Subject:
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COLTC at First Night Columbus
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.events
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Date:
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Wed, 4 Jan 2006 23:42:30 GMT
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COLTC @ First Night Columbus - 12/31/2005
On Saturday, December 31, 2005, COLTC participated in First Night Columbus with
a downtown Columbus layout at the Veteran’s Memorial building. We put together a
display measuring approximately 17.5 ft x 10 ft.
First Night Columbus is a community oriented celebration that offers a little
something for everyone. There were over 300 entertainers inside more than 30
downtown performance sites, of which the Veteran’s Memorial was one. First Night
included hands-on activities, and there was plenty of that with the
two free build tables set up in the COLTC LEGO area for kids and adults alike
to enjoy!
Set-up began on Friday morning at 9am, and continued at 5pm on Saturday
evening, ending at showtime, which was at 7pm. In total, it took approximately
40-50 man hours of set-up time to complete this particular layout, with 7 club
members contributing time over 2 days.
By showtime, we had an additional 2 club members to assist with the free build
tables, as well as to
help with answering questions and watching over the display. For the duration
of the show, we had 8 COLTC members attending to the display and the free build
tables.
The highlight of the COLTC display were, as in most shows,
the
skyscrapers. A unique aspect to this show was the fact that we were able to
align each LEGO skyscraper up to its
actual real-life version in the downtown Columbus skyline. The windows of the
Veteran’s Memorial provided a beautiful nighttime panoramic view of downtown.
Skyscrapers for this show included (from right to left, as in the actual
skyline):
Verne
Riffe (in front),
Huntington Bank (red and dark blue in center),
LeVeque Tower,
Rhodes (gray to the right),
AEP,
Nationwide 1 and Nationwide 3 (far end of table).
Our newest addition to the COLTC display collection is the
Ohio
Judicial Center, which seemed to almost be nestled in front of the massive
skyscrapers along the banks of the Scioto River. It was as if it was almost lit
from by an inner light.
A surprise guest appearance by,
Rhonda Shappert, Mrs. Ohio America 2005, really energized the crowd, as well as
the COLTC members, with her interest in the display.
The layout also included
a
McDonald’s, a building well favored by the attendees, as well as the
Groveport Town Hall and a number of small store fronts for the downtown area.
Downtown was hopping with action as well, with mini figures enjoying the
Scioto River and taking strolls through the city streets. The downtown area
even included
a semi truck accident scene, complete with closed off roads and clean up crew.
Throughout the evening, the attendees were entertained with accordion
performances by Marian Funk. She was also very impressed with the display and
really got to know a few COLTC members throughout the evening.
Nearly every COLTC layout includes LEGO trains, and the First Night show was no
exception. We had
two trains running on separate loops for this show, and
working lights, with Benn Coifman taking the controls once again. Children,
parents and train enthusiasts were all amazed that LEGO made trains, and that
was probably one of the main questions of the evening.
The
trains, unfortunately, also caused the most “near misses” of the night with
admirers trying to touch the track and trains as they went buy.
As the show ended at 11pm the public was escorted out and club members were
allowed to relax and watch the 12am fireworks from the inside of the Veteran’s
Memorial. They were beautifully done and everyone seemed to have enjoyed them.
At 9am on Sunday morning, 5 club members met (some after only 3.5 hours of
sleep!) to tear down what we had worked so hard to put together on Friday and
Saturday. It took us just over an hour to break everything down, and almost as
much time to use a very slow freight elevator to get the boxes down to the
trailer. But, we got everything loaded up and ready to go!
Again, another great show! We had a blast with all of the folks that came out
across the river to enjoy the LEGO!
Reported by: Kirsten Lynch
To discuss the show, please check out
this thread on the COLTC
message board.
Galleries:
Benn Coifman,
Mike G,
John Bucy
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