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Posts Tagged ‘Jacksonville’

Art Walk Downtown Jacksonville 10-02-2013

Posted in Trooping, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

114_2302Nothing brings the freaks and the geeks together like a beautiful evening spent at the Art Walk in October at downtown Jacksonville . This one was no exception and it started out great as 501st members meet up and a new home location.

We are now stationed at the Mid Town Deli on Laura street. I really like this location and the thanks goes to Michael Boyce, Sandtrooper TD-9813 for securing this location for us.

This location provides us with a place to setup a table for things like our props and propaganda materials, a place to change with nice clean bathrooms, food and drinks right at hands reach. So the location is not only great for us to suit up and spread the word about the 501st. but it is only a block away from the action.

We had Vader at this troop and when he shows up, well he steals the show. From the moment we turned the corner the crowd mob him and his handlers. The first hour it seemed was stuck on the corner right where we started. We at some point managed to move forward to the next block, still not reaching the center of Art Walk action. But really its good that we never did as the crowded would not allow us or Vader to move. After about another 45 min we gathered up Vader and escorted him back to the staging area.

This was another great evening out at the Art Walk. Here are some pictures of the event. enjoy and post a comment or two.. thanks for the support.

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Art Walk Downtown Jacksonville 9-04-2013

Posted in Trooping, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 5, 2013| Leave a Comment »

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The Jacksonville Art Walk, its one of a few things that happens each month in the city that I feel is a great thing for the city, It brings people together for a festive event and they show up even when it rains. This months Art Walk was no different, Squad 7 Troopers gathered at the old fire house and headed out for another exciting evening of trooping.

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I am always surprised by the reaction of people as we walk by in a group. you would think I would be use to it by now, but nope it still makes me smile under helmet(we Troopers call it our bucket) when they get all excited and hop around asking for a picture. This happens with boys, girls, men and women of all ages. Sometime we even get pictures with the Dogs they bring with them, fun times for all to have.

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Tonight the weather was on the Dark Side. The black clouds drifted in bring with it the flash of lighting and rolling thunder.

It was a good turn out for the evening event in spite of the weather. people braved the light rain and stayed in good sprites.

Art Walk 09-04-2013 006We headed back a bit early because the rain didn’t seem like it was going to let up, the humidity and heat was starting to take it toll.

This was a good Troop and I had a great time with all the Squad 7 Troopers along with the Handlers that joined us.

Thanks Troopers for making this a fun one

here is the Jacksonville.com photo album of that evening, there are photos that feature us doing what we do.

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John Kovacs’ 40th surprise Star Wars birthday

Posted in Trooping, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on September 4, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Birthday’s are always interesting troops. They are born from a fan boy/girls love of Star Wars and a loved one (his wife Tiffany) desire to bring Star Wars to life for them on there very special day and this troop was no exception.

John Kovac is no doubt a Star Wars fan boy, as evident by the plethora of collectibles that were scattered around the Cafe. The Cool Moose Cafe over on park street was the location that hosted this SW Surprise party. its a small two room cafe that was decorated from head to toe with anything and everything SW. We had Star Wars trilogy being projected to a big screen over the bar playing episode after episode. There SW buckets from all types of clone troopers deployed about the cafe along with light sabers of many types. we even had rings that looked like Storm troopers heads mixed with the chex mix in bowels setup on one of the SW covered tables. Needless to say there was Star Wars everwhere. now all we needed was some real characters to show up to make it perfect. That’s were the 501st comes in.

Once everybody from the 501st got to location we had a total of 2 Storm troopers, 2 Tie Pilots and one lonely Jedi. But wait! We were also join by Johns wife’s(Tiffany) brother as a Boba Fett, his name I did not get. We stood post near the front door as guest started to arrive and handed out black bead necklaces and homemade Styrofoam Lego looking light sabers. We greeted guest and took some pictures as we waited for the birthday boy to arrive which was just around the corner.

John, as he opened the door was greeted by two storm troopers one of which stopped him and slapped a set of binders on him then started to escort him around the room of guest. The surprise was a success, he, john claimed to be clueless to the event and its plans. John made his rounds hand shaking and hobnobbing with guest as they all started to settle in for a night of fun.

The 501st members started to move about and pose for photos and engage in chatter with other guest. reactions to our presents were mixed by the guest. some were very excited to see us and well some not so much. but in all we stood our post and brought to life the world of Star Wars for John.

The evening was a success for both the birthday boy and the two charities that would benefit from the guest. The host of the party asked each guest not to buy a present for John, but to bring a donation instead. as our time came to an end we were invited to stay and enjoy something to eat and hang out with everybody. We did stay for some food and a drink but this was Johns party with his friends so packed up and headed out leaving them to enjoy the rest of the evening.

All in all the event was a success. John got to enjoy all his friends and all his Star Wars props wrapped into a party he will remember for years to come. The party was able to raise $91.00 at the party and more to come at a later date.

This troop for me was an interesting one for the books and account for my 17 troop, that’s one more troop toward number 20.

I don’t currently have any photos of the event but as soon as I can get some I will post them here on the blog.

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Riverside Arts Market

Posted in Trooping, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 25, 2013| 1 Comment »

Today was Sci-Fi day at the Riverside Arts market and it would not be complete without the 501st being there.

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Starting around 10:00 am members of the 501st converged underneath the Fuller Warren Bridge for another exciting day of trooping. Its was not long after everybody got dressed out that we were walking up and down the isle stopping for photo ops and high fives for the kids. This trip my step daughter pitched in as a handler for me and the help was wonderful. To date most of my troops have been with no handler my own lol. I have had help from others but this time I was able to get some photos of myself.

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The crowd growing every bigger was filled with adults and kids dressed in costumes or just sci-fi swag. Smiles and laughter echoed all around us from underneath that bridge and song from the stage and it singer filled even more of the area. Lets not forget the smell of all the good food that was being sold.

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after a few hours the heat had taken its toll on me and I headed back to the staging area. I wish I could of done more but I was wiped out. the heat this morning coupled with the humidity made it a tough troop for me. guess I am getting old after all lol. Victoria and I walked around for a bit long so people could get photos of me and even her. After we got back to the staging area I packed up and took my armor to the car and we headed back to the Art Market for some lunch and to walk around to view all the cool things out there.

Here is an image that was taking by Craig of Craig Hill Photography. this is a wonderful images of three troopers, I believe I am the out of focus one in the background. This image to me invokes a feeling of star wars. almost like we are planet side scouting  the area before we do the deed.

Craig Hill Photography

501st Troopers – by Craig Hill Photography

Please take a moment to visit his website

http://craighillphotography.com/

or

like his Facebook Page

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Today on my 16 troop, handing out cards to all the little kids I saw something that one would have to know would come if you do this long enough lol… yep on the way out and heading home I saw one of my trading cards bent and discarded on the gound. Oh the horror!!! No really it was not that bad but it had to happen some day lol.

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So all an all aside from my body giving way to the heat today we had a good time and troop. I plan to keep on Keeping on so keep an eye out for more posts to come.

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Squad Seven 501st Fantasy Football League

Posted in News Flash, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on August 18, 2013| Leave a Comment »

FoorballHelmet_black2webIt’s Squad Seven 501st Fantasy Football time.

Are  you ready for some Fantasy Football well so were some of the Squad 7 members, Some of the Squad7 members have started a Squad 7 Fantasy Football League this year. There are 8 team set to what seem an easy style of play format as most of us have no real idea how to do this. This is yet another way for our members to get together and get to know each other outside of trooping.

Draft Day, So we met today with our players scratched on paper and gathered up the list of players and positions and began our picks. It was an interesting mix of people and their knowledge of the players and some who like me have limited knowledge, picking and chatting our way through all our picks. we par-took in a lunch meal and marked off the taken players and plotter or guessed our why through our sixteen players for our roster.

I think most of us got a lot of what we wanted and some of us (BJ) kind of threw darts for their picks, so he will most likely win the whole dang thing.

So if you want to keep an eye on our progress just bookmark the follow link -> Squad7 FFL and you can keep up and watch all the excitement as the 2013 Squad 7 Season teams competes from week to week.

Follow the Florida Garrison thread that is linked to this years game right here –> http://www.fl501st.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=26914

Team and member names that are playing. you can click the team name and go directly to their page

1 EDGE merica number one East bradley edgin  
2 WOOD TK Troopers West Walter Woodruff    
3 MYN Outer Rim Mynocks East Joseph Coleman  
4 ARD Arkanian Dragon East Jane Smith  
5 ROGE TN GoodOleBoys East Curry Rogers  
6 BW Team Black Widows West Gina Franklin  
7 BJS7 Cotrscant Clones West BJ Savage  
8 LAWT Blitz’s Ewok Hunter West Michael Lawton  

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Art Walk, Down Town Jacksonville 8-7-2013

Posted in Trooping, tagged , , , , , , , on August 7, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Another Troop down in the books or blog as it were. Tonight the Kids and I headed downtown for the monthly Art Walk. We got there around 6:45pm and I got dressed in armor and then headed for the long walk of high fives and photo opps.

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I will not have any photos of me trooping tonight as there was no one to take them this time. however there was one fellow walking about that had these two amazing Stormtrooper Tat’s that I was able to have photographed, Loved them both

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We made the rounds and visited with people for around two hours, we then headed back to the fire station where I shed my armor, gasped for fresh air then wiped the sweat off my face and called it a night.

So goes another Art Walk and a successful troop.

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Cosmic Bowling – 501st Style

Posted in Trooping, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 30, 2013| Leave a Comment »

What do you get when you mix Squad 7 troopers and bowling?

You get bowling pins cracking up….. laughing at such a site.

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Yep it was Cosmic Bowling at Bowl-America were the  http://www.walk-of-hope-foundation.org raised over $1,100.00.  We greeted a crowed of fun and exciting families that were gathered to join us for the evening of cosmic bowling.

After posing for pictures and passing out high fives for the crowd, some of the troopers laced up some bowling shoes and settled in for a night of bowling. It was quite a site to see them grab a bowling ball and march up to the lane and with all the style and grace of a Stormtrooper, delivered a rolling blow to the evil pins at the end of the lane. you should see these guys and girls in actions, take a look at the video provided below.

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Art Walk, Down Town Jacksonville

Posted in Trooping, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 6, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Art Walk, Down Town Jacksonville

Art Walk Jacksonville, Fl

It was an over cast rainy Wednesday afternoon, and I was head downtown to troop my first Art Walk in armor. If you have never been to the Art Walk you should, mark one of the first Wednesdays of any month in your calendar and head on down.

The Art walk will offer you 3 hours of the many faces of Jacksonville both in the Artiest and the fans that walk the closed off streets of downtown. There are many Artiest showing off their talents, Musicians preforming for the masses and all sorts of entertaining things to hear, see and eat.

On this night the 501st meet up at our new location, from what I understand it will be a new base of operations and in time we will setup a table and maybe even host a Blast-A-Trooper event. This will allow us to recruit new people into the fantastic community that is the 501st.

Our night began with everybody meeting up in our new home. It was still a bit rainy when we entered the building. After dressing out, we all headed out side and lingered with the cupcake ladies taking pictures as people passed by. Soon we began our march and the sky seems to clear right up. With the rain being held at bay, we trooped on to the park and the surrounding areas.Art Walk Jacksonville, Fl 1

The night was void of the normal crowd but it was a fun troop and we/I got to end the night with another troop under my belt and hung out with some great guys/gals.

So chalk up another successful troop for TK 50167…. Trooper out!!!

Links of Interest

Jacksonville Art Walk Website

Downtown Art Walk

Photos by: 904HAPPYHOUR.COM

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Honor Flight Documentary Screening

Posted in Trooping, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »

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This weekend many American’s will celebrate memorial weekend in many different ways. This weeks troop was to celebrate and honor veterans from all branches of military. but this troop was more than that and caught me a bit off guard.

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B.J. / Walter / Wolfgar

I first thought we were going to celebrate these men and women for their duty to our country. however it was deeper then that, I feel privileged to be able to help in some small way to bring levity to this group people that we were there to honor.

Heartland Hospice and the Jacksonville Fire Department hosted a movie screening of the World War II Veterans documentary called Honor Flight. Members of the community, as well as veterans were invited to the event and hope to raise money to be donated to the Honor Flight charity. This charity raises money to send WWII veterans to the WWII memorial in Washington DC.

As most of us know when Hospice is involved time is limited and special for families of the patient. What Honor Flight does is give a WWII veteran the opportunity to go and visit WWII memorial wall that was built in 2004, nearly 60 years after the war. There are approx 1 million WWII Vets still living and many never got to be honored for their duty. Heartland Hospice and Honor Flight helps to correct this by sending WWII vets to the wall so they can see and feel as though they were not forgotten.

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So this troop even though it was a small event serves a huge service in honoring these brave men and women for doing what was asked of them. Among the vets that were there to be honored were two from squad7 who also were honored for their service. BJ and Larry both were invited to walked up and receive a Pin and thank you from the crowd.

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Larry Franklin

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B.J. Savage

it was a bitter sweet event to celebrate the WWII vets for their duty but also knowing their time was very limited here among us. That’s makes this troop a special on for me, one to remember, one to keep a hold on when I celebrate this memorial day weekend.

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Links to note:  Honor Flight

Photogapher: Dan Van slyke,Jr. / Link to all the images

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Janel Sharp Wedding reception

Posted in Trooping, tagged , , , , , , , on May 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Another fun troop for the books, today we were to crash a wedding reception as per a request from the bride. She let us know that her new husband was a Star Wars fan and wanted us to storm the party near the end of the reception. so we hid out in a brides room until the DJ started playing what some call “Vader’s March”.

The DJ spoke of feeling something in the force and felt at if they would be boarded. once the music started the door opened and we quickly with blasters in hand, moved about the place as if we were searching for something and then paused. the DJ then asked people to get up to dance which included us. we then walked around and posed for  photo with everybody.

The Groom was blown away and the Bride beamed with excitement.  The crowd went to startled fear, excitement and then joy as we moved about. So all and all it was a good troop.

I will add photo’s if we can get our hands on some. 🙂

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