TrekFest 2011 is a go

TrekFest is on. The Riverside Area Community Club (RACC) met Thursday night and announced that TrekFest will run as scheduled June 24-25. In the past month, RACC raised over $10,000 in donations for Star Trek-themed celebration. And yet, some of the past events had to be cut for lack of funds. RACC has no plans for a rodeo, nor will it pay any Star Trek celebrities to come.

Four RACC members attended Thursday?s meeting ? Larry Schluttenhofer, Paul McCracken, Terry Philips and the club president Ken McCracken. They agreed that four events take precedence over the others: the parade, the costume contest, the demolition derby and the Bill Riley Talent Show. Ken said they will have enough money to pay for all of those.

RACC also plans to run the pet show and the square dance at Hall Park. The carnival and classic car show are still on. The kitty parade is a ?go,? but the kitty tractor pull may not be. That event does not have a chairman. RACC also agreed to reduce the number of meals it prepared from about 500 to 300. Ken said the group had a lot of left-over food in prior years.

A number of bands have agreed to play at TrekFest, including a few that are Star Trek-themed. One of those is ?Synthoholics? and another is ?Five Year Mission.? The first is a reference to a drink called ?synthohol? in the Star Trek series and the second is a reference to the Starship Enterprise?s five-year mission to ?explore strange new worlds? and ?seek out new life and new civilizations.? Jeff Showalter also contacted RACC to inform the club that he and his band would like to play.

In March, RACC announced there would be no TrekFest unless the group received a large infusion of cash ? $10,000 to be exact. The club said it would need the money by April 20.

At Thursday?s meeting, Ken reported that the club had raised at least $11,000. Nearly half of that came from a single donor ? the Mindbridge Foundation, which donated $5,000. The foundation is a not-for-profit corporation that provides resources to people interested in science fiction. The group agreed to donate the money to the science fiction-related events at TrekFest such as the parade and the costume contest.

The RACC members at Thursday?s meeting talked about whether the club should help pay for the eight county deputies that patrol the event. In the past, RACC has paid for four of the officers and the city has covered the other four. Philips suggested that the city should pay the whole bill. He said TrekFest is down to the ?bare bones? this year. Ken agreed with Philips and would take the matter to the city council.

RACC earlier announced it would not pay for Santa Claus this year because it doesn?t have the money. Philips said he?d like the group to help with Santa Claus this year. Ken said he wants to focus on TrekFest for the time being and then worry about Santa Claus later.