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AVALON, CATALINA ISLAND - There was an outpouring of unconditional love May 9th at the Casino Theater as Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) and Mr. Sulu (George Takei) joined with Eugene (Rod) Roddenberry, son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, for a special screening of the latest reboot of the Star Trek franchise directed by J.J. Abrams.
Roddenberry expressed pleasure for the great turnout of about 800 fans, many of them from the mainland.
"My goal is to expand the Star Trek audience beyond Trekkies and Trekkers," he told the audience, referring to fans of the science fiction mainstay that is nearing 50 years old.
"Of course, Star Trek isn't only about technology, lasers and starships. It's about metaphors, subtext and half-naked, green-skinned Orion slave girls," he said eliciting a loud roar of approval from the audience.
"Actually, Star Trek is about a future where we can put aside our differences, and be open and intelligent enough to listen to others and accept their differences," he said.
Earlier in the day, Island residents and guests went diving off of Casino Point with Roddenberry as part of the new Roddenberry Dive Team. "Of course we were having fun, but in everything we do, we try to bring an awareness of how precious our planet is," he said. "We know what our oceans were like in the past, what they are like now, but if we all work together, we can help make our oceans much better in the future."
He said that the Roddenberry Dive Team is not limited to Scuba divers alone. "We are going to be talking to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and will be putting on events that will mesh diving with space and science fiction," he said.
Also, earlier in the day, Nichelle Nichols and George Takei were taken on a tour of Avalon and the Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden, by Cliff Hague, who sits on the Board of the Catalina Museum and the Catalina Island Conservancy. Nichols said later that she was stunned by the beauty of the Island. "Now that I have seen it, I feel like I am a part of Catalina!"
Before the film began, the audience was treated to meeting Star Trek celebrities: Cirroc Lofton who played Jake Cisco, and Max Grodenchick, who played Rom, the comical alien Ferengi on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; Tim Russ, who played Mr. Tuvak in Star Trek: Voyager; and Anthony Montgomery, who played Travis Mayweather on Enterprise; and Academy Award-winning makeup man, Michael Westmore, in addition to Nichols and Takai.
Audience members were given the opportunity to bid on a caricature of Roddenberry's mother, the late actress Majel Barrett Roddenberry who portrayed Nurse Chapel in the original Star Trek series, and on a piece of Star Trek jewelry that was designed by the actress.
"All the proceeds will go to the San Diego Wild Animal Park's Asian Tiger Trail exhibit," Roddenberry told the audience. "My mother always loved wild cats and tigers. "I thought it was fitting to make a substantial donation to the Wild Animal Park following her passing."
Although Roddenberry likes to visit Catalina several times a year to dive, it was a chance meeting that persuaded him to bring his his entire crew along with celebrities over to the Island.
"My business partner Greg Martin just happened to stop into Two's Company, a gift shop in Avalon," Roddenberry said. "He chatted with owner Catrina Awalt about diving, and gave her his Roddenberry Dive Team card." Awalt recognized the famous name, and put him in touch with the Santa Catalina Island Company - and the ball started rolling.
Joe Caliva, the Island Company's Vice President of Sightseeing Operations and Entertainment Division, said he was met with cooperation from Avalon's hotels, restaurants and shops to make last Saturday a real "town event."
"This was a new way to get people from the mainland to visit the Island," Caliva said. "I'd particularly like to thank the Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce, Aurora Hotel, Island Inn, Hotel Metropole, Seaport Village, the Hotel Atwater, Pavilion Lodge, the Hermosa Hotel, Catalina Vacation Rentals, and Catalina Express and. "We couldn't put on events such as this one that help," he said.
- By Bob Rhein
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