Photo by Mick Orlosky/redfishingboat.
I meet Jesse Graff when he comes to inspect the new heat pump in my Portland, Oregon, bungalow. Graff strings a measuring tape through my house, and we get to talking about life, work, and energy efficiency. As he steps off my porch, he turns back and asks, “Have you heard of Trek in the Park?” I reply, “Please come into my kitchen and tell me everything.”
Graff explains that by day, he’s a tax appraiser for Multnomah County. By night, he portrays Spock in Trek in the Park. His mission? Aside from raising my property taxes, he and the crew of the USS Enterprise put on eight performances each summer. They drew crowds in the thousands to watch episodes of the original Star Trek performed as stage plays in Portland’s Cathedral Park.
This August, the five-year mission came to a close as the crew performed the classic Trek episode “The Trouble With Tribbles.” Opening weekend, on a blistering 95-degree Sunday, I joined thousands of devoted fans and watched Graff boldly go where no tax appraiser had gone before.
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