Although the 40th anniversary gala on top of the Space Needle was a special event, it pales in comparison to the formal banquet and awards ceremony on Saturday night and the grand finale Sunday afternoon.

Star Trek Legacy Awards

After a full day of panels and actor presentations on Saturday, September 9, the EMP Sky Church was transformed into a banquet hall. Billed as the highlight event of the weekend, the formal banquet provided fans with the opportunity to mingle with Star Trek actors and other conference presenters. Each ticket holder had a table number and some fans had the good fortune of sitting at a table with an actor or other dignitary. Unfortunately, my table (17) was half empty without a celebrity in sight, but my disappointment didn't last for long because my tablemates (Frankie, Billy, Phil, Lisa, and Woods) were so interesting. We shared in a fantastic hour of conversation during the banquet prior to the evening programming, and I was once again reminded that Star Trek fans are some of the most wonderful people on the planet!

After the meal, several guest speakers entertained the crowd, including Tim Russ, J.G. Hertzler, John Billingsley, Garrett Wang, Dr. Seth Shostak, Gary Lockwood, Richard Stevens, Walter Koenig, and Rod Roddenberry. Marc B. Lee then introduced the Star Trek Legacy Awards which "recognizes those individuals who, inspired by Gene Roddenberry's powerful vision of the future, have made a significant contribution toward creating a future worth living: a future that is full of optimism, hope, excitement and challenge. A future that proudly proclaims man's ability to survive in peace and reach for the stars as his reward." Sponsored by STARTREK.COM and Planet Xpo, the Star Trek Legacy Awards were given to three exceptional individuals.

George Takei presented Martin Cooper, the father of portable cellular telephony, with the first award for his contributions to worldwide communication. In a very moving tribute, Nichelle Nichols accepted the award on behalf of Dr. Mae Jemison, the first woman of color to go into space, who was unable to attend the banquet. Walter Koenig presented the final Star Trek Legacy Award to Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com and Blue Origin. In his acceptance speech, Bezos thanked his parents (also in attendance) for their undying support. Bezos is a life-long Star Trek fan and shared the paper communicator and tricorder he made as a boy, which his mother saved for him. He also let us know that he is passing on his love of Star Trek by showing photos of his own children watching an episode of TOS!

As the evening drew to a close, Nichelle Nichols took the mic and introduced Wende Doohan who thanked the fans for their continued support of her husband, James "Scotty" Doohan. She invited us all to visit the Celestis booth to compose a tribute to Doohan who will be aboard the next two memorial space flights; the first of which will launch in October.

The final surprise of the evening came from the UP Aerospace team who invited all banquet attendees to sign the blue nosecone of the SpaceLoft XL that had been on display during the conference. The rocket carrying all our signatures will launch on September 25.

Star Trek 40th Anniversary Grand Finale

It was difficult to imagine how Planet Xpo was going to top all the other phenomenal events of the weekend — especially the Space Needle gala and the Star Trek Legacy Awards — during the grand finale on Sunday afternoon, but they gave us a hilarious show that had the audience crying tears of mirth and joy! Watching the actors truly play with one another in such a relaxed and supportive environment is a treasured memory that I will not soon forget.

"My Kingdom for a Kirk" by Jack Trevino

The radio play opened with the narrator, Gary Lockwood (a la Rod Serling), introducing "J.J. Abrams" (John Billingsley) and Rod Roddenberry who were preparing to audition the role of Captain James T. Kirk for the new movie. Lockwood warned that the eight actors vying for the captain's seat came directly from "The Trekkie Zone!"

Abrams frantically called out to his secretary, "Miss Rand (Grace Lee Whitney), has Matt Damon returned my call?" Unfortunately, he had not, so Roddenberry asked what happened.

"You know that little Denobulan slime devil actually had the audacity to demand I pay him $30 million just to play Kirk! The nerve of the guy... $30 million. So, I told him to get Lost!" Here Billingsley broke character and said to the audience, "It notes there should be a reaction from the audience here." The audience obliged with laughter and groans over the bad pun.

Miss Rand soon admitted George Takei for the first audition. J.J. got his name wrong but quickly corrected himself saying, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's Takei as in toupee." This joke, as seen on the William Shatner Celebrity Roast, started an ongoing joke about name pronunciation throughout the rest of the play.

Takei told Abrams that he knew J.J. was looking for a captain who was "strong and courageous, who would explore the galaxy with a new zest and zeal, a captain who will inspire a whole new generation of fans ... I even have a title picked out, 'The Adventures of Captain Sulu on the Excelsior'!" This warranted a huge cheer from the audience who would love nothing better than to see Captain Sulu fly again. Alas, Abrams was looking for a Kirk and asked if Takei could do Captain Kirk, and George responded with his Kirk imitation, "Can ... I ... do ... Kirk? Who ... doesn't ... do ... Kirk?!"

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