This was the 21st Annual Town of Mount Pleasant Christmas Light Parade. This event was held at night offering a unique opportunity to light up our float and march in a nightime Christmas Parade.
Initially, we were just going to through together a small float on a 20 foot trailer. However, this grew to something much larger. As we started to work on the design and construction of the float, we decided we needed more space and used a 40 foot tractor trailer. Many hours and days were spent on the design of this thing and getting all of the necessary supplies. Many people contributed time, money, supplies, materials, etc…
By the time we were finished, we had a spectacular float. It was a made up scene on Endor with an AT-ST and Tie-Fighter as the main pieces. There are plenty of pictures below.
Once the parade began, we were accompanied by a 9-minute collage of Star Wars music, including the Imperial March, the opening theme song and 2 others. You could here the music about 0.25 milers prior to us getting to your location. We had a flag bearer leading the parade, with Kylo Ren at the point. Afterwhich, we had Stormtroopers lined up by rank (Orange Pauldrons, followed by Black Pauldrons, etc…). We had Scouttroopers (Biker Scouts), Shadowtroopers, jedi, rebels, X-Wing Pilot, AT-ST driver, leia, etc…. in the parade. The float itself followed the procession with R2-D2 at the helm and Leia waving to everyone and a full size Ewok playing the helmet drums. I could go on and on, but you will have to see the pictures below to get the full effect.
As of the date of this mission report, we have won the Community Float Competition and the Peoples Choice Award along with a cash prize which we are donating to Make-A-Wish. As we walked, everyone cheered and may high fives were given. The crowd was 3 to 5 rows thick for 2.5 miles. It was an awesome experience and we had great weather.
We will be repeating this event next year and the Town of MP will be expecting an even better float and more Star Wars Characters. I strongly encourage everyone in our Garrison to attend this next year. Maybe we will build an AT-AT for this next one. You never know.
Approximately 15,000 people attended.
Carolina Garrison Members in Attendance:
1. Shawn Cantey (Heavy Weapons Trooper)
2. Taylor Seay (Biker Scout)
3. Genna Bain (Kylo Ren)
5. Stuart Eaker (ESB TK)
6. Rusty Meyer (ESB TK)
7. Chris Gould (Biker Scout)
8. Jason Boyd (Sandtrooper)
9. Conrad Stayton (ESB TK)
10. Brian Storey (AT-ST Driver)
11. Jeff Lewis (ANH TK Stunt)
12. Ryan McGee (ANH TK)
13. Frankie Gore (Tie Pilot Reserve)
14. Marc Sinclair (ESB TK)
15. Ryder Cantey (Kid Scout Trooper – Galactic Academy)
16. Andrew Wendt (Shadow Trooper)
17. Chris Prestero (Shadow Trooper)
Handlers:
1. Amy Cantey (Hand out Candy)
2. Brooklyn Cantey (Hand Out Candy)
3. Delaney Cantey (Rey – Hand out Candy)
Crossover Attendees from the Rebel Legion / R2 Builders Club
1. Caroline Boyd (Endor Leia – Rebel Legion / Blue Ridge Base)
2. Chad Varn (Jedi – Rebel Legion / Blue Ridge Base)
3. Brad Butler (X-Wing Pilot – Rebel Legion / Blue Ridge Base)
4. Edward Reed (R2-D2 – R2 Builders Club)
