May the Force be with you, Owen

From the Lake Oswego Review:

May the Force be with you, Owen
Star Wars wish is coming true for Lake Oswego boy
By Cliff Newell
The Lake Oswego Review, Jun 12, 2008

Matthew Ginny / Trillium Media Services

Lake Oswego’s Owen Miller takes on Darth Vader with his new light saber last week at Pioneer Place in Portland as part of the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s kick-off event in Oregon. In addition to the light saber, Owen also was given a full Stormtrooper uniform. The Miller family soon will depart to Disney World in Florida for a special Star Wars vacation. The Star Wars characters are from Cloud City Garrison, a local chapter of the 501st Legion of Stormtroopers.

Owen Miller is getting some re-enforcements in his brave battle for life – the Star Wars Stormtroopers.

Last Tuesday, the 6-year-old Lake Oswego boy was totally unaware of why he was standing at Pioneer Square in Portland, along with his parents Rich and Lisa Miller and his 2 ½-year-old sister Sela.

Then a MAX train pulled up, the doors opened, and out poured steam and smoke while the Darth Vader theme from Star Wars played. Out bounded Darth Vader and his Star Wars Stormtroopers, to shake Owen’s hand and present him his new Stormtrooper costume, because his old one was almost totally worn out from him wearing it several times a week; plus a light saber, with which he got to duel with Darth Vader, as cameras clicked.

Truly, the Force was with Owen.

“It made Owen feel very special,” Rich said. “It went above and beyond anything we expected. It was something extra special for our whole family.”

This whole operation was called “Destination Joy,” and it was just the beginning of what Owen will experience for being a recipient of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. It was the kickoff event for Make-A-Wish in Oregon, and while it was quite special in and of itself, Owen’s Star Wars wish will really be fulfilled June 18 to 23 when the Miller family will travel to Disney World in Florida for the Star Wars Weekend.

“Make-A-Wish asked Owen what would be best and most appropriate, and the trip to Disney World worked best,” Rich said. “It will be great for our family to have this time together, especially with everything that has happened the last few months.”

It was last September that young Owen was diagnosed with Wilm’s Tumor, a cancerous condition, and the idea of contacting Make-A-Wish came up soon after Owen had to be taken to the hospital.

“We knew about Make-A-Wish, but we didn’t know much about it,” Rich said. “We knew they did good work, but we didn’t know anyone who had been granted a wish. Our oncologist and Emmanuel Hospital told us we should get in touch with them and that started the process.

“We were not sure that Owen would be chosen. Only about half of the people who apply get their wishes granted.”

Coming up with an idea was no problem.

“Just about every 6 ½-year-old boy I know is obsessed with Star Wars,” Rich said.

But a lot of hard work and effort went into making Owen’s wish come true. One of the people most responsible was Marlene MacEwan of Lake Oswego, who has long been a liaison with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“It helped so much to have someone here like Marlene, who could talk to Owen and who would work so hard to make sure he received his wish,” Miller said. “For a kid like Owen and a family like ours, who have had so much control of our lives taken away, this is something great, something for our whole family.”

For the Miller family, Owen’s condition made life not just a matter of day to day, but hour to hour.

“To be so focused on the present is tiring,” Rich admitted. “This is something we’ve been looking forward to for months through the whole process. It’s like a carrot on a stick. We thought, ‘There’s something good up ahead.’ It was a constant incentive for us. To have something on the horizon that was super fun was very meaningful.”

When Owen and his family get to Florida they will be greeted by people from the movie, parades, special events, and, of course, more Star Wars Stormtroopers.

While Owen knew that the trip to Florida was coming, he did not know what to expect at Pioneer Square, and his parents only knew “a teeny bit.” But Owen had been chosen by the Oregon chapter of Make-A-Wish as the state representative for the national Destination Joy campaign. Just one child is picked in each state.

But if anyone is deserving of Star Wars treatment, it is Owen Miller.

For more information about the Make-A-Wish Foundation, visit the Web site www.orwish.org or call 800-934-WISH.

Full article

TK 9066 Makes Local Paper

TK-9055 and the Cloud City Garrison made their local paper, the Spotlight Living:

Bad guy.....good work
Scappoose resident David Hamm lives out his childhood fantasy appearing at fundraisers and social events dressed in movie-authentic bad guy "Star Wars" costumes

By Gini Bramlett


David Hamm and fellow storm troopers take prisoners at OMSI last year during the "Star Wars" exhibit.

As an impressionable 10-year-old boy, Scappoose resident David Hamm watched his first “Star Wars” adventure in wide-eyed wonder on the big screen. Now, 30 years later, Hamm, a husband and a father of three young sons, is living every “Star Wars” fan’s fantasy.
Hamm is a member of the 501st Legion, a worldwide “Star Wars” costuming organization made up of and organized by “Star Wars” fans who get a kick out of dressing up like their favorite characters. Although getting together in screen-accurate costumes and sharing a love of the ‘70s-genre science fiction movies sounds like a great escape from reality for the child in all of us, the true purpose of the group is nobler than that.

The organization, which consists of more than 3,300 volunteers in 40 countries, was founded in 1997 as a forum for “Star Wars” enthusiasts to have a collective identity and to celebrate the films through wearing authentic costumes. But, most importantly, the volunteers contribute to the local community through charity and volunteer work. “It exists solely for the charity aspects of it,” said Hamm, who is down-to-earth and works as a graphics designer in Lake Oswego.
The Portland and Southwest Washington chapter of the 501st Legion, of which Hamm is a member, is the “Cloud City Garrison,” portraying the villains of the “Star Wars” universe. Volunteers appear at various charity events, social functions and fundraisers, such as the Starlight Parade, Race for the Cure, March of Dimes, Toys for Tots and many other local charitable causes. They also visit Doernbecher Children’s Hospital twice a year. Cruising up and down the hallways with kids in wheelchairs, the costumed storm troopers, with weapons in hand, visit bedridden kids in their hospital rooms. “The thing that surprised me the most is to see the parents balling their eyes out because they haven’t seen that much life in their kids for a long time,” said Hamm. “It’s a good thing I have a helmet on because I’m crying, too. It’s just worth it when you can make a difference. It brings the world of ‘Star Wars’ to life.”

Hamm became interested in the organization when he took his three young sons to a “Star Wars” exhibit at OMSI last year. “It was an absolute blast,” said Hamm. “The kids had eyes this big. It was a day I’ll never forget. I joined right away.”
Although Hamm isn’t as obsessive as some of his fellow group members who have rooms full of “Star Wars” memorabilia, he does have three empire costumes that he’s built with kits obtained through a special Web site. He doesn’t have “Star Wars” figurines or spaceships and doesn’t collect posters or own any signed photographs. He does it for the enjoyment he gets out of it. “I just love the looks in the kids’ eyes,” said Hamm. “I totally live it through them.”

Hamm is presently working on building his fourth costume, a relatively unusual sand trooper costume. In addition to his storm trooper costume, he has an imperial gunner costume and a black hole trooper costume. The costumes are usually made of ABS plastic, vinyl or fiberglass and have all the bells and whistles you would expect to see in the real thing. A flick of the wrist activates a built-in fan in the helmets or the voice activator.
The detailed costumes are costly. Hamm paid $650 for the kit to build his storm trooper costume and that was because of a deal he found on eBay. “The guys say to stay away from eBay but I got lucky,” said Hamm. “It was a real good deal.” Hamm says costumes can cost thousands of dollars, citing a price tag of $3-4,000 for a Darth Vader costume.

Hamm’s also built life-like weapons out of material scavenged from around the house. He even confiscated one of his kid’s toys, modified it and painted it to look real. Before the costumes can be worn in public, a photograph of the completed costume has to be sent to the 501st Legion to be approved.

Professionals from all walks of life participate in the group, including police officers, teachers, and others in public service. “It’s a real draw for people to be involved,” said Hamm.

Last year, Hamm showed up at Family Fun Night at Otto Petersen Elementary School to the delight of parents and kids. “It’s guaranteed they broke out the toys when they got home,” said Hamm.

For more information, visit www.501st.com or www.cloudcitygarrison.com

501st on Film

3 videos this past week with the members of the 501st, all pretty good ones:

THE GAMER LIFE meets THE 501st Cloud City Garrison

501st Recruitment & PR Troop

501 Italica Garrison - The Return of Vader Fist -