Rigel (Star Trek con)

Convention
Name:	Rigel
Dates:	1973-1975
Frequency:	three for sure
Location:	Omaha, Nebraska
Type:	fan-run, no guests
Focus:	Star Trek: TOS, science fiction
Organization:	Star Base Andromeda
Founder:	Richard Heim
Founding Date:
URL:
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Rigel was a series of Star Trek cons held in Omaha, Nebraska in the 1970s.

Rigel-Tu

Rigel-Tu occurred on August 24, 1974.

Con Report: 1974

A short con report was published in Berengaria #3. It is difficult to read due to a faulty typewriter; the letter "h" was malfunctioning. (The entire zine was printed in this fashion.):

1974 con report in Berengaria #3, note the "h" key on the typewriter that has run amok

I would like to thank the members of S.B.A. and Richard Heim, Jr. and all others who were in the planning of Rigel-Tu, the city wide Star Trek Meeting held, August 24, 1974. Thirteen people, that I know personally, attended the convention from Omaha, with six riding in my car.

We saw "in Search of Ancient Astronauts," "Forbidden Planet," and two Star Trek slide shows, one being "The Cage." Selling was very brisk at the dealer tables. I know two boys that rode in my car spent $15.00 each at the tables. There were photographs, comic books, posters, film clips, from both Planet of the Apes and Star Trek, puzzles, fanzines, paintings, drawings, the AMT model kits and much more. Seeing "Forbidden Planet" after so many years was a big thrill. Even after all this time, the movie was not dated. The technical stuff, like the statius-field (probably mispelled or I don't know for sure what it is called) was reminescent of the transporter beam. Leislie Nielson was gorgeous as the Captain. And "Honey West" (I can never think of her real name) was so cute and cuddly how could any man resist her, especially ones that had been in space for a year. Several "old timers" like myself did notice the missing scene where Robbie the robot was making booze for the cook, and the cook was promptly getting drunk. But it did not deter from the enjoyment of seeing the film again. The kids with me all agreed that we had an excellent time and hope to have the same type of meeting another time soon. We did decide to meet every few weeks to have a Star Trek slide show and possibly start some kind of club. Our only complaint, if it really is one, was that the rush of everything, but from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. gives you little time to catch your breath anyway. But with lesser material, I think the day might have dragged. And I personally wouldn't have missed any of the slide show, or movies. I wonder how three days would be. From Richard's Equicon 74 report, earlier in this issue, I don't think I could have stood up to that kind of three day madness.

Anyone in this area who would like to come to our slide show, can give me a call at 333-5061 for details. And I can order... Star Trek puzzles if anyone would like some. They are based on the animation. I think the best one is of the Enterprise with Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Sulu around the outside. Please include a SASE.

Rigel-Three

Rigel-Three was held September 6, 1975 in the basement of The First Federal Building. The attendance was 110.

Con Report: 1975

Rigel-Three, the Third City-Wide/Regional Star Trek Meeting, blasted into orbit September 6 with a full crew and packed full of passengers. The First Federal Building's basement meeting room was overflowing with 110 people at peak attendance. The film/slide show schedule included a slide presentation of "Th Tholian Web" plus two general slide shows, the film "Orchard Heritage", the movie "Robinson Crusoe On Mars", "The Enterprise Incident", the ST Blooper Reel, and three-minute trailers from "The Forbidden Planet" and "The Day The Earth Stood Still". S.T.W., Q.S.N. SBA, S.T.F.U.-L. and S.T.F.C.L. were represented in the Sales/Display Room, and in most cases Rigel-Three paid for itself (albeit just barely!), despite the fact that there was no admission fee charged. Although Rigel-Three was no Equicon or Houstoncon, our ten-hour meeting was still an unqualified success — the best we have had in this area.