Yes, May the Fourth has come and gone, but I wanted to share how I celebrated this unofficial/official holiday!
Jump to last year with all the shut downs and shelter in place, members of the Golden Gate Garrison could not troop in person. But, we were invited to attend virtual events via Zoom. Usually I am fortunate enough to attend one troop let alone multiple troops, but last year’s May the Fourth allowed me to participate in two Zoom virtual troops and with the shut downs, the garrison would post video or photo style troops for troopers to suit up in costume and either take a photo or record a video doing everyday things around the house, passing a patch or coin, and holding up a sign with a specific message on it. I was able to knock out two virtual photo or video troops along with the two zoom troops on that day! I was literally in my shadow scout costume all day jumping on a Zoom call in the morning for a Star Wars story time and then have lunch, take a photo of me making lunch in costume, participating in a Zoom call at a library with a Question and Answer section with the troopers asking and answering Star Wars trivia and lastly, taking out the trash in costume in the mid afternoon!
Four troops in one day!
To be honest though, I can only do one troop a day because putting on the armor, trooping for a few hours interacting with attendees then undressing out of armor, leaves me fully spent from engaging in costume even though most of my costumes are fully helmeted! I told myself though after the four troops virtually, I would only do two max troops in one day!
Fast forward to this year, I was actually working on May the Fourth! With many people getting vaccinated and public health restrictions loosening in my neck of the woods, I was scheduled to work unfortunately. I went back to work a few days a week at a dental hygiene school and even though I couldn’t troop in person, I still brought some Star Wars to work. I brought my Death Watch bucket from the show, The Mandalorian, to show off to my students and even put it on to take photos around the clinic once my student’s patients were dismissed.
I also was able to help my older son dress in his Jawa because it was Star Wars Day at his school and he really wanted to wear it. It was going to be the hottest day that week and because of that, we compromised with wearing his gloves, bandolier and hood and kept the robes at home.
And, of course, I had to watch some Star Wars media settling on viewing a behind the scenes feature of The Mandalorian Season 2 on Disney+ because my kids had to sleep early for class the next day and I didn’t want to start The Bad Batch without them. I could have watched any of the original trilogy, prequel trilogy, or the sequel trilogy. Or even my default movie, Rogue One; it’s such a self-contained movie but it also adds a little bit of connection to the original trilogy as a whole. I love rewatching the Star Wars cartoons like The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, or Star Wars Resistance, but I am rewatching some episodes with my kids and would hate to skip an episode without them.
Why the need to celebrate May the Fourth when it isn’t a real holiday, you may ask? Don’t say that out loud to any Star War’s fans! I kid though! With the emergence of Star Wars in the mainstream, it makes sense there are quote-unquote “official Star Wars” days being celebrated from elementary schools to retail companies releasing exclusive merchandise to LucasFilms and Disney themselves with media content premiering on different platforms. It’s an excuse for retailers to drop merch to the masses as well as the “House of Mouse” getting people excited for new Star Wars content in this time of no major blockbuster movies being produced or released in the near future.
To me, it’s an excuse for my Star Wars nerdy side to come out even though it is a part of my life! It gives everyone around me an excuse to say, “Oh well, he’s a Star Wars fan and it’s his day!” But, I’m happy that there are old and new Star Wars fans from all the new content of movies, television shows, comic books, and novels. You can see younger kids rocking their Chewbacca t-shirts or drinking from their Stormtrooper water bottle. My son chooses to wear his Star Wars sweatshirt that my sister left at my mom’s house almost everyday! As I write this post, I look down at my own Solo: A Star Wars Story logo black t-shirt that I am wearing and drink my green tea with lemon out of a Darth Vader mug.
To say, Star Wars is my life, is an understatement. May the Fourth allows casual Star Wars fans to participate in the day as well as super fanboy/fangirls to live their normal Star Wars life free from judgement and criticism. And, I think it is awesome that everyone, casual and super fans alike, can appreciate and experience all the new merchandise, toys, and content released on the same day!
*ALL IMAGES FOUND VIA KDiz’s PERSONAL ALBUM AND GOOGLE SEARCH
How did you celebrate May the Fourth this year? We’d love to hear what your plans were! Please feel free to leave a comment below or on our Facebook page here or Instagram page here or our Twitter page here.
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