May 7, 2016
Location:
Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Durham, NC
Description of Event (Please share as much info as you can):
The event was the Bulls' yearly Star Wars night. The theme this year was "A Tribute to Han Solo".
This is a big event for us (and the Bulls) every year. This year's game was a sold-out crowd, and you could tell because the place was packed! Everywhere we went, we got mobbed for photos. I'm glad the Bulls assigned us several staff members to corral the crowd and get us from place to place, because we definitely needed the extra help.
Many of our troopers (and some of those Rebel scum!) participated in a lot of different events throughout the game. The officers got to hang back in our photo area every time Vader and the Stormtroopers went off for an on-field appearance. That part was nice.
Due to the "Han Solo" theme for the evening we hardly got to see Princess Leia and Chewbacca, but they were able to rejoin us for fan photos late in the game. It was funny to watch Chewie upstage Vader in photo popularity once we got those two fan favorites in the same place together.
Congrats to Tim for his first official troop in armor! Tim has served as a handler before, but this is the first time he's taken that shiny new Anovos armor out for a spin. His armor bin is very clean and devoid of stickers, so we're going to have to change that.
Special thanks to Jane for serving double duty as trooper and photographer! Many of the photos below are ones she took. For more photos from the evening, look up Star Lady Photography on Facebook.
Did this event support a charity? If yes, which charity?:
Autism Society of North Carolina
Event Length (Hours):
Call time at 3:00 PM. We went out around 4:00 PM and the game started just after 5:00. We suited down at the top of the 8th, which was about 7:30 PM. 3.5 hours total trooping time.
Indirect Funds Raised (Total money raised by event):
The Bulls auctioned off their game-worn Han Solo-themed jerseys to benefit the Autism Society of NC. Total donation amount pending.
Carolina Garrison Members in Attendance:
1. Shanda M - TK
2. Kat- Officer
3. Seth- TK
4. Scott W - Vader
5. Brandon H - Officer
6. Dan - TD
7. Drew - First Order TK
8. Ernie - Boba Fett
9. Carolyn - Officer
10. Tim J - TK
Handlers:
1. George Rochelle
Crossover Attendees from the Rebel Legion / R2 Builders Club / Mando Mercs:
1. Liz W - Rey
2. Sandie - Leia
3. Chad - Obi Wan/Poe
4. Jane - Luke ROTJ
5. Ryan - Chewbacca
Check out some of the event photos below:
Managed to get a buckets off shot during one of our breaks. Not present are Sandie and Ryan, as they were hanging out with Wool E. Solo at the time.
We couldn't do this without our handlers. Well, some of us might be able to...but Drew would still be halfway in his armor waiting for someone to squish his bucket onto his head.
Hanging out in the changing area. Thankfully we had a big space so we weren't all on top of one another.
"Kylo Ren was here"? The office space that served as our changing area was due for renovation. The Durham PD had recently used the space for some tactical drills, so some of the back offices were pretty messed up.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, I don't know where your droids went."
Before the game, we stood outside the stadium to welcome fans and take lots of pictures.
A sold out game meant there were a LOT of fans.
FN-2199 got in some sparring practice with his boss.
Resistance scum!! Where is the map to Luke Skywalker? I know you've seen it!
Post-troop dinner at Mellow Mushroom.
