Who are the Chicago Force Board of Directors?

	PRESIDENT - Mark Franklin (JodoKast) has been a fan since the age of 3 when his parents took him to see "A New Hope" at the now-extinct Mercury Theater in Elmwood Park. He has lived in the great city of Chicago his whole life, moving from Bridgeport to Galewood to Logan Square to Streamwood to the NW side of Chicago where he now lives with his girlfriend, Megan, and his son Liam, who he believes will bring balance to Chicago Force...or destroy it utterly. He has been a serious Star Wars collector for the last few years with a life-sized Yoda as his prized possession. He has been an active Chicago Force member since April '01 and lucky enough to be asked to join the Jedi Council. Recently, he has been elected as President of Chicago Force. To paraphrase a Star Wars line, he loves democracy, he loves the Republic.
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	VICE-PRESIDENT - Dan McGinn (Lt_Dak-Ferris) fell in love with Star Wars immediately upon seeing ads for the film. He was 4 years old. It was the first film he ever saw and he vividly remembers his Dad taking him to the theater and covering his eyes during the preview for the very scary looking "The Incredible Melting Man". The love affair continued with the next two films, tons of toys, and the Marvel comics. He easily watched each film well over 100 times while staying with his Grandparents in Florida (they had a VCR!) during his summer vacations. However, upon reaching high school Dan discovered Track and Girls. Star Wars fell by the wayside. Flash forward to 2002. Now married and soon to turn 30, Dan watches Attack of the Clones and his Star Wars mania is re-born. He's just as crazy about the toys, the new films (alright - not "crazy" about TPM, but I liked it), the comics, and now the novels and other EU literature. Luckily, his wife doesn't mind despite being unaware of this dormant beast within her husband when they got married. She's awesome! Dan still continues to run a lot. A former high school English teacher, Dan's full time job is as a stay-at-home father, caring for his daughter Maeve. He also works part-time from home for ASICS America Corporation and coaches high school track at his alma mater. This photo was taken two weeks prior to Dan's wedding. He is wearing bib #100. In this race, he ran his second best 1500 meter time . . . the equivalent of a 4:10 mile.
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	TREASURER - Carrie Favela (Jedi Autobot) has been a fan since before she can remember. Every visit to her cousin’s house included a viewing of either Star Wars or Empire Strikes Back, sometimes both. Blessings upon the Top Loading Video Player! At the tender age of seven, she was able to see a Star Wars movie for the first time on the big screen. Return of the Jedi was her favorite movie then, and still remains her favorite Star Wars movie. While she has given up her dream of owning a speeder bike, she still collects Ewoks to this day. Carrie lives and works in the Western Suburbs. She works full time at a wireless company, and part time at a bank processing center. While this makes for a 15-hour workday, she figures it’s worth it to help support her buying habits. Her motto is, “If it looks cool buy it.” Which might not be so bad if she wasn’t also an avid collector of Transformers, comic books, Cubs merchandise, books, DVD's, etc… Carrie was lucky enough to find out about Chicago Force through the FanForce message boards. She first attended the Magic of the Myth opening at the Field Museum in 2000, and has been an active member ever since.
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	MEDIA RELATIONS - Phil Salomon (Mos Eisleian Radio) has been a Star Wars fan since the first film in 1977. During the Original Trilogy, he was an avid collector of the action figures and Marvel comic books. He renewed his interest in the saga when Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy was published in the early '90s. After the release of The Phantom Menace, he began reading all the various books and comic books in the Star Wars timeline. He first heard of Chicago Force while waiting in line to buy tickets at McClurg Court in 1999. He joined the group on April 29, 2000 while attending the 1st Line Reunion. In September, he became a member of CF's Jedi Council. In May 2001, he became Chicago Force's City Representative (title later changed to Chapter Representative) for TheForce.Net's FanForce. He writes various articles on CF events for the Midwest FanForce page as well as contributing information for Star Wars Insider's Bantha Tracks publication. He is also the city moderator for the Errant Venture book club.
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	WEB MASTER - Matthew Callison (Hazmatt) got the Star Wars bug when his mother gave him the novel. Being a precocious 6-year old, he read it cover to cover several times before being able to see the movie. He even came to blows with a classmate who said that the Millennium Falcon was the biggest vessel in the movie. Having 11 older brothers and sisters, he was able to see the movie every day during the initial release without paying for it, racking up 116 viewings before his family said enough was enough. Not much has changed since 1977, and he still views all the movies on a regular basis. He also enjoys the standard geek fare (Babylon 5, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, etc.), along with more physical activities such as paintball and SCUBA diving.
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	Ray Bosques (Rex Getz) - Star Wars junkie since the age of 10 when he saw for the first time Star Wars in '77. His first lightsaber was made of a plastic tubing, duck tape to a flash light; which he use to beat on his brother and friends. Born in Chicago but raised in Puerto Rico, grew-up watching, Dr. Who, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek (the Original), Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, Mazinger Z, G Force. Besides Sci Fi, Rex also enjoys Mid-Evil times, Fantasy, SciFi conventions & bar hopping.
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	Thom Olsen (Thom Solo) was six years old, going on seven, when Star Wars first appeared on the scene.  His oldest Star Wars memory is watching the infamous Holiday Special when it aired... but he became a fan in spite of that; he can quote dialogue from the Trilogy with an ease that has surprised even some fellow fans.  Other interests include Pern fandom (to the point of running a fandom club), SF/F and mystery novels, Doctor Who and other British SF, Japanese monster movies, comic books, and role-playing games.  He works two jobs, but maintains his overall sanity by having brief nervous breakdowns every other Thursday, and through hanging out with friends.
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	Phyllis Schulte (Schph Gochi) was 26 years old when Star Wars: A New Hope came out in 1977. The movie blew her away and continued to blow her away with each new episode, including the Prequels. She is a SW Costumer and has two Jedi costumes, a recently completed Imperial Officer, and in the partially done stages: a Hannah Solo and a X-Wing Pilot. Both Hannah and X-Wing will be complete by CIII. Besides being a member of Chicago Force, she is a member of The Jedi Assembly, The Rebel Legion, and now that her Imperial Officer costume is complete, she will join up with the 501st. She is a collector. She has a 17' by 17' room filled floor to ceiling with Star Wars collecitbles. She is an EU reader. She has all of the current EU books that are in print and has read most of them. She eagerly awaits CIII and beyond. She is not that much of a movie buff, or a Con goer, but she is a Star Wars nut of the highest order.
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	Steve Stone (DexLuminara) has been recently elected to the position and needs to send the webmaster his bio.
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	Laura Guthrie (Rogue4809) has been a fan of Star Wars since May of 1977 when she first saw the Star Destroyer fly over her head. She still gets chills remebering it. She joined Chicago Force when the Book Club started, after learning of the club at Celebration II. She am a regular Errent Ventrue attendee, and get to as many other events as possible, including Black Sun meetings, paint ball, and the annual Life Day celebrations.
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	Scott Ruether (Nalan1138) has been a fan of Star Wars since age 3, when he saw the "A New Hope" in theaters with his parents. His collection of amassed Star Wars shwag is now in storage in a 10' by 10' storage/archiving locker, as well as at his parents house in Minnesota where it takes about 2 rooms. He lives in Chicago and is an active member in both the book club and the Collectors club.
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