In September 1986 Captain Dennis Hollinger and Commander Richard Henline officially launched the Star Trek fan club, the USS Kelly. This club is the oldest Star Trek club running in Utah and was one of the founding members of Starfleet Command’s Seventh Fleet.
Past and present members of the USS Kelly recently gathered at Murray Park to reminisce about past activities and the friendships made along the way. There was a display of past USS Kelly t-shirts (including the first Kelly uniform work by then-Captain Hollinger to launch the chapter). There was also several photo scrapbooks, copies of past newsletters (over 80 issues and counting), old technical drawings and the first attempt at the Kelly Combadge (made out of resin).
The USS Kelly had originally started as a chapter of the national Starfleet Command organization (based out of Baltimore, MD) before this parent organization disbanded in December 1997. In January 1998 the USS Kelly joined with the USS Rendezvous, USS Retributor and the USS Ticonderoga to form Starfleet Command’s Seventh Fleet.
Dennis Hollinger held the position of the first Commanding Officer. When he moved up to Commander in Chief of the Seventh Fleet, his good friend Richard Henline took over the center chair. After several years Captain Henline stepped down to take a position with the fleet and David Thalmann took command of the Kelly (called the Kelly-A). After several years David had to step down for health reasons and Rhonda Hollinger became the Commanding Officer for a few years. The former Operations Officer, Nada Linnarz then became the Captain of the Kelly-B. Earlier this year Captain Linnarz moved to St. George and handed the reigns to the current Commanding Officer, Jill Bogler.
Most fan run clubs had a habit of disbanding before reaching their second anniversary. So the fact that the USS Kelly has reached 35 years shows the testament and resilience of the members of this Star Trek family. Here is to 35 more years.
Here are some photos of past members and events.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA 
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA 
