The Peachoid

Although one could argue (and many do) that the 25th of May is the better-suited date, the geeky play-on-words "May the 4th Be With You" seems to have triumphed this year as pop culture's official "Star Wars Day." Despite somewhat unexpected roots, the saying's ubiquitous presence in Internet memes, t-shirts and media reports was additionally sanctified by a special day-long event at Disney's Hollywood Studios independent of Star Wars Weekends, as well as a meager, but nonetheless official, Lucasfilm PR campaign with which the 501st Legion was asked to participate.

With just a few weeks' notice, Lucasfilm Senior Events Lead Mary Franklin put out the call for photos celebrating this unique Star Wars holiday by posing near local landmarks. I presume that the message went out through multiple channels, but it was largely 501st members who responded based upon the photos that were featured on starwars.com.

I'm somewhat isolated from the big cities so there's not a lot of true landmarks, but just 43 minutes from my house is the world's largest peach-shaped water tower in the South Carolina town of Gaffney. The Peachoid was built in 1981 as a tribute to the region's status as a top peach-producer, and was even featured on the Netflix series House of Cards, so this was as close as I was going to get to a bonafide landmark.

Early on a Sunday morning, my wife helped me suit up in the parking lot of the Fatz restaurant within the shadow of the gargantuan steel fruit as curious passers-by stopped to ask questions and honked from I-26...fortunately I didn't cause any accidents.

On your way to Dragon*Con, think of me as you marvel at the grand (and somewhat awkwardly-shaped) peach.