3. Matt Ingles at SFI CompOps suggests I have the R1 RC request that the AB allow correy COs access to the list of unassigned members in the SFI Database for all Regions for recruiting.
Currently I only have access to the list of unassigned members for R1.
4. XO is using color hard copies of the chapter Web page for face-to-face recruiting in the school systems of the Reno, NV area where she lives. No report on results as yet.
5. I need to add "join" and "info" e-mail addresses to the chapter Web site.
LOGO:
Logo developed as a collaborative effort among the members. Published to chapter Web site and shared with SFI Comms and the SFI VMG.
MOTTO:
Candidate motto (three of five members endorse) is "Ad Astra Per Scientia" or "To the Stars Through Knowledge". Will confirm by final solicitation of membership in December.
ONLINE INFRASTRUCTURE:
1. Web site updated with logo and photos of XO and 2nd Officer. Photos were taken in uniform at Star Trek The Experience in Las Vegas before it closed.
2. Yahoo group site functioning correctly.
3. Offered advice on setting up a Yahoo group site to CO of the USS Exeter, R1.
4. Unplanned service outage of CO's Internet access provider squashed planned 11/22 online Skype voice chat.
5. Contact made separately with XO and 2nd Officer by e-mail this month.
6. Member phone number list will be needed for backup contact purposes in event of future Internet problems for any member.
MEETINGS:
1. No Skype voice chat this month - see items 4 and 5 in previous section.
CQ 150 SUBMISSIONS:
1. Head-and-shoulders color photos of CO, XO and 2nd Officer (same as on Web site).
2. Second installment of "Ask Deep Trek" column.
3. Cell phone screen wallpaper creation with a STARFLEET theme, for personal enjoyment and recruiting.
MEMBERSHIP HANDBOOK: Draft begun. Expect to submit for member comments in December.
Nimoy on the New Trek Film Star Trek star Leonard Nimoy sent this exclusive message to the
TrekWeb community, regarding some of the negative feelings expressed by some fans about the new movie in this website. Here is the message:
"About two months ago my wife, Susan, and I saw a near finished version of the new Star Trek movie. Some special effects and new score were not yet in place. Susan can be a very honest and tough critic. When it was clear that the story was wrapping up she turned to me and whispered, " I don't want this movie to end!!" There are some directors who can manage a grand scale and some who can deliver great personal character elements. Not many can do both. JJ Abrams is one of the few. He has given us a wonderful film."
TrekWeb wants to thank Mr. Nimoy for his kindness and his time in writing this brief message. Thank you.
Looking ahead …
January is one of our favorite Heimdal months because it’s our Annual Chili ‘Fest & Movie Night. We’ll need several folks to make pots of chili, everyone else will bring the trimmings, we’ll find a great movie that everyone will enjoy & we’ll have a wonderful evening. See … we’ll be starting off 2009 with a BANG !!!!!
Editor’s note: Daryl’s story will be back next month for those of you who are reading along. We just needed to get this RainCon together a little early before Daryl sent his installment.
That’s it; I quit!!! Looking forward to seeing you ALL at the Christmas Party, Linda
Commander George wears many hats!
Merry Christmas from Our House to Your House Linda & Willy
In case of bad weather on meeting night, we’ll get in touch & will have an announcement on WSET TV.
RainCon Staff, December 08 Editor: Glenda Blanks
Chief Editor: Linda Smith
Layout & Distribution: Willy Smith Contributors: Linda & George Photographers: Willy
Happy Holidays!
