Roddenberry & Star Trek Honored In Thanksgiving Day Parade [UPDATED] + A Shatner Thanksgiving November 27, 2008
by John Tenuto , Filed under: Fandom, Great Links, Shatner, Trek Franchise , trackback
Star Trek continues its return to popular culture consciousness this year with everything from magazine covers to movie trailers in anticipation of the new feature film. Yet another example is seen at the 72nd Annual Sun Bowl Parade in El Paso, Texas this Thanksgiving Day.
Enterprise gets floated
An approximately 12 foot USS Enterprise float is being unveiled during the three mile parade to commemorate Gene Roddenberry. The creator of Star Trek was born in El Paso, Texas in on August 19, 1921. As the theme of this year’s parade is "El Paso Pride" it is appropriate to honor the man who gave the world Star Trek. The float is being created by the Downtown Lions Club of El Paso. [El Paso Times]
Roddenberry float being prepared (El Paso Times)
UPDATE: Float in Parade
Enterprise flies through El Paso (El Paso Times)
UPDATE 2: Float Wins + video
The Star Trek float won the parade’s "Sweepstakes Award" which is kind of like a best in show. Plus goto The El Paso Times for video of the parade, the Trek float comes in around the six minute mark.
The Sun Bowl Parade is the largest parade of its kind in West Texas/New Mexico, with between approximately 350,000 people attending. It started in 1936 as a prelude to the New Year’s Day Sun Bowl football game. However, in 1978 it was moved to Thanksgiving Day. The parade is on TV beginning at 10 a.m. on Channel 9-KTSM (cable Channel 10)
This isn’t the first time El Paso has honored Roddenberry. In October of 2002, the Gene Roddenberry Planetarium was named in his honor.
Plaque from the GR Planetarium
(photo by desizemoe on flikr)
Star Trek now joins franchises like Star Wars (which had a float in the 2007 Rose Bowl Parade) and Superman (which has had a presence for many years at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, beginning in 1939) with floats in major parades.
Bonus Video: A Very Shatner Thanksgiving
William Shatner has a new Thanksgiving video available at his Shatner Project. The man himself, along with his wife and daughter, discusses his Turkey cooking history and what he is thankful for.
Trekmovie would like to join thank Gene Roddenberry (and William Shanter) today, also, for giving fans the entertainment and the fun of Star Trek. Thanks, Gene and Bill.
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Comments»
Wonderful tribute. Wish they’d do it in Chicago. Ever been to Riverside, Iowa? That place is a nice and unexpected tribute to Trek as well.
Oh no, they redesigned the Enterprise again…wait a second…
FIRST!! Well, I’m not American, but Happy Thanksgiving, people!!
@Anthony Pascale
The Caaaaaaaaaaaage!!!!
Greetings from europe, I hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving Day!!!
“Star Trek now joins franchises like Star Wars (which had a float in the 2007 Rose Bowl Parade) and Superman (which has had a presence many years at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, beginning in 1939) with floats in major parades.”
Not true John, there was a Trek float in around 1991 or 1992 at the Rose Parade in Pasadena,CA, with the exception of the Macy’s parade that is the biggest you can get
Shouldn’t they be building that float in space?
Sorry couldn’t resist…
Happy Thanksgiving folks!
I love it when someone says FIRST and they never are.
Cant wait to see the final product…
I wana be #900 and yell FIRST!
I thought The Shat was a vegetarian……….hmmmm. Good fried turkey brings out the carnivore in everyone. LOL
That ship is NOT CANON!!!
Now THAT’S what should have been in the movie!
Is it just me or does Bill’s wife look younger than his daughter? Awk-ward!
#8 I heard that too. Years ago I’d heard he refused a heart op because it involved using a valve from a pig and that disagreed with his vegan ideals.
Guess turkey is just too tasty for Bill. Deep fried as well.
# 5
Go easy on John, he’s stuck at the office while everyone else is gorging on Turkey.
Either that or he filed it from home in a tryptophan-red-wine-induced haze.
Funny. I”m in El Paso today for Thanksgiving and I watched that parade. Guess I missed that. My wife’s from here and she says that the city didn’t realy lay claim or recoginize Rodenberry back in the day. The passage of time colors things a little differently Of all places.
#6
HA! HA! HA!
Now THAT’S funny!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving to Anthony and Trekmovie.com’s team.
And to all the good posters that visit this site.
#6 and #9…
Both posts are hilarious!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!
Star Trek has previously had a float in a very famous parade. In the Biography of Gene Roddenberry, there are several pictures in the center, one of which is a large enterprise float in the Rose Bowl Parade in 1991 for the 25th Anniversary.
Love Bill Shatner. He is what Star Trek is all about.
Gotta love the man.
Check out this TOS era Bridge model. It is too cool!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoWB17wgfJE
Trek floats are non canon
I love this idea of ‘thanksgiving’. we should do it here in Britain.
Happy thanksgiving to all our American friends.
Greg
UK
Happy T-Day to the Shats.
I remember back in the day nero comes from the future kills the old spock and is then killed by kirk oops are those spoilers for trek??
Nope.
THIS IS A DISASTER
THAT ENTERPRISE IS AN ABOMINATION, IT LOOKS NOTHING LIKE THE REAL NCC-1701 THIS PARADE MUST BE TAKING PLACE IN AN ALTERNATE TIMELINE, OR THESE PEOPLE JUST KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THE FUNDAMENTALS OF STAR TREK
THIS IS A DISASTER
That float looks better than the Abrams Enterprise :-)
WOULD THAT HAVE BEEN FUNNIER IF I HAD TYPED IT IN ALL CAPS???
IT’S NOT YOUR DADDY’S FLOAT!
No.
Happy thanksgiving all
and now for something completely silly
http://whatistng.ytmnd.com/
15
Thanks
My other thought was:
“Space may be the final frontier but it’s made in an El Paso warehouse”
(with apologies to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, of course.)
#32. BouncyCaitian
Great stuff!
Here is a better version
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=P9RGZxjORF0&feature=related
I have this argument with many other people who know the man and especially with people who most closely identify him with Kirk, but I LOVE William Shatner. Ironically enough, I never cared for his role in Star Trek, which compared to a MUCH BETTER role for him (Boston Legal) which lasted longer than Trek and which got much higher ratings than Trek, was just a gig in between the Oscar-winning Judgment at Nuremburg movie featuring anyone who was anyone in Hollywood and Boston Legal.
There are other actors of that generation … Lee Majors (Six Million Dollar Man) and many others who deserve the kind of chance to break the typecasting, but Shatner got that chance and he took it. When I told him how frustrated I was that he still has all of that nonsensical affliation with Star Trek stuff on his website, but not plug-ins to Boston Legal, Judgment at Nuremburg and so on, he simply shared a sigh with me and said it’s all about legal rights. Besides, he says, Star Trek fans have always been loyal to him, and he will always be loyal to them.
I am very sad that Boston Legal is going off the air, but in a way I’m not. Let me explain. My Dad never liked Star Trek as much as I did, and I missed the first few years of Boston Legal. But last year he talked me into watching the show, and weekly we got together on the phone to talk about Boston Legal. It was my Dad’s favorite show, and after catching all of the reruns on DVD and on the ION Network, now I know why. As I told Shatner in late July, nothing brought father and son together in his last year on Earth more than that show, and when there was an episode of that show on the air in the last year of my Dad’s life, there was a conversation about it between a loving son and a dying Dad. He died watching a TIVO rerun of the show before the real United States Supreme Court laughing his ass off, and Shatner means more to me for bringing that kind of joy to my Dad in his final moment of life than you’ll ever know. AND BY THE WAY … thanks to Shatner, I was able to get a round trip ticket from Tampa to Tulsa to go to his funeral for less than $200.00. No kidding.
Oh brother.
The nacelle caps are all wrong! Geeeeeeesssssshhhhh!
jk / LOL
There’s no secondary hull. Not canon!
This was a look at a nice float for a parade-not a open shot at the new Star Trek- and canon is not a legal requirement.
Bill always seems to be the snazziest of dressers.
Pumpkin Pie! Pumpkin pie is our business!
Happy Thanksgiving to all. Oh and that New Enterprise Float is NOT! Cannon!!!!. Oh ok ill give it a chance. Lol. Anyway happy Thanksgiving all.
#27: I feel like I’ve got back in time, either that or it is a lame, recycled joke I’ve seem posted a few hundred times here. (Eyes rolling wildly) If we’re going to make jokes about canonistas, which I am to a minor degree, can they at least be original.
…Funny, I could have *sworn* Anthony was going to punt all posts that started with “First”.
Thank you, Capt. Mike! Happy Thanksgiving wishes to you as well.
:)
Bill looking good. He has some lovely looking gals in his life- as you’d expect!
Hope all you guys had a great day.
RE 44
I have said repeatedly that we remove posts that SOLELY are about their position, or posts commenting on someones position. So the first post does not violate the rules however yours does. The first post actually had content about the article, you did not
comments on policies to
http://trekmovie.com/about/feedback
That float looks too CGI for my tastes.
Happy Thanksgiving, Bill.
That float may not be canon, but it looks great and the El Paso people seem to be really cool fanboys and girls. :)
#35
That’s a real moving story about your dad and BL. Thanks for sharing.
#5–Correct! 1994 William Shatner was the Rose Parade Grand Marshall, and he rode his own horse in the parade route instead of being hauled about in a convertible or a horse drawn carriage. The theme that year was Fantastic Adventures. I can’t find verification, but isn’t that the year a float of the NCC 1701D and two shuttlecraft were depicted? The hulls of the crafts were glowing in dried white beans, and the name of one of the shuttles was “Onizuka.” Does anyone have a pic of this?
Is it weird that I think Shatner’s wife is cuter than his *daughter*…? ;-)
By the way, Boston Legal is going off the air for a very good reason…to get the general public to miss him enough, to get them just in the right mood to anticipate a “return” of sorts…a special appearance by The Shat in…that great new film we’ve been hearing about !
“it’s all part of the plannnn…” ;-)
Hello #5 and fellow fans,
Thank you for the parade of replies (get it?).
We did not forget about the previous parades, though. Star Trek has been featured in hundreds of local and national parades during the decades, starting with Leonard Nimoy appearing as Spock in a Hollywood Parade during the 1960s. The article could not mention these many events. In fact, William Shatner was the Grand Marshall of the Tournament of Roses Parade in 1994 and hosted a 2004 DVD documentary about the parade called “The Rose Parade A Pageant for the Ages”
Here is a picture of the Shat at the Parade http://www.tournamentofroses.com/photogallery/GMs/gm1994.htm
I was refering to recent parade appearances, such as Star Wars during 2007 and Superman during 2006 at national parades. Now, Star Trek is being featured.
Enterprise float built in El Paso, TX????!!!! CRIMINY! I thought it was built in Iowa, wait, wait, SAN FRANCISCO…. DANG, I’m all confused now!
LOL.
John,
“Star Trek now joins franchises like Star Wars (which had a float in the 2007 Rose Bowl Parade) and Superman (which has had a presence many years at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, beginning in 1939) with floats in major parades.”
But, you mentioned Superman is 1939? that is not recent! Unless you are in a temporal paradox caused by Spock. As for Shatner, I just put that up, because it was interesting, but, The ENTERPRISE WAS A PASADENA ROSE BOWL PARADE FLOAT IN 1991 FOR THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY! LOL! And in my book that beat Star Wars by 16 years! Anyway, when you mention the Rose parade Trek was there first, and I know that you meant something else, but, it did not come across that way since you mentioned Superman. Because you said ‘Star Trek NOW joins..’ like it hadnt done that before. Though it beat Wars by 16 years! And the El Paso parade is peanuts compared to the Rose Bowl Parade (sorry El Pasians). But, you have to see how you worded that and how the reader would think differently. Also, I am from S. CA and I know these things, but, millions watched it on TV!
Shat looks great and still like Kirk in that pic.!
The E looks like a pregnant fridge… and who cloned Scotty?
#35 sez: “… and many others who deserve the kind of chance to break the typecasting, but Shatner got that chance and he took it.”
He did, but I think the jury’s still out on whether it’ll stick. I think Boston Legal is cool, too, but there’s an excellent chance that, in a few years, it’ll be a footnote show remembered no more than T.J. Hooker as “another show that Captain Kirk did.” By virtue of its subject matter, Boston Legal has had more “serious” accolades and appreciation, but I really don’t think it’s going to endure as much.
On the other hand, if you’re going to be stuck as one thing all your life, it doesn’t get much better than Captain Kirk.
#54
Thank you for the reply and your opinion on my article.
First, I want to say that I hope everyone here had a Happy Thanksgiving!
Second, I wasn’t online yesterday, so I didn’t get to see the Shatner video then, but I love it. It gives Shatner the “normal” side that a lot of people don’t see everyday, and I love things like that.
It makes him the person that I grew up watching on TV and respecting so very much.
58
By the way William Shatner appeared in the 1968 Macy’s Parade, riding the Soap derby float.
Soapbox Derby float that is
Well this float looks more like the original Enterprise than Abrams’ effort!
A belated Happy Thanksgiving to all our American friends; from the UK….
# 56 it’s time travel, Scotty stopped over for the parade before he saved the whales in Trek 4.
As for Mr. Shatner, I was going to ask which one was his wife? BTW he does look good, good enough of a cameo in a certain movie after the timeline is altered?
#14
I would think that this would make you happy to be in El Paso! An annual pilgrimage to the site of Roddenberry’s birth, if you will. Were you at the parade or did you just see it on TV?
Safe travels home.
I think Shatner should have invited Takei (and spouse) over for Thanksgiving dinner.
Does anyone remember a float in the 1980(?) Rose Bowl (again, ?) Parade featuring TMP version Enterprise, with Nichelle Nichols riding shotgun? It was there promoting the then-new movie, and I remember thinking it was pretty cool they had a float.
Scott B. out.
A movie era Scotty alongside an Original Series era Enterprise? What a canon mess! ;-)
But maybe we should cut out the jokes! Remember what happened when someone made a canonicity joke about that TOS cake? :-)
The El Paso Times article calls it a Tribute to Jim Roddenberry. That editor should be hung upside down from the big E float for such a faux pau, & in Gene’s hometown, no less.
The odd thing here is that anyone unfamiliar with our brand of witless humor (OMG CANNON VIOLATION!), reads these posts thinking we’re all morons.
Case in point, virtually every Io9 posting in the past 6 months.
*sigh* It was a nice float.
John,
I enjoy reading your articles, I am a writer myself, so, when I see things I like to point them out. Oh, by the way, will we ad the parades and exhibitions to canon? LOL!
Jim Roddenberry? You know, that guy who created that show with Captain Gene T. Kirk….
65
Well to be honest, and not to offend anyone who calls El Paso home sweet home, but when your view of it is through your in-laws every year (and a stifling “Get me out of here” one at that) then the food is really the best thing about it. And it’s the real motivating factor to the 11 hr drive. You remember Texas is a big place. Not just a cliche.
Wes,
You know the nitpicking is getting annoying. I understand it is a Trek tradition, but there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. Remember that the writers here put their time and effort to help keep the Trek community informed and this was just a fun Thanksgiving day article and the “not true John” thing is just rude.
I know that some Trek fans want to look smarter than the other kids and show off, but if I was in a life or death Star Trek history or trivia contest, John Tenuto would be at the top of my list to phone a friend.
And FFS it is just a fun article about a float!
Sorry but I am very defensive about the writers of this site, and sometimes I think people are very rude around here.
LOOking foward ]backword]!??? to the movie, looks entertainning, and besides it might be fun to see how they mess up cannon
Ilook forward to seeing the new, old enterprise.
though I think they should move forward, not reverse.
[That would be the wrong direction,Will k.j..
Our mission is to go forward, and it's just begun!
JL Picard"The Neutral Zone."]
” 74. Anthony Pascale – November 28, 2008
Wes,
You know the nitpicking is getting annoying. I understand it is a Trek tradition, but there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. Remember that the writers here put their time and effort to help keep the Trek community informed and this was just a fun Thanksgiving day article and the “not true John” thing is just rude.
I know that some Trek fans want to look smarter than the other kids and show off, but if I was in a life or death Star Trek history or trivia contest, John Tenuto would be at the top of my list to phone a friend.
And FFS it is just a fun article about a float!
Sorry but I am very defensive about the writers of this site, and sometimes I think people are very rude around here.”
Anthony,
You take me too seriously! As for my ‘nitpicking’ John was wrong! I know that is hard to believe, because he is always right! But, part of journalism is to give your reader all of the facts and correct facts, and his statement was just plain incorrect. As for my ‘not true John’ line it isnt true! Also, it was not meant to be rude, if I would have said it in person, it would have not have been rude, that is the problem with computers these days, just typing no talking. And I am not trying to ‘look smarter’ he was wrong about a fact, so, it should be corrected, though minor. Because I watched it on T.V.! when I was 3 (that tells you how old I am!). I know that you guys put a lot of effort out there, but, you also get benefits (like access to Paramount and the Trek people both past and future). Hey, I would be happy to write for you guys with those benefits! I know all of TOS by memory as well as the first 6 movies (I know TNG, DS9 and Ent. as well, just not much of Voyager, as I was into DS9 when Voy was on) It would be pretty awesome! You may know who I am, at the Grand Slam, when Nimoy was up there, you came to the front where I was kneeling on the ground and you took a picture of Nimoy at the same time I did, and you were right next to me! My pic. turned out well, I wish I could have e-mailed to you guys, as he was looking and ’smiling’ right at my camera! It is a great pic.
Anyway, you are speaking to a friend of this website, I just wanted to point out that he missed something, which you cant find online. I would love to write or contribute to the website.
-Wes
Also, I was wondering why the Star Trek VI screening at the Television arts and sciences museum was not covered- Nick Meyer was there and Michael Dorn was there as well, Nick autographed my book and I talked to him for a while, he is an interesting person.
#66
Guess who’s coming to dinner…;)
#76
Hello Wes,
I usually don’t comment unless someone asks a questions. As a college professor, I am used to people having their opinions about either my lectures or my writings, and have learned to tolerate much. Also, I am not a perfect person, nor a perfect Trek fan who knows everything.
However, I must say that I do not enjoy being called wrong when I am not wrong. I was not wrong in the article. Your intrepretation is your intrepretation. However, I knew about the various parades before this one, both because of my affinity for William Shatner (how many people own the Rose Bowl Parade documentary from 2004 because he narrates it?) and because I have attended some of them.
This article was not a history lesson of previous parades. There have been a hundred parades, local and nation, from the 1960s to now that have featured Trek.
As I stated previously, the article was showing some modern context for Star Trek with this El Paso parade, which you label peanuts, which is a problem considering that 315,000 people attended and it is one of the the largest events in this area of the nation. Star Trek was written off by critics and some fans a few years ago. Now, it is being honored again in national parade (as it is annually in many local parades, such as TrekFest and Canada’s Galaxy Parade). The Star Wars float was in 2007. For 2006, Superman was everyone at parades again because of the movie Superman Returns. If you read the paragraph again, you can see that the Superman reference isn’t only historical, it does reference now. The idea was that now, Star Trek is cool again for generic audiences and this is an example. The “now” is appropriate.
Also, your comment about the benefits I get from writing here are wrong. My family and I live in Illinois. I get no financial benefit from writing nor do I get to attend any Star Trek events because of it. I don’t get in free to conventions, nor do I know more about the movie than anyone else. I do this because I believe in Anthony Pascale’s inspired idea that Star Trek fans ought to have this kind of website. He has a commitment to the fans and to Star Trek in all its versions. You are correct about there being rewards, although you do not mention the proper rewards for me. The reward for me is that fellow fans get to enjoy these articles, and I enjoy reading the articles by the team and the comments of my fellow fans. I also try to teach some sociology with the articles now and again which is a joy to me as a professor. I also enjoy writing with the help of my wife, a fellow professor and Star Trek fan. For all these reasons, I write for Trekmovie.
I don’t mind if fans don’t like my articles, although of course I hope fellow fans enjoy the information. I don’t mind being labeled wrong if I am. However, here it is an intrepretation concern, not a factual error. I thought I had clarified your concerns previously. I knew about the parades and before writing even looked at old Star Trek Communicator issues for information about the previous events. Not only did I know about the parades, my wife, son, and I have attended some of them. You are entitled to your intrepretation of my article. It is funny that you do not allow me, the author, the same courtesy.
The phrase “Star Trek now joins” is present-tense and therefore factually inaccurate. It’s also redundant (the word “now” is superfluous), but that’s a style issue.
I’m not at all suggesting that the author got his facts wrong, but that sentence, as written, is in factual error, whether it’s just a slip of the keyboard, a slip of the memory, or something other.
I agree with the author that there’s no need to provide a run-down of all the previous parades, but the phrase “Star Trek now joins” is incorrect, factually and objectively so.
Just fix it. “Star Trek re-joins” “Star Trek once again joins” … even keep the superfluous “now” if you need to … “Star Trek now in the present redundantly presently re-again-joins.” But as written, it is incorrect.
#79
Star Trek does NOW join franchises like Superman and Star Wars with recent parade representation. It is not a factual or grammatical error and will not be changed.
#80: Adding the word “recent” between the words “major” and “parades” would also be an excellent fix, and is probably the best one to go with since it’s the one that comes to mind for you.
While it’s unfortunate that someone got personal with you (fans will be fans), and I understand the need to defend your work (I’ve been writing and editing professionally for 18 years; I know the drill), it’s unproductive to make it a big deal when it isn’t.
#81
Please do not presume to tell me how to write or what to change in my article. My editor is Anthony Pascale, not S. John Ross. Fellow fans are certainly free to tell me about any errors in my articles, yet I would ask you to refrain from the arrogant presumption of telling me how to edit, or that I should edit. This article will not be edited as there are no errors. Thank you for the reply.
John,
Sociology-fascinating, I am close to becoming a professor of History myself. I like your articles, dont get me wrong! You are speaking to a friend of this website and a fan of your writing. (which coincidentally, is probably the best quality of writing on here, and I am not just saying that, it is because you are a professor). As for the parade there being peanuts, it is compared to the Rose Parade with millions watching in person and around the world, and there is nothing wrong with that! And yes, I did allow you the same courtesy of interpretation please re-read what I said. I said that I dont doubt that you meant what you meant, just that it came off differently than what you thought, and obviously others thought the same but, that is always a danger in writing isnt it! I have had people mis- interpret my writing a million times over, like on here! LOL! Anyway, thanks for posting on here, it takes a real writer who cares about his work to respond to critique, and you have done that, and I appreciate it!
-Wes
I think we have gone deep enough into the history of parades here.
What John Tenuto adds to this site for both his own articles and with his help for mine is context. The man is a walking history book for Trek both ‘in universe’ and ‘in the real world’ and I rely on him every day. One of the things this site does that I feel is different than other sites, is instead of just saying ‘there is a trek float’ it is put in contest ‘why is it in El Paso’ ‘what does this mean for the franchise today’ etc. That kind of thing takes this site more than just a random assortment of facts and turns it into something more.
That being said, not every article with some context has to also be a full comprehensive detailed breakdown on the history of the said topic.
I stand behind john and this article and again, it is just a feel good story about Thanksgiving and Roddenberry and doesn’t need to turn into an argument, so lets move on shall we.
But again, I for one am thankful for John Tenuto and what he does both as a professor and as a writer here
There’s NO way Bill is a vegan. With that gut? His middle section had boldly expanded the universe and beyond. Remember all the fat Doohan jokes during the last few TOS movies….well, he’s faded from Kirk to Denny.
85
Yeah, I’ve always thought that to be a suspect bit of mythos about Shatner. I’ve heard him talk about eating meat and I’ve heard him say he drinks occassionally. Both things the “Encyclopedia Shatnerica” claims to the contrary. Then again who really knows. I find it funny that Bill recommends MORE brown sugar. “That makes it better”. I love him.
Re: # 72
LMAO. – That was priceless!!!
[...] A twelve foot float honoring Star Trek was included in the 72nd Annual Sun Bowl Parade in El Paso, Texas this Thanksgiving Day. We can expect to see a lot more of Star Trek leading up to the upcoming movie, include a series of four comics leading into the movie. [...]
I live in EL Paso, and I’ve been past the house where Roddenberry lived before his family moved outta here. Also been to the planetarium. Didn’t go to the parade, though.