Tiny Alberta town lobbies to host Star Trek premiere

A tiny community in southern Alberta is hoping to beam the premiere of the next Star Trek movie to a galaxy far, far away from Tinseltown.

It may not be the planet of Vulcan, but the town of the same name, population 1,762, has already developed itself as a tourist attraction focusing on the birthplace of Star Trek 's beloved Mr. Spock.

"WhenI heard the new Star Trek movie was going into production this fall, I thought why don't we see if we can bring the movie premiere here to Vulcan because it would go so well with all the other Star-Trek-related things this community has done," said Dayna Dickens, Vulcan's tourism co-ordinator.

"I'm approaching this with the philosophy that if I don't ask they can't say yes or no."

Already on the international radar foran annual Vul-con Convention, the town southeast of Calgary believes that it is the "logical" place to host the film's opening event, said Dickens, playing on Mr. Spock's love of all things rational.

A town plaque includes greetings written in English, Vulcan and Klingon. Another sign welcomes visitors with the Vulcan motto "Live Long and Prosper."

Star Trek XI, scheduled to be released on Christmas Day 2008,is rumoured to include a storyline about the young Spock, who is from the planet Vulcan.

Members of the Alberta Film Commission will take Vulcan's proposal to an industry meeting in Los Angeles later this fall.

For local Trekkie fans like Grace Klitmoller, the idea of a movie premiere in her community would be a dream.

"This is what we've been working to do for a long time, to do anything related to Star Trek, which is cool," said Klitmoller, who makes, sells and sends Star Trek costumes around the world.