Where’s Jamie? At TrekFest

RIVERSIDE — In a few hundred years, according to the recent Star Trek movie, this town will be a hub of Star Fleet activity. And so it was on Saturday.

In 1984, Riverside’s City Council wrote to “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry, who’d said Capt. James T. Kirk was born in Iowa, and asked if he could declare Riverside as Kirk’s birthplace. He agreed, and 25 years later, Trek fans from all over still converge here.

Some have come for years, others, like Dan Conrad from Quincy, Ill. and Deb Downs from Independence were there for only their second time. Last year, they just watched the parade, but this year, they dressed up.

The pair found costumes online and came dressed as Admiral Kirk and Commander Uhura from “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.” The costumes were pretty easy to get together, Conrad said, but the details were a bit harder. The banding around the sleeves was tougher to source, but he found it.

Costumes are a source of conversation during the annual TrekFest, which concluded Saturday. Some people had perfect replica costumes, while others just wore shirts with the Federation emblem on it.

Others went way off script. Marching in the parade were a dozen or so “Star Wars” fans. They were invited a few years ago, and have kept coming.

They weren’t the only ones not dressed as “Star Trek” characters, though.

Kids riding on floats, businesses in trucks and Shriners on three-wheel ATVs and custom cars.

In short, even though it has a “Star Trek” theme, the parade seems just like any small-town parade, and the crowd seems like any other parade crowd.

Except that is, for people dressed like they’ve just come from the 23rd Century.

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