History of the McNair

A Brief History of the Starfleet Chapter - USS Ronald E. McNair NCC-61909

The USS Ronald E. McNair is an established chapter and member of Starfleet International, one of the largest Star Trek themed fan clubs in the world. Founded by Ray Seay and Cookie Williams, the ship started out as a new chapter, known as a shuttlecraft, under the sponsorship of the USS Olympus which was headquartered in Sumter, SC. The chapter began officially in June of 1993. After working hard for several months the shuttle acquired the required number of members to qualify for full ship status and was launched as a shuttle November 4 1993 as the USS Ronald E. McNair, NCC-61809. The crew (chapter members) chose that the McNair should be a Nebula class starship that functioned in the Star Trek Next Generation timeline in their virtual storyline. It was named in honor astronaut Ronald E. McNair, PhD a mission specialist that was killed in the Challenger launch accident. Ronald was a native of Lake City, SC.

Ray Seay’s vision for the ship was that it would perform the mission of charity and public service to the community. This was the heart and spirit of Gene Roddenberry’s vision of help and fellowship that he fostered through the creation of the Star Trek television series. The crew of the McNair performed numerous services such as blood drives for the Red Cross, Adopt a Highway clean up missions, serving as participants in the world famous Jerry Lewis Telethon for Muscular Dystrophy and many other services. The crew also did various projects to generate revenue for charities and operating costs by having bake sales, car washes, and selling items at local flea markets. After the first two years of the ship’s service, First Officer Cookie Williams stepped down as first officer and she was replaced by Henry Dubose.

The crew of the ship not only did charity work but also enjoyed participating in trips known as away missions to various Star Trek and science fiction related conventions and events. As a member of Region One of Starfleet International, the ship’s crew participated in the annual Region One conferences and summits as well as serving as security volunteers for many conventions conducted throughout the North and South Carolina area, to include some excursions to events in Georgia and Virginia. In 1995 at a convention conducted in Columbia, SC, Ethan Phillips, the actor who portrayed Neelix from Star Trek Voyager, was a guest host. He was recruited by Ray Seay and became a charter member of the USS Ronald E. McNair. Over the next year the ship would continue with its core mission of helping others but was able to sponsor two conventions of their own in the Columbia area. The first happened in November of 1996 and had as its main guest William Shatner. This was significant in that Mr. Shatner had not performed for a convention crowd in many years. Ray Seay stepped down as captain of the McNair in February of 1997 and was replaced by Stephen Stott.

Stephen Stott’s tour of duty as captain was short but in that short time the McNair was able once again to sponsor a convention in the Columbia, SC area. Actors that played Nog (Aron Eisenberg ) from Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Chewbacca (Peter MayHew) from Star Wars fame were the guest stars and this event, once again, served to increase the prestige and popularity of the USS Ronald E. McNair as a leading science fiction club in the region. Due to military commitments and a move, Stephen Stott had to step down as captain of the McNair and turned over command of the ship to Jerry Ward in 1998. Jerry Ward served as CO of the McNair until June 2000 when he stepped down and Ray Seay filled in as CO until the December election of Jennifer Kelly who served as CO until January 2005 when Pamela Michaud was elected CO.