8th Grade and The Final Frontier
While riding to the IMAX Theater to see the new 3D Star Trek movie it all came rushing back. The year was 1966 and her name was Charlotte. We were in the 8th grade. She sat to the right and two rows up. She swung around to face me but it was some time before I noticed she was mouthing a silent question. We all turned 13 that year and the girls began wearing nylons – weapons of mass destruction. I tried not to look at Charlotte’s as she silently mouthed the question 3 times before I finally heard her: “Did you watch Star Trek last night?”
In 1966, 8th grade girls were made-up meticulously, with permed hair, cotton fitted dresses, and dastardly nylons. In our fertile 13 year old minds, 8th grade girls fully-dressed looked like the college girls in Beach Blanket Bingo. But it was all about to change.
The years between ’66 and ’69 changed everything for our generation. Star Trek came and went. Older kids were dying in some place called Viet Nam. Riots. Assassinations. Demonstrations. Strange exciting psychedelic rock music. And the 8th grade girls boldly went where none of us boys dared. Ironed-straight hair, dark eyeliner, projecting utter seriousness. In High School, the 8th grade girls we fell in love with, looked like the women from Rigel 7 on Star Trek. We on the other hand with our regular boy cuts had become uninteresting to those exotic alien creatures whose nylons had given way to different but no less deadly weapons of mass destruction. Those years went by in a flash but I’ll never forget the innocence, the boldly-going, and the girls from Rigel 7.
You’ll never have girl friends like the ones you almost had in 8th grade.
Steel Wheels 
I had no idea something like that was going on in Greysbranch.
Nick Dad Noecker
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It was all pretty innocent but every word is the honest truth…including the part about Star Trek. I may never have known about Star Trek that year if not for Charlotte. None of my friends in those days ever mentioned it…ever. People forget that it was a ratings flop and was canceled in the 3rd year (1969) before the year was finished. Then in the late 70s it became a cult hit on the rerun channels on cable and the rest is history. The last 3 Star Trek movies with the new new cast are the best yet. Can’t wait for more.
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