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Posts Tagged ‘News Flash’

The 501st Legion shows up on Mythbusters

Posted in News Flash, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Mythbusters and the 501st Legion

Join the 501st on the Mythbusters as they show up on the show this season.

January 4th on Discovery

The 501st Legion will gain more national attention from the up coming season of the Mythbusters as some of the 501st members will appear on the hit TV show.

Mythbusters will be putting to the test some of the things we see in the star wars movies and to help them Star Wars up the place some very lucky 501st members will join in the fun.

Honorary member to the 501st Legion, Adam Savage and his co-host Jamie Hyneman looks into a galaxy far, far away to see if some of what we see in the movies can be busted as Myth’s. This episode is shaping up to be fun and educational for us all.

As for the 501st Legion, what great exposure to the global TV watching community. As a member it gives me great pride to see our brothers and sisters in armor on the TV representing the 501st legion with style and class.

The work that the 501st Legion does to help raise money for a long list of charities is sometime over shadowed by people who want to point only to the costuming part of who and what we are.

It’s true that our members has a love for Star Wars and costuming, but they also have the same passion to bring a little joy and entertainment to children and parents alike, by showing up in costume and allowing the families to excape from their daily troubles and smile for a change, if only for a short time its still means a lot to them.

It great when TV shows like the Mythbusters will allow groups like the 501st Legion to join in on the fun and help spread the message of the work that the 501st legion does each year. I truly believe the exposure that is gained when represented correctly will only help these charities in the long run. It also helps with recruitment to the 501st Legion as there are fans out there that are not aware that there is a club that embraces the movies as the 501st does and allows them to build a costume and become more then a fan, it allows them to live in that world and at the same time help raise money for people in need.

So buckets off to the Mythbusters and Adam Savage for this episode that’s coming. I know I thank you, I am sure the Legion thanks you and I hope the fans of your show will thank you for bringing something so awesome to your show.

Watch some video clips of the upcoming episode by following the links below.

Watch a small promo from Mythbuster website here: 501st and the Mythbusters

The 501st Legion website: here

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Image Credits DCI
Copyright © 2014 Discovery Communications, LLC.

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Keystone Heights Parade 12-07-2013

Posted in Trooping, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 12, 2013| 1 Comment »

image5Keystone Heights, destination next. After doing the Pecan park Troop. I loaded up and headed to Keystone Heights for the Parade. This would be the first time I have been to Keystone for anything so this was truly a new troop for me. I brought with me my step daughter and her friend. they would handle and take pictures for us.

We got there pretty early so we walked about and visited with other troopers that lived out that way.  As the sun started to fall from the sky we headed back and started dressing out. once all the troopers were geared up and ready to go we headed out to our position in line. we stood around and took some photos and chit chatted about past troops and other sorted tales of trooping.

The parade master walked by yelling “7 min to go” and everybody started getting in position and ready for the walk. the Sun was down and the night had fallen on the streets. The darkness was lit with the festive lights on the float in front of us and the houses we will soon be passing as we troop on.

Time to go, everybody lined up and we started our slow walk down the street. the crowed looked like shadow people as I tried to see them as we passed each block. The colorfully lit house help make the people stand out as they cheered and waved as we marched by. Its was funny as we marched I kept hearing people say “Look it’s the Star Wars” that just sounded strange and funny to me. The march was not a long one and I really enjoyed the limited sight I could see through my bucket. before I knew it we are done and I could relax.

Thanks to the kindness of the float in front of use they offered to give us a ride back to the starting point so we would not have to make that walk back. That being said as a stormtrooper is can be difficult to sit, Another troop and I kind of balanced on the edge and held on for life as we rolled on down the road. After a few moment of hanging on for dear life we were back to the staging area and we all piled into the lodge where we stored our gear and dressed back into street cloths.

To round the night out some of us troopers hit the local BBQ house and had a great meal as we chatted it up and had a good time. In all this was a great trooping day. I was able to knock out two troop and had a good time doing so.

Here are some of the images below.

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1 Year Anniversary – TK50167

Posted in News Flash, tagged , , , , , on November 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »

FrontCard386One Anniversary as a 501st Squad 7 member.

After just over a year of working on my Stormtrooper armor I submitted my images for approval to the 501st legion. As with anything it took a few more submissions to get there but on November 16th, 2013 I got the Email. it Welcomed me to the legion and to Squad 7 my local Florida garrison. I was so excited for a project completed and a new phase in my personal life.

One Year later: So I have been a member for one year now, I have completed over 21 troops in that year and I could not be more happy with the decision I made to start this great adventure in my personal life. I have met some incredible people in this organization. I am always impressed when I see the people that give of their time to go and troop the events that we do. The passion for there work and their hobby, I was not sure how I would feel going into this about putting myself out there. people knowing that I was a Star Wars fan and even bought and put together a costume to wear out in public. I was unsure of the reaction, the labeling or the cost of respect from co-workers or you bosses and piers. But once I went out and trooped a few events and saw the impact it has on the children and their parents, my mind was put at ease and the response from my piers was acceptance and understanding. This made it a bit easier to proceed with this new adventure of mine.MOSH7

The Future: What does the future hold, well as for me it getting out there and Trooping more events as I can. I love the work that the 501st does and provides and I want to be part of that. So let see what year two brings me and the 501st.

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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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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.

Art Market 8-24-2013 009

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.

Art Market 8-24-2013 005

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.

Art Market 8-24-2013 012

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.

Art Market 8-24-2013 015

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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Best Buddies Friendship Walk

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

What started out an overcast day turned out to be a perfect day for this troop.Image1 I did not know what to expect from this event as it was the fist of this kind that I would be trooping it. but like all of the one I have already done it was a blast. The 501st met up and got into armor and proceeded to meet the crowed that had already stated gathering at the Jacksonville landing.Image9 The event was Best Buddies Friendship Walk and the landing was filled with families ready to enjoy all the entertainment and start their walk. I am always amazed at the Joy that we as the 501st bring  to the faces of both children and parents when we start out and mingle about. All in all I have a wonderful time and I know the kids from this event had a great time with all that this event provided for them.

Best Buddies Friendship Walk Mission: The mission of Best Buddies is to establish a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.image2

Event Website:  Best Buddies Friendship Walk

More Photos at Facebook : 501st Squad7 

Troop #4

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Stormtrooper in Space – For Real

Posted in News Flash, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »

TK-4944

TK-4944

TK-4944 (JP Rivard) of the Canadian garrison is trying to be the first 501st member to actually make it into space. how cool would that be for a Star Wars 501st Stormtrooper to make it into space. Well in order for him to be that man he has to get as many votes as he can. So here is the link to his voting page, now click away and help get this Trooper in to space.

A word from JP

“Hi Imperial Soldier,

AXE, the body product for me, has started the AXE Apollo Space Academy. Only 2 Canadian citizen will ha the chance to do the space Camp and make a real travel in space!

I NEED YOUR HELP …AND YOUR VOTE !!!

Together we ca unite to send the first Stormtrooper in space for real and maybe start to built the new DEATH STAR. Imagine a member of the 501st Legion in space, what a stunt we could do and the news could spread all across the world and give the Legion such a visibility. One of the first voyager in space can be a STORMTROOPER, a real Star Wars Fan!!

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO:

Go to this link: https://www2.axeapollo.com/en_CA/6212/jp-rivard

And click on “VOTE”
That’s it ! “

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