May the 4th Be With You! That is what the Astra proclaimed from it’s foyer windows yesterday for all passersby to see. I hope there were more than a few smiles in response, and although we weren’t able to go through with all the exciting things we had planned for the event, we were still able to bring the Star Wars magic to the village and beyond. Aaron decorated the foyer with Star Wars themed material, and I put together some interesting trivia facts about the franchise (see previous post). There are printed copies for anyone who wants one at the office. We suggested that residents might like to re-visit their favourite movie, and that if they had any Star Wars memories we could collate them here.

I, for one, have a long and enjoyable history with the franchise. I vividly remember my response to watching the first of the original trilogy on VHS with my Dad at home. I absolutely loved it and I can still feel the sheer joy of it now. I think I went on to watch the other two movies over the rest of the weekend - I couldn’t wait! I have watched most of the movies in the series, and went to see one of the prequels live - I enjoyed the atmosphere of costumes and props and people clapping in response to things happening on screen. Although I didn’t think the prequels were very good, it was still a fun experience, and I was able to repeat this last year when I went to see ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ at the Ritz cinema in Randwick at their midnight showing. Once again, there were adults and children alike dressed up and carrying lightsabers and models of droids, and the sounds of an entire theatre gasping and laughing and crying in all the right places was an exciting experience. I have greatly enjoyed the later movies, so that added to the fun. I have watched friends dress up as Star Wars characters for a charity ball I attended at university, made Star Wars Lego sets, and even crocheted a whole set of characters for some friends who are fans. who knew there were so many facets to this phenomenon?!

Thanks to everyone who has been getting involved with our new and different events since social distancing - we can’t wait to get back to normal but it’s good to be able to maintain some link to the events we’d programmed. Hope you had a very Happy Star Wars Day!