America S Thanksgiving Parade

America’s Thanksgiving Parade

MISSION REPORT:

Event date: Thursday, November 22nd 2007

Event location: Downtown Detroit, Michigan: along historic Woodward Avenue Spectators: One Million Curbside Television Coverage: National!

Background:

Over the past several years, the Michigan unit of the 501st Legion has submitted an application to participate in America’s Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit. Unfortunately, the Parade Company had not accepted us into the parade on any of those occasions, and each year we had to watch the parade from the side-lines hoping that we would march in it one day. Well that one day finally came.

Motivated by the success of the 501st Legion’s appearance in the Tournament of Roses Parade, and the 30th Anniversary of the original Star Wars, the Great Lakes Garrison were determined to make a great impression on the Parade Company and submit another application this year. Dave ‘Gator’ Gates (BH-8875) put a call out for interested troopers and prepared the application package. The application included the 501st Legion press kit, a photo binder highlighting two years worth of events in Michigan, and an impassioned cover letter touting the virtues of the 501st Legion and how we use our hobby to bring joy and excitement to others.

We submitted the application before the deadline and waited for the Parade Company’s response. The days went by … then a month … then six weeks … and by the middle of October we had still not heard any news. We figured it was another year gone, and we would have to watch the parade from home. Then on October 18th, only 5 weeks before Thanksgiving, we received our acceptance letter. WE WERE IN!!!

Time was short, we had a lot to do, and some of their requirements were … unexpected.

Preparation:

To meet some of the unexpected requirements, Jay Shimko (TK-130) came to the rescue to make the phone calls and obtain the necessary documents. Then, like any other event, we had to round up the troops, so the calls went out to our neighboring Garrisons and our sister group the Rebel Legion. However, one of the other unexpected requirements was a signed waiver from each and every person participating in the parade, and that signed waiver needed to be submitted to the Parade Company by November 1st. The troopers and rebels answered the call and by October 31st we received signed waivers from 57 participants.

Work also went into designing and fabricating three special items for our appearance in America’s Thanksgiving Parade. First was a new banner that was specifically designed for the parade by Jason ‘Humper’ Ujvari (TD-1703). We wanted a single banner for both the 501st Legion and Rebel Legion that not only highlighted the groups, but also celebrated the 30th anniversary of Star Wars. So with approvals from both Legions and Lucasfilm we produced this design: [see image “GLG- Thanksgiving_photo2.jpg”]

Next was special surprise for the participants marching in the parade. Ken ‘kifs’ Friedman (TR-544) wanted to add a little more Rose Parade type feel to the day, so he organized and funded the creation of a commemorative patch for the event. With the design help of Scott ‘Crow’ Withers (TK-1491) each participant was given a patch to wear in the parade. [see image “GLG-Thanksgiving_photo3.jpg”] The third special item was a great looking Han Solo in Carbonite that would be carried by four Stormtroopers along the parade route. The Hansicle was fabricated and readied for transport by Roger Rehman (TD-866) in just over 2 weeks. Here is the trooper with his creation. [See image “GLG-Thanksgiving_photo4.jpg”]

As part of the local coverage for the parade, the NBC affiliate TV station in Detroit produces an America’s Thanksgiving Parade Preview show. This preview show highlights some of the new elements, floats and groups that will be in the upcoming Thanksgiving parade. One of the groups highlighted in this years preview show was the 501st Legion. Jon ‘Blasty’ Leopold (TK-5037), the Great Lakes Garrison CO-elect and GLG XO Dave ‘Gator’ Gates (BH-8875), the event coordinator, were interviewed as part of the segment on the 501st Legion. Also included in the segment, were various clips from the 501st Legion PR DVD.

Our last order of business before the parade was some marching training. We were lucky enough to have four participants from the Rose Parade ready to march in the Thanksgiving parade, so we called upon their past training to get us through the rough spots. We did not have the luxury of a five day all expense paid training session in sunny Southern California, so we had to make do with one cold wet morning in Macomb, Michigan.

Our provisional Drill Instructor, Rome Ohnui (TK-1800) called on his training in Pasadena to whip us into shape. We spent about 4 hours marching back and forth across a parking lot at a local county park, and I must say we looked pretty darn good. We looked so good that we were noticed by the locals. While marching with buckets on, a neighbor apparently got spooked and called the police. One of Macomb County Sheriff's Deputies arrived to check out the scene. Our own Deputy, Jeff Pintal (TC-4131), was on hand to find out the nature of the call. The call was reported as, "50 people in white hoods demonstrating at Waldenburg Park". The responding officer informed the other units that were one their way that “it’s just Jeff and his stormtrooper buddies”.

Thanksgiving Day:

The big day was finally here. We would make our inaugural march down Woodward Avenue as part of the second largest Thanksgiving Day parade in the USA. The parade route would take us right through the heart of the city and by some of Detroit’s biggest landmarks. The troops had their orders to report for duty bright and early on Thanksgiving Day. Some of the troopers even made the best of the early morning festivities with a little pre-dawn tailgate at the parking structure in downtown Detroit. After changing into our costumes, we made our way by shuttle bus to the staging area at the beginning of the parade route. We then spent the next 2 hours working on some more marching, taking photos with the parade goers[see image “GLG-Thanksgiving_photo7.jpg”], catching up with friends new and old, posing for a group photo[see image “GLG-Thanksgiving_photo1.jpg”], and even getting our grove on to stay warm.

Our step off time came at 10:50 am, and we were ready to get moving. We got into formation with Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia leading the way for the Jedi, Rebels, Bounty Hunters and Tusken Raiders. Darth Vader, Darth Maul and a Royal Guard led the contingent of Imperial soldiers carrying the frozen Han Solo. The bulk of Lord Vader’s troopers followed up in formation under the command of the Imperial Officers. Before we knew it, the parade was over. All of the planning, preparation, and anticipation came and went faster than we all realized. For this trooper, the 2007 America’s Thanksgiving Parade is one of the highlights of my career as a proud member of the 501st Legion.

David “Gator” Gates TK-8875 Great Lakes Garrison

PARTICIPANTS:

48 total costumers + 3 NCS

Great Lakes Garrison: HERO SQUAD 2996 Shawn Payne - Darth Vader 9531 Sean Watkins - Darth Maul 0142 Tom Barber - Luke Skywalker 7305 Susie Leopold - Princess Leia 3999 Jon Redman - Jango Fett 3829 Chris Brown - Jaster Mereel 1800 Rome Ohnui – Imperial Officer 7275 Chris Balk - Imperial Officer 7344 Julie Balk - Imperial Officer 8220 Diana Furget - Imperial Officer 0544 Ken Friedman - Royal Guard 3842 Justin Overholt - Tusken Raider 3822 Shannon Trombley - Rebel Fleet Trooper A COMPANY 0130 Jay Shimko - Stormtrooper 0471 Pete Coe - Stormtrooper 0501 Doug Fesko - Stormtrooper 1421 Barry Hodge - Stormtrooper 1787 Terrell Reber - Stormtrooper 2280 Rob Brang - Stormtrooper 5037 Jon Leopold - Stormtrooper 8875 Dave Gates - Stormtrooper 9128 James VanSpronsen - Stormtrooper 9317 Jerry Russell - Stormtrooper

B COMPANY 0866 Roger Rehman - Sandtrooper 1148 Brooke Merva - Sandtrooper 1730 Jason Ujvari - Sandtrooper 7195 Anton Wagensomer - Clone Trooper (Devis) 4131 Jeff Pintal - Clone Trooper 6026 Richard Bishop - Clone Trooper 8192 John Blizzard - Clone Trooper 8789 Dave Raimondo - Biker Scout 5750 Martin Pondell - TIE Pilot 5925 Dan Provost - TIE Pilot

Midwest Garrison:

0542 Andy Miller - Boba Fett

0465 Steve Brejnak – Sandtrooper

0677 Kim Miller - Sandtrooper

Bloodfin Garrison: 7473 Jon Kendrick - Clone Trooper (Bly) 9983 Josh Wells - Tusken Raider

Garrison Excelsior: 4176 Gil Guemes - Rebel Pilot (Porkins)

501st Approval Pending Brad Brown - Stormtrooper Mark Slamka - Biker Scout Shannon Hawthorne - Imperial Officer

Rebel Legion: Paul Spranger - Qui-Gon Jinn Heather Ritter - Jedi Steve Sindlinger - Jedi Rob Hawthorne - Jedi Jason Hetherington - Jedi Scott Scharke – Jedi Non- Costumer Support: Lisa Bishop 6156 Carolyn Brown Amanda Raimondo

Photos:

GLG-Thanksgiving_photo1.jpg Group photo

GLG-Thanksgiving_photo2.jpg Thanksgiving Parade banner image

GLG-Thanksgiving_photo3.jpg America’s Thanksgiving Parade event patch

GLG-Thanksgiving_photo4.jpg Roger Rehman (TD-866) with Han in carbonite

GLG-Thanksgiving_photo5.jpg Great Lakes Garrison troopers practice marching in formation at Waldenburg Park

GLG-Thanksgiving_photo6.jpg Final rehearsal before the start of the parade.

GLG-Thanksgiving_photo7.jpg Rob Brang (TK-2280) posing with a young fan

GLG-Thanksgiving_photo8.jpg Dave “Gator” Gates (TK-8875 on the right) instructing the troops at the staging area

GLG-Thanksgiving_photo9.jpg Imperial Officers Julie and Chris Balk lead the procession of 501st and Rebel Legion

GLG-Thanksgiving_photo10.jpg Troopers in formation with carbonite prize in front

GLG-Thanksgiving_photo11.jpg Clones (from L-R) Jon Kendrick, John Blizzard, and Anton Wagensomer with the ballpark of the Detroit Tigers in the background