Wookies and Jedis and Jawas, oh my! Star Wars night comes to Indian Creek library

Jedis, Jawas and Darth Vader himself invaded the Indian Creek Library Oct. 6, but all those light-sabers didn’t cause any damage at the library’s annual Star Wars night.

The event has been part of the fall programming at Indian Creek since 2013, with one year skipped due to the pandemic. It grew out of a Star Wars reading event that used to happen in the fall.

“We encourage costumes. It’s just a fun family event,” said Gregg Armstrong, who does children’s programming for the library.

Lots of local kids turned out to experience the many activities on offer.

“We are huge Star Wars fans,” said Kala Mellen, who was there with her 9-year-old, Liam Hanson. “Every night, he plays with his light-saber, and when he heard Darth Vader was going to be here” they had to attend.

Many adult fans were there, too, happy to share their love of Star Wars with a younger generation. That included a contingent from the KC Brick Lab, which brought numerous complicated Lego sculptures to display.

“The boys love Star Wars, especially Star Wars Legos,” said Elizabeth Reid, who brought her sons Conrad, 4, and Watson, 7. “(Watson) was pretty excited about that Millennium Falcon Lego kit he’s seen at the Lego store, but we’ve told him we’re not spending $800 on Legos.”

Matthew West, who built the Millennium Falcon model, said he did it with a kit his brother had bought him 20 years ago. He’s still adding more parts to it with Legos he buys at thrift shops.

“This will never be done. It’s like a garden,” West said. “This is a super mellow outlet for anyone to practice engineering and fantasy.”

Costumed characters from the 501st Legion roamed the library, goofing around and taking photos with anyone who wanted one.

“The costumed characters are always a highlight of the evening,” Armstrong said.

The library had one large area cleared of furniture to allow for vigorous light-saber battles, and the kids took full advantage of the space. Olathe resident Ace Stuart, 7, ran all over during his battle with Parker Kabler, 13.

The best part was “the interaction he’s having with all the other kids,” said Catherine Stuart, Ace’s mom. “I couldn’t even tell him until right before we left (that it was happening), because I knew he would talk about it all week.”

Olathe resident Justin Hoover, who brought his 7-year-old son Barrett, felt the same way.

“It’s a great way for them to hang out and be kids,” said Hoover.

For anyone who was into crafts more than light-sabers, there were tables full of supplies to make a Wookie puppet out of a brown paper bag. With an assist from the Makerspace, attendees could also make Star Wars-themed buttons.

Library staff ran a food craft station, where kids could dip a thick pretzel rod into a fondue pot of white chocolate and then, while it was still soft, coat the chocolate-covered pretzel in colored sugar to make it look like a lighted light-saber.

In addition to all the more hands-on activities, the evening also featured a trivia contest and a light-saber demonstration put on by Baer Swords.