Members of the Carolina Garrison and Brad Butler of the Blue Ridge Base – Rebel Legion, attending the 5th annual Holiday Elfstravaganza in Mt. Pleasant, SC. This local event is put on by Charleston-based learning toy store, Wonder Works. The store has multiple locations across the city and they organize two large events each year (a springtime event & this annual holiday event). I have to say, this one was a BLAST. The event was sponsored by the Town of Mount Pleasant, Belle Hall Shopping Center, Harris Teeter and Crayola. Local charities also hosted activity stations to raise money for their causes including Keys for Hope, Hugs for Harper, Samaritan’s Purse, and MUSC Children’s Hospital. This free, family-friendly event, helps to kick off the holiday season with countless free activities, holiday treats, and the hottest toys of the season. In typical Wonder Works fashion, every child in attendance left with a free toy (or more). From what I could tell, there were at least 4-5 toy companies on hand giving out toys such as: Shopkins, Ugliest Pet Shop, Star Wars BB-8 figures, Darth Vader face masks (with breathing effects) and Monsterz plush characters. Harris Teeter also provided free cookies, treats and drinks for everyone in attendance.
National toy companies and local inventors hosted toy testing with the hottest toys from Mattel, Crayola, Swurfer, Jelly Belly, Orb Factory, Schylling, Odyssey Toys, Toysmith, License 2 Play, and many more. Of course Elfstravaganza would not have been complete without an appearance from Santa’s favorite elf, Chippey. Chanda Bell, author of The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition also signed her new book, Elf Pets: A Reindeer Tradition, for Elfstravaganza guests.
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We all arrived around 7:30am to setup and get dressed in our rigs before the event kicked off at 9:00am. We setup a tab;e featuring lots of coloring pages, 501st legion info, trading cards & Brad Butler (RL) brought some of his personal lightsaber & blaster props for display. By the end of the event, I don’t think we had any of the flyer and coloring pages left.
We only took a few 5 minute breaks during the 5-hour event because there were so many attendees. The crowd was into the 1,000s. We all posed for hundreds of pictures and had conversations with countless enthusiastic fans (adults and children alike). The day even had a few heart-warming moments as we interacted with a few special needs children. I have to say, this event was a huge success and I will definitely be in attendance in years to follow. The event is so well organized and put together. We really enjoyed being part of it and all had so much fun. Especially since the weather was in the mid-50s.
This was also JP Morgan’s first official 501st Legion troop since becoming a member. You could see the smile on JP’s face the whole day. He is a great addition to the Garrison and he just kept going and going all day. I’d also like to send a big thanks to JP, Stuart and Brad for helping close down the event and break down the 501st booth since I had to leave 1.5 hours early due to a wedding I was in that day. I look forward to more troops like this. Everyone was in such great spirits the whole day.
Garrison Members in Attendance:
1. JP Morgan (TI-r)
2. Stuart Eaker (IG)
3. Jason Boyd (TD)
Rebel Legion in Attendance:
1. Brad Butler (X-Wing Pilot / Graveyard Squadron CO – Blue Ridge Base – Rebel Legion)
