Update on Recent Events
October and November have been very busy months for the members of NELUG!
On Saturday Oct. 3 NELUG celebrated it's 10th anniversary at the SEE Science Center in Manchester, NH (home of the LEGO Millyard display). Members of NELUG and their families participated in an afternoon of events that included a pizza party, a MOC judging competition, playing a floor-sized version of Carcassone made in a pirate theme on 16x16 baseplates, and a giant raffle of LEGO! Over 50 people participated in the event and a fun time was had by all.
On Saturday Oct. 10 NELUG participated in the second annual "Mito Walk and Family Fun Day" for the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation. Like last year, this fund raising event was held at LEGO Systems, Inc. headquarters in Enfield, CT, and featured a 5K Walk, LEGO raffle, a skateboard demonstration, LEGO displays, a free build area, and a huge floor mural. NELUG's participation this year included a moonbase display, a Great Ball Contraption (GBC), a train and town display, and several MOCs. Ten members of NELUG participated in helping with this worthy cause.
On Columbus Day (Oct. 12) NELUG member Teddy Welsh hosted a meeting of "NELUG West" aka western MA/CT/VT. Members from that part of New England gathered to build moonbase terrain to be used at LEGO KidsFest (see below). Several members attended and were treated to dinner as well as an evening of 'moonscaping'.
We then held our monthly meeting on Thurs. Oct. 29 at the Burlington Mall following the usual routine of meeting at the LEGO Store at followed by dinner at Uno's. Turnout was excellent and in addition to the multiple LEGO purchases, food and drink, several members brought MOCs to show to the group (and the restaurant employees, who are now big fans!).
Then on Sat. Nov. 7 about 10 members gathered at the SEE Science Center to participate in a video taping session of experiences surrounding NELUG's participation in the building of the LEGO Millyard display. NELUG and the SEE Science Center are collaborating on the project, which will hopefully be ready by 2010!
Our November monthly meeting was held on Thurs. Nov. 12 at the Natick Collection aka the Natick Mall. Members gathered at 6pm at the LEGO Store and were treated to lots of great purchases. Dinner followed at John Harvard's in Shoppers World, where final discussions were held about our participation in...
LEGO KidsFest was held at the CT Convention Center in Hartford, CT Nov. 20-22. NELUG participated in a big way, providing a large train and town display, the Boston Skyline mosaic, a moonbase display, multiple Steampunk MOCs, the floor-sized version of Carcassone, and lots of airplane and dinosaur MOCs. Pictures of the event can be found in the Flickr pool "LEGO KidsFest 2009" and a more complete write-up of this event will be posted shortly.