 |
| photos courtesy Snips92 |
For years, the Lazer Xtreme "Star Wars" laser tag charity fundraiser was
the signature event in northeast Ohio.
There would be lines out the door with people waiting to play laser tag
with Star Wars characters to support local charities such as Make-A-Wish. Yet after a two-year hiatus, could this
event make a triumphant return – a “Return of the Jedi” (along with Rebels,
Troopers, and Sith) as it were?
There had been efforts made to revive the laser tag event
with the new management, since news of the sale was announced. Last summer, when news broke that the
Lazer Xtreme “Star Wars” fundraiser was BACK -- excitement skyrocketed within
Great Lakes Base, Ohio Garrison and now the Rancor Clan from Mando Mercs would
be joining us; an event that was made for Mandalorian warriors! There were still plenty of us who were
around for the laser tag event – but even more who had only knew of this
awesome event through legends and stories told around the table at one of our
post-trooping meals.
The first thing we needed to do was get the word out that
Lazer Xtreme was BACK! For the
first time, GLB member and aspiring comic book artist Travis Perkins designed an event promotional poster --
featuring original artwork. This
thing was BEAUTIFUL and thanks to Travis for helping us out!
Finally, it was time to return to Lazer Xtreme and their
10,000 sq. ft. game arena for the “Star Wars” weekend fundraiser. In my case, this felt like coming back
“home” – as Snips92 and I discovered this place and developed the original
event. Many of us know this place
inside and out: from all the best/worst places for costume characters (some
with limited vision) to “the Alamo” – our unofficial Base where everyone meets
up between games to trade vests with reinforcements. One tradition we seemed to carry over from the past was the
“slight weapons malfunction” getting our vests/guns to work properly for the first game of the day -- some
things NEVER change!
Once we got to playing laser tag, it was time to sit back
and have FUN! The whole experience
feels like a live-action video game – and like any good game, it’s the
“multi-player” version when things get really exciting. I was amazed at how willing everyone
was to trade vests with their fellow Rebels, Imperials and Mercs. At one point (both days) we had an ALL
Mando Mercs crew fighting alongside each other – along with our new friend from
Mav Oya’la Clan; a sight to behold I’m certain! Not to be outdone, a few of our Great Lakes Base members
from Michigan drove down for Saturday (more on that later) providing us with
the largest contingent of Rebels that I’ve seen together at one event in
years. And we needed every available
person to play on Saturday – to accommodate the “Kids Zone” (kids under 12 yrs
old ONLY) start time – which meant we had TEN hours of laser tag on our hands.
The one thing I noticed different from past years was our
groups’ willingness to stay in the game arena (even without a vest) to help
create the illusion of the “Star Wars” universe inside the game arena. In the past, more people would be
hanging around in the lobby for pictures – this time EVERYONE wanted to be in
the game!
My greatest fear came true on Sunday… “spring” finally
arrived! The weather outside was
beautiful, so you can imagine attendance was lower then on Saturday. However, that didn’t diminish the level
of participation from our Rebels, Troopers and Mandos – despite a lot of tired
bodies. My favorite quote to sum
up the experience came from Obi-WanJay when he said, “my everything
hurts.” This didn’t stop everyone
from playing another six hours (16 total for the weekend) of laser tag.
Overall, the return to laser tag was a mixed bag of success
and lessons learned for the future. We should
know more about the Make-A-Wish fundraising totals later this week, but we defiantly
made a good impression with the folks at Lazer Xtreme. Here’s hoping for the start of a NEW “legend”
to share with future generations of Great Lakes Base members.
No comments:
Post a Comment