Happenings: JDRF Charity Tour

In 2013, the Rocky Mountain Chapter of JDRF partnered with Rancho Obi-Wan and Wagner Power Equipment to create the ultimate Star Wars fan fly-away Experience as part of their live fundraising auction.

The Experience raised over $7,000 for the local JDRF chapter. The trip included a private jet flight form Denver to San Francisco, two nights stay in Petaluma, and a membership to Rancho Obi Wan, along with a private, personalized tour. Scott Magerfleisch, a Rocky Mountain JDRF Board member and Type 1 diabetic since 1986, along with his wife Melissa, coordinated with members of the 501st Legion Golden Gate Garrison, and met the winning family at Rancho Obi-Wan for this once in a lifetime Experience. The private tour included all the stops within Rancho Obi-Wan, along with some special photo ops with members of the 501st Legion along the way.

This post is dedicated to Melissa Magerfleisch who passed a year ago today, March 9, 2020. She was a friend of Rancho Obi-Wan–a loving, giving, selfless person and we miss her. These are the charities that were important to Melissa, please support them in her memory, if you can:

  • JDRF Mountain West
  • Harley’s Dream to stop puppy mills
  • Behind the Scenes: Jawa Sandcrawler Tread


    By Michael McMaster

    In early 2014 the R2 Builders Club began planning the photo op for the 2015 Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim. The original concept was a ten foot wide Sandcrawler tread section, with a few droids placed in front of it. I began welding the internal steel structure in the fall of 2014. The idea was to create the center of the Sandcrawler, where the large droid “suction tube” was located. By late December of 2014, I decided to go ahead and build one entire tread section, which was to scale with the original prop and stood 12 feet tall and 36 feet long.

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    Happenings: Star Wars Day with the San Francisco Giants


    Many baseball teams do Star Wars events all around the world (we have plenty of collctibles to prove it), but of all the teams, who better than the San Francisco Giants? After all, George Lucas himself is a California native which has resulted in the Bay Area being a hub for Star Wars. ILM is located in San Francisco, much of the Endor footage was shot in Northern California’s majestic redwoods, and of course Skywalker Ranch is just a short drive from our museum in Petaluma, so when the Giants host a Star Wars day, you know it’s going to be a good day.

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