Old Set Directors Never Die, They Just Fade Into the Abyss..... Goodbye Natalie and Connor. The Space Place Volunteers and Staff Fly the Magellan. Cassini Sickbay is Outfitted with New Equipment. Imaginarium Theater.

      Senior Flight Directors, staff, and abnormally long term volunteers whose service to the Space Center was considered exemplary, are eligible for post Space Center service care in The Gone Boldly Treatment Center for Retired Space Center Staff.  GBTC offers both outpatient and inpatient care.                    Residential services are reserved for those who find themselves confused, bewildered, challenged by reality, and most importantly - unreliable in the bathroom (brought on by holding it too long during prolonged battle scenes or elongated, multi character narratives - where the flight director engages in conversations with himself as another character; which introduces us to another common Flight Director malady - schizophrenia).

Natalie and Conner

     Joining the current long term residents are Natalie Anderson and Connor Larsen, both of whom retired from Space Center service this last week.  Natalie was the Odyssey's Set Director. Connor held the same position in the Magellan.  

     It is nice when our flight and set directors realize their need for additional rest and time to reflect on their rewarding (though not so profitable) careers in space service.  The Gone Boldly Treatment Center for Retired Space Center Staff offers that time to decompress and acclimatize back into civilian life.  

     I stopped by the Space Center to take a few photos of them in their control rooms before the Home's van arrived to carry them away.  

     I wanted to be sure to capture Natalie's last summer camp scores.  She took first place!  What a way to leave, when you are at your peak and have data to prove it despite what some may say :)  

     Natalie is a published author.  In the picture above you see her holding her book (the sales of which go towards her therapeutic care at the GBTC).      

     Natalie's Odyssey staff (and others) signed her book hoping their kind notes and signatures will spur her memory of the good times they shared.  Connor's Magellan staff (and others) did the same.  Connor isn't an author so a home made card did the trick.  Connor is a masterful organist who knows how to bring the spirit to both Catholic and Lutheran Sunday services. People travel from several blocks to hear him play in North Carolina (his school year home).  

Natalie's first flight as a certified Odyssey Flight Director

March 2015
  

Connor showing off his flight director skills on the original Magellan

Natalie and Connor as they looked in 2011   

     If you're ever in the area, please stop by the Gone Boldly Treatment Center for Retired Space Center Staff and visit Natalie and Conner. And while you're there, please stop in to visit the home's other long term guests who worked so hard to entertain and teach you over the years. The residents love seeing their former campers, volunteers, and staff. They'll love you even more if you'll sit patiently and listen to hours of mission stories long gone. Don't worry the time, they are always sedated before visiting hours. Part way into a story they'll nod off giving you a chance to quietly escape;  respectfully of course.

Volunteers and Staff from The Space Place at Renaissance Academy Fly the Magellan for the Extended Camp   

     "That mission was fantastic!" is the general consensus spoken by the many The Space Place staff who attended the CMSC's extended camp last week.  They made up half the crew of the Magellan.  Connor was the flight director. It was his last mission as a flight and set director.  The staff and volunteers made the mission fun and the away missions were "the best".  Thank you to the Magellan staff for doing such a good job. For most of them, the camp was their first introduction to the Space Center. They've heard me talking about it at Renaissance and they wanted to experience it for themselves.  

The Cassini's Sick Bay is Issued New Equipment from Starfleet Medical  

     Just in time for the school year field trip season, the Cassini received two new pieces of equipment from Starfleet Medical. Thank you to the Cassini's Chief Purser Jade Hansen for making the arrangements.  

     And in case you're wondering, that's a digital microscope above the computer and a "medicine" cabinet on the side wall. Smith's RX in Pleasant Grove supplied 20 medicine bottles to outfit the container. They will be filled with the latest in 23rd century pharmaceuticals (M&M's, Skittles, etc) - formulated to treat the major intergalactic ailments.       

Imaginarium Theater

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