A Brief History of the 501st Connecticut Garrison
The State of Connecticut was once part of the New England Garrison, until breaking away in late 2005.
It all started when Scott Allen, TK-413, while residing here in CT, came into contact with the ECG around 1999 and in 2001 founded the NEG. As the numbers of members grew here in CT, Scott would regularly seek them out by email or phone to welcome them to the group. He would constantly be found helping others with their armor or another costume, selflessly giving of his time and knowledge. Through this, the members in CT started to form strong bonds of friendship which grew into regular social dinners. It was not uncommon to see every active CT member as these dinners grew.
CT members had always been heavily involved in the NEG volunteer staff, starting with Scott himself as CO in both 2001 and 2002. Then Rob Rak TK-158 was elected CO in 2004. Eventually Charles Corrente TK-3302 served with Jerry Buote SL-11 in 2005 as his XO. Others served in supporting roles such as Treasurer and in Public Relations. It was during this time that we realized that CT was growing into a strong unit that could sustain itself as a Garrison.
Under the guiding principles of friendship and comradery, the CTG was born. We have continued to foster our commitment to the 501st and to the people in our unit, doing so together.
A Thank you to Scott & Jerry for your inspiration, and for being what you thought members of the 501st should be...friends first!
The founding members of the "Conn Squad": Charles Corrente TK-3302, Di Coriano TI-3970, Derek Erismann TD-4434, Bob Morgan TK-7074, Mike Cizik TK-1669 and Gary Manion TK-6931, and all of the then members from CT who supported and contributed to the new unit!
