by Laurel Carroll, July 28 Sun Community News

TICONDEROGA, NY| Last weekend, July 23 through 25, a horde of Star Trek TV and movie fans descended upon Ticonderoga’s Star Trek Original Set Tour, love child of Ti native James Cawley. Though still recovering from the mega-event, Cawley guestimated that number to be “well over a thousand,” with visitors journeying from every state in the country.

The lines—at times five-deep—spilled over from the Set Tour’s doors on Montcalm Street, out of the parking lot and up Champlain Avenue, well past the post office.

Adding to the throng were a couple of local notables. New York Sen. Dan Stec and Ti Supervisor Joe Giordano met with Shatner on the Enterprise’s bridge.

“I was thrilled to visit the Star Trek Original Set Tour yesterday. While open for only five years, it’s been twenty years in the making—an amazing story in and of itself,” noted Senator Stec.

Shatner, who portrayed Captain Kirk on the ephemeral (1966-1969) but popular 1960s sci-fi series Star Trek, turned 90 March 22. In a Fox News interview last March, he reflected on reaching that milestone. “My God, who wants to be 90? I don’t, but I’m 90. It’s a bit embarrassing.”