Mercs from all across the midwest gathered again this year in the city of Knoxville, TN under the sunsphere monument for this year's AdventureCon. This year brought in a bit more draw due to a few more Star Wars related guests such as Ray Park, David Prowse, and Anthony Forrest.
Coming from CO, ME, AL, GA, OH, NC, MO, and MS, Mercs gathered on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for a great time. Friday had a few Mercs in their gear and Novall and his crew had done a great job setting up the table and it's displays. After most of the group drove in Friday evening, the convention ended and the Mercs headed off to dinner in downtown Knoxville and a stop at the hotel pool before it closed:
Pool Report:
Freezing = Pneumonia
Flipping into 4ft pool = OUCH
Being tended by Medic droid...... Priceless.
That water was DAMN cold.
Those high rise window peeping toms were pretty epic as well.
My wallet finally dried out.
Saturday was the largest gathering of the Mercs in armor. There were 24 in armor that day by counts (23 in the group photo, one brave Mando stayed behind to man the table). The morning consisted mainly of standing in our corner posing for the onslaught of cameras and flashes. Part way through the day we decided to start up the "jail and bail" event which went over well with both the convention crowd and the Mercs themselves. Con-goers could place a bounty on their friends and family for a small donation, a team of Mercs would then go hunt that person, cuff them, and then place them in our jail cell by the table. The jailed person would have a bail set at half the original bounty amount. They could either pay it themselves, or beg for the money from the crowd.
Everyone who participated had a great time with it and definitely want to do it at other conventions:
We conducted our "Jail and Bail" from 12:30 to 4:30. All the Mercs were able to participate, and the convention patrons absolutely LOVED it! I can say without hesitation that the event was a huge success.
In the 4 hour span of the event, Mandalorian Mercs made $140! We donated $20 to the MidSouth Garrison for the Children's Hospital. The other $120 goes directly to the "Help a Verd'ika Fund".
I want to give a special thanks to Amy, Tag's wife. She was paramount in the event running so smooth by doing all the admin work at the table. Thanks Amy, your an ace!
Thank you to all the Mercs, you guys help make it possible to bring smiles to more kid's faces this year...even in such hard economic times. In one of the absolute worst years of our lives, we are going to be able to help even more children.
Next year we should keep track of who turns in the most bounties. I think I got 2 solo and 3 or 4 with a team. Was so much fun and I just knew we'd help our verd'ika fund bigtime!
Saturday came to a close but not before we went out for our "walk on the town" in the dark. A large crowd of Mercs and other costumed folks gathered in the hotel lobby that night and headed off to the Knoxville Market Square to mingle with the crowds. Most of the folks there hadn't even realized that there was a convention in town, but didn't hesitate to pose with the costumers for photos. The crowds roared when we walked past the bars and we even stopped at the local movie theatre again (mainly because it was an air conditioned building with a big lobby).
Sunday was the last day of the convention and didn't bring in as many con-goers. The table slowly began to break down as different displays had to head home with their owners. Throughout the whole convention though, props HAVE to be given to Pinocchio who wore his armor all three days from open to close. Give a hand to that dedicated Merc.
After the con closed on Sunday the leftover Mercs headed over to Stefano's pizza for a good meal and then rented "Watchmen" on the hotel pay-per-view. Everyone called it a night and we all said our good-byes. Another AdventureCon down...bring on next year.
For more great stories of the event check out
THIS thread.
Photos of the event can be found
HERE.