Report by Steve Allsopp
On May 7th 2012, The Star Wars Fan Fun Day celebrated its fifth anniversary at Burnley Football Club, in Burnley, England. The night before the event, a charity dinner, aptly named Dinner with the Stars was held, in order to raise funds for the East Lancashire Hospice. As we entered the dining room, we were greeted by costumed characters such as Darth Vader, Darth Revan & Boba Fett. It’s a good thing they did not stick around for the meal, that’s for sure!
Stars from across the galaxy descended upon Burnley to attend the event, amongst them were Darth Vader himself, Dave Prowse, whom we had the honour of being seated with at the dinner, Garrick Hagon who played Biggs Darklighter, Paul Blake aka Greedo, Stephanie English, the Rebel Communications Officer from The Empire Strikes Back, Anthony Forrest who we all know as Luke’s friend, Fixer, as well as the “These aren’t the Droids you’re looking for” Sandtrooper, Simon Williamson who played Max Rebo, Jabba the Hutt sculptor & Wookie Senator John Coppinger, Barrie Holland, who played Lt. Renz & uttered the iconic phrase “Your Rebel Scum!” Ian Liston who played Wes Janson, Massassi Temple Guard & Medal Bearer Derek Lyons and many more. The night began with a fantastic introduction from event organizer Neil Livesey, who introduced the event, the guests in attendance and a young musician by the name of Tom Metcalf, who played iconic Star Wars themes on classical Guitar throughout the evening. During Neil’s speech, I had the honour of being presented with a signed poster for The Star Wars Fan Fun Day, as Neil’s way of saying thank you for producing the designs. The poster itself was signed by all the guests in attendance at the dinner, and I would like to take this time to thank Neil & the Star Wars stars for such a heartwarming gesture. It truly made my weekend! Derek Lyons was also presented with a signed Football from Burnley FC, which was met with thunderous applause.
The dinner itself consisted of a beautiful three course meal, prepared by the chefs at Burnley Football Club. The starter was a delicious vegetable soup, served with bread, followed by a main course of Roast Leg of Lamb, with seasonal vegetables & various sauces. A vegetarian option was also available, which consisted of a wonderful looking Five Bean Chilli, served in a Taco Shell, again with vegetables. To accompany the meal, each table was treated to bottles of red & white Wine. Finally, for dessert, Sticky Toffee Pudding was served with custard & toffee sauce, followed by cups of Coffee. We were truly wined & dined on this spectacular night.
Throughout the evening, various activities took place in aid of the East Lancashire Hospice, including a Star Wars Quiz & charity raffle. The first prize in the raffle was a Winner Takes All prize of Star Wars goodies, including toys, signed photographs & more! To cater for the ladies in attendance, health & beauty gifts were also up for grabs! The quiz itself certainly tested each fans knowledge, even down to obscure questions such as the shape the Millennium Falcon was based upon, which turned out to be none other than a Hamburger, cleverly answered on our table by Frank Rich, of the website Star Wars Autograph Collection. Frank had travelled all the way from Boston, USA to be at the event, although he had also attended the Elstree Empire Day on May 5th. He had also intended to visit “Invasion” in Dublin, but was taken ill & unfortunately could not make it. Frank was also presented with a special Burnley FC Key ring at the end of the evening by Neil, as a thank you for travelling the furthest out of anyone in attendance, to be with us at the event. Each table was obviously at an unfair advantage during the quiz, having a Star Wars actor at each table, who each knew various behind the scenes aspects of the movies. Our table did not win unfortunately, and our Jedi Training would have to wait for another time to be completed…
After the dinner & the various fundraising activities, there was an opportunity to mingle with guests, chat to the actors & other fans, and have photos taken with the stars. I was lucky enough to have my photo taken with Dave Prowse, Barrie Holland & Derek Lyons, who was incredibly lively, polite & even told me he had seen the work I do for YouTube, and wanted to see me review the action figure of his character, the Rebel Honor Guard, which I promised I would at some point in the not too distant future. All of the guests were incredibly welcoming & it was an honour to be in such good company, for such a terrific evening. It was the perfect way to kick off a Force-Filled weekend…