IL- Fairbury Christmas Parade 12/02/2006

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Targ
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IL- Fairbury Christmas Parade 12/02/2006

Post by Targ »

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A sudden ice and snow storm stuck Illinois and the surrounding states the day before the event. The power went out in the morning and the recording at Ameren CIPS said that 500,000 customers were without power and it may be two to three days before power was restored. http://s54.photobucket.com/albums/g89/M ... 168336.pbw
Fortunately, they were wrong. Power came back on several hours later and after confirming that the parade was still on, all concern that our celebration would be cancelled was erased.
Members of the Midwest Garrison started arriving Friday night before the event. When the sun rose Saturday morning we realized that an inch of ice covered the float. With hammers and brooms in hand, Kevin (tk669) and Amanda Lehning, Tom Schaffer (tk118) and Andrew Marsh (TA2079) cleared the ice and added our candy cane support stands to prepare the float.
We made it to the Staging area and met Rich Markle (SL-1781), Ryan (TK-2429) and Anna (Princess Leia) Summers, Mark Berry (BH-4265) and Belinda Montag (ID-5187) and had breakfast at McDonalds Family Restaurant (not a golden arches). Afterwards the members moved indoors at Sign Language, our sponsor, and got dressed. Little did Loran Greenwell, the proprietor of Sign Language and parade chairman, know that there would be Wookie Hair all over his work area.
We boarded the float and hung on while we made our way to the parade route. We made it just in time to make our position in the parade.

With the skies clear and bright, the sight of Lord Vader, Chewbacca, Boba Fett , a Crimson Guard, Stormtrooper, ATAT Pilot and Princess Leia surprised and delighted the children and adults alike. As we pulled onto the main street of Fairbury one ounce bags of marshmellows flew out to the waiting mittens of the folks on the side lines. Shouts of "We Love You Chewbacca!"and "There is Still GOOD in You Anakin!" rang out to the cords of the "Imperial March" as we drove down the main street of Fairbury.

As the parade ended we pulled back around and parked the float in front of the Gazebo where the characters met the public. We were then directed into the Chamber of Commerce Offices where lo and behold there was DARTH KRINGLE! A wily sith lord disguised as a Jolly Old Elf.
After many more pictures with the children of the town we boarded the float and returned to our staging area
http://s54.photobucket.com/albums/g89/M ... 168182.pbw



PARTICIPANTS

TI/ID-3853----Jim DeJan Float Pilot
TI/ID-1802----Emily DeJan Float Co-Pilot
SL-1781----Rich Markle Darth Vader
TK-2429--------Ryan Summers TROOPER
GUEST---------Anna Summers Princess Leia
DZ- 0669-------Keven Lehning THE MIGHTY CHEWBACCA
GUEST----------Amanda Lehning WOOKIE Handler
TK/TI/ etc.-----0118 Tom Schaefer CRIMSON GUARD
BH-4265--------Mark Berry Boba Fett
ID-5187--------Belinda Montag Trail Car Pilot
TI/TA-2079----Andrew Marsh ATAT Pilot


ICE WORLD photo credit to Belinda Montag and Mark Berry who also contributed shots to the Photobucket for the parade.
Last edited by Targ on Sun Dec 03, 2006 6:13 pm, edited 10 times in total.
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Planning Thread

Post by Targ »

bump
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UPDATE 11/29/2006

Post by Targ »

See UPDATE ON DISCUSSION THREAD.
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TK118
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Post by TK118 »

Thanks Jim and Em, This was a great event and FUN. And the fact that this small town has probibly not seen ANYTHING like us before was a blast to hear the comments from the side.
Made the 2 1/2 hour drive well worth it.

I was afraid the marshmallows would freeze and we would hurt people! LOL

Love this picture .....

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Vader to Boba ::: "Whats so darn funny?"

And this picture is a MUST SEND to Insider and Bantha Tracks!!!

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Last edited by TK118 on Sun Dec 03, 2006 5:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by TB 0101 »

Excellent write-up as well, Jim :D
(The style you used is exactly what we'll be looking for from event leaders in the coming year.)

Anyone end up with frostbite? :lol:
~Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it~ G Santayana

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Frostbite falls

Post by Targ »

All appendages accounted for SIR!
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TK118
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Post by TK118 »

Well Aimee, Im no writer, So I will have to count on others to do the write ups for my stuff. LOL

Tomglish and all :)

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Post by dad vader »

I posted over in the other thread,but I'll add it here too.
I had a great time,Heres my Pics

http://s34.photobucket.com/albums/d137/ ... %20Parade/

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Post by Colonel ThrellvonDa »

Great Pics!!!! Sorry I had to miss the parade. I was in sunny Beverly Hills Cali working. Hey Kevin, LOVE THE WOOKIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Colonel Threllvon-Da
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Post by TB 0101 »

:lol:

I'm glad no one lost any limbs :D

Tom, appoint someone to help you out when you do your gigs. You can do a talley of who showed up rather easily. From those who do, find someone you know who does a good job with remembering the details (like Jim) and has no problem remembering basic grammar ;) I promise you, people like that do exist...plus it would be really helpful with article submissions to the various places they go, be they hyperspace, our own front page of the site, or into the newsletter. Sometimes you can just take snatches from what everyone else said and compile them into one lump summary. It's a little trickier, because of the shifting perspective and everyone remembering something different as a high point...you can get people who attended an event to talk about it by posting favorite pictures from it and discussing what was going on in the shot.
The point is, all to often a thread dies immediately after the gig is over...the best ones, are the ones we talk about well after the fact-even if it's just poking fun at someone posting pictures really late...<eyes a few troopers>...we remember those best-not because they were more or less cool than another gig, but because we shared memories and perspectives of it after the fact.
I could babble on for a few more lines but, eh..I kinda made ya all read that much... ;)
~Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it~ G Santayana

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Post by TKvanB »

THIS IS EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Actually

Post by Targ »

Actually Tom, this is our second year at Fairbury. Last year all we had was Montie's trailer, no decorations and poor Greg as a TIE fighter slid to the rear of said trailer every time I excelerated. Mark Berry and Kevin Kemarly walked the route (yeah all five blocks of it) and Joan Fischer and Belinda Montag tossed cold hardened marshmellows at the Fairbury folks, rendering several unconscious I believe.
Last edited by Targ on Wed Dec 06, 2006 11:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by TKvanB »

TK118 wrote:And this picture is a MUST SEND to Insider and Bantha Tracks!!!
It's already there! :wink:
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Lets Play...

Post by Targ »

Lets Play....."CAPTION THAT PICTURE!"

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" Nice Chewy, Always thinking with your stomach!"
or
"Too Old! Too Old To Begin the Training!"
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Post by Belle »

Jim, this is awesome! Thanks so much for including us again this year and for the great time at the party. You guys are the best. :thumbsup:
"Eighty percent of success is showing up."
Woody Allen

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Post by TKvanB »

CHEWBACCA!!!!!!!!!!

Kevin is currently featured on the Dec 5 Bantha Tracks front page and on the "Get in Tracks" page! SO COOL!!!!!!! :D

http://www.starwars.com/hyperspace/memb ... dexp5.html
Chewbacca (Keven Lehning) with baby, photographed for the Midwest Garrison by Tom Schaefer.
I have a feeling there will be more in the next issue :wink:
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Hyperspace

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I can never get into Hyperspace. Even when I give them the password they just issued.
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Post by TKvanB »

PM sent
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Post by TKvanB »

....and featured on Page 2 of the December 19 Issue of Bantha Tracks On-Line

http://www.starwars.com/hyperspace/memb ... dexp2.html

(Fairbury Parade Group Picture in the Gazebo)
The Midwest Garrison of the 501st Legion wishes all Bantha Tracks readers a very pleasant season!
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Well Finally

Post by Targ »

Well finally, They got my subscription straightened out so that I could actually see that. Very Cool. Thanks again to the guys and gals who made the Trek through the ice and snow.
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