1976 March-April GALACTIC GAZETTE

This was way, way before my time. I never met the co-editors, Paul Smith and Kevin Acers. My first encounter with STAR was at BabelCon 1, in 1980.

See you at Soonercon 31, campers!

  

Those Silly Teenagers!

It's an article from the September 6, 1976 Oklahoma City Times. Surprised, ain'tcha!

... surprised that fans never eat?  Nah, many of you youngsters don't remember a time when OKC had several newspapers!

I must confess that to my recollection, both Maxwell and Renee Upton weren't in STAR OKC by the time I came along around 1980.  Do you think they grew up?  Heaven forbid!

  

Visit 1976 and S.T.A.R.Base OKC

As you may imagine, these are from that storied US Bicentennial year.  Also before yours truly came upon the scene, so I can provide no further context.

No cracks about the spelling, please.  These were high-school kids, and it took a lot of time to stencil those letters, in the days when 'desktop publishing" involved a typewriter and money for the library's copier.

  

More Images of S.T.A.R. and Central Oklahoma Fandom in the 1970s

Fellow STAR, and heap-big Smart Guy, Larry Nemecek was featured in 1978 in the Norman Transcript .  At least they called him a "student" and not a nerd or a bigbrain.  Although he qualifies as both.

Sorry not to have a better scan.  You can't really read it.

Here we have a 1976 article from the Oklahoma City Times, using commentary on "those crazy kids" as a tie-in to Starbase Oklahoma City's plans for a Star Trek convention here in OKC.  It features comments from Darryl Maxwell, then 16, who was a member of Starbase OKC (forerunner of STAR OKC). 

The image with the photo of the kid in the STAR-TREK-plastered room is the second half of the article.

Y'know what -- I didn't have those particular pictures on MY bedroom wall, but I DID have a "color in the lines" 4-piece STAR TREK  poster set.

Yes, OF COURSE I still have them.  They're framed on the wall.  Some time I'll pull 'em down for some scanning, and share them with the galaxy.

Our last newspaper image for now concerns a STAR TREK trivia contest that the Oklahoma City Journal ran in conjunction with the 1979 release of STAR TREK: The Motion Picture.

If you'll read the column on the right, which gives the names of the winners (including their home addresses ... how quaint), the names of several then-or-future members of STAR OKC may be read.

They are:

Larry Nemecek

Mark Alfred (yours truly)

Tammy Bothel

Say ... all three of us not only were members of STAR OKC, we all served as Presidents for varying amount of times.

NEXT TIME:  ST:TMP mania baby!

STAR OKC 1976-1977

 1976

At the January meeting it is decided that “kids under the age of 11 years old won’t be able to join. This is to help prevent chaotic meetings.” So, tell me: Since then, has STAR had any more chaotic meetings?

The March/April GG is Vol. 2, #5. “The new Co-Editors are Paul Smith and Kevin Acers,” and plans are discussed for S.T.A.R. to put on Galacti-Con ’76.

By the Aug./Sept. GG, Renee Upton can be identified as the second President of S.T.A.R. Editor Jennifer Reynolds (no, not the same as the Channel 9 newscaster) says, “We have tentatively set the date of the Con for Sept. 18, 1976.” But President (and Chairman) Upton also weighs in with a plea for member involvement, stating that S.T.A.R. has only two choices: “officially dissolve the Club, or get it back in shape.” She correctly predicts that lack of member involvement will scuttle the chances of Galacti-Con ’76’s success.

Other officers are Secretary Joan Carter and Membership Secretary Jill Kornfeld. Treasurer and Vice-President slots are open.

On September 6, the Oklahoma City Times prints a feature article on founding S.T.A.R. member Daryl Maxwell, titled “Trekkies never eat, they just live on reruns.” According to this article, Maxwell and Renee Upton “say the members number between 100 and 150, mostly of high school age, some college, even some 40s and 50s.” (It’s likely that the 100¬150 number came from attendance at S.T.A. R.’s Galacti-Cons, not from a list of actual members of S.T.A.R. Oklahoma City.) The article continues, “The club meets every month or so at the Bethany Library.”

1977

The Spring issue of the GG includes a trivia contest; a plug for a STAR TREK postage stamp; and a wordsearch game. Third President Jennifer Reynolds identifies herself as “Chief Helmsman of S.T.A.R.Base,” a new Club name. Other helpers on this GG are Ian Shepard, David Moore, and David Morgan. Plans for a Con have been put off for the time being.

In a letter dated May 20, President Reynolds writes to Larry Nemecek of Lexington, OK: “I am delighted that you have chosen to join S.T.A.R.base Ok.C.” You may have heard of this Nemecek fellow as the founder of ThunderCon.

“S.T.A.R.base Ok.C.” — as President Reynolds calls it — has 17 paid members, but only 3 show up for the July meeting. In a subsequent letter to Nemecek, Reynolds writes, “I have decided to resign” in the face of such apathy.