The 36th Annual Pinellas Park Parade brought out about 30 members from the local 501st Legion. A 2.3 mile walk in full armor is more than taxing on your body but well worth it. Seeing the families reaction as we came walking down Park Blvd. was an astounding feeling and at times made you forget that you lost feeling in your legs long ago. We had a good respresentation of all Star Wars characters from Storm Troopers to Vader himself. We also had a competition show truck decorated with our banner. Awesome troop & I cannot wait until next year to do it again!
That Guy Brian (our local Vader) hosted a pre-parade BBQ for the troops. This was especially cool because it marked the first appearence of another member of ours, Shadow Scar (Robert) who had previously broken his leg in three places at another event November 2008. Shadow Scar's costume is of a Black Hole trooper, or Shadow Trooper which is basically an all black Storm Trooper. So...with plenty of time on my hands I found an action figure of his character, got some white athletic tape, Elmer's glue, and went to work on a special gift to show our appreciation for his dedication to trooping. That Guy Brain helped removing it from the package carefully so we could operate on the figure and return it to the package without notice. Below are the pictures of Robert and his new gift. He was still in his wheelchair at this event and his spirits were quite down due to his injury preventing him from being able to work. And to speak even further to Robert's love and dedication to trooping, he suited up in his costume sans the legs, got into his wheelchair, and strapped it into the back of the truck so he could do his part in the parade. Bravo Robert.
