<<< Previous

Belinda & Barry Hodge

When Barry Hodge could not make the taping of MI members marching in the video, Belinda did what any good wife would do and pushed him to do one on his own. Figuring it was worth a shot, Barry suited up and Belinda marched as an Imperial Officer counting steps. They were equally surprised when they both received the finalist letter from LFL. Soon afterward, they received a phone call from Prometheus who was handling the documentary of the Rose Bowl Parade for the Legion.

The documentary crew was filming many aspects of the Legion and focused in on the Hodge family including their two small children. They were told the crew would be filming them at home and that they would receive a call from someone at LFL letting them know if they were indeed going to California. It should come to no surprise that Belinda and Barry were nervous as they did not know what to expect. The crew showed up in the early morning and began taping their daily routine. They then followed Barry to work to capture his Star Wars shrine that he keeps on his desk.

Perhaps most exciting was having the crew follow them to a Boy Scout meeting. Coordinated by Ken Friedman, the Troop was having a Family Pack meeting with the theme of "Hobbies and Collecting." The film crew had a first hand look at the Michigan Squad participating in just one of many wonderful events. They were able to capture the troopers participating in the awards ceremony and giving a brief overview of what the Legion does.

It was after the Boy Scout meeting around 11 pm that Steve Sansweet called their home thanking them for their participation in the documentary. Since MI was being well represented and the 200 had slots had been filled, they were not going to be needed to march. And like all good TV, there was a twist at the end that resulted in a happy ending. Sansweet called again to let them know that they would be going to CA as part of Mary Franklin's Elite Squad!!

Not knowing what the Elite Squad was supposed to do puzzled the Hodges but they soon were given their orders. The Grambling Marching Band from Louisiana would be accompanying the costumed marchers and Franklin needed help getting them ready for the parade. There were pants that needed to be hemmed, tunics that had to be altered, greeblies and rank bars that had to be attached, and lastly Rose Bowl parade patches that needed to be hot glued to the sleeves of the tunic. It was only after the hundreds of boxes were sorted that they could begin their job of dressing the band.

Their hard work paid off as they observed the marchers practicing and finally watching the group march down Colorado Blvd. They were also able to meet and shake hands with George Lucas and have a brief chat about the status of the band's uniforms. Belinda said, "We enjoyed meeting so many people from all over the US and the world! We made many friends and of course we miss all of them already!"

Next >>>