1980 in S.T.A.R. OKC

1980

S.T.A.R. OKC begins 1980 with these officers: President Paul Marek; Vice-President David Morgan; Secretary-Treasurer Zann Romero; Publications Larry Jones; Personnel Ron Moore.

Twenty-five attend the January meeting, where it’s decided to spend $50 to run a com­mercial for S.T.A.R. on KGMC Channel 34 “for the first episode of STAR TREK to be aired on February 1, 1980.”

And at the February meeting, members are naively astounded to realize that the huge $50 fee only paid for one showing of STAR's TV ad! Also by February, Zann Romero has become Zann Jones, the first of many STAR marriages — people who first met at STAR meetings and later wed.

In March, plans are being laid for Ba­belCon 1, to be patterned as a conference of Starfleet diplomats a la the STAR TREK epi­sode “Journey to Babel.”  The Southgate Inn on I-35 is selected.

An April “Current Contacts” list in­cludes 36 people, including later Club Historian Mark Alfred, his first documented contact with S.T.A.R. He is listed as a “guest” at the May meeting.  An April officers’ list includes not only the five mentioned above, but Activities Officer Bob Higgs, Communications Maxine Frantz, and Publicity Andrew Helfer.  One may get the idea of a group of kids making sure there’s an office for every member, but rest as­sured that there are also 28 just plain members.

The agenda for June includes “officer’s terms reduced from 2 yrs to 1 yr” and an outing to see The Empire Strikes Back. June also brings the one-and-only issue of The Trecorder, another unsuccessful run at a S.T.A.R. OKC publication. Its editor, Larry Jones, utters the eternal plea for submissions.  S.T.A.R. now has 30 members, with $3.09 in the Club account, and $81.10 in the separate BabelCon account.

Speaking of which, BabelCon 1 ex­plodes onto the scene July 25-27, 1980.  Russell Bates, author of the STAR TREK animated epi­sode “How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth,” is Guest of Honor.  Bates and other guests Brad Sinor and C.J. Cherryh also speak at the Am­bassador’s Banquet on Saturday night, along with longtime S.T.A.R. Larry Nemecek as Fan Guest. Costumes include Federation diplomats; a TREK TV Romulan; an ambassador in black tie and tails “from Landru’s planet”; S.T.A.R. member Bob Higgs as the Alien from the 1979 film; a tall blonde as the Salt Vampire from “Man Trap;” S.T.A.R. “schismatic” Dawn At­kins in a steel-mesh bikini as a “Fantasy War­rior”; and Mark Alfred in a blue STTMP cos­tume and pointed ears as one of Spock’s rela­tives. Mark makes an impression on the gulli­ble souls around him by not eating meat from the buffet (Vulcans are vegetarians, dontcha know). Such posturing impresses the Guests who, as judges of the Costume Contest, award First Place to Mark as Selik the Vulcan.

A reporter from the Oklahoma City Journal shows up Saturday evening and shoots a group photo of some of the costumed partici­pants and a solo shot of Dawn Atkins and her aluminum bikini.  A full-page spread on Babel-Con 1 appears in the paper’s Sunday, August 3 edition.

From the tiny bits of documentation available from BabelCon 1, it appears that Maxine Frantz was the prime mover and shaker behind the Con. A report from August states that BabelCon 1 has come out $840 ahead, but since it was not a charity convention, the money stays with S.T.A.R.

Our final material from 1980 is from November, when a new constitution is accepted unanimously and officers elected.  Future 1990s Club Historian Mark Alfred has joined in time to be listed as a member at the December meet­ing. S.T.A.R. has a Christmas Party at the apartment of Zann and Larry Jones off Rock-well and Melrose. Mark and Joyce Alfred show up in Santa Suits to much hilarity. 

As soon as we figure out a posting problems, we will share some photos of this party.