Hundreds turn out for Star Wars themed gathering in Downtown Houma
The force was strong in Downtown Houma as hundreds of lightsaber-wielding kids and adults gathered in the courthouse square.
Randy Hawthorn, owner of Zack's Frozen Yogurt in Houma, partnered with other Houma merchants to hold the 3rd annual May the Fourth Be with You event in Downtown Houma, Thursday, May 4th. The gathering is a merging of marketing and Star Wars fandom with the goal of driving foot traffic to Downtown Houma. Everywhere the eye could see children were dueling with lightsabers and pretending to use the force on one another. There was face painting, live music, props for photos, food, and beverages.
Star Wars is a fantasy, science-fiction universe originally created by George Lucas. The creation has spanned, movies, books, comics, cartoons, video games, and more.
"I went to Episode Three dressed as Darth Vader. I wish I could do that again and that's what I want for him," Roussel said pointing at his son Evan Roussel. "Next day it's on a Saturday, so we definitely have to dress up next year."
While the kids played in the grass or on the steps, parents sometimes joined in with the sword battles but mostly watched over the kids and chatted with one another. Roussel said the family comes to the courtyard square for trick-or-treating in Halloween, so he expected the turnout.
He sat in a chair marveling at the costumes that some of the attendees wore which he described as "movie quality." His two kids, Evan and Allison, ate light-side and dark-side ice cream before scampering around trees to join in lightsaber battles.
He said he's been a lifelong fan of Star Wars, and is introducing the series to his children so that they can share in the love of the series together. His love began with the special edition remakes of the original films in 1997 in the movie theater that was in Southland Mall. A Star Wars-themed gathering was the perfect way to draw the community together, said Roussel, because first and foremost it was a film about family.
"Star Wars is a family story man," he said. "It's all about imagination, like for me I love the imagination. It helped spark my creativity: I love the costumes, I love the stories, I love the sets, I mean it's a western in space, it's cool, it's good versus evil... name a better franchise."
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His son can now list off the characters from the series, and even has a Han Solo outfit, but is a bigger fan of Jurassic Park, a Steven Spielberg film about dinosaurs. Jedi, it would seem, in the eyes of his son, were no match for dinosaurs.
"I actually heard usually just like Yoda and Baby Yoda," Shilah Weatherford said. "So a few weeks before this, we watched two movies with Rey in it."
Weatherford was dressed up as Rey Skywalker, the protagonist from the sixth movie in the main continuity of movies. She was part of a martial arts demonstration performed by Tiger Rock Martial Arts Studio in Houma. The class held their performance on the front steps of the Houma Courthouse and their instructor Richard Lee said the students had so much fun with it they had to play Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who would win in the performance.
The kids flipped, kicked, and sword-battled, until one character remained standing.
Hawthorne said he was happy with the turnout. He and other businesses want more festivals each year to drive people to the area as part of the overall revitalization efforts, and with the long-running internet Star Wars gag of May the Fourth, he said he thought it was a perfect fit.
"I want to help the schools, I want to give back to the community, and I love Star Wars," he said. "I just wanted to see something different."
This article originally appeared on The Courier: Hundreds turn out for Star Wars themed gathering in Downtown Houma
