From: f_mcdonalddl@ccsvax.sfasu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: Re: TOS: KIRK'S BIRTHPLACE--IOWA
Date: 1 Sep 92 10:43:58 CST
Organization: Stephen F. Austin State University

In article <1992Aug31.184807.18069@pony.Ingres.COM>, walker@Ingres.COM (Lynn Walker) writes:
> 
> Here's a great article I found in last week's paper.
> 
> 					--lynn walker
> 					walker@ingres.com
> 								
> ================================================================================
> 	"CAPTAIN KIRK'S 'BIRTH' GIVES TOURISM BOOST TO LITTLE IOWA TOWN"
> 	 --The Toronto Star, Aug. 22, 1992 / written by Mitchell Smyth--
> ===============================================================================
> 
> Many places build part of their tourism around a piece of history. So far as I
> know, Riverside Iowa is the only place to use the FUTURE to sell itself now.
> 
> It all began when the late Gene Roddenberry, the man who originated STAR TREK,
> the cult television series, made a remark to the effect that Capt. James Kirk,
> the commander of the spaceship Enterprise, "was born in a small town in Iowa".
> 
> Well Riverside, pop. 826, is about as small as they come, even in Iowa, so
> somebody called Roddenberry and asked him if Riverside might be the future
> birthplace. "Sure", said Roddenberry.
> 
> So now you know. Capt. Kirk (played in the series and the movies by William
> Shatner) will be born in Riverside in the year 2328. But the good people there
> aren't waiting until then to cash in.
> 
> "We've got a 20-ft. long replica of the Enterprise in the town park," says
> Dawn McCoy, who runs the Kirk Headquarters, otherwise known as the Riverside
> Area Community Club.
> 
> Did we say McCoy? Surely the spaceship's faithful doctor, "Bones", (DeForrest
> Kelley in the series) is Dr. Leonard McCoy. Any relation?
> 
> "Of course," says Dawn. "You could say that I'm Bones's great-great-great, etc.
> grandmother."
> 
> After getting Roddenberry's okay, somebody brought the idea to city council,
> which put the stamp of officialdom on the idea, formally declaring that James
> Kirk will be born there.
> 
> They've even picked out the spot where he'll be born, right behind the former
> barber shop on Main Street that houses the community club office.
> 
> McCoy has a bust of Kirk in her office, and the townspeople would like to put
> up a statue outside, but Paramount Pictures, which somehow "owns" the
> unflappable commander, won't enter into the fun unless Riverside stumps up
> $25,000 for a licensing fee.
> 
> "We don't have that sort of money," says McCoy.
> 
> Statue or no, the townspeople have begun to get everything ready for 2328. The
> signs at the town limits read, "Riverside: Where The Trek Begins. (They used
> to say "....Where The Best Begins", so it wasn't that big a job to change them.)
> 
> The annual Riverfest has been changed to Trek Fest. Local business have names
> like Flower Trek and Future Designs by Carol, although the Bar Trek saloon has
> closed.
> 
> "The news is getting around," says McCoy. "We have people coming from all over,
> from Canada, Australia, Japan, Europe".
> 
> There's a big parade each year, with people dressed as Kirk, McCoy, Scotty, and
> of course, the pointy-eared Mr. Spock (who, as you know, is a Vulcan, but is NOT
> from Vulcan, Alberta). They come to exchange trivia, to party.....and, no doubt,
> to keep watch in case of a sneak attack by the Klingons.
> 
> ================================================================================




2328? Isn't that the 24th century? How could he be born in the 24th century
and command in the 23rd century? more time warps?
2228 sounds more realistic!

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