I figured I’d continue our yearly tradition of an annual thread recapping our events of the last year. This year our team has grown by leaps and bounds, raised thousands of dollars for charities, put alot of smiles on alot of faces, got our own Ecto up and running, and participated in many great events. We clocked over 120 hours at events this year. This has been our biggest year yet and 2010 is already looking to surpass this one.
Fiesta Bowl Parade 1/3/2009
Our year started off big by our first appearance in the Fiesta Bowl Parade in downtown Phoenix. The parade is the largest parade on this side of the country with an average of 100,000 spectators along the parade route plus the live broadcast.
Phoenix ComiCon 2009
We continued at our local Phoenix ComiCon as guests participating in the Zombie Walk, Zombie Beauty Pagent, Zombie Brain Eating Contests, hosted a 25 years of Ghostbusters panel, and jammed with Wil Wheaton on Rock Band again. We also raised $300 for the Phoenix Heart Walk at our booth with Ghostbusters item raffles.
Phoenix Heart Walk 2/28/2009
At the end of February was our second Phoenix Heart Walk. We raised $550 total for the walk.
MDA Shamrock Sale 3/10/2009
In March we participated in our first Shamrock sale to benefit the MDA and Jerry’s Kids. We sold $200 worth in Shamrocks.
Nathan’s 6th Birthday Party 3/21/2009
Also in March we stopped by a GB themed birthday party. The Mother went all out with slime making, ghost pinatas, a GB logo cake, GB goody bags, and renting a screen to show the movies.
MDA Stride and Ride 3/28/2009
At the end of March was our first MDA walk that we promoted and raised money for with the Shamrocks.
Take Steps For Crohn’s and Colitis Walk 4/18/2009
In April we participated in our 2nd Crohn’s Walk at the University of Phoenix Stadium.
Phoenix Diabetes Expo 5/3/2009
In May we appeared at our 2nd Phoenix Diabetes Expo. We hosted a booth to promote and sign up walkers for the Diabetes Walks happening in the fall.
Dan Aykroyd Wine Signing 5/13/2009
Like many of the busters out there, we got to meet Dan Aykroyd during his vodka and wine signing tour back in May. We gave him our card, info pamphlet and one of our AZ GB embroidered hats with “Honorary Member” on the back.
Ghostbusters Video Game Release Party 6/15/2009
For the Ghostbusters video game midnight release we teamed up with our local GameStop and Salvation Army. Our GameStop had one of the largest numbers of pre-sales and wanted to make the event big. Our team and the Salvation Army set up boths to host Ghostbusters themed face painting, Pet Slimers for sale, popcorn, games, raffles, a video game cave trailer, and GB on a big screen. We raised $300 for the Salvation Army.
Remember The 80’s Party 6/19/2009
We participated in our 2nd Remember the 80’s party at the Wrigley Mansion to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
80’s Night at Chase Field 8/15/2009
In August we got to participate in another 80’s themed event at Chase Field during a Arizona Diamondbacks game.
Bookmans Store Appearances 8/22/09 & 8/29/09
In August we teamed with the local Bookmans store chain for their movie madness month to raise funds for the Diabetes walks with two store appearances with raffles.
Step Out To Fight Diabetes Walk 9/26/2009
In September we participated in our 3rd Diabetes walk and raised $500 total for the walk.
Phoenix Zombie Walk 10/2/2009
Due to the lack of a zombie walk in Phoenix, we took it upon ourselves to organize one with our local horror film festival. For donations we provided zombie make-up and pictures raising $350 for the upcoming MS Walk.
Step Out To Fight Diabetes Walk, MS Walk On the Wild Side, & LIght the Night Walk for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society 10/17/2009
On October 17th we attempted and succeeded at attending 3 charity walks in one day. We split the team up to attend all of the events. In the morning was the Diabetes Walk and MS Walk at exactly the same time in Prescott Arizona and the Light the Night Walk was in the evening.
Relay For Life 10/24/2009
We participated in our 2nd Relay for Life.
Phantom Manor Charity Haunted House 10/30/2009
We appeared at the Phantom Manor Haunted House to benefit Habitat For Humanity.
Phoenix New Times Cover Story on Arizona Ghostbusters 10/28/2009
Our local newspaper published a cover story on our team’s history and goals. The full story can be read here: Paranormal Activity: Arizona Ghostbusters Go to Extremes for Good Causes | Phoenix New Times
Trick Or Treat With The Symphony 10/31/2009
On Halloween itself we appeared at Phoenix Symphony Hall to lead the audience in a sing-a-long to the Ghostbusters theme as the concert finale.
MS Walk 11/7/2009
We participated in our 3rd local MS Walk we raised $1000 for.
“Ghostbusters” Screening 11/21/2009
In November was another of our biggest events with our “Ghostbusters” screening at the local non-profit theater. We were able to contact Sony and recieved permission to use the promotional Stay-Puft Marshmallow Balloon. We raised $300 in raffles for our upcoming toy drive.
Children’s Cancer Network Toy Drive 12/5/2009
On December 5th was our toy drive itself for the local Children’s Cancer Network. We were able to use Stay-Puft again and collected over 300 toys.
Children’s Hospital Visits and Toy Deliveries 12/22/2009
Our last event of the year was our greatest. We were able to visit our two local children’s hospitals and deliver the toys we collected directly to the patients.
New Members
This year we had a large increase in new team members. They’ve all done a great job and are vital parts of the team now.
Todd Cook
Christina Glover
Chris Kockler
Curtis Worley
Cody McGuire
Phil Lehmkuhl
Phil Truong
Chuck Goodman
Ecto-AZ
During 2009 countless hours were spent completing the restoration of our own Ectomobile out of a 1972 Pontiac Bonneville Superior Ambulance.
In January she looked like this:
And now she looks like this:
i envy the AZ Ghostbusters & the amazing events you attend, if i was on that side of the pond id join you guys in a second