The Wingate Inn, Prospect
Heights, IL
September 9, 2005
Story and Photos by Chris Spice (Darth Spice)
DAY 2: TWO SANDTROOPERS AND A WEDDING The
morning started out rather slow for me, as many know I’m a creature
of the night and not so much of a morning person. I set out with my
family for the third annual charity breakfast held at the Expo. Upon
arrival I was very happy to see fellow staffers Boba Binks and Jedi
Scholar who was accompanied by his wife. We really got a dose of “if
it isn’t one thing it’s another” with the amount of space we had for
the breakfast. While we didn’t have all the real estate of last
year, everyone settled in to the snug environment. Another
interesting aspect of the breakfast is you never know whom you will
be seated with. In our case we had Dean Mitchell and Karen Lynn
Gorney from Saturday Night Fever fame. I never thought I’d be having
breakfast next to the lady who showed Travolta how to make his
moneymaker! Although it was a little crowded the food was much
better vs. the menu last year, and all you can eat which I made sure
to get my fill. It was good to see another great turnout for this,
as the charity was going to go to the Sturge-Weber Foundation. As a
parent who has a child with Sturge-Weber, I know how hard it is
personally and every little bit helps.
It’s
been several years since we have assisted the this cause in any way
here at Sandtroopers, so it was time to give back only this time we
had no Imperial Shuttle! Karen Ball who runs the Foundation gave a
short speech near the end of the meal and thanked everyone for
coming out. The next big surprise came during the raffle. The second
prize was a Disney Star Wars print that to my happiness was awarded
to a young boy. It’s good to see the love passed from generation to
generation. I nearly fell out of my chair when the winner of the F/X
Luke Skywalker RotJ saber was announced. Paul once again looked
literally shocked as he cried “Caleb Spice”! My youngest son was the
recipient of the grand prize but since he had just used his birthday
cash and chore money to buy a Darth Vader. I asked Caleb “Do you
know what you should do with that”? To which he immediately replied
“Give it to my brother”. I couldn’t have been any more proud of my
son. He was learning the Sandtrooper way of selflessness and
kindness. I would have let him keep it if he wished but the fact he
knew he was giving it to his brother really impressed me. They are
really growing up fast.
I
caught up to my wife who was having a moment with Karen Ball after
years of waiting to meet each other; they shared a hug and a
heart-felt cry. After reminding them we should all be happy, they
did their best to wipe away the tears for a couple of people who
needed pictures for the event. After the breakfast concluded, Jim at
Federation Toys really helped out again big time by allowing my kids
to “work” for him at the booth. It was pretty funny seeing my son
Tyler make deals and barter with people. He must have really been
paying attention to Jim, as I did not see one unsatisfied customer
walk away! After that Boba Binks and I decided to get dressed into
our armor the help add some atmosphere to the event. It was pretty
cool to see the modification that David made to his TK armor. The ab-plate,
knee plate and dirt scheme all turned out quite well, and I’m very
proud to have a third staff member ready for battle! After saying
farewell to Mr. And Mrs. Newell, we walked around for a bit and
explored some good photo ops. I managed to get my infamous first run
Sandtrooper t-shirt signed by Mercedes Ngoh as well as my Jabba the
Hutt 3-pack that already had one signature on it. Now the hunt for
the Greeata has begun as I’m going for the triple-sign. We also had
another pleasant surprise in the form of Star Wars artist Dave
Dorman. I managed to snap a quick photo of him and a print of Darth
Vader vs. Batman, that really blew me away. There were several other
prints of the caped crusader that were simply amazing as well. There
were a few Star Wars prints of Kir Kanos and Boba Fett that really
had me thinking about running upstairs to retrieve my wallet where
my plain-clothes were stashed.
If
the weekend couldn’t be any more complete, David and I were asked to
be a part of a wedding ceremony that was taking place. The groom,
Shane Hubbs, was going to be dressed, as Darth Vader and he wanted
two Troops to stand in during the ceremony. As I have never been
asked to do a wedding the entire thing was so surreal. We had a
brief instruction and around one o’clock the festivities began. Many
of the guests actually came down to the ceremony and I couldn’t help
but think how many people can say they had Lurch at their wedding? I
must say I’ve been in a couple weddings, and attended many but the
couple as crazy as the wedding might sound; the bride and groom were
very sincere and happy. Mr. and Mrs. Hubbs were announced and we led
Lord Vader and his bride out of the room, only for them to go right
back in for pictures!
Would
I get married at a convention? No. Would my wife let me have a Star
Wars wedding? Hell no. However it’s not the first one I heard of and
it was an honor to stand in and be a part of the wedding. We got out
of costume shortly afterwards and hung out with some of the guests.
Learning about how the reconstructed the set of Jabba’s palace 20
years after the movie was made for the dance scene from Mercedes was
very interesting. Also hearing of Carel Struycken being in the Ewok
TV movie was pretty cool as well. I didn’t know he was in that,
seeing the costume and hearing him say it was the only role he’d
ever been “king” was pretty funny too. As the show wrapped up, we
headed over to Rocky Vanders for a well-deserved drink and some
relaxation. Once again the food was far better than the venue last
year, and it was really nice to have dinner with Karen from the
foundation. The endless gratitude she expressed for our time and
efforts was humbling. After holding back tears of my own we enjoyed
a great dinner and even a few cocktails to help everyone wind down
from what was in my mind, one hell of a day! If you do not go out to
smaller shows, I highly recommend you do for at least one day. The
cost isn’t near what a larger con is and you can have just as good
if not better time. The fact you can talk to the guests and not the
need to “move along” because of a long line. I’d like to thank Paul
and Dianne from the CECE, Jim from Federation Toys and everyone else
who took the time to come out and make this experience a good one
for all. We look forward to next year and hope everyone who couldn’t
come out this year will make it the next! United We Find.
PHOTO GALLERY To see the photo gallery
containing 30 photos click
here.
EXTRA
COVERAGE
Check out day 1 coverage
here and Boba Binks' bonus coverage
here.
The
morning started out rather slow for me, as many know I’m a creature
of the night and not so much of a morning person. I set out with my
family for the third annual charity breakfast held at the Expo. Upon
arrival I was very happy to see fellow staffers Boba Binks and Jedi
Scholar who was accompanied by his wife. We really got a dose of “if
it isn’t one thing it’s another” with the amount of space we had for
the breakfast. While we didn’t have all the real estate of last
year, everyone settled in to the snug environment. Another
interesting aspect of the breakfast is you never know whom you will
be seated with. In our case we had Dean Mitchell and Karen Lynn
Gorney from Saturday Night Fever fame. I never thought I’d be having
breakfast next to the lady who showed Travolta how to make his
moneymaker! Although it was a little crowded the food was much
better vs. the menu last year, and all you can eat which I made sure
to get my fill. It was good to see another great turnout for this,
as the charity was going to go to the Sturge-Weber Foundation. As a
parent who has a child with Sturge-Weber, I know how hard it is
personally and every little bit helps.
It’s
been several years since we have assisted the this cause in any way
here at Sandtroopers, so it was time to give back only this time we
had no Imperial Shuttle! Karen Ball who runs the Foundation gave a
short speech near the end of the meal and thanked everyone for
coming out. The next big surprise came during the raffle. The second
prize was a Disney Star Wars print that to my happiness was awarded
to a young boy. It’s good to see the love passed from generation to
generation. I nearly fell out of my chair when the winner of the F/X
Luke Skywalker RotJ saber was announced. Paul once again looked
literally shocked as he cried “Caleb Spice”! My youngest son was the
recipient of the grand prize but since he had just used his birthday
cash and chore money to buy a Darth Vader. I asked Caleb “Do you
know what you should do with that”? To which he immediately replied
“Give it to my brother”. I couldn’t have been any more proud of my
son. He was learning the Sandtrooper way of selflessness and
kindness. I would have let him keep it if he wished but the fact he
knew he was giving it to his brother really impressed me. They are
really growing up fast.
I
caught up to my wife who was having a moment with Karen Ball after
years of waiting to meet each other; they shared a hug and a
heart-felt cry. After reminding them we should all be happy, they
did their best to wipe away the tears for a couple of people who
needed pictures for the event. After the breakfast concluded, Jim at
Federation Toys really helped out again big time by allowing my kids
to “work” for him at the booth. It was pretty funny seeing my son
Tyler make deals and barter with people. He must have really been
paying attention to Jim, as I did not see one unsatisfied customer
walk away! After that Boba Binks and I decided to get dressed into
our armor the help add some atmosphere to the event. It was pretty
cool to see the modification that David made to his TK armor. The ab-plate,
knee plate and dirt scheme all turned out quite well, and I’m very
proud to have a third staff member ready for battle! After saying
farewell to Mr. And Mrs. Newell, we walked around for a bit and
explored some good photo ops. I managed to get my infamous first run
Sandtrooper t-shirt signed by Mercedes Ngoh as well as my Jabba the
Hutt 3-pack that already had one signature on it. Now the hunt for
the Greeata has begun as I’m going for the triple-sign. We also had
another pleasant surprise in the form of Star Wars artist Dave
Dorman. I managed to snap a quick photo of him and a print of Darth
Vader vs. Batman, that really blew me away. There were several other
prints of the caped crusader that were simply amazing as well. There
were a few Star Wars prints of Kir Kanos and Boba Fett that really
had me thinking about running upstairs to retrieve my wallet where
my plain-clothes were stashed.
If
the weekend couldn’t be any more complete, David and I were asked to
be a part of a wedding ceremony that was taking place. The groom,
Shane Hubbs, was going to be dressed, as Darth Vader and he wanted
two Troops to stand in during the ceremony. As I have never been
asked to do a wedding the entire thing was so surreal. We had a
brief instruction and around one o’clock the festivities began. Many
of the guests actually came down to the ceremony and I couldn’t help
but think how many people can say they had Lurch at their wedding? I
must say I’ve been in a couple weddings, and attended many but the
couple as crazy as the wedding might sound; the bride and groom were
very sincere and happy. Mr. and Mrs. Hubbs were announced and we led
Lord Vader and his bride out of the room, only for them to go right
back in for pictures!
Would
I get married at a convention? No. Would my wife let me have a Star
Wars wedding? Hell no. However it’s not the first one I heard of and
it was an honor to stand in and be a part of the wedding. We got out
of costume shortly afterwards and hung out with some of the guests.
Learning about how the reconstructed the set of Jabba’s palace 20
years after the movie was made for the dance scene from Mercedes was
very interesting. Also hearing of Carel Struycken being in the Ewok
TV movie was pretty cool as well. I didn’t know he was in that,
seeing the costume and hearing him say it was the only role he’d
ever been “king” was pretty funny too. As the show wrapped up, we
headed over to Rocky Vanders for a well-deserved drink and some
relaxation. Once again the food was far better than the venue last
year, and it was really nice to have dinner with Karen from the
foundation. The endless gratitude she expressed for our time and
efforts was humbling. After holding back tears of my own we enjoyed
a great dinner and even a few cocktails to help everyone wind down
from what was in my mind, one hell of a day! If you do not go out to
smaller shows, I highly recommend you do for at least one day. The
cost isn’t near what a larger con is and you can have just as good
if not better time. The fact you can talk to the guests and not the
need to “move along” because of a long line. I’d like to thank Paul
and Dianne from the CECE, Jim from Federation Toys and everyone else
who took the time to come out and make this experience a good one
for all. We look forward to next year and hope everyone who couldn’t
come out this year will make it the next! United We Find. 