I was the Hudson Valley Squad leader for a number of years when I was with the Empire City Garrison.
What I learned was:
-The squad brought more unity to the area amongst the members in the area.
-As the event coordinator, I knew the area and took some of the work off of the Garrison Event coordinator’s plate.
-I became good friends with a lot of people in the community since I was their point of contact for their yearly events.
-We had our own patches and t-shirts!
-I also maintained my own supplies for events. Table runners, Banners, etc…
-No issues with characters. Anyone could sign up. I would run the yearly event at the local baseball stadium with about 20-30 characters. I loved it when I had multiple Vaders. I would create costume teams A, B, and C. Since the event was in August, I would set up four tents and rotate the costumed teams out. This way, I always had a Vader out, and the person under the mask was not passing out from the heat. We also would have a table display and TK’s throughout the park guarding exits, etc… We raised a good amount for charity.
-Gerrit
