You can't keep a good crew down

I got there later than I'd meant, I missed a chunk of folks I wanted to see...and it's even taken me a week to get this. But I did not want to miss sharing...

For when you TRULY talk about "Treklanders," this is the best of the bunch: the guys-n-gals who made the Trek shows go for almost 20 years.. or more in some cases...and they finally got a reunion.

Thanks to Liz Castro, that is... VGR/ENT visual effects coordinator (and later VFX producer of Pushing Daisies and Flash Forward)... who—what else?—organized a Facebook page for the old Trek family, and then a reunion in LA's Griffith Park July 11. Just like anyone would do to see old colleagues again—wedged in between a family reunion and a birthday party. Except this time the paper-plate diners at THIS park outing have names like Michael Westmore, Dan Curry, Peter Lauritson... plus many, many folks you never got the names for (unless you were a close reader of our old Communicator, or the other finer behind-the-scenes sources.)

I didn't take stills or video, and the two huge group pictures are staying "in the family" and private for now ... but here's a typical snap: me with two of the NX-01's finest background actors, 4-year vet Evan "Ensign Tanner" English from the helm, and realtor Cricket Yee, Linda "Hoshi" Park's stand-in and an on-camera med tech from Season 2 onward. I got to reconnect with a lot more whose tales I want to get "on the record" and share in the future (no pun intended).

All told, in two major shifts, I bet there were at least 100 folks who once toiled in the 22nd, 23rd or 24th century, plus their kids and spouses; the "most veteran" sash went to fan favorite Bobby Clark, he of the "Arena" Gorn suit way back in 1966! A lot of people from all five series had work out of town or other prior commitments, or it would have been much, much higher—and sidebar vendors were welcome whether or not their pay stubs said "Paramount."

And, Liz promises: wait'll next time!

And hey: Without chasing down pics from "reunionees": if anyone else who wants to can "clear" a small group pic from the Evite or Facebook galleries, send it to me and I'll add it, too.