On Sunday, September 11th, the New England Garrison of the 501st Legion, and Alderaan Base of the Rebel Legion were invited to join the American Red Cross for a blood drive. This was no ordinary blood drive; this blood drive took place at historic Fenway Park in Boston, MA; the home of the Boston Red Sox. Darth Vader, with one of his most trusted Stormtroopers was joined by a pair of X-wing pilots to roam around the park. Inside the stadium, there were 4 different donation stations set up. The troops from both legions wandered around the park, visiting all the different donor areas, entertaining volunteers and donors alike. Many pictures were taken, including some with a pair of World Series trophies! Over 2000 people came through the doors and the American Red Cross was able to collect 1800 units of life saving blood! Although none of the troops donated blood, they were honored to help support a special cause in a special place on a special day.

On Saturday, August 6th, the New England Garrison teamed up with the Lowell Spinners, the Class A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox for Star Wars Day at LeLacheur Park in Lowell, MA.  The Spinners all wore specially created jerseys that resembled Stormtrooper armor.  After the game, the jerseys were auctioned off to benefit the Joann Weber Charitable Fund.

The weather was overcast and extremely muggy making it feel a bit like Dagobah but the Spinners staff did an amazing job making sure the troops were well cared for, rested and hydrated.  The sell out crowd loved seing Lord Vader and his troops once again as the Sith Lord threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

In addition to the first pitch and signing autographs for the fans, troops took part in on field activites through the first few innings of the game and visited fans throughout the ballpark.  A pesky Jawa was even spotted hanging out of the windows of one of the private suites waving to the fans.

Thanks to Jon Boswell and the Lowell Spinners for a great day at the ballpark!

On July 16th 2011, the New England Garrison (NEG) were guests of T.C. Restani, an internet-TV host who gives improvisational interviews as a “Late night talk show” parody . The NEG was inducted to T.C. Restani’s Hall of Fame, and were recognized for their contributions to charity and love of Star Wars. The NEG is quite honored to join in the good humour of the evening, and share a little about the 501st. Since the show is extemporaneous, we never know what will happen when we come on set. Like the prior appearances, we had a fun, memorable evening with T.C. Restani, and his cast and crew. A special thank you to all members who assisted in representing the NEG: Erich Shaeffer, Jake Kingsbury, Krista Carmichael, Sean Carmichael and Steve Cornell. T.C. Restani and NEG appearances may be found at the website:

http://www.afterhourstc.com/

On April 9th, 2011, two members of the New England Garrison and Alderaan Base, Gordon Gravelese (RC 5306) and Heather Arnold (TB 4191) had their wedding. Of course, the NEG and AB had to make its impact. Members of the garrison and base who were regularly attending the wedding were asked to bring their kit with them to help make the reception something special for the bride and groom.

The newly married couple wanted to share their love of Star Wars and costuming, so 15 costumed members were asked to escort the bridal party into the reception. Jedi’s kept the parents of the bride and groom safe. Imperials were on hand to keep the ushers, bridesmaids and groomsmen in line. Darth Vader, with 2 of his best Stormtroopers, were present to help introduce the bride and groom. The presence of the rebels and imperials helped kick off the reception, and make the night a memorable one for everyone involved.

Since the Groom is one of the NEG’s Jango Fetts, the Bride even surprised him with his own Groom’s Cake

To thank all those who helped out, a $500 donation was made in the name of Alderaan Base and the New England Garrison to the Aleppo Shriners Hospital Transportation Fund.

This is an annual event organized by the Red Cross on the anniversary of ‘9/11′. The need for blood is always great but it is tragic events like the attacks on that day that bring the need into focus. Hundreds of people showed up to support the Red Cross and to remember those who lost their lives that day. It was a great honor to be a part of this event and to bring a few smiles to the attendees while we were there.

An album of event photos can be viewed here:
http://www.501neg.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=1261

On Saturday, July 31st, the New England Garrison and Alderaan base teamed up with the Lowell Spinners, the Class A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox for Star Wars Day at LeLacheur Park in Lowell, MA.  Special Star Wars themed jerseys were once again worn by the players on the field to be auctioned off after the game to benefit the Joann Weber Charitable Fund.

The weather was beautiful for a ball game (and for trooping) and the park was once again sold out.  The New England Garrison was led by Darth Vader as he teamed up with Chewbacca to throw out the ceremonial first pitch to Red Sox pitching prospects Keith Couch and Tyler Lockwood. 

In addition to signing autographs and posing for pictures, members of the NEG and Alderaan Base participated in events throughout the day such as judging a grinder eating competition, running the bases with the Canaligator, dancing to the Chicken Dance and tossing t-shirts to eager fans from the top of the Mystery Machine.  Thank you to Jon Boswell from the Lowell Spinners for all the work he put in to making this day possible.  Thanks as well to all the members and fans who made the event a great success!

On June 2nd, 2010, members of the 501st New England Garrison and Alderaan Base of the Rebel Legion participated in a Make-A-Wish send-off for Ayden Beisaw, a seven year old from Wilton, ME who received a Make a Wish party like no other.  Ayden’s wish included a trip to Star Wars Weekends at Walt Disney World. 

Ayden was not expecting the Stormtroopers and Biker Scouts, led by a TIE pilot to burst into the room, searching for the Rebel scum that had infiltrated the party.  After cornering Han Solo, the troops were “convinced” by the presence of Chewbacca to delay capturing the Rebels, and form a truce during Ayden’s special day.  This was a case where it was best to let the wookiee win!  After presenting Ayden with his Honorary Member certificate and bi-legional jersey the Rebels escaped and the Imperials took off in hot pursuit. 

Thanks to Make-A-Wish, the New England Garrison, and Alderaan Base for making Ayden’s day such a fantastic event!

We’d like to thank Portland Maine’s CBS affiliate, WGME 13 for their great story and video on the day’s event:

http://www.wgme.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wgme_vid_3827.shtml

Please come and join the 501st Legion, New England Garrison as we host our “Trooping for the Trooper”blood drive, in honor of blood recipient Mike Josti. Stop by to donate blood and you can get your picture taken with a member of the local Star Wars costuming group, the New England Garrison!  For more information about this event, call the donation center at 1-800-RED-CROSS or go online and visit www.redcrossblood.org.

 NEG member Bob Josti (TK 1839) has a brother (Mike Josti) who, while playing outside with his family, suddenly fell extremely ill and was rushed to the hospital. As doctors worked to find out what was going on they noticed that Mike was loosing blood, a lot of it, somewhere inside of his body. The doctors believe that he suffered a spleenic aneurysm and over the course of the emergency surgery that was required to save his life Mike had to be given 40 units of blood.  Mike Josti is a married father of two and serves his community as both a Massachusetts State Trooper (the source of the “Trooper” in the theme) as well as a volunteer Fire Fighter in his town.  Bob, along with his wife Paige (TX 8606) and the support of fellow NEG members, have organized a blood drive/community event to be held on June 19th, 2010 in Shrewsbury, MA.  Please come out in support of this very worthy cause!

On Sunday, April 25th, the New England Garrison attended the Paw Sox Star Wars Day in Pawtucket Rhode Island, raising money for charity and posing for pictures with fans. By way of the Star Wars photo opportunities, the groups raised $682 for the PawSox Charitable Foundation.
The weather held out for the day, and the 501st Legion was well represented with eighteen members, ranging from Clone Commanders to Stormtroopers and from Pilots to Officers. The NEG appeared along with their regional sister groups Alderaan and Kamino bases, representing the good guys, while members of the Connecticut Garrison likewise turned out for the day to troop alongside the New England members.

In addition to signing autographs and posing for pictures, members of the garrison participated in events throughout the day, going down onto the field and running the bases, helping shoot a promotional video in the days leading up to the event and capped off their appearance with Darth Vader throwing out the first pitch. The event was an overwhelmingly positive one for both the Paw Sox and the 501st New England Garrison, and we hope to be out and about on the field with them again in the future.