Greetings!

It is the holiday season, and the end of the year. There have been many changes recently, and I just wanted to update everyone on the happenings and events.

First off, Colonel John Balzen has been placed in command of the Ludington. Captain Beaudoin has moved to Communications. Lieutenant Commander Sarah Unger has assumed the position of Operations Officer.

Next, we have a new member! Emily Harwood, or by her Andorian Name Erib Th’ Zarath, has joined the USS Ludington! Welcome aboard Erib!

Another new member will be joining us soon too! Beth Scott will be joining us! Welcome aboard Beth!

Election time is coming up soon! Elections will be held at our February Annual Meeting, and the new Commanding Officer and Executive Officer will work side by side with the current Command Staff throughout 2013, then assume their duties in 2014. If you wish to run for either position, please let the Election Coordinator, Lieutenant Commander Unger, know by January 1st. You can contact her directly, or through the Commanding Officer (ussludington@region13.org) and the message will be forwarded on to her.

We recently had our Christmas Party and Commissioning Anniversary! Due to bad weather, many of our members were unable to attend, but we did still have a fun time! There was a reading of a Christmas Story by the Commanding Officer, some Trek-mas Carols (Colonel Balzen has the songs if you want a copy of them), a Klingon Gift Exchange, and door prizes! Pictures will be posted soon!

As the new Commanding Officer, I want to take a moment to thank each and every member for your activity and confidence. I look forward to a very productive and exciting year.

Attention All Hands!

Thanks to the recruiting efforts at the SideWalk Daze event, we have taken on additional crew!

Welcome aboard the USS LUDINGTON, Koy Corwin and Joe Morgan!

They joined us at our Monthly Movie Event today, 8/5/12, at Harbor Tower.

August 4th will be our next Monthly Movie Showing at Harbor Tower. The time is currently set for 3pm, but may change. Keep looking here for any updates on the time of this event!

Greetings everyone!

The USS LUDINGTON and the 440th MSG beamed down to Escanaba this past weekend in an effort to provide relief and refreshments on a warm summer day. The Commanding Officer of the LUDINGTON, the Operations Manager and Marine OIC, as well as the Communications and Security Officer spent the day selling pop and chips during the annual Sidewalk Daze in Downtown Escanaba. This is an annual event hosted by the Escanaba Downtown Development Authority in an effort to help local vendors by blocking off a section of Ludington Avenue, and allowing them to set up booths on the sidewalk and in the street.

Thanks to the support of C&C Sales, and Binks Coca Cola, the USS LUDINGTON was able to raise money that will be donated to the Delta County Special Olympics team on a date in the near future.

During this event, the crew also handed out many flyers, and recruited for Star Fleet. Many people stopped by and talked science fiction with us. It was a fun time for everyone involved.

There has been a small change in our calendar. We have switched to using YahooGroups! Calendar feature in order to allow us to send out reminder emails to everyone about upcoming events automatically. If you have not received an invitation to the YahooGroup, then contact LTC Balzen, CMDR Hahn, or visit our YahooGroup!

The first gaming night went off pretty good! We decided to play a Star Trek themed table-top D20 based system named Prime Directive. LCOL Balzen served as the Game Master, and members of the crew created characters to play through a scenario utilizing the ruleset provided. Everyone said that it was very enjoyable, and another session has been set for the 4th Sunday in March, 3/25, at Noon in the Harbor Tower big room. If anyone is interested in further information, contact Captain Beaudoin or Lieutenant Colonel Balzen.

For 2011, the 13th Brigade SFMC Awards have been announced… And we have two awards!

Leaders Commendation: LCOL John Balzen

SFMC Naval Achievement Citation: USS LUDINGTON NCC-22015 (The entire crew has earned this award!)

Congratulations to everyone! Our hard work and dedication has been noticed! Also, the Regional Command Staff has made some very positive comments about our new website!

Well, it’s been a year since the LUDINGTON crew held it’s first organizational meeting, and on 2/26/12, we got together again to celebrate that milestone in our SFI history. We had a great turnout, including guests and visitors. There were some surprise awards handed out, including a gift from the Command Staff to the Captain, and the promotion of our Marine OIC/Finance Officer to Lt.Col.

After enjoying a good meal and sharing a few laughs, we watched Trekkies and ST2:TWOK. We also announced a monthly tabletop gaming day, utilizing a Star Trek themed D20 rule-based system. It is called Prime Directive: D20. If anyone is interested in the ruleset, contact Lt.Col Balzen (majorpblaze@ymail.com) for more information.

Pictures from the event will be posted as they become available.

Our Mother-ship, the USS SINCLAIR, has invited all ships willing and able to attend to send Away Teams to view the Detroit Symphony Orchestra the weekend of March 9-11. The event will feature musical scores from Star Trek and Star Wars, and will have a special guest, Mr. Sulu, George Takei himself!
Star Trek Versus Star Wars

Due to the lack of a quorum at our regularly scheduled business meeting, Captain Arie Beaudoin has requested that we try and reschedule for prior to our Monthly Movie Night on the 15th. If you are unable to make it for the meeting, but have internet access, you are welcome to participate via Skype. Contact the Captain for details on how to connect for this meeting.

Thank you!