I had been looking forward to playing laser tag in Texas
for quite some time, knowing that once I played there I would be the first
person to have ever played laser tag in all 50 states, so this one had to be
special. I knew it would be when George Carter III, inventor of Photon and
founder of the laser tag industry agreed to come out and celebrate with me on the
day that also marks the 35th anniversary of when he opened the first
Photon laser tag center right here in the Dallas area on March 28, 1984. It
seemed most fitting to host a special night of laser tag near where it all
began, so with the support of Laser Quest we had the chance to make a little
history at a site very close to where laser tag history had been made once
before.
George arrived in the early afternoon and we sat down to
record an interview about the early days of Photon, which I will post soon.
He took note of a couple Funko Pop figures that had been
customized especially for the occasion to remember Photon.
And after the interview we chatted a bit with Laser Quest
manager Patrick who told us that all his employees had volunteered to work
tonight so they could be part of the festivities!
Some decorations were prominently placed at Mission
Control including an original Photon helmet and some complimentary souvenir wristbands
for the players.
Then it was time to make some history! The official game
that marked Texas as my 50th state was a private one vs one game of
laser tag with me getting to play with the man who created the original game…such
a special experience!
And at the end we took a photo by the map of all the
places where I have played laser tag along the way.
Then we were ready to celebrate. A small group played in
the first game of the night before we were joined by other players later in the
evening.
I was really heartened by how far some of these guys had
come. Although a couple of the players were local, others had traveled quite a
distance. Charles, a fellow laser tag blogger, came all the way from Houston
and Photon Chris actually made a road trip all the way from New Jersey to be
with us tonight!
Lorna from SportsCon came out and enjoyed her very first
game of laser tag!
As the night went on we enjoyed food and refreshments and
social time between the games.
Charles presented me with such a special souvenir to
commemorate my laser tag achievement.
And then it was time for me to make a special
presentation as well. I was honored to present this plaque to George Carter on
behalf of the Laser Tag Museum and laser tag players worldwide to thank him for
creating the game that started it all on here on the 35th
anniversary of Photon.
Here is a video where you can see the game of laser tag I
played with George as well as the presentation of the plaque. Plus a special laser
tag shout out from one of my favorite actors, David Lascher (best remembered as
Ted from Hey Dude or Vinnie from Blossom).
I was speechless when I saw that shout out earlier that
day and also delighted by all the support I’ve received from everyone back
home. I learned while in Texas that the details of this adventure had made the
front page of my hometown newspaper.
So there was a lot to celebrate. And what would a party
be without cake?
As the evening came to a close we continued playing laser
tag with the players who came in during the night. I invited George to take his poster home as a souvenir as
well as the red custom Funko (and yes, I kept the green one).
I thanked him for being part of this really special
evening along with his wife, Debi. I could not have asked for a better way to
finish my journey laser tagging across America. I’m appreciative that I got to
experience this all at a Laser Quest where the business is still all about
laser tag.
Of course there was one other thing I had to do while in
Dallas. I had to make a journey to the Photon “mothership”, the location where
the first Photon center had been and the former home of the “Photon Intergalactic
Headquarters” (as the sign once read 35 years ago).
This was such an amazing way to celebrate International
Laser Tag Day. Thank you again to Laser Quest, George Carter III and all who
came out to enjoy laser tag on this special night!
Comments or Questions?
Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com
and www.photonforever.com
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