It was August, 2014, County Commissioner Steve Mulroy’s last day in office. As his final official act, the lawmaker convinced his colleagues to declare April 9, 2015 Shelby County Star Trek Day. The event was a success, and the next year Commissioner Reginald Milton made it a permanent entry on the county calendar. We are the only municipality in the world to have an official regular celebration of Trek.
But why Star Trek? “The original Trek was pathbreaking for its portrayal of people—and aliens—of all races and genders working together harmoniously,” says Mulroy, now a University of Memphis law professor. “The spinoff series have continued to explore social issues in a way only science fiction can.”
The fifth annual Star Trek Day celebration will kick off at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 6th at Craft Republic restaurant at 5101 Sanderlin. The afternoon program will feature a talk on real life space exploration by former NASA ground controller Bill Weppner, costume and trivia contests, and a March Madness bracket to determine the greatest Trek villain of all time. Mulroy, who is a proponent of instant runoff elections, will use the opportunity to demonstrate the alternate voting system as fans vote for the Best Episode Ever. And for the first time, your humble Memphis Flyer columnist will be appearing at Star Trek Day, discussing the new CBS series Star Trek: Discovery with Nerd Nite moderator James Weakley.
Craft Republic will be offering the assembled Trek fanatics Romulan Ale, Klingon Blood Wine, and tranya. We’ll let 7-year-old Clint Howard explain what tranya is, with this clip from the 1966 Star Trek episode “The Corbomite Maneuver”.
Star Trek Day Beams Into Shelby County This Weekend