WGN-TV Back-to-School Fair

NAVIGATION

RECENT MISSIONS

CODCON 2007

wgn-tv back-to-school fair
chicago, IL
august 11, 2006

INTRODUCTION

The summer will soon be over, and that means children will soon be heading back to school. With that in mind, WGN-TV sponsored their 5th annual Back-to-School Fair on Friday, August 11. The event took place on their property at WGN-TV Studios, 2501 W. Bradley Place in Chicago, and it lasted from 6:00 to 9:00am. I’ve never participated in this since I only joined the Midwest Garrison last November, so I didn’t know what to expect from this. I was informed, though, that the last few times the MWG participated in this they all had a great time. More importantly, it’s making sure the children have a great time.

WAKING UP AT 4:00AM

I was up until almost 1:00am on Friday morning, as I was making last minute repairs on my armor. Less than three hours later my alarm clock was buzzing with madness, screaming at me to get my can out of bed. I could hardly move. I couldn’t keep my eyes open for the life of me. This was going to be a brutal morning, that much I knew. I hopped in the shower, shaved, and put on a t-shirt and shorts. Had a little bit of food for breakfast, which only consisted of a granola bar. I loaded my car with all my gear, backpack and big gun, and prepared my launch for the WGN-TV studios in Chicago. It would only take less than an hour to get there, and there couldn’t be much traffic at the time of day. I left the house at 4:30.

ARRIVAL AT MY DESTINATION

I made it to the studio location in about 45 minutes, which was better than I was expecting. Actually, I thought there would have been almost no traffic on the highways, but there was quite a bit which I shocked to see. I don’t think there was a moment once I got on 88 where I was driving with no traffic around me.

Once I parked my car in the studio’s parking lot, I unloaded my gear and made my way toward the entrance. I entered the building, approached the security guard behind the counter, and stated who I was and who I was there to see. The gentlemen informed me that I needed to go outside to figure out where I needed to be. I went outside, and I was informed that I needed to go back inside the building to speak (again) with the security guard. I needed to further explain who I was there to see, and what room we were going to be placed in to change into our costumes.

Less than five minutes later Kim (the lady we were supposed to meet) walked into the lobby area, greeted me, and walked me to a large conference room where we would setup as our base of operations. It was a very large conference room with one wall entirely full of windows, and luckily there were drapes that were able to be pulled shut for privacy. That didn’t bother me a bit if there weren’t drapes, as I’ve gotten suited up most of the time near the back of my car in a parking lot.

Other members of our garrison started trickling in, as well as members from other groups (i.e. Chicago Force, etc). One of the snaps on my inner thigh piece popped off, but luckily Jerry (TK0084) had some Krazy Glue or some type of bonding material to fix that up real quick. Squirted some of that on there, held the snap down for a few minutes, and I was good to go. Ten minutes later I was suited up, and I snagged up my big gun to head outside.

FIRST ONE OUT THE DOOR

The other guys and girls were still getting ready, but I really didn’t want to hang out inside that conference room wearing my armor. So, I made my way toward the entrance doors so I could start having some fun. I walked out there with my assistant, Chris Baird (WGN-TV employee), who was going to hang out with me throughout the duration of the fair. We walked to the tent where we would be spending most of our time, but I informed Chris that I would be mingling with the guests because I can’t just stand in one place for an extended amount of time. Sandtroopers just don’t stand at attention. They patrol the area, question civilians, and make sure that everyone is loyal the Empire.

As soon I approached that tent I heard kids and parents’ reactions as they saw me. Many of them took their digital cameras and cell phones (with built-in cameras) out to take pictures of me. It was not even 6:00am and I must have had 15-20 photos already taken of me. It was going to be a long day for me, but a day that I was planning on having a lot of fun at.

BUSY DAY AHEAD OF US

The rest of our group finally made their way outside, and as soon as everyone saw Darth Vader I knew it was a good time to start patrolling the crowd. There wasn’t really anywhere in particular that I wanted to walk toward, but I knew that I wanted to start moving as I was itching to do something (instead of just standing around). Since there were kids and parents all over the place, I could have walked anywhere without being missed.

People kept running up to me to have pictures taken with me, kids wanted my autograph, and others were more interested in learning why I was dirty looking. When asked that my usual response was something like, “I just got off the battlefield and haven’t had time to clean up yet.” I had other responses, but I think the kids were more confused why I was dirty and the other troopers were so shiny clean and white. My response to that was always the same, “Those guys sit behind a desk on the Death Star and only work on the computers.”

Music started playing and I knew that I had to make my way toward that particular area. Once I arrived in that area I noticed it was a DJ supplying all the great music, and it was an opportune time to show my dancing talents (or lack thereof). I was dancing all over the place, and later noticed on TV (after I had my Tivo box record the three hour newscast) that I was on a few separate times when I was dancing. I even had a couple of the WGN anchors laughing out loud after they saw me dancing. I know I looked like a fool dancing, but I was having fun and I know the kids were having a blast seeing me dance to the music.

Some other things I was able to do there included the following petting a llama, snake and some kind of big lizard. I also had handcuffs put on my wrist by the Chicago police, but it was only for a picture and nothing more. I must have signed at least thirty autographs there, and I was shocked that I didn’t get any permanent marker on my armor since that’s primarily what I used to sign these kids’ notebooks.

A FUN DAY INDEED

The three hours that were spent there went by really fast. With all the dancing I had done, the autographs that I signed and the pictures that were taken of me, I was flat out exhausted and ready to go home for a nap. My foot felt good throughout the morning, but it was pretty sore later that afternoon. The pain was worth it though, because it’s such a great feeling know that we were there to make the kids happy and to make sure they have a great time there. When I know that those children enjoyed themselves there, that’s when I know my mission was a complete success.

Photo Galleries

Click on the links below to see the three different photo galleries.

video clips

Click on the thumbnail images below to see the different video clips. These are small in size and should play on almost anyone's computer (except Kathy's!). Please note that you must have Apple Quicktime installed on your computer in order to view these.