Astrex

You may be looking for the fan club, Austrek or the convention Astrex Minicon.

Fan Club
Name:	Astrex
Dates:	1973 - 1995
Founder(s):	Susan Clarke
Leadership:	Susan Clarke, Ruth Kentwell, Ian McLean, Maria Papadeas
Country based in:	Australia
Focus:	Star Trek
External Links:
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Astrex was an Australian Star Trek fan club formed in Sydney, New South Wales.

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  Astrex and Medtrek originals, drawn by Eleanor Clarke.

Astrex, though based in Sydney, had a national and international membership and was one of the largest clubs in the country, as well as being the oldest.

Ian McLean was President from 1984-1992.

Astrex finally ceased around 1995 with the arrival of the Official Star Trek Club of Australia which began in 1993.

Its Name

The evening began with a history of Astrex, given by the president, Susan Clarke, explaining how the club grew out of the old DUSK (Down Under Space Kooks) of the late 1960s. It had originally been called STAC... It sounded and looked too much like STAG! Astrex was chosen partly as a contraction of Australian Star Trek and partly because the club's symbol (the command insignia) looked like an asterix.

Its Birth

From DATA #17 (1978) :

The roots of ASTREX stem somewhere in early 1973, when three ex-DUSKies decided that it was time that one of them got a move on and completed the often—spoken—about, but never before seen, BEYOND ANTARES. After much badgering and finally a co-operative weekend, it did appear in the latter part of the year, and the three sat back, after a job well-done, reminicing [sic] about the old days of D.U.S.K. and how good it felt to share news of Star Trek and enjoy each others' company at meny a mad escape outing. It was that weekend that we decided that we'd try and contact other old DUSKies in the hope of reviving the group.

[...]

From these mixed beginnings came STAC , which we later found was being confused with the English group, STAG. Us wrote to the few people we knew personally, including Diane Marchant, whom I met at Syncon 72 (and that proved to be a wild trekkie weekend....). Diane started helping us out with news and addresses including that of two girls who were endeavouring to start their own group.... Julie Twownsend and Edwina Harvey, both school girls from Sydney. We suggested an amalgamation of our groups, a small charge for membership and the idea of anew — a letter in which we could pool the information we all had from various sources (penpals, overseas-clubs, and Diane.....), so that we could share it.

It was then that the name ASTREX was adopted and we really began in earnest to produce a newsletter, contact others with a little advertsising. The response was enormous and in April 1976, we called our very first general meeting. Then we had only something like 40 members. Now, that has quadrupled and although we no longer advertise in earnest, the club continues to grow.

In that first official meeting at Faulconbridge (we had meny unofficial meetings previously) we got together and formulated a kind of general club aim/attitude. We would work towards co-operation with other trek groups; we would share our news which would appear in a newsletter which we resolved to call DATA; we would try and contact and communicate with as meny trekfen as we could as we all knew what it was like to be a lonely trekfan in a general community of mundanes (ie. those who did not share our enthusiasm for science fiction, or Star Trek), a d so promote a feeling of togetherness and enthusiasm between us all.

So, ASTREX was built on two major building blocks — communication, and sharing. Two that I hope have ment something to other trekkies that have joined us and those we have commnunicated with in other groups, now comprising the Australian fellowship of Star Trek clubs, which we know is unique in the world of trekdom, where petty jealousies run rife. It's something we should all always be proud of and work constantly towards improving.

ASTREX now offers meny things to its members. We have monthly meetings in the homes of members (usually conducted in the form of an open—house weekend, where enyone is welcome to sleep over, bring food for the food pool, and bring something that might interest the others — slides, sfilms, wargames, etc) have a monthly newsletter of approximately 12 pages of news, reviews, letters and articols; a tri-annual fanzine, BEYOND ANTARES; script swap, a tape swap, a writers workshop, a literary competition and round robin story, kooky projects (and there are meny exciting ones this year), a penpal column(available to enyone at all - members and non-members) and a Special Information Booklet which contains current information of clubs, merchandising houses and fanzines available.

Ws hope that we are continually improving as a club and always welcome contstructive [sic] criticism and welcome contact with others in other trek groups.

From the National Library of Australia:

Star Trek was finally cancelled after its third season in 1969 and Fans in America and Australia combined together to protest the cancellation. July 28, 1969 was designated Deluge Monday when everyone worldwide would phone NBC or write letters timed to arrive on that day. One of the organizers was Susan Smith [later Clarke, then Batho], then a schoolgirl in Sydney's Blacktown. Plans were made to combine local fans under Shayne McCormack, a stenographer from Auburn.

Shayne was interviewed about her activities in TV Times in March of that year. As a result she received over 75 letters from people wanting to help. This led to her forming D.U.S.K. (Down Under Space Kooks). The petition she helped organise measured 8 feet and contained over 2,200 signatures. D.U.S.K. published a fanzine, Terran Times, and organised irregular meetings and social outings before folding around 1970...

In 1972, Jenny Stevenson (now Kentwell) and Susan Clarke (nee Smith) published the first issue of what was to become Australia's longest running Star Trek fanzine, Beyond Antares.

In 1973 STAC (Star Trek Action Committee), a new Star Trek club comprising a number of old D.U.S.K. members as well as newer fans, was founded by Susan Clarke. Later that year, it was combined with a club run in Sydney by Julie Townsend and Edwina Harvey and the name changed to Astrex. The new name was derived from the asterisk-like device on the command insignia worn in the television series. The first formal meeting was held in April 1976 and the first issue of the club's newsletter, Data, was published in August 1976. For a while, until Susan resigned as president in the early 80s (handing over to Ruth Kentwell), Beyond Antares was the club's fanzine.

Zines Published

• Beyond Antares
• Beyond Antares R-Rated
• DATA (newsletter)
• Lore (fiction zine)

Astrex in the Media

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  Therin of Andor and other Astrex members were interviewed, in Sydney's Galaxy Bookshop, about The Firm's 1987 novelty song, "Star Trekkin'."

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  Data newsletter's exciting international scoop: a sketch (from Bjo Trimble's memory) of the new Starfleet uniform in the then-upcoming "Star Trek: The Next Generation" TV series, during an interview for issue #78, July 1987.

• 

  Ian McLean, Club President, and other members of Astrex were interviewed in TV ads for Australia's 1991 premiere of "Star Trek: The Next Generation".

Read More

• Interview with Derek and Sharon Screen (2001)
• Astrex members in skits and fan films by Harpic Productions (1985-1990)