"Riverside Iowa. Population 928. The most idyllic of towns. And the self-proclaimed future birthplace of Capt. James T. Kirk."
Always on the last weekend of June, the town of Riverside holds Trekfest. No, not a Star Trek convention, but a small town fair with a sci-fi theme. But first, a little history.
A gentleman on the Riverside town council, Steve Miller (no, not that Steve Miller) was a big Star Trek fan. He owned a copy of a book written by Star Trek creator, Gene Roddenberry, called The Making of Star Trek. In this book (I actually own this book as well... bought it in 5th grade at our school book fair, but that's another story) it detailed how all the show characters were developed. It mentioned that Capt. Kirk was born in a small town in Iowa. Neither in that book nor the actual series ever mentioned what town Capt. Kirk was born. It wasn't until Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home where he mentions he is from Iowa.
Then in the mid-80s, apparently looking for something to give the town some identity, Steve Miller proposed that they become the birthplace of James T. Kirk. Why not? No one else has claimed it yet. The town council voted unanimously for it. The whole town gave it the go ahead. They then contacted Gene Roddenberry, who liked the idea and gave them the green light. While Capt. Kirk's birthday was in March, the town decided to throw the future hero a birthday party every last weekend in June... Trekfest was born.
I first became aware of Riverside, IA about this same time period when I was in college. I had heard somewhere or read somewhere that this town proclaimed it to be the future birthplace of Capt. James T. Kirk. Curious, I looked it up on the map and found that it was only a couple of hours away (from college). I definitely wanted to check out this Trekfest... it was one of those things you just have to see for yourself... like the Superman statue in Metropolis, IL.
Unfortunately, I never got around to it, though I probably told dozens of people about it. Then in September of 2004, William Shatner, the actor who portrayed Capt. Kirk came to Riverside. He had never visited the place before, but he told the town he was there to shoot a sci-fi movie and he needed the help of some the of local residents. Little did they know, he wasn't shooting a sci-fi movie, he was shooting a reality TV show, with the town of Riverside as the star.
The show, Invasion Iowa, was broadcast on Spike TV as a 4-part mini-series, ending on April 1, 2005 (only fitting for April Fool's Day). I thought the show was hilarious and at that point, I knew I had to go to Trekfest. This weekend, I found the people there to be just like we saw them on TV. They were genuine, friendly, down to Earth, good natured people with one hell of a sense of humor. We had a great time at Trekfest and feel we had the real "Riverside experience." We look forward for a return visit.
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