7/27/2023 0 Comments Change of CommandIn response to a need by our sister ship from Iceland, Vice Admiral Wilson has elected to transfer his command to the USS Excelsior, an Aries-Class carrier which had been serving in the 9th fleet, bringing that club into Region One. Admiral Wilson and his new ship will remain close allies and part of the Aries family. As a result, I am pleased to announce that the center chair of the USS Aries is now filled by Vice Admiral Judy Durall! Judy has been our XO for many years and is looking forward to new adventures and to revitalize our activities as a club and as part of STARFLEET! I will be serving as her Executive Officer, and Fleet Captain Steve Blevins has agreed to serve as second officer, with the positional title of Flight Deck Commander.
Godspeed, Admiral Wilson! Congratulations Admiral Durall!
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1/23/2023 0 Comments Awards and PromotionsThe Aries held its annual winter awards dinner at Golden Corral, Johnson City on Jan 21, with many members being recognized by both the ship and fleet, and promotions for several members, including Dell Hughes to Senior Commander, Melody Durall to Lieutenant Commander, and Libi Ennis, Ken Searls, and Steph Cantrell to Lieutenant as well as a promotion from the EC for Steve Blevins to Fleet Captain! Congratulations to everyone and looking forward to another new year!
8/23/2022 0 Comments Region 1 Summit a success!The region one summit was a wonderful event! The Aries was represented by Vice Admiral Michael Wilson, along with myself and Naomi. Highlights of the weekend included a bear in the parking garage on Friday night (no one was harmed!), an assassination plot on our Region Coordinator Phillip Cox by a very "Colonel West" looking Thomas Sigmundsson (discovered by some Marines in attendance), and a charity auction that raised $1500, which resulted in Phillip, the CS Chief of Staff Kevin Plummer, and our Fleet Admiral himself getting cake in the face!. Phillip's was administered by our very own Commanding officer!
This was followed up by a dance party, with music provided by the Aries contingent. which ran well into the night and ended, as is tradition, with a (semi) circle of the officers in attendance, arm in arm, singing American Pie. During closing ceremonies, Admiral Wilson and Brigadier Cox presented my wife with her promotion to Captain!! Congratulations to Naomi! The closing ceremonies ended with a tribute to region members lost over the last several years including our own David "DAR" Roberts and longtime friend to the Aries, Dennis Rayburn. After closing, we and several members of the region joined Jill Rayburn in a loving final goodbye to Dennis at the waters in front of the hotel. Pictures and video are posted to the Aries Facebook group. 7/31/2022 0 Comments Hailing frequencies closed.The Below is posted from the Facebook account of Nichelle Nichols on Sunday July 31, 2022: Friends, Fans, Colleagues, World
I regret to inform you that a great light in the firmament no longer shines for us as it has for so many years. Last night, my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural causes and passed away. Her light however, like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from, and draw inspiration. Hers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all. I, and the rest of our family, would appreciate your patience and forbearance as we grieve her loss until we can recover sufficiently to speak further. Her services will be for family members and the closest of her friends and we request that her and our privacy be respected. Live Long and Prosper, Kyle Johnson 7/9/2022 0 Comments Fun at the skating rink!The Aries had a fun away mission to our old stomping grounds with a tour of the reopened Bristol Skate rink. Mike arranged a tour of the facility and we had a small meeting after, discussing upcoming events and welcoming a new member. Sadly, the other area ships that had discussed a concurrent event were not able to attend but the facility looks fun and may become a site of further shore leave activities!
6/29/2022 0 Comments Loss of a friendIt is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of Dennis Rayburn. Dennis passed at 8:30 last night due to complications from surgery. Our CO, Michael Wilson was able to arrange to be there for Jill and the family at Dennis's passing. The Rayburns have been longtime friends of the Aries and to Mike, our XO Judith Durall, Communications Officer Naomi Durall and Chief Medical Officer Melody Durall. I was privileged to know Dennis only for a short while but his friendly personality and sense of humor made an immediate impact on me. The world is diminished by his passing. Within Fleet, Dennis was a Fleet Marine General aboard Station Nikola Tesla, and was Editor-in-Chief of the Starfleet Communique. 6/7/2020 0 Comments Perpetuum in Cordibus Vestris1/27/2020 0 Comments The Counselor is in!Congratulations to Stephanie Cantrell on being accepted to the position of ship's Counselor! Stephanie has a wonderful background with social work and outreach and is currently working as a home health caregiver. Steph is often accompanied by their faithful assistant and service animal, Angela, as pictured above. They are an excellent listener, a fierce friend, and have been a helping hand and friendly ear to several of our crew already. We look forward to working with you!
--Lt. Rick Stubblefield, Second Officer 1/26/2020 0 Comments New Year, New CP!For the new Decade, our newsletter, The Celestial Post is getting a bit of a facelift! Shown below is the New Year's edition of the newsletter in its new format! 1/26/2020 0 Comments Awards BanquetJust before the new year, we had our Winter awards luncheon, in concert with the Yorktown, and guests from Bennu Station. Good food and good company were shared, and several awards were given out, including a Montgomery Scott award for Dell Hughes in gratitude for his construction of a banner framework for us to use at events, and Barclay awards for Amy "Libi" Ennis and myself for the new handbook.
There were also promotions for our new Chief Medical Officer, Melody Durall and for myself on appointment to Second Officer. I genuinely hope to bring a lot of positive energy to the role and will work hard to ensure the Crew's experience on the Aries is the best it can be. Admirals Durall and Wilson also received Regional Joint Service awards for their participation with the Yorktown and Bennu Station during the Conapalooza recruiting event. Congratulations Mike and Judy! --Lt. Rick Stubblefield, Second Officer. |
Naomi DurallCaptain Naomi Durall is the communications officer of the Aries, administrator of our Facebook groups, and author of its newsletter, The Celestial Post. She has been with the club for 20 years. Rick StubblefieldLieutenant Rick Stubblefield is the ship's Second Officer, Operations Officer, Webmaster, and Discord administrator. |