Hello Crew, this is your Captain Abigail speaking and today’s mission is to learn about the non-profit, Federation World Headquarters.
The Federation World Headquarters is currently located inside the Sandusky Mall in Sandusky, OH with previous locations being Lorain, Westerville and Huron, OH. I had the pleasure of talking with Russ Haslage, President of International Federation of Trekkers, Inc and founder of Federation Headquarters.
Their history starts with Russ and his love of Star Trek and their mission, “Go places and help people.” In 1979 Russ opened a Taco Bell, now home to a different restaurant, leaving on Wednesdays to go and see Star Trek in the Sandusky Mall during $2 matinees. It was then that his love and hope grew, leading him to reach out to Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry with an inquiry and hope of starting a club to follow and grow the mission of Star Trek. Gene was on board quickly for this idea and with Russ’ assistance they started Federation Headquarters that has grown from a small club to a wide and wonderful organization which hopes to make the world a better place.
An early chapter of the story begins with BJ Mitias. She joined the Federation in 1985 and opened Starbase Columbus shortly after that. In 2015, she made the choice to retire and close shop and upon learning of this, The Federation agreed to purchase the shop. Following this, they took over the location in 2016 and kept its original home in Westerville for about a year. They then relocated to the Port Huron Plaza in Huron, OH for another year before moving their home to the Sandusky Mall, where they currently reside. The move has proven very successful for them with revenue quadrupling with greatly increased sales.
Every dollar earned and spent at the Federation goes towards their humanitarian efforts, both located in the local community as well as all over the world, going places and helping people. Some examples of their efforts are providing accessible bicycles to those who normally wouldn’t be able to get one themselves, as well as deploying efforts and supplies to the Midwest after tornadoes swept through causing death and devastation in 2024. Originally, in 2015 there were employees before the decision was made to shift to volunteers with every employee happily making the switch themselves wanting to continue their mission of unity and hope.
Down the line, Russ has plans to further promote the Nichelle Nichols Foundation, which supports and helps send girls and women to space. Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed Uhura in Star Trek the television series and its film sequels, joined the Federation herself in 1985. Russ also has hopes to move into a bigger space in the future to host conferences as well as classes for kids and weather tracking which is a personal interest of Russ’.
Russ truly is the best person to be running and furthering the Federation with his own ideals of the world growing closer and kinder in the future, with our differences only helping knit us together imbuing the world with hope and kindness and understanding. He truly believes and supports the mission that he, Gene, and BJ created so many years ago, honoring both their memories.
I also learned some fun facts and information about Russ’ interests in both pop culture and modern media, as well as memorabilia. Some of his favorite shows include: obviously Star Trek, but also Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis, Warehouse 13, Resident Alien, and The Orville and he hopes to see more Star Trek memorabilia pop up too. Russ is a man of strong values, hopes, and interests with his main value simply being to bring this world and its people together in a way reminiscent of the hope and belief he felt watching Star Trek for the very first time.
If you’re in the area, simply looking for a fun place to see, or just out shopping at the mall, be sure to check out The Federation World Headquarters and meet Russ as well as their amazing volunteers. The Headquarters includes fun memorabilia, videos, merchandise, and a real Captain’s Chair where all are welcome to take pictures. It’s a remarkable, and unique location that is like no other and you won’t want to miss the chance to explore it for yourself. Remember to always “go new places and help people.”
