In the 1970s, I was part of the earliest Star Trek conventions. Back then, those kinds of conventions were new, and we had a budget of… Well, close to zero. But we made the conventions happen, anyway.
Long-time friend Bjo Trimble was the visionary who organized them. I got involved when she asked if I’d illustrate the convention flyers and programs… for free, of course. And then, I’d drive down to Los Angeles to be part of the volunteer team putting on those events.
In the past, I’ve shared stories about how crazy-fun those early events were. Like taping down electrical wiring in the main hall at some random L.A. hotel, and my two co-workers were Jimmy Doohan (“Scotty”) and Bill Campbell (“Trelane,” aka “the Squire of Gothos”).
Jimmy was always super-energetic and hilarious. Bill was the nicest person, ever, but could only help for an hour or so. After that, he was due for his regular visit to the Hollywood home for “retired actors” (meaning: old and forgotten) where he’d read books to the residents.
Anyway…
Lately, my husband and I have been watching quirky YouTube videos, including many by Orlando friends who live near Disney World.
Those videos keep us updated on the parks.
And that’s how we stumbled onto this.
The Neutral Zone has built replicas of several Star Trek sets, for filming fan versions of the series. * blink, blink *
Those sets include a remarkably accurate — and nicely developed — replica of the original Star Trek deck. It’s a site you can visit, at various times when it’s not being used for filming.
In the following video — by “Adam the Woo” (a WDW vlogger in Celebration, Florida) — I’m pretty sure I spotted Jimmy Doohan’s son. (He was there, that day.)
And that brought back cool, happy memories.
Here’s the video:
More info about the Star Trek deck in Georgia
South Georgia Boldly Goes… (a detailed news article)
The Neutral Zone, Kingsland, Georgia (the actual location you can visit)