About DIMENSIONS, Jr.

ABOUT DIMENSION, JR.

By: Timothy J. Dover, Director of Youth Services

As I sit here listening to my favorite music from my youth (including hits by such groups as the GoGo's, the B-52's, Foreigner, the Pretenders, the Moody Blues, the J. Geils Band, Cyndi Lauper, Culture Club, Billy Idol, Aerosmith, Pat Benetar, Phil Collins, and Tom Jones - just to name a few...), I am reminded how much I still love the things I grew up with. This goes way beyond music though. It extends to everything from food to clothing (not that I wear purple, yellow and green together anymore). The one thing from my youth, however, that has most shaped my life is Science Fiction.

Had it not been for my Mom's fateful decision to have me watch Star Trek when I was all of 11 months old, I most likely would not be the man I am today. Star Trek, however, was only the beginning. Later it included Superman (the series with George Reeves), The Invisible Man (with David McCallum), The Six Million Dollar Man (Lee Majors), The Bionic Woman (Lindsay Wagner), Wonder Woman (Linda Carter), Dr. Who (the best being Tom Baker), Star Wars, Quantum Leap, more Star Trek (as of The Next Generation), Sliders and many more I don't remember. Today, I am stuck on such programming as Star Trek: Voyager, X-Files, Charmed, Seven Days, Stargate SG-1, Angel, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But, I digress...

Now that I've introduced you to my past, I should also tell you that my name is Timothy Dover and I am the founder of the Starfleet International chapter, the U.S.S. Czar'ak, and a community service organization called the Star Trek Service Alliance. You may ask, but what does this have to do with Youth Services?. Just hang in there, I'm getting to that! Anyhow, this entire litany of my Science Fiction past is to prove a point. It starts with kids. We would not have adult Science Fiction/Fantasy fans, if there were not first young Science Fiction/Fantasy fans. I got started on my weekly dose of SF at 11 months. This is not to say that we need to break into peoples homes and set up TV/VCR

units in front of their infants to ensure a new generation of SF/F fans...although that might work. Since the whole idea of DIMENSIONS is to promote SF/F, it just makes sense to promote it to the future generations of Science Fiction/Fantasy enthusiasts.

How will this be implemented? Well, to be honest, we are still working out those details, but suffice it to say that the local libraries are the first targets. We are approaching local city libraries with the concept of hosting DIMENSIONS Jr. chapters whose purpose is to encourage children to read science fiction and fantasy. This is not to say that our youth has abandon this genre by any means. In fact, the success of such things as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Pokemon, Harry Potter and Star Wars, proves that the youth of today still enjoy SF/F as much as we did when we were kids. The focus would be READING. Reading has become a somewhat underused skill on the part of both adults and kids. The focus of DIMENSIONS, Jr. would be reading and creativity. The whole idea of DIMENSIONS Jr. it to give these budding Science Fiction/Fantasy fans an outlet to immerse themselves in SF/F and share their enjoyment with their like minded peers. A DIMENSIONS Jr. chapter will provide opportunities for SF/F minded youth to have fun, meet other SF/F fans their own age, and get more involved in the world of SF/F. Again, all the details are being worked out, but the possibilities are

endless, ranging from author presentations to workshops! If we get the support of community, DIMENSIONS Jr. will be an opportunity for a child to take a first step into a larger world.

Let me conclude by thanking the Board members of DIMENSIONS for giving me

this opportunity to be part of a group that I am sure will make a difference in the lives of many people, including our youth. It is a great honor to be considered experienced enough to develop such an important division of DIMENSIONS, and I will certainly do my best to make DIMENSIONS Jr. a worth while part of the bigger picture.

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