Santaland Parade of Garden City

by: rob2112

photo courtesy rob2112

Well, what can I say? The morning of the Garden City Santaland Parade was one of the coldest days we have had this year!  Yet despite the chilly weather, we had a real good turn out -- both by the public and among the Troopers/Rebels!  Many of the “younglings” showed up to march along with us, which always makes it more fun.

Along the parade route, we collected toys for the local "Toys for Tots" campaign.  People would walk right up to us to donate toys -- both during and after the parade.  We managed to collect plenty of toys on behalf of Toys 4 Tots and the US Marines; people were very giving – and we are very grateful!

This year’s parade contingent from Great Lakes Base, Great Lakes Garrison and Mando Mercs had a very diverse group; a real good mix of Rebel and Imperials.  Even the “younglings” enjoyed having the Muppet Troopers – those guys are always so much fun!

You can even watch our group marching in the Garden City Santaland Parade, as it aired on local TV. Go to the link HERE to view the transmission.

GLB "Mission Photos" -- Garden City Santaland Parade

In the end, we were all outside in the wind and cold for about 3 1/2 hrs. I thought everyone was in good spirits, especially the younglings! The actual parade time was about a half hour worth of walking for us.  We stuck around afterwards so the little ones could see Santa and boy were they excited!

It was a very successful troop and I will be looking forward to this parade next year.  Since I live in Wayne, which is right next door to Garden City, I think we all know how nice it is when that happens.

Merry Christmas to everyone out there in the galaxy -- hope you all have a safe and happy Force filled holiday!

Matthew's story

by: Lumpy

Matthew (age 8) lives in Traverse City, Michigan.  Born with a very rare form of short stature (Primordial Dwarfism) he already faced many barriers and hurdles in life.  Matthew has lived life to the full and supported by a wonderful mum (Heather), dad (Bryan) and sister (Jessica) he strived to overcome the many barriers he faced in life!

This past October, his parents decided to take him to his local ER as he was suffering with dizziness, pains in the head for several days.  This is when their collective nightmare became a reality -- a CT scan of the head showed something was wrong and he was transferred to the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital for a MRI scan.  The scan showed that he had a brain tumor, which was caused by an aggressive form of cancer called Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).  After 13 hours of surgery, the majority of the tumor has been removed – however, Matthew still has a LONG way to go!

In terms of Great Lakes Base and Great Lakes Garrison part in all this, we first met Matthew at Cherry Capital Con back in 2011.  We were informed that there was a "special guest" who would be at the con -- who LOVED Star Wars and requested to just make sure we gave him a little extra attention when we saw him around.  Well, it didn't take long for anyone who met Matthew to absolutely love that little dude!!!  When we found out about this most recent round of medical issues, we were ready to do what we could to help out.

photo courtesy Lumpy

This past weekend, Matthew’s aunt organized a spaghetti dinner fundraiser.  For our part, we just mingled, danced, and had a good time to help with the atmosphere at the event.  Matthew did attend the event with his family, and while he looked very tired, the smile was still there.

Dayton Children's Hospital

by: BrianKenobi

photo courtesy of Jedineeson

One of the most rewarding things we get to do is visit kids in the hospital.  Members of the Great Lakes Base and Ohio Garrison made an appearance at Dayton Children's Hospital.  We were there to visit a young boy named Luke.  A few weeks ago, a nurse asked Luke if he wanted anything else before she left his room.  He replied, "a wookiee."  Little did he know that the wheels of action started turning.  The nurse relayed that message to a woman named Samantha, whose daughter was in the same hospital a year ago that still helps out – and Samantha just happens to know me!  Soon after I got a phone call from Dayton Children's and was told about Luke’s request.  On the day they requested, GLB and OG descended upon Dayton Children's Hospital; including Marc "Marcus" Gau as the mighty Tarfful. 

"it's what we do!"

While our resident Wookiee and Luke Skywalker (played by myself) waited in a separate room, a nurse met Luke in the hallway and told him she had a friend waiting to meet him. That is when I stepped around the corner -- Luke meets Luke!  Luke was presented with some Rebel Legion and 501st patches as well as trading cards.  Next, the nurse and I lead Luke into the room with his family and all the characters.  Luke's facial expressions told the story.  Then, Tarfful walks in -- and Luke was speechless!  We took a lot of pictures with Luke and his family.

But the mission wasn't done yet.  The GLB and OG members went for a stroll around the halls, which the all the nurses at the nurse’s station thought was the best thing ever.  There was a touching moment with a little boy that I was so happy to witness: I was in a room with a little boy dressed in his Avengers pajamas.  Tarfful walked in to the boys delight.  The kid stood up in his bed -- carefully not to disrupt the 6 or so tubes in him -- to get a better look at the wookiee.  Marc walked over to the boy’s bed to get a picture.  The boy reached out and hugged Marc and then got a few pictures taken.  It was a great moment to see.

Youmacon

by: Jawa Juice

It’s called Youmacon, which is an anime convention located in Detroit Michigan.  I have been going since 2008 and have never missed a single year.

photo courtesy of Jawa Juice

Let me start off with a little history lesson -- nothing too much -- just talking about what the convention is and why people attend it.  Youmacon got it start as a small little gathering of Anime nerds.  Every year the convention gained more publicity and grew from a small hotel in Troy Michigan to the Renaissance Center and The Cobo Arena today. 

Over the years, Youmacon has become less about anime and more about pop culture and just an excuse for people to get together and have a good time!  These days Youmacon still has a heavy focus on Anime and Japanese media, but Star Wars has found a home there in the hearts of the con goers and it looks like we are there to stay.

Now that I said what Youmacon was, now I’ll go over what I did there.  Over the weekend I had a lot of fun, mostly just talking to people.  I even had the opportunity to meet several of my new comrades from Great Lakes Base, along with meeting some old friends as well.  I went over to the dealer’s room, where one can purchase just about anything: video games, clothes, pictures, you name it.  There were many panels there that were silly and fun, others featured famous voice actors or YouTube stars.  Saturday was the busiest day of the convention, with most people attending that day.  There were a few members of Great Lakes Garrison in attendance on Saturday.  Later that evening, Youmacon hosted an event known as “The Rave” -- which is more or less a techno party where people can just go to have fun and burn off energy. 

For more information, please visit http://www.youmacon.com

Youmacon has such a big future ahead of it; I can see this convention getting bigger and more popular over time.  Hope to see all of you at next year’s Youmacon!