U.S.S. Vigilant
| Fan Club | |
|---|---|
| Name: | U.S.S. Vigilant |
| Dates: | 1983 or 1984 (see differing dates on flyers) to at least Dec 11, 1994 |
| Founder(s): | |
| Leadership: | |
| Country based in: | San Francisco, US |
| Focus: | Star Trek focus at first, then science fiction in general |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
U.S.S. Vigilant was/is a San Francisco science fiction club.
One of its publications was Ship's Log.
The flyers shown on this page have contradicting dates regarding when the club was formed: one says 1983 and another says 1984.
Description from an undated flyer:
The U.S.S. Vigilant is the oldest San Francisco based Science Fiction fan club. The club was founded as the local Starfleet group in October of 1983. We are no longer associated with Starfleet and our interests reflect the change. We are interested in science fiction books, movies and television shows. Many of our members have worked on local fan cons and World Con 51. Ifyou want to join a fun, social science fiction group, we want you.Some of the activities that you will be invited to attend are:
- Monthly business meetings
- Bimonthly socials
Social activities may include,
- Hot tub parties
- Great America trips and the Wooz challenge
- Watching Sci fi music videos or other science fiction
- Star gazing parties, picnics, wine country tours
Other activities that you can participate in are,
- Working on the newsletter - write a story, poem, song, an alter-ego persona, review a book, episode, movie or start a regular column about science, conventions, science fiction, fanzines, filking, or other interest..
- Design games, puzzles, brain teasers or trivia questions
In a Dec 11, 1994 club handout, 17 members were listed. 11 lived in San Francisco; the others in Antioch, Kentfield, San Jose, Hayward and Santa Clara.
The Dec 11, 1994 meeting was held in Pleasant Hill, 30 miles east of San Francisco.
Their 10 Year History
In 1993 or 1994, Stacy Doyle documented the fan club's 10-year history. It is reposted here in its entirety with permission.
"VIGILANT HISTORY.The U.S.S. Vigilant is soon to be ten years old! To give you some perspective on how long ago it was, Ronald Reagan was finishing his first and was running for his second term in office, Star Trek III - The Search For Spock was about to make it to the big screen, LA Con II (World Con 42) was about to roll into Anaheim, Star Trek - The Next Generation wasn’t a glimmer in Gene’s eye, Creation’s big “Salute to Star Trek” cons weren’t around, Star Tours was in only in the planning stages between Geroge Lucas and Disney, Back to the Future hadn’t hit the theaters, Shatner and Nimoy hadn’t done the infamous Western Airline commercial (what’s Western Airlines??), Halley’s Comet hadn’t made it through the neighborhood, Gene Roddenberry didn’t have a star on Hollywood’s “Walk of Fame,” and the Challenger hadn’t yet taken the final countdown. All of these event were mentioned in the first couple of dozen Ship’s Logs.
As the ship is about to turn another corner, I was coerced into relating the full and illustrious history of the Vigilant. The ship was formed on August 6, 1984, as the San Francisco based Starfleet ship, when all that was necessary was to send a letter to the Commanding Admiral of Starfleet - anyone ever hear of Eric Stillwell? The founder and first captain was Thom Oakes, who contacted the local Starfleet members to start the new chapter. The first few meetings were at his flat on Page Steet and the founding members Tom Oakes - captain, Paul Grunert - first officer, Andrea Wright - science officer, Gail Schultz - communications officer, Carolyn Balsley - assistant communications officer, Stacy Doyle - engineering officer and Ruth Williams - medical officer.
Gail Schultz kept the club informed as she managed to put out the newsletters. The original newsletters were 8.5 x 14 with double columns of unequal size. The first newsletters had SHIP’S LOG in big, bold type across the top. The first newsletter mast didn’t appear until the third newsletter. The original was an Avenger Class Starship speeding along against a starfield. The Vigilant logo we recognize today wasn’t around until October, 1986.
As I look at the new ships forming around us at an alarming rate and the difficulty the ships have in starting, I have managed to forget a lot over the last 10 years. Our first captain, Thom Oakes, left after just founding the club, he was transferred to Long Beach. Our second captain, Paul Grunert, lasted two months when Starfleet asked him to step down because he failed to send in reports. By the fourth month, we managed to get a captain who pulled our group together and make the club go. Andrea Wright was the third captain, but the founding captain who managed to make the club move. Our ship was officially out of drydock, according to Starfleet, by the business meeting on December 7, 1984.
Andrea served as captain of the Vigilant for about a year and a half, until March 1986. There had always been disagreements and conflict between several of the members, and Andrea was a negotiator and a stabilizing force in the club.
The club had established a pattern of handing over the club to the first officer and that person would become captain. When Andrea resigned, Caroly Balsley became the new captain and there was a division between some officers and the new captain. The first issue after Carolyn became captain, Gail Schultz resigned as communications officer. There were a only a couple of newsletter over a six month period before Sarah Chambers volunteered to edit.
The format was changed to an 8.5 x 11 equal sized, column format. Sarah worked with a lot of software and changed the format, style, type font and anything she could think of with almost every newsletter. Sarah put out the newsletter for almost a year before her disk drive crashed and burned - with the appropriate R.I.P. in the next newsletter.
As assistant editor, Stacy typed the newsletter from September to December of 1987. As you might remember, September 1987 was the beginning of Star Trek - The Next Generation! In December, Stacy Doyle became the newsletter editor. With the new series, Big Quock - our resident science expert, tore up the pages ripping the new series apart. "