United Federation of Trekkers
| Fan Club | |
|---|---|
| Name: | The United Federation of Trekkers |
| Dates: | 1980-1989 |
| Founder(s): | Eric L. Watts |
| Leadership: | |
| Country based in: | |
| Focus: | Star Trek |
| External Links: | http://www.facebook.com/groups/224438417592560/ |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The United Federation of Trekkers (UFT) was a Star Trek fan club in Columbia, South Carolina. Eric L. Watts was the founder. The UFT held its first organizational meeting on August 23, 1980, at the Richland County Public Library in downtown Columbia. Between 1980 and 1988, the UFT listed on its membership roster a total of 103 members, although there were never that many members at any one time. Watts served as the UFT's president until 1988; in May of that year, he relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, and the club sputtered out of existence about a year later.
The club appears to have had an earlier or similar incarnation in the mid-1970s called "United Federation of S.C. Trekkies" which published a zine called Star Log.
Publications
The UFT published 27 more-or-less monthly issues of a newsletter called Captain's Quarters between late 1980 and early 1984. The first dozen or so issues were primarily a photocopied or dittoed 8½ x 11 two-page letterzine written by Watts; the last several issues were a photocopied, saddle-stitched, 12- to 24-page digest-sized booklet that accepted contributions from the membership (in addition to club news), making it more of a mini-fanzine than a newsletter. After a year-long hiatus, the UFT relaunched its newsletter/minizine as Transwarp, a bimonthly, membership-driven, photocopied, saddle-stitched, 12- to 16-page digest-sized fanzine which no longer contained club-specific news. The UFT published four issues of Transwarp between 1985 and 1986.
In 1980, the UFT published Star Sector One, a 48-page digest-sized fanzine with content written, drawn and/or created by club members. Content was solicited and collected for a second issue, but funding for its publication never materialized before the UFT disbanded in 1989. In 2003, Watts rekeyed the typewritten manuscript as a DTP document and published Star Sector Two as a fundraiser for TrekTrak, fully acknowledging the original source and purpose of its contents on the contents page.
- Star Log (mid-1970s)
- The Birdwatcher (1974)
- Star Sector One (1980)
- Captain's Quarters (1980-1984)
- Transwarp (1985-1986)
- Star Sector Two (2003)