Day of fun at Fan Fest

Sayville’s ‘Comic Con’ returns

By Connor Patton

The sixth annual Fan Fest took over the Sayville Public Library last weekend, with games, music, food, and plenty of craft and toy vendors.

“Star Wars” was the theme for this year’s event, with attendees, staff, and volunteers dressed as Jedis and members of the dark side, while a live band played music from the sci-fi franchise. Cosplayers with the Saber Guild Endor Temple and 501st Empire City Garrison demonstrated lightsaber battles and took pictures with families outside.

Fan Fest wasn’t exclusive to “Star Wars” fans, though, with a costume contest bringing out fans of franchises including Minecraft, The Legend of Zelda, and Disney. Around 40 vendors, including local comic and vintage stores Genesis Comics and Gaming and The Bearded Hoarder, also sold their wares throughout the library.

“It’s just so nice to see people so enthusiastic and showing their true colors,” said Sayville Public Library emerging technologies librarian, Alex Cranshaw. “It just warms my heart to see people celebrating all of their fandoms in one place.”

“There’s so many smiles,” Cranshaw added.

While listening to The American Airpower Museum Band perform classic pieces from the “Star Wars” franchise, composed by John Williams, attendees were welcome to enjoy drinks from a cantina, before making their way inside the library itself.

All levels of the library were decked for the event, including face painting and vendors on the lower floors, and a “Star Wars” arcade and craft tables on the upper floors.

Overseeing the grounds were both Stormtroopers and Jedis, members of the 501st Empire City Garrison and Saber Guild Endor Temple. Covering the New York City and Long Island areas, the 501st Empire City Garrison comprises members of the dark side, who in the real world are a nonprofit that donates their time and money to children’s hospitals and causes.

“We’re the bad guys doing good,” said Stormtrooper TK-20177, a.k.a. Bill Schreiber of Sayville, who came dressed up alongside his daughter Colette, who also goes by IG-99960 in cosplay. “It’s so much fun when you can share a lifelong passion with your daughter.”

Schreiber saw “Star Wars” for the first time at 8 years old at the Sayville Theater, which hosted a throwback screening of the 1977 film alongside the Sayville Public Library, in preparation for Fan Fest last week.

Opposing the stormtroopers were Jedis with the Saber Guild Endor Temple, another nonprofit that raises money for local charities. The group meets and trains weekly in Deer Park.

Husband-and-wife Jedis Alex and Dayna Reyes-Bonder, who go by Xeomara and Pell Covas in cosplay, demonstrated their lightsaber skills in a mock battle, which they rehearsed in their kitchen.

“It’s run like a martial arts course. We learn the strikes, the blocks, the moves, and we use a letter-based breakdown of strikes,” said Alex Reyes-Bonder. “So ‘R’ was our first move.”

“Our fights spell our last name,” said Dayna Reyes-Bonder.

Smiles and laughter were a common occurrence throughout the library during Fan Fest, with the annual event having grown to its largest iteration yet, according to librarian Cranshaw.

“It’s a celebration, to put it in one word,” Cranshaw said.