March 17, 2014, the Lincoln Community Concert Band held one of their quarterly concerts, this time entitled "Out of This World". They had approached Star Base Andromeda in advance to see if our members would be willing to be at the concert in fannish costumes, tied in to the music being played. They also asked if we would serve as a conduit to contacting other fan clubs in the area to encourage their costumed participation. After networking with several other fan groups in the Lincoln and Omaha area, ultimately 17 people showed up in costume, 7 of which were from Star Base Andromeda.
In the photo above are 9 of the 10 SBA members or associates in attendance, including (front row) Amy Miller as a Jedi Knight, Kassandra Braaten as a STNG Starfleet officer, and Frank Dreier; (back row) Scott Clark (Doctor Who's "The Master"), Becky Wurm Clark (a Moonbase operator from UFO), Terri Dreier (as a Classic Trek science officer), Diane Taurins (as a Hobbit), Brian Hirt (as Captain Jack Harkness from Doctor Who and Torchwood), and Jeff Ifland. [Click the smaller image above to see a larger version.]
Additionally, SBA produced a Fandom Directory for Nebraska, listing most known clubs/organizations and conventions for Nebraska. 300 copies were printed and distributed at the concert.
February 8, 2014. Approximately 20 past and present members of Star Base Andromeda attended a buffet dinner at the HyVee Midtown, on Saturday evening, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of our club (the day before). Stories were shared, memorabilia was browsed, plans were discussed for upcoming events. And a set of photos, featuring 16 of us (Jeff Ifland showed up late, making it 17), was taken. [Above are three of the images -- click any of them to look at the full-size versions!]
November 17 2010 -- former Star Base Andromeda member Betty Burch passed away at her home in Aurora, Nebraska. Betty was active with the club from 1979 to 1984, despite living in the Grand Island area, and remained good friends with many of our members over the years since then. SBA member Diane Taurins was college roommates with Betty in 1980-81. The members of Star Base Andromeda offer our condolences to Betty's mom and her many friends. R.I.P., Betty Burch, 1958-2010.
Here is the text of her obituary, as it appeared on the Grand Island Independent website (links may not work past December 2010):
AURORA - Betty C. Burch, 52, of Aurora died Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010, at home. Memorial services will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Grand Island. Father Charles Peek will officiate. Entombment will be in the St. Stephen's Episcopal Church Columbarium. To honor Betty's wishes, cremation has taken place. There will be no visitation. All Faiths Funeral Home of Grand Island is serving the family.
Ms. Burch was born Feb. 25, 1958, at Wichita, Kan. Those left to cherish her memory are her mother, Gloria Wolbach of Grand Island; a stepsister, Peggy Wolbach Bahr of San Diego, Calif.; and a stepbrother, Van Wolbach of Kansas City, Mo. Additional survivors include seven cousins. She was welcomed into heaven by her brother, father and stepfather, Bud Wolbach.
Betty was raised in Salina, Kan., graduating from Salina High School in 1976. She attended Kansas State University. Betty moved to Grand Island in 1978 and then to Aurora in 1990. She was an active A.O.K. Lady. She was a devoted daughter who lived her life with the cup always half full with happiness. Her love for others and her animals will be treasured forever.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to either the Humane Societies of Aurora or Grand Island or Stuhr Museum. Condolences may be sent to www.giallfaiths.com. Please sign the guestbook at www.theindependent.com/obits. Published in The Grand Island Independent from 11/20/2010 - 11/21/2010.
For the first time in over 15 years, Star Base Andromeda has had to seek out a new meeting space. Due to budget restraints and cutbacks, the main downtown Library in Lincoln has had to trim back its hours, and is no longer open in the evenings. This impacts Star Base Andromeda by forcing us to relocate our Tuesday night meetings. As of September 2nd, we are holding our Tuesday night meetings at The Coffee House (1324 P St.), at least for a few months. Sunday afternoon meetings remain at the Bennett Martin Public Library, from 2:00-5:30 p.m.
On June 9th, 2007, the first "second-generation" Star Base Andromeda club member, Hunter Taurins, graduated from Lincoln Southeast High School. Hunter is the first child of Agris Taurins and Diane (Elliott) Taurins, who met through club activities in the formative years of Star Base Andromeda.
Long-time Star Base Andromeda member Diane Taurins at the reception on the final night her art was included in a week-long exhibit of UNL staff members' artwork in the gallery inside the downtown UNL student union -- September 11-15, 2006. Check out her artwork in more detail at Portrait Planet.
On Saturday, February 7th, 2004, 21 members (or family members) of Star Base Andromeda gathered at Old Country Buffet in Lincoln for a special dinner to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the club's founding. We've now got five pictures from this event up on our ClubInfo page. Still haven't put captions on them, though...
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We offer a special welcome to visitors to this site who have come to us via the profile article about Lincoln science fiction author Robert Reed in the Sunday, January 11th, 2004 issue of the Lincoln Journal Star. We hope you'll find our Robert Reed page useful in providing an overview of Bob's publishing background. We continue to add new information on a regular basis, and we encourage you to bookmark that page so you can stay up-to-date with Bob's career. As you can see, the Reed page is part of a larger site about Lincoln, Nebraska science fiction club Star Base Andromeda. You can start a tour of the SBA information from the page you're currently on. We'd love to hear from you, if you've got any comments about this site, or any additional Robert Reed information or links to share. You can contact us by e-mail or by snailmail at the address on this page. Visitors are always welcome at our public meetings, and you will find a schedule of our upcoming gatherings both below on the left and on our Calendar of Events page. Star Base Andromeda is celebrating its 30th year as Lincoln's science fiction club in 2004, and we are currently planning an all-day event for later in the Spring to commemorate this anniversary and to share our interests with other fans in Lincoln and the surrounding eastern-Nebraska area. Please come visit our site again for updates about this 30th anniversary event! Return later in January, and you can sign our Guest Book. Thank you for visiting www.starbaseandromeda.com! |
The membership of Star Base Andromeda once again took part in Lincoln's "Harvest of Reading" project, in which local bookstores offered children's books at as serious discount to groups or individuals willing to donate the books to the children in the first few grades of public and parochial schools in the city. The following books were purchased with $25 in Star Base Andromeda funds: "Seven Blind Mice" by Young; "Tin Forest" by Ward; "The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash" by Noble; "Dragon Machine" by Ward"; and "Squids Will Be Squids" by Scieszka. Books donated by one or more Star Base Andromeda members in the club's name included: "Bow Wow Meow Meow"; "Berenstain Bears and Too Much Birthday"; "Where the Wild Things Are"; "There's Something in My Attic"; "Magic Nesting Doll"; and juvenile adaptations of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "Frankenstein".
Long-time SBA Presidio Mike Ponte got married June 28th to Katrina Kagaykina, with fellow club members Scott Clark and Roderick Vasek as groomsmen, and a total of 17 SBA members (and associated family) in attendance. Congratulations and all our best wishes to the happy couple. Also in June, another long-time SBA member, former Editor of The Andromedan Log, Diane Taurins had a showing of five pieces of her artwork placed on display in the Westgate Bank branch located at 27th & Old Cheney Road here in Lincoln Her art can be seen in the bank's conference room, at any time when the conference room is not in use by bank officials. Diane's artwork -- which you can also see examples of at her website -- will be on display at that Westgate Bank until the end of July 2003.
Today, April 9th, 2003, marks the 20th anniversary of the "Peregrine" Dungeons & Dragons game that over a dozen Star Base Andromeda members have been involved with. The first session, featuring the death of an entire group of 1st level characters, followed by the launching of a second group of characters -- several of whom are still alive (and active in the on-going plot) took place on April 9th, 1983. A special thanks from your DM to the following SBA members, who formed the core of the infamous "Not Ready For Palmdale Players": Agris Taurins, Mike Ponte, Diane Taurins, Betty Burch, Duane Bouchard, Scott Clark (DM), Jim Ramsey, Steve Petty, Frank Dreier, Scott Nemeth, Hunter Taurins, Terri Dreier and Jeff Ifland. Thanks, also, to the non-SBA members who've contributed to the tale these past 20 years. It's been a blast! Here's to 20 more...
The club's newsletter, The Andromedan Log, which as been on hold during the process of developing this website, has gone back into production, starting with a new March 2003 issue. Club memberships have been allowed to lapse and expire during this period, despite the lack of issues of The Log, as club funds have continued to be used for other purposes (video equipment rentals for monthly Video Weeks, promotional expenses, etc.). Copies to all current members were mailed on March 31, 2003. Current members whose memberships have expired in the period since the last issue will be be receiving an update sheet telling them the status (i.e. expiration date) of their current membership with their new issue.
| Last updated on 3-18-2014 |