The
year was 1989. George H.W. Bush had been in the Oval Office as the 41st
President of the United States for half a year. The decades-old Cold
War was finally rushing toward its end.
And in
Tulsa, Oklahoma, the owners of a comic book and science fiction
collectibles store called Starbase 21 were about to launch the gathering
of science fiction fans, actors, artists and writers that would come to
be called TREK EXPO. No doubt those three men – John Harper, his
brother James Harper and their partner John Connolly – could not have
known that the Expo would still be a fixture of Tulsa’s summer
entertainment season 20 years later.
Among
them, they already had years of experience as vendors at similar
conventions all over America. They had also organized and presented a
hugely successful in-store promotion known as the Robotech Festival,
which had many of the trappings of a full-blown convention on a smaller
scale.
They hoped to build on that foundation and bring Tulsa the
same sort of show they had seen in so many other cities around the
country.
“And I thought it would be fun,” John Harper says, chuckling
at his own naivete.
“Fun” seldom took such hard work.
The
first Trek Expo was held at the Exchange Center building on the Tulsa
State Fairgrounds. The main guests were actors George Takei (“Sulu” on
the original Star Trek television series) and John de Lancie (“Q”
on Star Trek: The Next Generation). Starlog magazine
editor Dave McDonnell and novelist and comic book writer Peter David
were also in attendance.
Among the local guests were writers Michael Vance and R.A.
Jones – and one or both of them has been a guest at every Trek Expo
since. For most of the years of its existence, R.A. also served as the
show’s Master of Ceremonies, and still does duty as its charity
auctioneer.
The most unusual location for a Trek Expo came in 1990. Due
to various circumstances, the show took place in a large vacant
storefront in the middle of the Alameda Shopping Center!
In
1994, the Expo moved its home to the Marriott Hotel. In 1996, as part
of the celebration leading up to the 20th Anniversary of the
first Star Wars film, the Expo hosted “The Men Behind the Mask”:
David Prowse (“Darth Vader”), Kenny Baker (“R2D2”), Jeremy Bulloch (“Bobba
Fett”) and Peter Mayhew (“Chewbacca”).
By
1998 the Expo had moved into the expansive Expo Center (now the Quik
Trip Center) at Expo Square. For the first time, William Shatner (the
original “Captain Kirk”) was our guest.
Also
appearing was Gary Lockwood, who co-starred in the classic science
fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Gary’s penchant for telling
great Hollywood stories led to the publication of his autobiography
2001 Memories: An Actor’s Odyssey. Assisting Gary in the writing of
his book was the Expo’s own R.A. Jones.
Efforts were underway to bring Shatner’s co-star from the original
series DeForrest Kelly (“Bones”) to the next Expo, but the veteran
character actor sadly passed away before such plans could be finalized.
He is the only member of the series’ original cast not to be a
guest at Trek Expo.
The
final member of the Trek triumvirate, Leonard Nimoy (“Spock”) made his
first visit to Trek Expo in 1999. He was greeted by an Oklahoma heat
wave that drove our high temperatures above 100 degrees every day
of the show. The Expo Center’s air conditioning units tried valiantly,
if somewhat vainly, to keep fans and guests cool.
In
2001, James Doohan (“Scotty”) came to the Expo. Jimmy was already
suffering from poor health at that time, and Trek Expo was one of the
last conventions he was able to attend before his passing in 2005.
Also
attending the Expo that year was TV’s “Batman” Adam West and, from
“Hercules”, Kevin Sorbo. At one point, Kevin auctioned off a signed
pair of his underwear for charity – with the winning bid coming
in excess of $3,000!
That
show also hosted one of the few people who have gone into space for
real, space shuttle astronaut Rick Searfoss.
By this point, Trek Expo had become such a large and eagerly
anticipated event that fans would literally camp out on the sidewalk in
front of Starbase 21 for as long as three days in order to be among the
first to purchase reserve seat tickets for the show.
One of the few speed bumps in the journey of Trek Expo
occurred in 2004 when, due to a scheduling problem, the final day of the
show fell on Father’s Day. After all, sci-fi fans love their dads just
as much as anybody!
In 2005, the year the Expo took up residence in the UMAC
John Q. Hammonds Arena, one fan decided he wanted to propose to
his girlfriend from the Expo stage. Unfortunately, he was a little too
nervous and stage shy to do so himself – so the actual proposal, in
front of an audience of hundreds – was made by m.c. R.A. Jones!
She accepted.
But it
was actually a different couple who, the next year, went even further –
by actually having their wedding ceremony performed on the stage of the
Expo. The couple each wore Trek-themed clothing. One of our guest
stars who was gracious enough to actually be a member of the wedding
party was former Miss America and Barnaby Jones co-star Lee
Meriwether.
It will probably be difficult to top that event but, as it
enters its third decade, you can be sure Trek Expo will never stop
trying.
In the
20 years of its existence, Trek Expo has played host to more than 150
different television and motion picture actors.
More
than 80,000 fans have attended one or more of the Expos. They have come
not only from all over the United States but also from Canada and Great
Britain, and from as far away as Australia.
Every
year since 1999, due largely to the efforts of Michael Vance, Trek Expo
has hosted the Supper With the Stars, with all the proceeds from this
mix-and-mingle event being donated to the Tulsa Boys’ Home. To date,
the event has raised over $35,000 for the Home.
Every
Expo has featured a charity auction. Various causes have benefited from
this, with nearly $20,000 of the money raised going to award college
scholarships to deserving area boys and girls.
The
Expo organizers are quick to acknowledge that without the use of
volunteers, the show could never happen; having to pay staff to perform
their daunting duties would simply cost too much. Over the years,
hundreds of these volunteer men and women have worked tirelessly to make
it all happen – including scores of Klingons and a Jedi or two!
Their only pay comes in the form of the compliments paid to
the Expo every year by happy and satisfied fans.
And, according to organizer John Harper, at the end of the
day, the fans’ enjoyment is the most important thing.
“When the fans come in and spend their money with us,” John
says, “we want to send them away satisfied. That’s more important than
spending time with the stars; making sure we give the fans their money’s
worth.”
For 20 years and counting, most of the fans feel that’s
exactly what they’ve received from Trek Expo…and more.
R. A. JONES
