When it was decided that I was to head to Pasadena to report all about the 501st members training to march as a group of 200 in the 2007 Rose Parade, I was thrilled. I've always had a soft spot for the fans who not only dedicate plenty of time and energy creating and wearing exquisite white trooper armor where they wear it everywhere from comic book conventions to Lucasfilm special events -- but also spend even more time in costume cheering up patients at children's hosipitals and raising money for good causes. Not a lot of franchises can boast an entire legion of fans show off their love for a film saga and help charities at the same time.

And I'm not alone in my appreciation for the men and women of the 501st. As the organization celebrates it's ten year anniversary in 2007, it seemed perfect timing to ring in the new year with a spash! When Tournament of Roses asked George Lucas to be this year's Grand Marshal, he saw it as a perfect opportunity to honor the 501st by having them march in the Rose Parade alongside the drumline-style marching band from Grambling University and two awe-inspiring floats that would become the ultimate Star Wars Spectacular.

And so 200 stormtroopers from 22 different countries were picked by Lucasfilm after 501st garrisons were asked to submit audition tapes of them marching. However, even though many of the troopers had previous military or parade training, many had not. So various 501st garrison leaders asked Col. Anthony Toledo to help train the troopers to march in unison as one large group for the parade.

I was more than excited to watch 501st members from all over the world train together for a mere four days before the parade in front of millions of TV viewers and fans in the stands.

As I got off the plane at LAX airport, it was more than apparent who were 501st lurking about at baggage claim, and who wasn't. Traveling with heavy cases full of stormtrooper armor is a task in itself. And as proud garrison leaders and members hailing from Michigan, Hawaii, Ohio, China, Germany and so on, I could also easily spot members from their custom-made badges, stickers plastered on their cases, garrison t-shirts and so on.

I hitched a ride with them on one of the many hotel buses sanctioned just for the 501st and we were on our way to the hotel. What I didn't expect was the incredible excitement of members as they finally put a face with a screen name, and their eagerness to get their training underway.

Once we all got to the hotel, it was a lobby full of organized chaos. The registration line wound around the lobby. As members got their room keys they also met with various garrison leaders to pick up their custom chrome name tags, t-shirts, jackets and pins. Members traded badges and stories of past events they had attended in uniform -- Comic-Con, Celebration, Dragon-Con, Times Square and band invasions. Not being a member of the 501st myself, I can honestly say I was jealous not to be lugging around a big case full of armor, or showing off my own badge (which would have been the Golden Gate Garrison if they'd have me). Instead I had to be content that I was a Lucasfilm kid eager to interview them about their backgrounds, experiences with the 501st and of course their anticipation about marching in the parade.

After everyone settled in, registered -- after waiting for R2-D2 to grab some candy and got their itineraries for the next few days, we all ended up at dinner in the main ballroom. It was an awesome opportunity to see all the garrisons participating in the parade in one giant room. To see that many hard-working fans in one space is truly heart warming. Various familar faces from the Lucasfilm offices addressed the crowd: Director of Fan Relations Steve Sansweet, Lucasfilm Event Coordinator Mary Franklin, VP of Marketing Tom Warner, Director of International and Domestic Publicity for Lucasfilm Ltd. John Singh.

For some reason, after Steve made us stand up one by one to introduce the LFL crew to the 501st he mentioned I was big into taxidermy. Which made the German Garrison at the table next to us look at me like I was a serial killer. Let's get one thing straight, just because I have a jackalope in my apartment, and sit by a taxidermy squirrel on a speederbike in the Lucas Online offices, doesn't mean I walk around highways picking up roadkill in a big sack.

Then the 501st Legion founder Albin Johnson had the crowd revved up for the upcoming challenge ahead, as did the leader of the Grambling State Marching Band: Dr. Larry Parnell. But it wasn't until Steve Sansweet cryptically mentioned something about Santa and NORAD that the Maker himself -- George Lucas -- showed up to say hello. Everyone jumped to their feet and gave Lucas a roaring, standing ovation.

He promptly thanked the crowd for attending this special mission in "the first campaign in our effort to rule the universe. You'll have a four-hour march and not all of you will probably make it, but we will remember you," Lucas joked. "Each one of us in the next assault will carry your names hopefully onto victory." You can see the video of George Lucas talking to the troopers here.

After dinner, many of the troopers went to their rooms and reconvened in full armor in the hotel lobby bar to relax from traveling (some coming from as far as Australia and Japan) and to take photos. That first night I met Rick Stafford (TC-7425) and Scott "Skaught" Will (TK-408) of the Florida Garrison, Jon "Blasty" Leopold (TK-5037) of the Midwest Garrison, and Scott T. Kern (TC-3221) of the Ohio Garrison. Little did I know, Scott Kern is childhood friends with none other than Richard Patrick (lead singer of Filter and Army of Anyone) who I recently interviewed for Star Wars Rocks on starwars.com. Sure enough, Richard showed up later that next day and we all shared childhood stories of why we all loved playing with our Star Wars action figures. In fact, Richard and Scott made their own 16 mm movie with action figures that sounds like something to behold. I was also happy to see Richard so I could thank him for wearing the Darth Vader graffiti shirt I gave him in the cover of the Feb. 2007 issue of Metal Edge magazine.

As the evening began the wind down, it was still difficult to make myself leave the lobby for a good night's sleep. But tomorrow would prove to be a day full of photo ops with our Imperial Forces invading a local high school football field to prepare for the ultimate parade experience.