History of the USS DaVinci

BACKGROUND

The Shuttle DaVinci was born on April 11th, 1995 three months after its future Captain, Freddy Heller, moved to Columbus, GA. Eleven months later on March 16th, 1996, we became the fleet’s newest Intrepid Class Starship, NCC 74671, during ceremonies held at the Region 2 Sunny Summit. The USS DaVinci had arrived!
Membership in the DaVinci has gone up and down over the years. At it peak, the DaVinci had nearly 100 members. Currently membership stands at 75, 52 of which are also Starfleet members. Our members range in age from pre-school to over 70 years. We are quite the diverse group.
Although primarily a Star Trek fan club, I like to think of us as a science fiction fan club as well. The DaVinci has fans of the entire sci-fi genre from Star Trek to Star Wars to Battlestar Galactica!
The DaVinci is affiliated with Starfleet - the largest Star Trek or Sci-Fi fan association in the world (we are in the Guinness Book of World Records)! We are part of Region 2, which encompasses Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and the Caribbean. Both Region 2 and Starfleet as a whole also get together on a regular basis. Region 2 has its annual summit and Starfleet has its annual conference. I encourage everyone to join Starfleet as well. It is a great organization and a "family" as well. If a member joins Starfleet, I automatically promote them to acting Ensign and the dues for the DaVinci are cut in half. To learn more about Fleet' go to sfi.org and browse.

MEETINGS

The crew gets together on the third Monday of each month for the “DaVinci Night Out/Membership Meeting ”. This is held at a different restaurant each month and is a time for the crew to enjoy a good meal and socialize with one another. It is a time for the DaVinci to be noticed as uniforms and club tee shirts are the norm. The May meeting is "Captain's Choice" and is always held at Olive Garden. May is also "Uniform Night" where all members are encouraged to wear their uniforms, or at least a DaVinci shirt.
We also get together on the following special occasions: our anniversary party in March, the 4th of July cookout, the "Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall" cookout in September, and our Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas parties. Finally, we get together any time the feeling comes over us! We have had pool parties, movie marathons, your favorite TOS and TNG episode parties, premiere parties, mourning parties when a show leaves the air, and much more!

NEWSLETTER

The Pilot, a monthly publication, is the official newsletter of the USS DaVinci. The Pilot contains information important to the crew, upcoming events, news of the Trek world and Sci-Fi world in general, and anything else that the crew finds interesting. Articles from crewmembers, Trek and non-Trek, are encouraged.

CHAPTER AWARDS

1997 - Region Commendation, Outstanding Service
1997 - Newsletter Competition, Honorable Mention
2001 - Overseas Coupon Project, Collection of Most Coupons in Region Two
2001 - Brenda Bullock Mothership Award, Outstanding Support & Guidance to Shuttle
2002 - Overseas Coupon Project, Collection of Most Coupons in Region Two
2002 - Certificate of Appreciation from the GA Department of Transportation
2003 - Overseas Coupon Project, Collection of Most Coupons in Region Two
2004 - Overseas Coupon Project, Collection of Most Coupons in Region Two
2007 - Brenda Bullock Mothership Award, Outstanding Support & Guidance to Shuttle
2007 - Certificate of Appreciation, From Officers & Crew of the USS Robins for Shakedown Period Help
2008 - Brenda Bullock Mothership Award, Outstanding Support & Guidance to Shuttle
2009 - Overseas Coupon Project, Collection of Most Coupons in Region Two
2010 - Perfect Reporting, For Perfect Record Period
2010 - Captain's Citation, For Assisting & Lasting Contribution in Commissioning of the USS Cumberland
2011 - Overseas Coupon Project, Collection of Most Coupons in Region Two
2011 - Perfect Reporting, For Perfect Record Period
2012 - Overseas Coupon Project, Collection of Most Coupons in Region Two
2012 - Perfect Reporting, For Perfect Record Period
2012 - Richard Daystrom Cyberspace Award, For Most Informative Website
2013 - Newsletter of the Year Competition, Second Place
2013 - Overseas Coupon Project, Collection of Most Coupons in Region Two
2013 - Perfect Reporting, For Perfect Record Period
2013 - Richard Daystrom Cyberspace Award, For Best Chapter Website
2013 - ACS All-Star, Exemplary Support to the Schweinfurt ACS (Coupon Donation)
2014 - Newsletter of the Year Competition, First Place
2014 - Overseas Coupon Project, Appreciation for Collecting & Donating Coupons
2014 - Perfect Reporting, For Perfect Record Period
2015 - Perfect Reporting, For Perfect Record Period
2016 - Perfect Reporting, For Perfect Record Period
2017 - Perfect Reporting, For Perfect Record Period
2018 - Perfect Reporting, For Perfect Record Period
2019 - Perfect Reporting, For Perfect Record Period
2019 - Region 2 Chapter of the Year
2019 - Starfleet Chapter of the Year

CHARITIES AND COMMUNITY SERVICE

The USS DaVinci supports Help-the-Hooch River Clean-Up, Starfleet Stampede, the Overseas Coupon Project, and the Columbus Ronald McDonald House.