On Saturday September 27, 2008, members of NELUG participated in a fund raising event entitled "Mito Walk and Family Fun Day" for the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation. The 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 helped by providing three displays; a moonbase, a large castle complex, and an exhibition of several city MOCs. The center of the moonbase display featured Spacely Towers by Teddy Welsh. Two modules (a Sponge-Bob themed Sandy's Greenhouse and a Classic Spaceport) and a moon monorail train were built by Jonathan Dallas, a Robot Museum module showcasing the likes of the Silent Running drones, B9 robot from LIS, Robbie the Robot, Rosie & Uniblab from the Jetsons and Oliver Wendal Jones' Banana PC Jr 6000 from Bloom County was done by Dave Gwon, three modules (Crystal Hotel, Moonbase Cafe Corner, and Market Street Moonbase) created for BrickFair 2008 were displayed by Mike Ripley, and connector modules in classic space and Blacktron colors were built by Linda Dallas. The castle display highlighted a large castle layout by Matt Mann, a castle and dragon scene by Dave Eaton, and a model of the Jabberwock by Jason Wolfson. Dave Gwon also provided two city MOCs, Bill Bourn had a robotics demonstration for the kids, and Steve Doerner provided extra hands to help with setup and tear down. Several NELUG members also walked in the 5K Walk that followed a somewhat damp, swampy and mosquito ridden path around the LEGO complex. A Channel 40 (ABC) news team was present for the grand finale, which featured a ring of people lying on the floor around the giant floor mural featuring the word 'Hope' adorned with - LEGO! As a result of everyone's hard work, over $38,000 was raised. And as a special treat for NELUG, we were given a tour of the new work spaces for the Master Builders in Enfield. It was great to hang out with Erik Varszegi, Dan Steiniger and Steve Witt, and to be invited to participate in the event! To see all the pictures taken at the event, please visit the event picture area in our Media Gallery.

On April 20th, 2008, NELUG put on a small display at the Hooksett, NH Lion's Club Model Railroad Show at Cawley Middle School in Hooksett, NH.  The display included a small town, farmland, a country fair, and several new and returning trains.

Though cows appeared all over the layout, a few stayed in the farm to keep the ostrich and giant bunnies company.  Indiana Jones made a heroic appearance on a WWII themed train, narrowly escaping his foes by hanging onto the back of a German caboose.  In another nod to history, a short Rutland train made its way quietly around the tracks, hauling marble, and occasionally Storm Troopers (We have a loose sense of history).  As in the past, visitors were treated to a drive-in movie of themselves, thanks to a hidden camera aboard the mixed freight train on our third loop.

The crowd at the show was enthusiastic and friendly, as were our hosts, The Hooksett Lion's Club, making for a great weekend of railroading.

Photos of the show may be seen in our gallery.

We once again had a fantastic time showing at the Greenberg.  Once again we were in the Fez room which makes for an interesting environment.  We are away from the hussle and bussle but it is a much more comfortable space.  We seemed to have a ring of chair around the layout throughout the show and at times crowds were 3 or more deep around the entire layout.

There was an engine with a camera in it which was a big hit and the Duplo Shark attack was also quite popular.  The ammusement area had a couple of new rides and the Medevil Fair is getting bigger and more popular.  There were a couple new Skyscrapers as well which always makes for interesting changes/challenges with the skyline.  The residential area was also packed with interesting things.

To view an entire gallery of images please click on the image to the left.

NELUG Has Another Go at Facing Down the Face Eating Aliens in Face... I mean, Space!

---

BrikWarriors from space engage in a battle of wits and rockets with horrible aliens, incompetent locksmiths and a diabolical ship design that would make MC Escher green with envy. 

[Note: The following account is somewhat in dispute. Event may have been altered for dramatic effect, sensationalism, and to fill in the blanks during a particularly bad night of drinking. This is what happens when you hire people trained at FOX.]

---

 

On Saturday NELUG played it’s 4th Brikwars game of 2007. Six small squads of medieval troops fought amongst crumbling ruins and landowner homes for dominance of the region. Lizardmen battled Ninjas, Knights skirmished against Highwaymen, and Barbarians took up arms against the Strange Men who embrace scorpions as their sea-wives. Advantage on the field of battle shifted with the winds, but in the end the day was carried by our newly-anointed evil Reptilian Overlords.