STAR WARS EPISODE 1 Main Line

We had planned to get to the theatre on Saturday morning, May 15th, at 8:00 am. We had all been ready for that time because we didn't expect the pre-sell on May 12th, so we decided to stick with our plan. And that way we could really promote our collection and raffle to benefit the Columbine High School Memorial Fund in memory of Stephen Curnow who was one of the victims, and a huge Star Wars fan.

On Friday, we discovered that the theatre would not allow us to start until Sunday night, May 16th, at 10:45. I got there precisely at 10:45pm, and there were about 10 people there already (grrr). That meant that our group was the 3rd group overall, and since we weren't going to the 12:01am show, we were first for our shows. Our 'leaders', Brack Lee and Doug John, weren't able to show up until Tuesday evening, so we didn't get our raffle going until then. It really was just me and Rick Fernandez and Angel until Tuesday afternoon.

Angel came Monday morning, and she just never wanted to leave. She stayed the entire 60 hours until we had seen the movie twice. It didn't rain, wasn't that cold, and there were usually enough people to keep her busy. She learned chess, ate pizza, played with other kids, colored in her Episode I coloring book, played Star Wars chess (on the computer), and played with some of the other people in line.

Most of our time was spent just trying not to be bored. There were only a few of us all of Monday, and none of our group showed up until later Tuesday afternoon. That's when the fun began.

Tuesday, people were showing up regularly, so we (mostly group #1, but I helped occasionally) had to keep track of the list. We also set up the raffle that day, and the TV crews and photographers showed up sometime that afternoon. The Avalanche would finally beat the evil empire Detroit Red Wings that day. The lines started around 8:00, and that evening, we finally had everything we needed to fire up the TV, VCR, and stereo system.

When they started calling out numbers for people to line up, I went down and let the people in back know what was going on, and the chaos soon began. When I started coming back, a guy told me that Angel was crying for me, so I ran up to the front to find that Heidi had arrived and was taking her to the bathroom. Heidi wouldn't even talk to me.

Anyway, the line got all formed and scrunched up to the front, and the TV cameras got everybody all cheering. One station focused on a group of guys who started chanting, "Red Wings Suck! Red Wings Suck!" Other cameras got people screaming everywhere in line, and some of the light sabre fight action in the parking lot. Somewhere around 9:30 or so, they let the first group of people into the lobby. The actual line movement made everyone even more excited, and I almost couldn't stand it (even though I wasn't going to see the 12:01am show - we were waiting for the 3:45 pm show).

Soon afterwards, we fired up the VCR and played the Animaniacs Star Wars special, very loudly, and it was a big hit. A lot of people in the line (behind us) gathered around to watch, while we huddled together on the ground in front of the TV. Brack Lee manned the raffle basket, and I think it became pretty successful from that point on.

Angel fell asleep sometime before midnight, and the line shuffled in right past her tent. We waited until the line was gone to do anything else. Once most of the people were in, I went in to get some trash bags to help out. To my surprise, they gave me about 30 bags, and everyone in our group helped out, too! We cleaned up pretty much everything out to the end of the parking lot.

It felt pretty good.

When we got back, they started up the trilogy. There was a much smaller band of tent-dwellers gathered around this time, but when the Lucasfilm logo came on, everyone cheered just like it was Episode I. When the ship flew out of the TV in the commercial, the ground rumbled. It was almost like watching the movie in a theatre. All I could think of was, "Where in the world, ever, could you have this experience?" The answer is nowhere. To all of those who would cast judgement on those of us who stood in line, I would ask what you were doing that night, and I seriously doubt that it created as much happiness as my experience.

We even got in the Rocky Mountain News, in Sunday's Spotlight section (small picture on page 3D). I took Heidi and Kyra home before Empire Strikes Back, and went to bed soon after I returned. Another line had already started for the 3:00am show, and the 12:01 show came out later, but I slept through all of that.

The next day was mostly cleaning up, watching our line organization crumble, and waiting in line for our shows. First thing in the morning, Business reporter Greg Moss interviewed me quickly, live, and poked in my tent to see Angel's head. Many people told me they saw me on the news. Later, someone tore down the lists we had been keeping, so it became every man for himself. I made sure I was first for the 3:45 showing, and the group posted a sign by their covered area saying "The line for the 7:00 show starts here". Sometime early afternoon, they moved us into the lobby, and then down the hall next to the door.