Our First Camper of the Decade

Benjamin's Database Entry. One Interesting yet Small Item for the History Books

Hello Troops,
It's 4:11 P.M. Four of our five ships are running January's Super Saturday. I'm working on updated and entering information for the camper's new Rank Papers. As I was typing names into the database I came across a young boy named Benjamin G.

I typed in his first name.
I typed in his last name.
I typed in his new Flight Hours
I typed in his new Class Hours.
I typed in his grade
I started to type in his birthday and stopped cold. I saw a 00 as his birth year. For a moment I thought the volunteer at the sign in table messed things ups on Benjamin's handwritten Sign In Sheet and either didn't hear him correctly or had the worst handwriting in Utah.

I looked back at his grade. Benjamin was in 4th grade and turned 10 on January 3rd. Turning 10 made him eligible for Super Saturdays and Overnight Camps. It dawned on me right then that this boy really was born in 2000. That is why I saw 00 on his form.

Troops, it was one of those "ah ha" moments. I was typing the first Rank Advancement Paper ever for someone born in the year 2000. There will be many many more to come but little 10 year old Benjamin was the first.

Mr. Williamson

The New Galileo Opens!

Hello Troops,
With very little fanfare, the new Galileo opened last night for the January 8-9 Overnight Camp. The first official crew of the Galileo are pictured above. Stacy Carroll, the Galileo's Set Director, stands with them.

The new Galileo will be running on all Overnight Camps and Super Saturdays. It will also run for field trip if a class has more than 32 students. The new Galileo will open for private missions on January 18th. To book a mission in the new Galileo please visit the Space Center's web site. Go to the 'Private Programs' section. The new Galileo holds 5 - 6 people.

There will be an official grand opening of the Galileo once we have it painted.

A special thank you to Kyle Herring, Stacy Carroll, Alex Anderson, Alex DeBirk, Spenser Robinson, and Jon Parker AND everyone else I've forgotten.

Mr. Williamson

Almost Bedtime

Hello Troops,
It's 11:49 P.M. on Friday, January 8. We are running our first Overnight Camp for 2010. We have 44 students from the 5th and 6th grades at Sego Lily Elementary School. They are good kids and fun in the ships. I'm at my desk typing. I hear the loft beds creaking. Anytime someone moves they creak. It can be annoying because I hear every creak from my desk where I sleep.

Whispering is coming in from multiple locations. I hear the boys in the loft and the Bridge Captain's Quarters. I hear the boys sleeping on the bridge. Its not too bad. They are good. Ah, now the noise in the Captain's Quarters in on the increase. Sometimes the boys don't believe we can hear them. It usually takes a second, rarely a third 'talking to' to quiet them down to the point of sleep.

We really do it to ourselves you know. We get them all hyped up with the missions and then expect them drop dead asleep the instant their heads hit the pillows. Not going to happen, yet we still hope.

What is that ripe smell coming through the door in front of me? I answer that with another question. What is an Overnight experience at the Space Center without the mandatory accompaniment of La Odeur des Chaussettes Puantes (The Odor of Stinking Socks). Tonight's smells are ripe indeed. If I'm not mistaken I'm smelling a fresh bouquet of Nike athletic shoes, intermixed with a dozen or so Reeboks and an assortment of other brands, all uniting with the smell of the simulator itself to create an aroma so unique it can only be experienced here at the Space Center.

Good news for everyone. We are running the new Galileo on this camp! It is going well. Very well indeed. We ran a test mission on Thursday without any major problem. We ran the new Galileo this morning for a school field trip. Bracken Funk reported a victory. I spoke to Stacy Carroll (Galileo's Set Director) and Kyle Herring (Galileo's designer) and told them that the new Galileo was on for tonight's camp. It is time to see what this new ship can do. More news on the new Galileo will be coming soon.

It's 12:07 A.M. Things are quieting down. The staff are silent in the Odyssey and I'm hearing the voice of one lone boy in the wilderness of the Voyager. Me think it be time to hit the sack myself. My pad waits in front of my desk.

This is Mr. Williamson signing off from the Space Center just 1/2 a mile from beautiful downtown Pleasant Grove. Until tomorrow.

Adieu.