Wes to Leave on Mission to Texashire. The Villagers in the Pleasant Grove will Miss Him. And From the Brilliant Mind of Connor Larsen, More "Things You'll Never Hear at the Space Center." Also, Enjoy This Week's Imaginarium Theater

   

     In the heart of the quiet pleasant grove, where the cobbled streets echoed with the laughter of market-goers and the clinking of armor from the castle, lived a young troubadour named Wes. With a microphone in hand and a voice that could charm the birds from the trees, he entertained both rich nobles and poor peasants alike with his enchanting tales of adventures far into the cosmic realm. 

     Wes's stories were like magic, transporting listeners to far-off lands and weaving dreams with the delicate threads of his words. Whether he performed on his Magellan stage for ladies and gentleman or by the fireside for humble farmers, his gift for storytelling made him a cherished figure in every corner of the realm. 

     Yet, despite the joy he brought to others, Wes felt a stirring deep within his soul. A calling that tugged at his heartstrings, urging him to set aside his life of quests and song for a higher purpose. One evening, as the setting sun painted the sky with hues of orange and pink, Wes called his friend and family together for a solemn announcement.

     "My friends," he began, his voice carrying a mixture of gratitude and determination, "I have been blessed to share stories with you, to be a troubadour in this magnificent Pleasant Grove. But now, a new path beckons me, and I must answer the call."

     Whispers swept through the crowd as Wes explained his decision to dedicate time to God's work in a faraway land called Texashire. The villagers listened in hushed admiration, their eyes filled with a mixture of sorrow and understanding.

     "Though I leave the stage and the roads I've traveled behind, I carry your stories with me. I embark on a journey of a different kind, one where the tales I tell will be written in the service of our Creator," Wes continued.

     As Wes told them of his mission to come and the lives of those he wished to touch with God's words, tears welled in the eyes of those who had shared laughter and moments of solace with him. The castle's minstrels played a somber tune, echoing a bittersweet farewell that filled the air.

     Wes will set forth on his pilgrimage on the tenth of March, traveling through dense forests, crossing vast plains, and scaling mountains. In a knapsack to his side, Wes will carry his lute, once an instrument of worldly tales, now called to resonated with hymns and prayers. The troubadour-turned-devotee will find solace in the quietude of the journey, guided by an unwavering sense of purpose.

     In the faraway land to Texashire, Wes will dedicated himself to serving the community, offering comfort and hope to those in need. His days will be spent in prayer, helping the sick, and spreading the teachings of compassion and love. The humble troubadour will become a beacon of light in a world often shadowed by hardship.

     News of Wes's selfless deeds will travel to his homelands by his brother Troubadours. The villagers will anxiously await their words and songs which will, no doubt, be tales of Brother Wes; tales sure to cause a profound sense of pride in all who know him. Yes, he will be missed, and so will be the melodies of his lute and the tales that once enchanted the evenings; however, the villagers in the pleasant grove will know that their troubadour has found a greater calling, and will leave his mark on Texashire.

     So we, his fellow Troubadours, celebrate our brother Wes and bid him a heartfelt "Farewell" as he prepares to embark on a two year mission.  We will miss him. His family will miss him, and of course his stage, the Magellan, will miss him.   

Connor Larsen Add More Fun to the "Things You'll Never Hear at the Space Center"

Hello Space Fans!
     Our good friend Connor Larsen enjoyed last week's post on "Things You'll Never Hear at the Space Center" and send a few more.  Thank you for your contribution Connor!  I love these. 
     Friends, I've kept a Space Center blog going since the year 2000 in one form or another and rarely do I get contributions. Please know that I'm happy to post contributions from readers.  Do you have favorite memories of missions, volunteers, or fellow staff members?  Have you got a great pictures you think others would like to see.  Send you photos, videos, stories to me: SpaceCampUtah@gmail.com.  
      Now sit back and enjoy Connor's post "More Things You'll Never Hear at the Space Center".

Admiral Williamson


Nicole: You know what’s on the bottom of my priority list? Safety. Go ahead and build that chair tower for this away mission and see how high you can get it.  (Nicole was always a force for safety. No chair towers, no unsupported barriers, etc.)

Megan: do you know what job I think has too much work and we should reduce the amount of reports and options? Engineering. who needs those reports anyways? (Megan’s favorite job is the Engineer. She spent hours writing reports for damage reports and panels on several occasions ensuring they were acceptable.)

Connor: go ahead and miss that music cue, the music doesn’t really matter and I’ll probably repeat the song anyway. (I spend a lot of time planning music…especially music cues. I also have a policy that i’ll never repeat a song because it’s critical to the story and the story has to flow)

Casey: You know, I think we should reduce the number of away missions in the story. Is there a reason to leave the ship? (Casey was always known to throw in impromptu unscripted away missions to ensure satisfaction)

Vic: I think I’ll stop using Enya when I fly. Her music has no place in society. (Well. You know.)

Mark: Food should be allowed everywhere in engineering. We don’t even need the energizer system. (Mark’s introduction to his engineering character always included mention of a ham sandwich that had found its way into the energizer system. It began to be used by the Voyager staff when they flew Canada and were talking with the Ganges and continued to expand from there)

Natalie: Feel free to wing voices. They’re not particularly important to any stories anyway. (Natalie is a voice actor, and one of the most particular regarding voices that i’ve met)

Tabitha: I think the ships should be far more competitive during the summer season. This is America by golly. (Tabitha isn’t a fan of large scale competition during summer camps. So…i’m sure there’s more than one occasion where my support of such got the best of her)

Mr. Porter: I think progressing with technology is stupid. Why don’t we use real life training tapes anymore? Imagine how cheap they’d be now. (Mr. Porter is all about modernization. Remember when we all thought training videos were crazy? Or switching to DMX lights? Or getting rid of DVD players? Well. That one i’m still sore on. I miss video.)

Jorden O: I think i’ll concede victory and let the other ships take this camp. (There was never a camp we flew together that didn’t leave on of us disappointed that we had lost to the other)

Jon: I’ve always disliked Cry in the Dark. Who needs the Ferengi anyway? (Jon loves Cry in the Dark. The end.)

Jordan S: I think we should find and only use the cheapest mice in the land. (Jordan is the king of technological devices. Did you see that keyboard and mouse he’d fly with near the end of his career?)

Miranda: I’d much rather fly sitting in a luxurious arm chair than standing or using a stool.  (Miranda was a huge supporter of standing and flying, and absolutely despised the comfy chairs…leaving them to us. No complaints here.)

Nathan: I’d prefer to not think about Flight Directing. It’s not that hard. (Nathan was working on a ‘Theory of Flight Directing’ compilation with all of his thoughts and tips and tricks on flight directing. He also wrote darn good stories.)

Maeson: I’ve always preferred vanilla missions.  (Maeson wasn’t afraid to share his thoughts on a boring story.)

Audrey: Feel free to put that costume back wherever you’d like, I want the closet to feel more natural. (Go ahead and make a mess in the costume closet, I dare you…)

Lindsey: I’ve always been bothered by Christine’s energy. Perhaps she could tone it down a bit. (Lindsey is Christine reincarnated.)

Lissa: I believe language is a gift from above and refuse to use any slang. (Whenever I think about Lissa all I can think is her use of the phrase ‘Chili beans’ as a replacement for ‘cool’)

Jake: No. (After the millions of flights he supervised for me, I can’t recall anytime he’d say no to any idea or thought I had.)

Bracken: I think you should only have one engineering character and never change it for any reason. Also go ahead and pronounce nuclear as ‘noo-kyu-ler’. No one will notice, it’s not the Cold War anymore. (Bracken cycled through several Engineering Characters through my career. I think the earliest was Brinks. Or O’Connor. I can’t remember. Vlad was along the way. I also clearly remember a discussion on his peeve of mispronouncing nuclear)

Brandee B: I think Doctor’s connecting with crews is useless and in bad taste. (The number of times Brandee would take lord of the votes at DSC was astounding. “Dr. D, Dr. D., Doctor, doctor, doctor D!” was the chant the crews would yell. Let’s not discuss that one super where we zombified her character towards the end and probably landed some real trauma…)

Brylee-Ann: I hate puzzles. (Brylee-Ann is a master of puzzles and games. It’s so impressive.)

Lorraine: Go ahead and collapse the dome however you’d like. The cart with the project is incredibly expendable. (When I taught for daylights I was so scared to take down the dome. Thank heavens Lorraine was there 90% of the time!)

Aleta: I’ve never really enjoyed sci-fi as a genre… (Aleta may be one of the biggest sci-fi fans at the center)

Brittney: I think we’ll end this mission with some other than ‘Fort Battle’ from Last of the Mohicans. (That was Brittney’s classic for the end of every mission.)

Kyle Herring: Greenpeace is far too short a story to be flown for 2.5 hours. (Kyle was known to let crews take their time through stories. There was many a time they wouldn’t reach the end of a story if they weren’t working hard.)

Brady: I don’t think any kid on the crew should hear any compliment today. So hush up everyone. (Brady was the king of complimenting crews. He’d milk the compliments for all they were worth to crank up those scores. And it worked.)

Odyssey Staff: Feel free to keep the lights on, we love the light. (Stop by the Odyssey whenever you’d like to see what I mean.)

Silver P.: I’ve never liked the idea of Pirates at the Space Center. I think every mission should be about the Klingons. (Silver is the master of pirates in my opinion. The lore he’s written into his stories rivals what the original races have in the actual Star Trek universe.)

Christine: Japanese anime music has no room for a starship. (Christine love(d?) anime and was known to use a song or two from their soundtracks.)

Bradyn: I don’t enjoy playing Pakled characters. Thanks so much for asking though. (Bradyn was a master of Pakled characters. During the revival of The Grand PooPah he was ever present reprising the role that Stephen Porter had made popular. He also was the default Dweeb in ’The Hunt for Horace’. Or whatever that ended up getting named.)

Jacqueline: Could you do more erratic and last minute things during this flight please? I love to panic and try and keep up.
(Jacqueline was never afraid to share her mind when she supervised, which I very much appreciated. Who knows what I would have done in those early years of flight directing?)

Andrew M. I have really strong feelings about what i’d like to do on this flight. (Andrew was a go with the flow kinda guy. It was hard to get him upset, he was all about making other people feel great.)

Emily P.: I’d like to just stay in the Odyssey and live out my life there. (Emily was a mover and a shaker. She was the first female flight director of the Voyager, and in the original group that all raced to learn to fly all 5 ships.)

Imaginarium Theater

The Week's Best Videos From Around the World Edited for a Gentler Audience

Things You'll Never Hear Spoken at the Space Center in a Billion Million Years. A Blast from the Past. Also, This Week's Imaginarium Theater.

 Hello Troops,

     It has been a quiet week at the Space Centers so I thought I'd repost something I wrote in February 2009.  It is called "Things You'll Never Hear Spoken at the Space Center in a Million Billion Years."  I added comments (in purple) to add a bit of background to help you understand the sarcasm.   
     Let's make an updated version of this for 2024.  Take a minute and send me something for a current member of staff or a volunteer at any of the Space Centers.  I'll gather them up and make a new post for the staff and volunteers today.  

Ad Astra!
Mr. Williamson 

The Staff Back in the Day at an Honor's Night

Sorry for the blurry picture. Who do you remember?

THINGS YOU’LL NEVER HEAR SPOKEN AT THE SPACE CENTER IN A MILLION BILLION YEARS.
February 2009.

Mark Daymont: "We're going to do a different mission today in the Magellan. No Death Trap
today!"
Mark loved that mission. It was his go to story for the overnight camps. The staff and volunteers were a bit tired of it though.  

Bill Schuler: “That was a great story on first reading. No further editing is required. Your story is good to be told. What skill, what writing. You are a credit to your family and nation. A new Ernest Hemmingway.”
Bill was my first line of defense when someone wanted to run a new mission by me.  He was the editor in chief and brutal with his red pen.  

Dave Daymont: “Thank you for calling me at the last second and asking me to take another Phoenix mission. I had plans to do something else but last minute missions are my specialty. Golly I’m lucky.”
You never called Dave in for a last minute booking. Never!

Mr. Williamson: “If you’re going to Harts please pick me up a bottled water. One must watch one’s health. Don’t you agree?”
My philosophy is simple, water is for bathing and Dt. Dew is for drinking. Keep 'em coming

Aleta Clegg: “Perikoi is my best mission. I’m so excited when I get to tell it to our visiting sixth grade classes.”
Aleta wore many hats at the Space Center: office manager, flight director, summer camp kitchen manager, etc.  Both Aleta and I were so done with Perikoi that field trip season!

Lorraine Houston: “I brought a cake from WalMart’s bakery. They are so much better than anything I can do at home. You know me in the kitchen - all thumbs I’m afraid. Well, thumbs and a bit of blood if you let me near the knifes.”
Lorraine was the staff and volunteer's mom away from home. She brought home baked goodies to the overnight camp and everyone got a home made birthday cake on their birthdays.  

Metta Smith: “Please leave those shirts untucked. I mean right now! Don’t you make me come over there and untuck it for you. Listen all of you, you’ll get the sharp edge of my tongue if you don’t listen to me.”
Metta strictly enforced the "shirts tucked in" policy.  She wasn't known for lectures to the staff. That was Megan's job :)

Megan Warner: “ Please lean back in the chairs. Please leave your personal belongings in my Control Room and Briefing Room.”
Megan is a flight director today at The Space Place and the Discovery Space Center at American Heritage School.  You don't bring personal items into the Control Rooms and never lean back in a chair.  

Megan Warner: “Hello Children, this is our transporter room. Aren’t we excited? I can see it in your eyes you little darling. Now, we are all going to go into this room and wait for the transporter sound. You will be magically transported to the Phoenix waiting for you way up there in the sky. Also, be sure to touch the walls when you go in. There will be a shock but well worth the experience. Everyone in. Isn’t this fun? Are we all ready? “
​You boarded the Phoenix Megan's way or no way at all.  Got it!

Bradyn Lystrup: “Shadows is my mission. I own Shadows. I’ve always owned Shadows. Did I mention it was MY mission. Yes, I’m all that and more.”
Bradyn works at Canyon Grove Academy in Pleasant Grove and runs the school's InfiniD Mission Program on their Starship Everest.  Shadows is still HIS mission if you ask him today.  

Kyle Herring: “OK, I finished everything on the repair list. The Space Center is in tip top shape."
Kyle still hasn't finished everything on the 2009 repair list.

Christine G: “I’m so depressed. Nothing works right. I can’t get through this. Oh the humanity. I’m going to lay down right here on the control room floor and sleep. I can’t cope. I can’t go on.”
Christine is the most optimistic person I've ever met.  She found the good in every mission, even if the Odyssey was falling apart around her. 

Rachel H: “Me too”
Rachel was a close 2nd to Christine

Stacy Carroll: “I know I’m early to work. It shouldn’t surprise you. I’m what’s known as a morning person. I thrive in the morning. I’m awake before dawn busy as a bee.”
Stacy was not a morning person, but nobody flew the Galileo as well as she.  She was an excellent flight director trainer as well. 

Sheila Powell: “I’ve never met a child I didn’t like. Children are angels. If they are disrespectful in class its my fault. I must not be doing the right things to entertain them. Children can’t be expected to show self control. Its not in their nature.”
Saint Sheila was a saint. She loved children and expected them to behave during the field trip lesson time.

Bill Schuler: “Please let me offer you my work space here in the Briefing Room. I’m working at the school today but see you need a place to work yourself. I’m perfectly willing to work right here beside you on the floor. I only need a little corner and access to electricity. If there is anything else I can do to make you more comfortable at my desk please don’t hesitate to ask.”
You never messed with Bill's stuff  or encroached on his working area.  Expect a bit of Diet Coke in your hair if you did.

Kyle Herring: “I’m changing my hair style to something more natural for my age. I think I’m going for a Victor Williamson hair cut. It has worked well for him for the last 50 years so learn from the best - that’s what I always say.”
Kyle did his best to look as young as possible with his hair. 

Victor Williamson: “Wasn’t that fun having me spend the entire overnight camp in your ship watching you fly. I learned so much. This week I plan on spending all my free time in the simulators watching mission after mission after mission. I just can’t get enough. Hey everybody, let’s get together and discuss your mission ideas as well.”
Watching new flight directors fly (or want to be flight directors) was torture for me.  It took all my strength not to reach over and take the microphone forcefully from their hands and fly the mission myself. 

Warren N.: “Socialism is the only real form of government. The government has a responsibility to care for the weak and lazy. We all need a rock solid safety net under us for hard times.”
Warren was the staff's number 2 Republican in all things. 

Kyle Herring: “Ditto”
Kyle was the first. 

Jace (Central): ‘silence’
Jace was a Central School sixth grade volunteer. They sat in the Control Rooms and listened to the political debates. 

Brock B: “Mr. Williamson, I’d love to spend more time in the Magellan but you keep putting me in the Voyager. Please can I get to do what I want to do sometime?”
Brock was one of the those "Voyager Boys". They had their own gang and never left the Voyager unless I forced them to. 

Spencer M: “I’m nothing. I worthless. I’m the worst player on my church ball team. I don’t know why they put up with me. If I could only make one basket. Oh what’s the use?”
Spencer Merryweather was the best at everything. All you had to do was ask him if you had any doubt.  

Spenser D: “I really enjoy all the kids you send into the Voyager to work with me. They are so full of life and energy. It makes my day to get to train them how to do the acting parts. I get a kick out of the cute things they say. Oh, and if they refuse to do what I say as Supervisor, I’ll forgive them because, after all, they are just kids. We can’t expect them to accept responsibility and the value of a job well done, can we?”
Spenser Dauwalder was another of those "Voyager Boys".  He was a bit unforgiving when it came to crew misbehavior.  

Mr. Williamson: “The best part of my job is dealing with personality issues. I love to mediate conflict between staff and volunteers. I thrive on staff misunderstandings. I get a kick out of ironing out the petty issues that arise from any organization staffed with multiple humans.”
Mr. Porter has to deal with these now. :)

Yes my friends, those are things you’ll never, ever hear spoken at the Space Center.

Now let’s have a great week at school, at work, and at home. Remember, the Space Center is a home to all of us. Let’s work hard to help it achieve its potential and an influence for good and learning not only for the students but our staff and volunteers as well.

Mr. Williamson

Imaginarium Theater

The Week's Best Videos From Around the World Edited for a Gentler Audience

Megan Warner to Work at American Heritage School's Discovery Space Center. Bill Schuler, the Man Behind the Space Center Display Case. Imaginarium Theater

Megan Warner to Become American Heritage School's Starship Discovery Field Trip Coordinator 

     Megan Warner was hired last week to flight direct the daytime in school Starship Discovery field trips for the students at American Heritage School in American Fork.  She will be working alongside Alex DeBirk, the Discovery Space Center's Director.  Lately, Alex has been burning the candle from both ends as he tries to keep up with both his responsibilities at the school; teaching high school physics and directing the space center.  
     With her new duties at American Heritage, Megan will be the only duel space center flight director.  She has been working with Bracken Funk at The Space Place at Renaissance Academy for past few years both supervising and flight directing the Voyager.  She is also working to refit the small trailer starship Nighthawk at The Space Place.  
      I've worked with Megan for the past 15 plus years (I've lost count). She started as a volunteer at the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center as a young teen and worked her way up to supervisor, flight director, set director, and center director for one year before James Porter took the reigns as center director at the CMSC.  

Megan and Alex at an Honor's Night Way Back When

Megan on the Magellan in Character

     Megan has become indispensable at The Space Place as Bracken's right hand lady. She flight directs, supervises, creates content, writes missions, trains new supervisors, and generally does a bit of everything to keep the Center working. The Space Place's Nighthawk simulator is her baby. She is restoring it bit by bit to make it space worthy for future missions.  

Megan was The Space Center's Director for One Year

Megan, The Space Place's Right Hand Lady

     Megan is an excellent flight director and will do an amazing job at American Heritage School.  In addition to her work as a daytime field trip flight director, Megan will assist with the school's Voyager Club which meets Wednesday afternoons (when she isn't needed on the Voyager for Renaissance Academy's Voyager and Young Astronaut Clubs).  Megan loves to hear from her old Space Center friends so drop her a line to say hello and to congratulate her on her new position.

Bill Schuler, the Man Behind the Space Center's Display Case Rockets  

     Bill Schuler, the Man, the Myth, the Legend.  Space Center old timers know him as Admiral Schuler, the "by the book" Starfleet Admiral who haunted their overnight camp missions.  You know the guy, the one who spat out Diet Coke foam when stunned...... the Admiral who could spot a piece of lint in the carpet from twenty paces away.  Yes, that's him. Now you remember :)

     Bill Schuler has always been the Space Center's biggest fan and supporter and enthusiastically agreed to take on the job of managing the Center's lobby display case with a variety of different rockets both real and sci-fi for the guests to enjoy while waiting for missions or planetarium shows. 

      Yesterday I found Bill testing the shelf heights for a few new additions to the display.  Bill is meticulous when it comes to his models. He is a professional in that regard and has won many awards from the state plastic modeling organization. The display case has a few of the award winning models. 

      Did you know that the Starbase Williamson sign above the stairway leading from the lobby to the simulators has an Easter Egg tribute to Admiral Bill Schuler?  Look closely.....

     Bill is pointing it out just in case you've not noticed.  There are similar tributes in the sign for other long time Space Center fixtures: Dave Wall, Mark Daymont and Lorraine Houston.  Thank you Bill for everything you do to make the Space Center a magical place of learning. Thank you for all the past years of service, all 31 of them!  You've done much to further our mission of "Creating a Space Faring Civilization".  Today we all salute Admiral Bill Schuler!

Imaginarium Theater

The Week's Best Video's From Around the World Edited for a Gentler Audience