Live long and prosper.
In his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins coined the word meme and developed meme theory – the notion that ideas are subject to evolutionary pressures similar to those found in biology. For Dawkins, a meme was any cultural entity that could self-replicate. Today, some 40 years later, enhanced by the internet’s ability to spread ideas at the speed of light, the idea of the meme is commonly used and accepted.
A decade before the publication of Dawkins’ book, on 8 September 1966 to be precise, NBC Television debuted a show that, despite its limited early success, would become not only a meme but a cultural touchstone. That show was Star Trek.
[Star Trek Original Cast photo By http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn13/etmassey/star-trek-cast.jpg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26911344].
(Wikipedia’s article about the series notes: “Star Trek’s first-season ratings would in earlier years likely have caused NBC to cancel the show.”) In fact, the season three renewal came about largely due to a letter writing campaign and the series only produced 78, 79, or 80 episodes. (The number of episodes is dependent on whether you count the two parts of The Menagerie as one or two episodes and whether you include the episode called The Cage which didn’t appear in the initial run.)
I think it’s fair to call Star Trek globally iconic. In September 2017, the sixth television spinoff (Star Trek: Discovery) had its debut. The original series generated six feature films with the original cast. Thus far in the 21st century, three more films using the original characters have appeared with a new cast taking the roles of those characters. One of the spinoffs, Star Trek: The Next Generation produced four feature films. The number of novels, short stories and comic books reaches into the hundreds or thousands. Even the split infinitive of each episode’s opening voice over – “to boldly go where no man has gone before” has become a meme.
One Star Trek fact many people might not know is that the original television series did not have its world premiere on NBC. Rather, the first show aired on CTV in Canada two days earlier on 6 September 1966. If you look at the map posted in my first entry and follow the route for 90 kilometers south and east from Okotoks, you’ll spot the town of Vulcan. And, yes, the town has made the most of the fortuitous coincidence that it shares its name with not only the Roman god of fire but with the home planet of Star Trek’s Mister Spock.
(Please enlarge this picture so you can read the sign.)
Vulcan Canada’s attachment to the Star Trek franchise had its birth sometime around 1990 when the town council established the Vulcan Association of Science and Trek or VAST. In 1992, they held their first official Star Trek convention and called it Vul-Con. Then, on 10 June 1995, the town unveiled
its own starship – modeled after the ship from the original series. Unless you enlarge this picture, you won’t notice the call sign – FX6-1995A. Per the Vulcan Tourism website, “The X6 stands for the Vulcan airport identifier from the Canadian Flight Supplement, 1995 represents the year of it’s release, and “A” signifies the first project launched in pursuit of development of the Science and Trek theme throughout Vulcan County.”
Vulcan’s tourism website also provides the top 10 answers to the question, “Why Star Trek?”.
Why Star Trek on the prairies? If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been asked that…well we’d be sitting pretty that’s for sure. So why take that leap of faith into the final frontier? Well for lots of reasons, not the least of which is our fortuitous name link. So below you will find the top ten reasons we have adopted a Star Trek theme in Vulcan AB…drum roll please …
10. It is logical…yeah, I went there. Our name makes it a perfectly logical Enterprise (yeah, I went there too) to go to for bringing in thousands of Trek fans every year has been wonderful for our small communities.
9. Getting excited about Roman Mythology is one thing…The God of Fire, which Vulcan was actually named after, sounds just a wee bit dangerous…even though we have some stellar fire departments in Vulcan County!
8. Star Trek is cool. Period.
7. Our agricultural past is awesome. In fact, we were at one point known for having the largest grain capacity of any primary grain shipping point in Canada. Now Vulcan County has a production rate of 261,000 tonnes of wheat annually. Truthfully though, all of Alberta has a stunning history with agriculture. Star Trek has given us something that is all our own, and we love that Vulcans stand out in a crowd.
6. Everyone loves a chance to get up close and personal with the characters they have grown to know and love over the years. Fans of Star Trek especially love meeting their favorite personalities and we love that in Vulcan people can really get to know who the people who are attached to the faces and names they know. Spock Days, our annual convention, allows for a really close encounter that no fan will soon forget.
5. The prairies in Canada were settled by people who were ready to take on a new frontier. It was wild, unknown and filled with adventure. Anyone who knows the Star Trek cannon at all knows that it was about facing the unknown bravely and justly…coincidence? We think not!
4. Star Trek fans are among some of the most diverse people you could encounter. From young to old, across all cultures and beliefs, you can…and will…find Star Trek fans! This means that each and every day the community welcomes a new face with their own story. No day is ever like another and we wouldn’t have it any other way!!
3. It is a long drive heading some places in Alberta. While the mountain and prairie vistas are phenomenal and such a treat to both the locals and visitors, some times even a Trekkie needs to find the loo. When nature calls we happen to have some of the coolest bathrooms in Alberta. If you have to stop anyways you may as well have a fun place to stop…and it doesn’t get much more fun than Vulcan!
2. Small communities are built on some wonderful principles. Star Trek was built on some wonderful principles. The ideals of hope equality prosperity and longevity are the kind of believes and dreams that both Star Trek and the prairies share. If you are going to invite the world to come to your community, it only makes sense to invite the people who share your wonderful view of what the future can hold. We are honored to continue and encourage the accepting culture that Gene Roddenberry presented to the world at a time when it was so needed. Knowing a ship was competently run by a crew that was not limited or overlooked by cause of race, sex or beliefs makes us so proud to be part of the Star Trek journey.
1. Where else in the world can you carry a bat’leth in the grocery store, tell people you will meet them at the transporter or make comments about Pon Farr (wink, wink) and not get strange looks? Being in Vulcan is like coming home for many fans…and we are glad to welcome you with open arms and a hearty.
Live Long and Prosper!!!