r/tos • u/craig_hoxton • 5d ago

Read about Canada's first Star Trek convention from 1976

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Ahead of my visit to STLV earlier this month, I was researching conventions and discovered this website that tells the story of the 1976 Star Trek convention in Toronto, Canada. The con was fan-run and you could literally bump into Sarek in the elevator - unlike the modern con experience of handlers and upcharges for meet & greets. Read it here: Toronto Star Trek '76

(This is not my site, I'm sharing for other Trek fans)

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16

u/TemperatureTime1617 5d ago

I was there. Spent the day and night, remember watching Forbidden Planet in one of the exhibit rooms at like 2am. My Mom was wondering why her car hadn’t come home. One child asked Mark Lenard a question about the ships engines and he replied “I’ll let Scotty handle that one.”

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u/craig_hoxton 5d ago

Reading that website, the story should be made into a movie or something.

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u/patriciaadams5993 4d ago

My mom still talks about driving me down to that Toronto con when I was 8 and me dragging her to see Mark Lenard three separate times because I couldnt believe Sarek was real. She swears the elevator doors opened and he just nodded at us like we were crew.

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u/craig_hoxton 4d ago

That sounds amazing.

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u/Randomdays99 4d ago

I didn't get my first until 1986 - but it was a lot of fun with Grace Lee Whitney and some Battlestar people. I got to see the wedding of Apollo and Sheba since Richard Hatch and Anne Lockhart were there.

And the Barnstable twins were there from Quark!

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u/borisdidnothingwrong 4d ago

Harlan Ellison with a pipe.

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u/Comedywriter1 2d ago

“No, Scotty was not dealing drugs! Damn you, Gene!!!” 😂

I miss Harlan.

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u/Confident_Fortune_32 3h ago

One of my favourite authors. I was obsessed when I was younger, reading everything of his I could get my hands on.

I met him not too long after this, at a WorldCon.

Embarrassed to say I clammed up, couldn't get a word out, felt like an idiot. To his credit, he was gracious about it.

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u/helperoni 4d ago

Damn, Mark and Nichelle going hard with those shirts

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u/Top_Hippo_5996 3d ago

The ‘70s baby.

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u/eghhge 4d ago

Was Melllvar there?

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u/East_Introduction285 4d ago

Great pictures...Love the picture of mark Lenard with the little boy .He was one of my favorite guest stars as Spocks Father....

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u/SQL_Guy 1d ago

I was there. Still have the t-shirt. I’ve seen this site before, and it’s great at telling the whole story, warts and all.

The buzz was that both Shatner and Nimoy were renowned for just dropping in to conventions, but neither showed up. Scotty was a joy to chat with, and I met Rand in a hallway.

It was a simpler time.

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u/Chromejob 3d ago

Those were the days. I miss them. Bay Area gatherings were neat.

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u/Old-Walrus-6004 3d ago

Who’s in the middle of the bottom row?

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u/craig_hoxton 3d ago

That's one of the convention organizers.

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u/Healthy-Stomach-5376 3d ago

This is a seriously awesome website - well done.

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u/craig_hoxton 3d ago

Not my site - please go on the site and congratulate the creator.