For the last week, the world has watched the Artemis II astronauts fly by the moon. It’s the first time in 54 years human beings have ventured beyond Earth’s orbit. Back in the late 1960s, no TV show was more heavily associated with, or more influential on, the space program than Star Trek. In 1967, while the original series was running on NBC, scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory wore Spock ears as they monitored the Mariner V probe’s flyby of Venus.
Shelby County is the only place in the world that has an annual Star Trek Day, says Steven Mulroy, Shelby County District Attorney and founder of the celebration. “Well, it started as a lark. My last official act as a Shelby County Commissioner was to declare my birthday Star Trek Day in Shelby County the following year. And then, the local Trek community convinced me to actually commemorate it with an event. The next year, we had County Commissioner Reginald Milton do another proclamation to make it permanent, and we have been doing a mini convention on Shelby County Star Trek Day in April every year since. It’s just gotten bigger and bigger every year.”
This year’s celebration will be on Sunday, April 12th at Neil’s Music Room. There will be a costume contest, vendors with Trek merch, a trivia contest, and themed drinks and dishes. “You’ll be able to eat fried tribble and Klingon gagh, and wash it down with Romulan ale and Klingon blood wine,” says Mulroy. “We’ll also have some fun interactive things, which I think are the highlight of the day for many of the fans. The Memphis Improv Alliance is going to be using prompts from the audience and some audience volunteers to come up with a build-your-own Star Trek episode.”
Commercial Appeal film and entertainment writer John Beifuss will dig into the latest Trek series, Starfleet Academy, which leads to the afternoon’s special guest. Cirroc Lofton, who played Jake Sisko, son of Captain Sisko, on Deep Space Nine, will Zoom in for a Q&A with the fans. Lofton recently reprised the role of Jake as an adult on Starfleet Academy. As part of the Trektivism movement, Station Shelby, the local Trek fan club chapter, will be raising money for pancreatic cancer charity PanCAN.
Memphis filmmaker Chad Allen Barton, a producer for the Library Channel, will be on hand to show clips from his new documentary about little-known Memphis connections to Star Trek. His yet-to-be-titled documentary will tell the stories of Memphians who have worked or appeared on Star Trek over the years. One of Barton’s subjects is Charlie Washburn, the first Black person to work as an assistant director in Hollywood. One of Washburn’s earliest jobs after film school was on the original Star Trek series, before he went on to a long and fruitful career in film and television, including a long association with Sidney Poitier. Barton says he found Washburn’s son Logan just in time, as he was preparing to donate his father’s papers to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Barton got access to the materials, which included an extensive interview with Charlie before he passed, for his documentary. “When he would answer the phone on set, he would say, ‘Charlie, Star Trek’ Because that was the set that he was on. So his nickname became ‘Charlie Star Trek!’”
For Barton, Star Trek Day is a celebration of the ideals the show’s fans have embraced over the years. “I’ve seen basically everything Star Trek related, including the animated series and all the little weird ancillary things. Star Trek is hope. With all of this stuff happening right now, watching Artemis II take off is like that, too. It’s your hope looking towards the future, and you’re hopeful for a moment that maybe things will get better, and that maybe we’ll all start working together. Because essentially, when you boil it down, that’s what Star Trek is about — at some point, people will set aside their selfish concerns and work together.”
Shelby County Star Trek Day will beam in to Neil’s Music Room on Sunday, April 12th from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.