Our Host
http://www.challengerlearningcenter.com/
The Beneficiaries
http://www.peoriaplayhouse.org/index.php?section=1
http://www.prairieaviationmuseum.org/
Attending Members:
SL-9965 Chip Childress, Darth Vader
TI- 5126 Steve Veile TIE Pilot
TI- 1719 Jason Patterson, TIE Pilot
TI- 1692 Kent Heath, TIE Pilot
TI- 0118 Tom Schaefer, TIE Pilot
BH-4265 Mark Berry, Boba Fett
TI- 3853 Jim DeJan, Off Duty TIE Officer
TI- 1802 Emily DeJan, Off Duty TIE Officer
Wrangler/Assistant:
Lisa Heath, holoarchivst
Minimes
CTI-0004 Alyssa Patterson, Off Duty TIE Officer
CTK0007 Austin Schaefer, Off Duty TIE Officer
Highlights:
Our booth (passport desk) Hosted by the Challenger Learning Center
Air Show
Photo Ops
Contacts made
Reconnected with the Prairie Aviation Museum, new staff and made plans for another open rooster day in September, ’07, Date TBA.
Mission Log: 7/22/2007
Tom arrived at my front door at 6:15am. He has graciously agreed to carpool to the show. Because I forgot some things, we had to return to my house to grab the admission wristbands and I-pass. We were going to be late for the 8:30 arrival time and hoped our detachment leader is in a forgiving mood.
The vehicle was held studiously to the speed limit (cough, cough) as Tom would never go faster than the legally mandated speed limit.
We arrived at the Air Show at 9:00, only to see a very familiar blue truck immediately before us at the gate. The realization sank in that we were going to have to rib our detachment leader about his punctuality and no longer had to worry about our own.
A teenage boy saw the symbols on the vehicles and shouted that he loved Star Wars.
After following the directions given to us by a wide variety of seemingly clueless people, we finally found the tent with the table provided to us by our hosts. We parked behind the tent and moved our gear to the table.
The show began at 10am. We roamed around the air show, but stayed close to the tent. One of us was almost dragged bodily into a helicopter and a cargo plane for photo ops by very enthusiastic military personnel.
Jim and Emily manned the 501st table, using the MWG stamp to validate the passports provided by the air show to encourage the younger visitors to see all the exhibits. According to Jim, failure to get the MWG stamp was to risk a wookiee attack.
Lord Vader emerged to the delight of the crowd. We posed numerous pictures escorting the Dark Lord on his tour of the vehicles on display. We found the aircraft delightfully primitive. Many spectators and exhibitors alike posed for pictures with us.
Alyssa declined to wear the helmet and armor, preferring to be in off-duty attire with Austin for the day.
Boba Fett arrived at around 11:00am. The bounty hunter decided to roam the show separately from the TIE pilots.
We stopped for lunch at around 12:00, though there was less variety than expected. The jumbo corn dogs were not bad, but the lack of any form of cheeseburger had Lord Vader in a foul mood. Attempts to appease him with pizza were mostly successful.
We spent more time in the afternoon roaming the show and met a pilot who would like to modify one of his flight helmets into a mock-up of our TIE helmets. Photos of our TIE pilots were taken in a functional jet plane. Information was exchanged and we look forward to hearing from him soon.
Then tragedy struck as Lord Vader suffered a broken restraining strap on his helmet. The Dark Lord took his leave as repairs were not possible with the available resources.
At 3:30, we packed up and depart the show. We decided to visit the Flattop Grill to fuel us for the trip home. Much exchange of humorous information was exchanged.
Conclusion:
A fun time was had by all. Costuming tips were exchanged behind the scenes. New friends were made. F-18s flying overhead are very cool, but not conducive to conversation. Chicago to Peoria is a moderately long drive, but made a lot better with good company.
AWESOME EVENT! I quoted your report over on the 501st Legion mission reports too. 
