It’s the battle between good and evil that fascinates “Star Wars” devotees, said Scott Magerfleisch as he stood guard in a Elitch Gardens parking lot Sunday morning in the white body armor of a sandtrooper.
But Magerfleisch, the squad leader for similarly clad aficionados in the Denver area, came to the theme park to fight something else: juvenile diabetes, an evil he’s been living with for 22 years.
“I merged two things that are really important to me,” said Magerfleisch, a city employee from Westminster when he’s not leading troops. “The biggest reason we do it is for the kids.”
Children of all ages ran by squealing, shouting “I am your father” and other exultations at him and about a dozen of his bad-guy buddies — including a Darth Vader — in costumes.
The group is part of the 501st Legion, a worldwide horde of 4,000 “Star Wars” troopers who spend thousands of dollars on their top-notch get-ups and make appearances at movie events, conventions and charitable functions.
They joined an estimated 5,000 people gathered Sunday for the 2-plus-mile fundraising walk to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Planners say this year’s event will break the $1 million mark for the first time.
Despite the serious subject and 40-plus pounds of gear, the various troopers kept things lighthearted by staying in character and posing for dozens of photos.
A flock of tweenage girls in hoodies rushed up to a towering Darth Vader — played by Golden auto-body mechanic Kent Stone — reaching up to touch his mock breathing apparatus.
“Trust me. You don’t want to push his buttons,” Clonetrooper Bill Blackburn warned.
Blackburn said that technically he’s a good guy, because his costume is from Episode 2 of the prequel trilogy when the clones were not yet under the power of the dark side.
But the characters’ bad-boy reputations didn’t trouble kids like Abby Rictor, 10. In fact, it sort of makes them cooler.
“Sometimes the bad guys are the best people,” Abby said. “Sometimes.”
