R2-D2 and I have had a very busy year! Here's a list of some of the things we did...
We
were invited to the Bangor Mall Cinema for the release of the STAR
WARS: The Phantom Menace in 3D. We raised money for Children's Miracle
Network.
We were the surprise guests for a family who lost everything to a house fire. The eldest son is a huge STAR WARS fan and R2-D2 crashed the fundraiser supper with donations from other R2 Builders to help get his STAR WARS collection back to a good start.
We visited the Pembroke Elementary School, which is way over by the Canadian border! It was quite the 2 hour jaunt to the eastern-most spot of Maine but we made many great new friends!
We made the news with our unique holographic message from Dustin Smiley to his family while having "Dinner with the Smileys". This surprise took a LOT of planning and we pulled it off! Senator Susan Collins' office helped me get in touch with Dustin Smiley and my co-worker Kiernan McMorrow was able to take his video message and craft it into a beautiful hologram for R2 to play. Getting a stable mounting for the small projector was a huge challenge and I was able to make it work!
R2 and I visited Lori Krupke's preschool, Kid's Corner in Bar Harbor. The kids were very excited to see us!
We were guest of the Adoptive and Foster Parents Group of Maine in Bucksport, where we took over Fort Knox....no..not that one!
We were guests of the Life Flight Foundation for the 2nd Annual Pediatric Reunion at the Owl's Head Transportation Museum
We had a lot of downtime from June til November. R2's frame was having a failure develop under one shoulder. Two years of busy travels had taken their toll on some modifications I had made. During that time, the newer frame for the second droid was grabbed up. It took some time to make everything built on the old frame fit in the newer one, but I got it done. I also made several changes I wanted to make.
On December 1st, Dustin Smiley made it home from his deployment overseas. We were asked to be part of the greeting party to meet him at the airport! It was amazing to see a military family re-united.
The following Friday, we had Dessert With Dustin, continuing the celebration of his homecoming with many of the guests who visited in his absence. Such as...Senator Susan Collins!
Our last big event was on December 14th, where we got to be a part of the grand opening of the Raish Peavey Haskell Children’s Cancer and Treatment Center in Brewer, Maine.
Mixed in there are a few patient visits we can not post pictures of, due to privacy issues.
Next posting....I'll be giving thanks to those, behind the scenes, that help ME make all this R2 Adventuring possible!
