Sci-Fi Spectacular at Blossom

The Cleveland Orchestra summer concert series at Blossom Music Center is something of a tradition in northeast Ohio.  Therefore, when the orchestra invites Great Lakes Base, Ohio Garrison and Rancor Clan to be part of its “Sci-Fi Spectacular” concert – it is an opportunity NOT to be missed! 

The giant amphitheater is settled right in the middle of the 800 acres of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park; which giving the entire venue a very “Endor” vibe.  Which means a few early morning rainstorms passing over the area made for a beautiful (if not humid) afternoon.  This was my fourth tour of trooping for a concert at Blossom and still one of my favorite local venues.

Keeping with the “Endor” theme, would you believe the entrance to our dressing room is via a small “bunker” elevator, on the far side of the amphitheater?  Once our “small Rebel force,” as well as a few troopers and lone Mando Merc had a chance to suit up and make our way back up the hill towards the main entrance -- affectionately referred to as “the hill of death” – we spread out along the path, as guests began to camp out the best spot on the lawn for the concert.  As you can imagine, people would drop their folding chairs, coolers and blankets at the sight of us – wanting to get a picture with us; EXCEPT the guy who came with a fresh box of pizza… even a “jedi mind trick” wasn’t enough to get that guy to share.  When it came time for the concert to begin, some of us changed back to street clothes and other stayed in costume as our contact lead us to a section of open seats for us to enjoy the concert.

The Cleveland Orchestra kicked off the performance with (what else) the main theme from “Star Wars.”  After a medley of songs from popular sci-fi TV shows over the years, and the main theme from “Superman: the movie” (one of my personal favorites), it was time for the “Star Trek” portion of the evening; and to welcome the evening’s special guest.  George Takei was the guest narrator for the evening.  Mr. Takei told the story of how the original crew of the USS Enterprise was purposefully designed as a metaphor for the various cultures of Earth – coming together to create a better future.

 During intermission, you could see kids playing on the amphitheater lawn with toy lightsabers – which as a Star Wars fan, always brings a smile.  Since Fuzzball was our resident Jedi Knight for the evening, I challenged him (there MAY have been some “chicken clucking” involved on my part) to go over there and play along with any kid looking to test their skill against an fully trained Jedi – the same way I did, many years ago.  I’ll give my former “padawan” credit, he stood his ground expertly against a pair of rambunctious “younglings” – one wielding a double-bladed lightsaber – as well as simply interacted with a group of kids barely old enough to lift the lightsabers they were carrying.  As Fuzzball’s former Star Wars costuming mentor, watching this made me very proud!

Overall, it was another great concert at Blossom Music Center as our crew packed up to head for home from the “forest moon” of Cuyahoga Falls. 

It's What We Do

Most fans know the Star Wars universe timeline is centered (literally) on the events in "Episode IV: A New Hope" specifically the “Battle of Yavin” (BBY) when the Death Star was destroyed.  In the case of Great Lakes Base, our timeline for keeping record of events begins around June 3rd, 2006 and the opening weekend of "Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination” touring exhibit at COSI in Columbus, Ohio.  I was there, and for many of us (now veteran) Great Lakes Base members -- this was our first experience with a major Lucasfilm event, as well as welcoming Rebel Legion members from across the country.

Here is a brief “timeline” of history, as it pertains to Great Lakes Base development:

5BBC = Jedi Knights of Cleveland (Fanforce) formed

4BBC = “Attack of the Clones” in theaters

3BBC = JKOC early costuming events with RL and 501st
1BBC = Celebration III and “Revenge of the Sith” in theaters

1BBC = Cincinnati Pops at Blossom

0BBC = Star Wars “Where Science Meets Imagination” at COSI

3ABC = Great Lakes Base formed

5ABC = Inaugural “Star Wars Night” with Detroit Tigers

6ABC = Cleveland Pops concert  (Brian and Paul’s “Duel of the Fates” performance)

7ABC = Toledo Walleye – GLB with the Stanley Cup

8ABC = Great Lakes Base Five Year Anniversary

Eight years later (or 8 ABC) and there have been many historic moments within Great Lakes Base -- too many to list on a simple blog post.  The reason I included The Jedi Knights of Cleveland in this timeline is that I know for a fact, because I was leading most of them, that many our early Rebel Legion/501st costuming events were organized via the JKOC – before the Midwest Base (now Great Lakes Base) website and event medals were even up and running.  It was around the time when Cincinnati Pops performed at Blossom Music Center when most of our local Star Wars costuming events migrated over to Rebel Legion.  I remember the debate among the MWB command staff (back when I was OH Captain) over the merits of awarding online “medals” to people for trooping. While there were good points on both for and against the practice, I’m pleased to see the tradition has survived because IMHO those tiny digital symbols that show up in your profile (whether you have 2-3, or close to 300+ ) represent more then just some form of bragging rights… they represent our HISTORY!

This year also happens to mark the FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of Great Lakes Base!  To help celebrate this milestone, GLB has adopted a special logo to commemorate the event and is planning to hold a special celebration later this year. Keep an eye on the GLB forums for more information.

In researching this blog post, I discovered that marching in the Avon Heritage Duct Tape festival marked this Rebel Pilot/Jedi’s  280th successful “mission” as a member of Rebel Legion!  That’s important when you consider all the miles travelled, charity work donated, friendships and other life experiences that have transpired as a result of being part of the greater timeline that is Great Lakes Base, because, as we say...

“It’s what we do!”