Mission Report: Toys for Tots, Williston VT

This weekend, we had one of our best events thus far in the state – promoting Toys for Tots in Williston Vermont with the Marines and Toys R Us. I was very happy that we were able to get some form of turnout for this, because it was somewhat last minute. Despite that, we were able to get four troopers together to help promote the event.

Two of our troopers (Sean and Vivianne) came up from MA, as one was supposed to be in the state to pick up something in the first place, and they were able to carpool. They arrived in Montpelier around 12 or so in the afternoon, and I led them up with Mike. We arrived in Williston around 12:30, then checked in with the marine and the store contact. They led us to the back where we suited up and came out to the front, where we stood around the table. There, we encouraged people to donate to the charity, and over the course of the day, the store’s staff had to empty out the three big boxes five times, which was apparently above normal for them.

While we were first there, Mike and I grabbed a couple of signs and went out by the road. There was a lot of honking at us as cars drove by, and I think that we turned a couple people to the store. While we were out there, the manager of a local restaurant came out and talked with me for a little while. He was apparently interested in armor, and invited us in for food later on.

The reactions of the crowd was fantastic. Often, we would see a little kid ahead of his parents, come through the door and stop dead at the sight of us. We posed for many pictures, and encouraged a number of donations, either in the form of toys or money. We stayed for four or so hours, and took a short break by going out to the restaurant across the street to meet the manager, who was thrilled to see us. We posed for a bunch of pictures there as well, and later returned for dinner.

Overall, a very good troop!

Pictures

Mission Report: East Boston Autism Walk

On October 19th, members of the 501st New England Garrison and Rebel Legion Alderaan Base trooped at a massive Walk Now for Autism event at the Suffolk Downs in East Boston with Team Brunco, a team run by NEG Recruit Mike Brunco. Amongst our numbers was Sean (TD), Adam (RC Scorch), Mike (TK-ANH), Meredith (Shaak Ti), Justin (RFT) Jamie (Wrangling) and myself (TK-ESB). Attending the walk was around 12,000 other walkers, which meant that we were an extremely popular group the entire time that we were there. From the minute that we stepped out of our changing space, we were inundated with requests for pictures, handshakes and high fives from walkers, and that only increased as we left the building and went out to the racetrack, where the walk was held. There, we posed for countless pictures and we made a TON of kids, parents and other walkers extremely happy.
From there, we joined Team Brunco and walked around the race track (Which has some cool history behind it – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffolk_Downs) and did a lap around, which resulted in several Monty Python reenactments and some actual racing (Justin and I chased each other with blasters for about a hundred yards or so), to the amusement of passerbys. After our lap, we returned to the sidelines for more pictures, and checked out the jungle gym on site, then returned inside to de-suit.

All in all, this was one of the best troops that I’ve attended – while there were so many people marching, we really made a lot of people’s days by showing up and trooping.

NEG on Camera

You can see the NEG briefly in this video for the New Hampshire Walk for Autism event:

Mission Report: Nashua NH Walk For Autism

These are the events that I like doing: charity ones. Today, eight of us from the New England Garrison trooped over in Nashua New Hampshire for a Walk Now for Autism Event. Spectacularly, we were all either TKs or TDs, which gave the entire group a nice uniformity. We were joined by Nick with his Grievous and someone (I can’t remember his name) in a Darth Revan suit. Our group leader was Mark, from Alderaan Base, as ANH Han Solo.

Mike and I drove down at 6 am, arriving at 8:30 or so, and were soon met by several other members who arrived shortly after we did. Everybody was present by around 10 or so, and we all suited up and set out in small groups to pose for pictures and greet children and parents alike. It was an absolute pleasure to see the participants just light up at our presence. I don’t think that we got one question of “Why on Earth are you here?” the entire time.

Around 11 or so, the entire group of people, probably a couple of hundred, lined up and the march began, with us somewhere in the middle, marching in a somewhat regular formation – 2 rows, led by Mark, with the TDs bringing up the read. We had a couple difficulties – being on sidewalks, we came across several fire hydrants and holes that we had to avoid, but even with help, I still ended up running smack into a road sign, much to the amusement of everyone.

I’m not sure how long the walk was – I heard a mile and a half, which wasn’t bad at all. For the most part, all the glue on my suit held nicely, save for my knee, but I remembered my duct tape this time around.

Once we finished the walk, we posed for a couple pictures around a captured WWI Era German howitzer, then de-suited and talked for a while before breaking up and heading home, around 2:00 or so.

All in all, this was a fantastic troop. The weather held, and we made a lot of parents and kids, some of whom were severely autistic, really happy by showing up and trooping. That’s what it’s all about.

Autism Walk, Nashua NH

This coming weekend, I’ll be walking with the 501st New England Garrison as a storm trooper at a Walk for Autism in Nashua, NH, to raise money for awareness and research for the condition.

I can’t say that I have any major attachment to the disorder, nor have I come into any real contact with anyone who’s had it, but I figure that this is a way in which I can help a cause that affects many around the nation and world. If anyone would like to support a storm trooper (!) my team page is here: http://www.walknowforautism.org/c.nsKSL1POLvF/b.3622293/siteapps/personalpage/ShowPage.aspx?c=nsKSL1POLvF&b=3622235&sid=bqLMIXNDKiISKYPCItH

I promise that I’ll send out pictures after the event. It should be a fun time, for a worthy cause.

501st Legion Patch Quilt

This is a really cool thing: the 501st Legion Patch Quilt. Sewn together by Terri Hodges, wife of Honorary Member Tom Hodges, it features numerous patches donated by members of the 501st Legion. It’ll be on display at the San Diego Comic Con later this week, and is currently up for auction:

Bid for it here.

Proceeds of the sale will all go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. More pictures are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vmperella/tags/quilt/