Ghost Base - 2017/11/18 -Altoona, PA -Patched Together

[gplatzer (Gina Platzer)]

Event Name: Patched Together- The Patch Awakens
Date: November 18, 2017
Where: Altoona, PA

This was a really great event! The Healing Patch is Cambria Counties equivalent to Pittsburgh's The Caring Place. The Healing Patch did a fundraising event that was a Star Wars theme this year. There was live music, a kids room full of games and a basket bash. This was our first time doing something with The Healing Patch and I have a feeling it's not going to be the last.

When we arrived we were taken to our dressing area, they had curtained off an area for us to change. All the volunteers were absolutely amazing to us and constantly thanked us for being there. If we needed something, they jumped on it right away and took care of it. There was an area for the volunteers to eat (by our changing space) and it was filled with food and water, they allowed us to have anything we wanted. Once we suited up we went and mingled with the guests. As usual, we were a huge hit. We played in the kids area and took a ton of photos with the guests. Jim Platzer even decided to stand at the "shoot a trooper" (stormtrooper pictures were glued to toilet paper rolls) and allow the kids to shoot Nerf darts at him instead of the toilet paper roll troopers.

This event marked Tyler Hull's first official troop in a Rebel Legion costume! He finally saw the light and the best part was Josh Curry had his first troop as a 501st member. It was great watching them troop in new costumes and with a Legion they didn't belong to before.

One of the highlights was talking to a lot of people about what we do and possibly getting 2 new recruits from it. One for the Rebel Legion and one for the 501st. I have emailed our potential recruit with information on how to join and we hope to see her on the forums very soon!

Overall, this event is one for the books and we were able to get a lot of notice from an area of our region that we are trying to grow with members and events. Great job by all who came to support such a great cause!