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'Star Wars' stormtroopers to invade TPI's home next month

2006-12-15

By Robert Niles: The one non-theme-park event I cover every year is the Rose Parade. (Hey, when you live in Pasadena, California, three blocks from the parade route, it's hard to avoid....) Actually, there's usually a theme park angle to the event, as Disney's been fielding floats for the past several years. But this year's event promises to be so over-the-top, spectacularly cheesy, that I'm getting hungry for it just typing this post.

The grand marshal for this year's parade will be George Lucas. Usually, the grand marshal rides with his/her family in some rose-draped classic car and that's it. But not George. Nope, Lucas is bringing not one, but two "Star Wars"-themed floats and, for the pièce de résistance, two hundred stormtroopers.

Even better, the troopers will be a select group of Star Wars fans, picked from among the many who have bought their own stormtrooper outfits to portray the characters at various Star Wars and science fiction conventions and other events.

It's gonna be a full-on Star Wars geek fest. Walking down my street. You gotta love this town....

Check our Rose Parade page for coverage and photos of past parades. I'll update with photos of this year's floats, under construction, a day or two before the parade.

Readers' Opinions

From Mark Walker on December 16, 2006 at 3:41 AM
Lucky you Robert...

Hope you enjoy it!

From Robert Niles on December 16, 2006 at 2:40 PM
The remaining 10-year-old buried deep in my subconscious thinks this could be the greatest thing I've ever seen. My conscious mind, however, reels at the absurdity of the whole thing. I am as looking foward to seeing how my brain processes this as I am to the actual parade this year....
From Betty Rohrer on December 17, 2006 at 7:53 PM
Robert, you are getting to do the one thing I miss since moving to Pa. here w can't get the local LA tv stations. I loved going as a child and I still miss going. I wish my adult daugters could go once. Have a great time this year and keep te rain away.

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