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The Complete TrekFest09 Report!
Jul. 2nd, 2009 02:53 amThis past weekend was amazing. I didn't have high hopes going in. I'm not gonna lie. It was sort of spontanious that we even went. Weeks ago I was browsing online and came back across the official website for TrekFest. I'd been vaguely aware it existed for years but it wasn't until my boss at bagel job told me two years ago that it was going on that I realized how seriously close it was to my college town. Of course, I was at work at the time and couldn't exactly book it over to Riverside in the middle of a shift. The following year I was in Japan during the fest so no go. But, this year... No job. How would I find the money? Also, no longer a UoI student. Also, subleased my Iowa City apartment. But, when I mentioned the fest again off hand to my father a week before it was to take place, he was all for it! He went on, ironically enough, Priceline and booked a hotel the next day.
Friday morning came and I was able to wake up at a leisurly late time and hop in the car stress free. Usually incredibly unpleasant on road trips, my father and I were able to make pleasant comversation the entire trip. He even let me pick the radio stations for all 4 hours on the road! The only snag in the ride up was the intense 20 minute detour along I-35. That's going to be hell for travelers during the holiday weekend coming up. What made the detour even more awkward was that there was apparently a local bicycle marathon going on and all these rerouted cars were taking the same route as the bikers. Unfortunate. Still, comical. And, all together a pleasant ride.
As is tradition anytime I go anywhere with my father, we got lost for a bit. Most of the hotels in Iowa City are clustered either at that second exit by the con hotel or back over by Walmart in Coralville. So, we just naturally assumed the hotel we were staying at was in one of those clusters. Nope. It was on the strip and our idiot selves just drove along all the major streets in Iowa City/Coralville looking for it. Sad but, true. I can still get lost in my own college town! The hotel itself was pretty shotty, but, again, in a comical way. We were laughing about the mold colony growing on the ceiling in the bathroom. To be fair I think it's one of the hotels that was flooded out in last year's 500 year flood. It seems like very few flooded out businesses are really back 100%. We drove around debating what to get for dinner. Ended up at HuHot which I loved and my father didn't know what to do with. He was also in a state of shock and awe at the sorority girls/pre-club Friday night cliques and their outfit choices. It was hella weird being in a place, again, where most people are my age and infinitly thinner, prettier, and better dressed than I. I was a little nostalgic for Iowa City until the third pack of bimbos walked by and I remembered what annoyed me about the place. Everything evens out!
We skipped the Friday activities and crashed early in order to make it to the 10AM parade the next day. Steve Miller was the grand marshal. It was like most small towns or county parades. Most of the emergency vehicles in the county came. The firefighter's families rode on the fire trucks and waved to their friends. All the children's sports teams- teams supported by the funds raised during TrekFest- had floats. It was fun seeing the little kids wave at and heckle their families and classmates. The shriners and a bunch of local businesses as well as Operation Homefront also had floats or cars. And, there was no shortage of tractors! Most floats or cars handed out candy and all the kids along the parade route had bags to hoard it in. Operation Homefront, a group that supports families of the troops, handed out teddy bears. They also had a handful of local beauty queens!
Below the cut are the highlights from the parade. I got multiple shots of every float and at least one picture of almost every car and group that was in the parade. You can view the nicer ones in my Facebook gallery or download my complete set of parade photos. I got shots of every section of the parade route, too, so if you were in attendance I might have taken your photo!
( Photo and video highlights of the parade! A general sample and some descriptions. )
It lasted longer than I thought it would and was quite charming. I got into a long conversation with the grandmother of three who was sitting next to me. She was nothing but sweet and wonderful and polite. She loved that we'd come from a whole state away just to see the festival. She works at VA in Iowa City, where I went to college, and we talked on and on about Iowa City and the history of the festival. She agreed that this year's turn out was much higher than last year's and attributed it to the movie.
The rest of the fair grounds were spread out between one park area (with a softball field, stage, playground and volleyball court) and another park area (with a playground and open sided shelter).
( The Fairgrounds and Costume Contest )
The Q&A started with Steve Miller going on about how TrekFest started. When Gene Roddenberry wrote the guide to Star Trek, he originally listed Kirk's hometown as "A small town in Iowa." In 1985, Steve Miller who was on the city council for a small Iowa town named "Riverside" noticed this and proposed to his city council that they nominated themselves. They voted. Gene agreed. It became official. This year was the 25th anniversary of thier TrekFest in honor of "Riverside's favorite (unborn) son" and the honored guests were Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koening, and George Takei. The money generated goes straight back into the town in the form of financing for scholarships, little league teams, the fire department/ambulance service and other such things. It's a sweet town full of the nicest people you could meet.
After giving his intro, they called out the stars who each had a chance to speak before questions were taken. George went first followed by Nichelle and Walter. Most of these intros are below the cut. So far I haven't been able to find video of the first few minutes. Nichelle started to tease George about how he was Gullible with a capitol "G". He took offense and said he was just trusting and people violated his trust! Nichelle then turned to Walter and said that he could pull one over on George at any time...which he did a few minutes later. The three intros under the cut.
( A bunch of videos and transcripts from the Q&A Sesion )
( After the Q&A things were just as wonderful! )
Friday morning came and I was able to wake up at a leisurly late time and hop in the car stress free. Usually incredibly unpleasant on road trips, my father and I were able to make pleasant comversation the entire trip. He even let me pick the radio stations for all 4 hours on the road! The only snag in the ride up was the intense 20 minute detour along I-35. That's going to be hell for travelers during the holiday weekend coming up. What made the detour even more awkward was that there was apparently a local bicycle marathon going on and all these rerouted cars were taking the same route as the bikers. Unfortunate. Still, comical. And, all together a pleasant ride.
As is tradition anytime I go anywhere with my father, we got lost for a bit. Most of the hotels in Iowa City are clustered either at that second exit by the con hotel or back over by Walmart in Coralville. So, we just naturally assumed the hotel we were staying at was in one of those clusters. Nope. It was on the strip and our idiot selves just drove along all the major streets in Iowa City/Coralville looking for it. Sad but, true. I can still get lost in my own college town! The hotel itself was pretty shotty, but, again, in a comical way. We were laughing about the mold colony growing on the ceiling in the bathroom. To be fair I think it's one of the hotels that was flooded out in last year's 500 year flood. It seems like very few flooded out businesses are really back 100%. We drove around debating what to get for dinner. Ended up at HuHot which I loved and my father didn't know what to do with. He was also in a state of shock and awe at the sorority girls/pre-club Friday night cliques and their outfit choices. It was hella weird being in a place, again, where most people are my age and infinitly thinner, prettier, and better dressed than I. I was a little nostalgic for Iowa City until the third pack of bimbos walked by and I remembered what annoyed me about the place. Everything evens out!
We skipped the Friday activities and crashed early in order to make it to the 10AM parade the next day. Steve Miller was the grand marshal. It was like most small towns or county parades. Most of the emergency vehicles in the county came. The firefighter's families rode on the fire trucks and waved to their friends. All the children's sports teams- teams supported by the funds raised during TrekFest- had floats. It was fun seeing the little kids wave at and heckle their families and classmates. The shriners and a bunch of local businesses as well as Operation Homefront also had floats or cars. And, there was no shortage of tractors! Most floats or cars handed out candy and all the kids along the parade route had bags to hoard it in. Operation Homefront, a group that supports families of the troops, handed out teddy bears. They also had a handful of local beauty queens!
Below the cut are the highlights from the parade. I got multiple shots of every float and at least one picture of almost every car and group that was in the parade. You can view the nicer ones in my Facebook gallery or download my complete set of parade photos. I got shots of every section of the parade route, too, so if you were in attendance I might have taken your photo!
( Photo and video highlights of the parade! A general sample and some descriptions. )
It lasted longer than I thought it would and was quite charming. I got into a long conversation with the grandmother of three who was sitting next to me. She was nothing but sweet and wonderful and polite. She loved that we'd come from a whole state away just to see the festival. She works at VA in Iowa City, where I went to college, and we talked on and on about Iowa City and the history of the festival. She agreed that this year's turn out was much higher than last year's and attributed it to the movie.
The rest of the fair grounds were spread out between one park area (with a softball field, stage, playground and volleyball court) and another park area (with a playground and open sided shelter).
( The Fairgrounds and Costume Contest )
The Q&A started with Steve Miller going on about how TrekFest started. When Gene Roddenberry wrote the guide to Star Trek, he originally listed Kirk's hometown as "A small town in Iowa." In 1985, Steve Miller who was on the city council for a small Iowa town named "Riverside" noticed this and proposed to his city council that they nominated themselves. They voted. Gene agreed. It became official. This year was the 25th anniversary of thier TrekFest in honor of "Riverside's favorite (unborn) son" and the honored guests were Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koening, and George Takei. The money generated goes straight back into the town in the form of financing for scholarships, little league teams, the fire department/ambulance service and other such things. It's a sweet town full of the nicest people you could meet.
After giving his intro, they called out the stars who each had a chance to speak before questions were taken. George went first followed by Nichelle and Walter. Most of these intros are below the cut. So far I haven't been able to find video of the first few minutes. Nichelle started to tease George about how he was Gullible with a capitol "G". He took offense and said he was just trusting and people violated his trust! Nichelle then turned to Walter and said that he could pull one over on George at any time...which he did a few minutes later. The three intros under the cut.
( A bunch of videos and transcripts from the Q&A Sesion )
( After the Q&A things were just as wonderful! )
