Fun With the 501st In Gallatin

Well, Saturday's parade went off without a hitch. Casey and I found our way there, met up with everyone, and got THE plan. We first went to this park parking lot, where everyone could suit up. It was here that we started to organize the lineup, and were assigned our tasks. The actual filmer was running late, so at first, it looked like Casey would be the actual photographer. Luckily, our guy made it in the nick of time. After everyone was ready, it was time to head to the actual parade line up. They had a truck with a big trailer to ferry everyone over. The day was so brisk, that a group of us decided we would just walk there. We didn't realize that the walk would take us about 30 minutes!! We were well warmed up, by the time we got to the parade lineup. The guy that was dressed in the true to scale Chewbacca costume walked all that way in stilts!! As we were approaching the lineup, all of the people on floats started to cheer us. Talk about stopping traffic. Our group of 73 had no problem getting traffic to stop to cross the street!! Everyone was quite taken with Chewbacca and our remote control replica of R2D2.

The parade lineup was so long, that it took our part of the line a while to start moving. Oh man, but once we did, it was SO MUCH FUN!! The kids and adults went absolutely crazy, when they saw us coming. Chewbacca and R2 were definitely the stars!! We had a decorated pickup truck following us that played Star Wars music. Every so often, the soundtrack would play: Emperor to Anakin: "Every Jedi is now an enemy of the Republic. Do what must be done, spare no one, show no mercy." At that time, the Clone Troopers would surround the Jedi, and a lightsaber battle between Anakin and the Jedi would begin. We had people stopping us for pictures and to record us. Casey and I were really busy handing out candy to all of the kids and keeping everybody's costume on. It took A LOT more energy than I had imagined.

After the parade, and once we had recovered, it was time for the Christmas dinner. Our dinner was at Shady Cove Marina. It was a wonderful buffet of primer rib, pork, baked chicken, steak tips, ribeye, catfish, green beans, roasted potatoes, macoroni and cheese, and other great stuff. Needless to say, we ate our fill. We all had a great time visiting and watching the award presentations. After the dinner, we were all going bowling, but Casey and I were beat. Since we weren't staying overnight we decided to head back home, while we were still awake. We got in just before midnight. We had a GREAT time! I've got some pictures posted below. To see my whole album click HERE. Thanks to the 501st for inviting us!

Getting ready.....

In the lineup.

501st Group Photo

Faces revealed.