Step 1: Preperation
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I’ll try to keep this short since I know you really want to hear about the Oscar Party itself. I cannot comment about the events of this past weekend without mentioning the HARD work and dedication the TORN Staff and volunteers showed out in Los Angeles.
The American Legion Hall was a great location to have the Oscar party, it’s large cavernous rooms and winding halls were great for dressing up and decorating to as we saw fit.
As we arrived Saturday morning to begin preparations TORN Volunteer Sarumann and Calisuri led the way by allocating tasks to various people. The heavy lifters were needed to unload 3 truckloads of goodies provided by Sideshow Toys, EA, Houghton Mifflin and others. The ‘Goodie Baggins’ crew was then needed to open all the boxes and individually prepare 1500 bags for every guest.
Meanwhile the decorating team was turning the Legion Hall into various places in Middle-earth, the Green Dragon, Mordor, Shelob’s Cave and other places. The building team was assigned to building a large beacon pyre that we ‘set alight’ on the roof when the sun went down. The result was so realistic that the fire marshal was called in to investigate!
Meanwhile folks from The One Ring Circus, Dorian Mirth, Emerald Rose, and Lord of the Rhymes each took the stage for sound checks and to practice. The sound crews and engineers were working around them to make sure all was going to work properly.
Arathorn and others were in the cramped control room making sure that the webcast for Oscar Night would work without a hitch. It didn’t help that TORN herself went down for the count thanks to a power outage in Kenosha.
Anastasia and the folks at Premiere Events were running around during this entire melee setting up the VIP area and getting the food ready. I saw them cooking chicken and vegetables at 12 noon the next day, talk about preparation!
When the ‘Goodie Baggins’ crew had finished their hard work in the main hall it needed some serious cleaning. Unfortunately the vacuum provided died before we could get started, so I flew over to the Holiday Inn and asked to borrow one. Muchos thanks for that folks!
By the end of the first day and well into the second the Store was ready to take its first customers….us! TORN staff and Volunteers had to pay for their own shirts (which we all gladly did). At the same time we were able to test out our credit card transactions and make sure all was working well. The auction room was setup and lit to perfection, with the bronzed Gandalf statue taking centre stage.
A large (and I mean LARGE) card was laid out for all the fans to sign, KJ and I took advantage before the doors opened and signed it. I hope you can read it PJ!
The above pictures detail all the pre-party madness, as well as some general shots from Hollywood. I will be adding more images from the Party and After-Party soon. You can also expect a TON of images fro fans to start flooding in soon.
Posted in Old Oscar Party News on March 3, 2004 by xoanon