Hudson Library

photo courtesy of Snips92

This weekend, Great Lakes Base and Mando Mercs visited a pair of libraries; not 5 miles apart from each other.  My day started at Hudson Library and Historical Society, which from the outside, you wouldn’t think this place is a library.  However, once you step inside, this place is amazing!

For those of you planning future Star Wars library events, as someone who has been to more “Jedi Archives” then Obi-Wan Kenobi over the years, may I offer one piece of advise: TURN UP THE AIR CONDITIONING… if only for the first 10 mins or so!  I’m not just saying this for my own personal comfort (this pilot was built for Hoth) but also for the benefit of both the costumers and the general public.  One of the most common questions we get is, “those costumes must be warm?” -- and the answer is, “YES”… especially in closed room with 200-300 parents and kids.  Thankfully, the staff at Hudson library were able to dial down the A/C and “carbonite freeze” us just a little bit more.

One of the things I love about trooping at different libraries is to sit back and observe the creativity the staff uses in coming up with games and activities for the kids.  First, you can NEVER go wrong with “Wookiee Cookies” and “Yoda Soda” for guest and Star Wars characters to snack on.  Second, there’s nothing better to keeps kids’ interest then traversing a Mustafar obstacle course – made from construction paper “lava” and rocks for the kids to jump through.  Then came the activity that strikes fear into the hearts of Jedi and Sith costumers everywhere -- the dreaded “build your own lightsaber” craft activity!  Imagine 20-30 kids, hopped up on Yoda Soda and Wookiee Cookies… with their own arsenal of balloon lightsabers (better then the cardboard tubing/duct tape) and you’re the only adult dressed as a jedi in the room?  I’ll take my chances with “Order 66” thank you very much! Lastly, came my personal favorite: kids coloring to create their own custom X-Wings!

This one is going up
on the fridge at home!

Some of us (older) kids may have some new ideas for the next run of Shadow Squadron X-Wings! ;)

Honestly, the kids were GREAT… some of the nicest/well behaved I’ve ever encountered.  Not only that, but they were so thrilled to see us -- our guys could do nothing but sign autographs and pose for pictures for like and hour and a half NON-STOP!  One of the things I often do, while playing a Rebel Pilot, is draw a little sketch of a Y-Wing along with my call-sign “KRASH” … I have never drawn so many Y-Wings as I did today!

I like the story my sister (Snips92) told me on the way home: she was paired up next to Kathleen, the Padme (working on recruiting her) librarian from our Brunswick troop back on FREE Comic Book day.  Kathleen noticed that Snips likes to put a little heart next to her name, when she plays one of Padme’s TPM handmaidens (Sabe) – so when Kathleen asked if she should do the same thing, Snips jokingly responded with “hey, that’s MY schtick… get your own!” I love how our guys find little ways to make whatever character they cosplay as unique for themselves.

GLB Hudson Library "Mission Photos"

As I mentioned before, while this was going on in Hudson… bounthunterq was leading another team of Mercs and GLB rebels at a nearby library event.  Q promised me a recap of that library’s event in the next couple days, so stay tuned…

Armstrong Air and Space Museum

photo courtesy of Snips92

Even as the Make-A-Wish walk was going on, I'd mentioned the need to turn around and plot the “navi-computer” for Wapakoneta, OH. -- home of the Armstrong Air and Space Museum -- which had invited Great Lakes Base and Ohio Garrison to participate in their "Summer Moon Festival" weekend.

In case you were wondering, Wapakoneta, Neil Armstrong’s birthplace, is a small town in western Ohio along I-75; about 15 miles away from Lima -- the fictional home of the cast of “Glee.”  For the record, we drove past Lima and didn’t hear any high school kids singing. ;)

Maybe it’s because I grew up in Cleveland, where we’ve had NASA Glenn and the visitor center, but as a kid who grew up (in theory) dreaming of being an astronaut, would you believe that I never knew there was a Neil Armstrong museum in Ohio?  As a kid, astronauts like John Glenn and Neil Armstrong were my heroes -- not only because of what they did during early years of NASA, but because (like me) they were from Ohio!

We have LIFTOFF!

The Armstrong Air and Space Museum is AMAZING!  While most people know Armstrong as the first to walk on the moon, the museum is filled with items from his Gemini 8 and Apollo 11 missions. One of the best parts about trooping events like this -- personally -- is the chance to tour around the museum and explore every exhibit and display case, in between posing for pictures and making the day even more fun for the guests.  I’m pretty sure our decision to walk over and watch the model rockets helped draw a few more people over to watch the presentation. The local model rocket group put on a great show!  Some of us took a test flight in a Wright Flyer simulator -- I’ll stick with my Y-Wing, thank you very much! ;)  Later, we watched a movie about Armstrong’s mission in space that included footage and facts that even I’d never heard about.

GLB "Summer Moon Festival" - mission photos

One of the main highlights of this year’s Summer Moon Festival was a visit by NASA astronaut Gregory Johnson.  Unfortunately, we didn’t arrive in time to meet him -- I guess we’ll just have to come back someday!

You can learn more about the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum by visiting: http://www.armstrongmuseum.org/

P.S. - If you're looking for a great place to go eat afterwards... may I suggest "Woody's" -- an Ohio State themed restaurant down the road -- maybe the BEST burger I've ever had!

Walk for Wishes

photo courtesy of Snips92

By now, most of you know that the Make-A-Wish Foundation is a non-profit organization that fulfills the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.  Great Lakes Base has a long history of offering our services to the local chapter of Make-A-Wish Foundation. So, when they contacted us about participating in the 20th Annual Medical Mutual “Walk for Wishes” event… we didn’t hesitate to say yes!

The Walk for Wishes event was held this past Saturday at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo; on what turned out to be a beautiful Ohio summer morning!  More then 1,700 walkers, sponsors and volunteer kicked off the 3 mile course around the zoo.  And for our part, members of Great Lakes Base, Ohio Garrison and Mando Mercs -- along with some of our family and NCS friends joined the walkers.  Unfortunately, I had to leave earlier then expected -- more on that in my next blog post -- but that didn’t stop GLB clonetrooper obejuan, his wife and two sons (dressed as jedi) as well as our newest Mando Merc from walking the entire length of the course -- in full armor!

Make-A-Wish "Walk for Wishes" - mission photos

Ohio has more then 500 “wishes” pending -- that is over 500 kids waiting to have their wish come true.  Therefore, the local Make-A-Wish chapter is looking to raise $180,000 in 2012 and there is still time to donate to the Walk for Wishes campaign.  For more information about the Make-A-Wish Foundation or to get more involved, contact the Northeast Ohio Regional Office at 1-888-272-WISH or visit http://www.makeawishohio.org/