The Superman Celebration in Metropolis Illinois: 2011
by Chris Brockow
The Superman Celebration is held in Metropolis Illinois every year during the second weekend in June. Many people from all over the United States come to this little town for this action packed event. The annual Celebration has captured the spirit of Superman, earning a reputation for it's friendly environment. This year's Celebration was no exception.
This year I would be Clark Kent, covering the story for Heroicworld.com and my wife Helen Brockow would be Jimmy Olsen.
The event starts on Thursday at 5:00 pm with a small skit in front of the giant Superman Statue. After that The Helping Hands Awards are handed out to people who help put this Celebration together. The carnival also opens after the skit and a big group of people who call themselves the "Superfriends Of Metropolis" get together and go bowling. After the bowling, most of the "Superfriends" hang out in the hotel lobbies and catch up with one another. Some of them went to stand in line around midnight so they could be the first ones to get tickets for the autograph signings that are held at various times on Saturday.
Friday began with the autograph tickets being given out at 7:00 am. (Yes fans do camp out over night for these tickets.) At 10:00 am the
Artist Alley and Writer’s Way opens up and fans get a chance to meet some of the celebrities, writers and artists who have contributed to the Superman culture. This year’s guests in The Artist Alley were Mark Pillow who played Nuclear Man in Superman IV and Tracy Lewis who played Darla on The Superboy TV Series and voice over actor Jeffrey Breslauer. The Artist Alley has really grown since Steve Stanley started it in 2004. The Guest Artists included, Lin Workman, Martheus Wade, Janet Stone Wade, Trevor Hawkins, Andrew Chandler, Jay Chuppe and Kevin Williams, puppeteer and creator of kid favorite, Muley.
At 10:30 am The Superman Homepage had a Meet and Greet at Hardees and right after that The Superman Supersite had a Meet and Greet directly across the street at Dippin’ Dots. In between these two events there was a reenactment of a Superman radio show with live actors, music and sound effects.
This year I would be Clark Kent, covering the story for Heroicworld.com and my wife Helen Brockow would be Jimmy Olsen.
The event starts on Thursday at 5:00 pm with a small skit in front of the giant Superman Statue. After that The Helping Hands Awards are handed out to people who help put this Celebration together. The carnival also opens after the skit and a big group of people who call themselves the "Superfriends Of Metropolis" get together and go bowling. After the bowling, most of the "Superfriends" hang out in the hotel lobbies and catch up with one another. Some of them went to stand in line around midnight so they could be the first ones to get tickets for the autograph signings that are held at various times on Saturday.
Friday began with the autograph tickets being given out at 7:00 am. (Yes fans do camp out over night for these tickets.) At 10:00 am the
Artist Alley and Writer’s Way opens up and fans get a chance to meet some of the celebrities, writers and artists who have contributed to the Superman culture. This year’s guests in The Artist Alley were Mark Pillow who played Nuclear Man in Superman IV and Tracy Lewis who played Darla on The Superboy TV Series and voice over actor Jeffrey Breslauer. The Artist Alley has really grown since Steve Stanley started it in 2004. The Guest Artists included, Lin Workman, Martheus Wade, Janet Stone Wade, Trevor Hawkins, Andrew Chandler, Jay Chuppe and Kevin Williams, puppeteer and creator of kid favorite, Muley.
At 10:30 am The Superman Homepage had a Meet and Greet at Hardees and right after that The Superman Supersite had a Meet and Greet directly across the street at Dippin’ Dots. In between these two events there was a reenactment of a Superman radio show with live actors, music and sound effects.
 Brandon Routh remembers his days as the Man of Steel. |
 Danny Kelley and Margie Vizcarra Cox as Superman and WonderWoman. |
There were so many other events to attend during this time period that one person could not see everything. At 1:00pm there was a Question and Answer seminar with Tracy Lewis and Mark Pillow. This was a nice event. Fans had the chance to ask these two questions about their experiences with Superboy and Superman IV. Both Tracy and Mark were very cordiual and openly shared their experiences. The duo, along with the featured artists and writer’s were available to meet with fans throughout the event.
After this was over, there were two fan favorite attractions to choose from: The Superman Fan Baseball Game and Superman Jeopardy hosted by John Rinaldi and Alex Rinaldi. I always look forward to The Superman Jeopardy as it is one of the reasons I keep coming back year after year.
The Muley and Friends Puppet Show warmed up the crowd for The Kids Superhero Costume Contest. At 5:00 pm the carnival opened up and there was a costume parade for everyone who dressed up. At 6:00 pm The Omega Force Exhibition stunned fans with their feats of strength while giving the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ. I love watching these men. What they do with their strength and testimony will astonish you.
While all this is going on fans were able to meet Superman himself at the Superman Statue.
Now it was the children who had their turn at Superman trivia during The Kids Superhero Gameshow. The evening ended with a movie night. Tracy Lewis showed two episodes of Superboy. She dressed as Darla, and recited verbatim a scene that was in an episode titled Darla Goes Ballistic. This was the episode she was going to show but it was not available so she showed a two part episode titled The Road to Hell. After that NuclearMan, Mark Pillow showed Superman IV. What a thrill to watch something I've enjoyed for years with other Superboy / Superman fans. Saturday morning came and I will admit my wife Helen and I were tired from all the activity on Friday, so we just relaxed Saturday morning.
The day started at 7:00 am again with fans waiting in line to get autograph tickets for that day. The first autograph session was at 9:00 am. The Headliner Celebrities were Superman Returns, Brandon Routh and Sam Huntington and Alaina Huffman, who played the Black Canary on Smallville. The lines to get their autograph were “Super Long”. So much was going on for Saturday morning that I cannot list everything.
After this was over, there were two fan favorite attractions to choose from: The Superman Fan Baseball Game and Superman Jeopardy hosted by John Rinaldi and Alex Rinaldi. I always look forward to The Superman Jeopardy as it is one of the reasons I keep coming back year after year.
The Muley and Friends Puppet Show warmed up the crowd for The Kids Superhero Costume Contest. At 5:00 pm the carnival opened up and there was a costume parade for everyone who dressed up. At 6:00 pm The Omega Force Exhibition stunned fans with their feats of strength while giving the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ. I love watching these men. What they do with their strength and testimony will astonish you.
While all this is going on fans were able to meet Superman himself at the Superman Statue.
Now it was the children who had their turn at Superman trivia during The Kids Superhero Gameshow. The evening ended with a movie night. Tracy Lewis showed two episodes of Superboy. She dressed as Darla, and recited verbatim a scene that was in an episode titled Darla Goes Ballistic. This was the episode she was going to show but it was not available so she showed a two part episode titled The Road to Hell. After that NuclearMan, Mark Pillow showed Superman IV. What a thrill to watch something I've enjoyed for years with other Superboy / Superman fans. Saturday morning came and I will admit my wife Helen and I were tired from all the activity on Friday, so we just relaxed Saturday morning.
The day started at 7:00 am again with fans waiting in line to get autograph tickets for that day. The first autograph session was at 9:00 am. The Headliner Celebrities were Superman Returns, Brandon Routh and Sam Huntington and Alaina Huffman, who played the Black Canary on Smallville. The lines to get their autograph were “Super Long”. So much was going on for Saturday morning that I cannot list everything.
At 11:30 am there was a Question and Answer seminar with Brandon Routh, Alaina Huffaman and Sam Huntington. This was the highlight for many fans. People sit under the tent early so they could have a good seat during this event. The carnival opened at noon and at 1:00 pm The Superman Jeopardy Game was back and so were we. At 2:00 pm The Superdog Contest was being held. This show has been going on for years and it is very cute seeing dogs dressed in capes. This is one time guest Margot Kidders favorite event.
At 2:30 pm was the VIP autograph session to meet the Superman Celebrations main celebrities. The big event for Saturday came at
6:00 pm and that was The George Awards and Auction. This is a George Reeves Superman statue (similar to an Oscar) given by Jim Hambrick to an individual who has contributed greatly to the Celebration. Following that is the auction. This is where collectors can buy hard to find Superman items. These items can range from toys, games jewelry and even screen worn capes, costumes and props. This auction lasts for hours. Afterwards some went to a late night costume dance party. Not us. We had a big day ahead of us.
Sunday was our big day. Helen and I hosted Stump The Superman Expert. This is a trivia show where an audience members asks questions to another audience member who is up on stage. If the contestant cannot answer the question they have been stumped and the contestants switch places. Everyone who comes on stage gets a prize. These prizes are t-shirts, DVD’s, mouse pads and other Superman items.
At 1:00 pm was The Costume Contest. This is where fans dress up as their favorite character and try to win one thousand dollars. Fans put a lot of time and energy into their costumes and it shows. The contest is hosted by Steven Kirk who always does an outstanding job as MC and was the man behind the Walk of Heroes concept.
The Celebration closes on Sunday with a skit just as it began on Thursday. It was now time to say goodbye to all of our friends, pack our bags and head home. To most of us this is a little sad because we look forward to seeing each other all year. But we take home great pictures and memories to look back upon and look forward with great excitement to see what the great city of Metropolis and the Man of Steel have in store for us next year.
At 2:30 pm was the VIP autograph session to meet the Superman Celebrations main celebrities. The big event for Saturday came at
6:00 pm and that was The George Awards and Auction. This is a George Reeves Superman statue (similar to an Oscar) given by Jim Hambrick to an individual who has contributed greatly to the Celebration. Following that is the auction. This is where collectors can buy hard to find Superman items. These items can range from toys, games jewelry and even screen worn capes, costumes and props. This auction lasts for hours. Afterwards some went to a late night costume dance party. Not us. We had a big day ahead of us.
Sunday was our big day. Helen and I hosted Stump The Superman Expert. This is a trivia show where an audience members asks questions to another audience member who is up on stage. If the contestant cannot answer the question they have been stumped and the contestants switch places. Everyone who comes on stage gets a prize. These prizes are t-shirts, DVD’s, mouse pads and other Superman items.
At 1:00 pm was The Costume Contest. This is where fans dress up as their favorite character and try to win one thousand dollars. Fans put a lot of time and energy into their costumes and it shows. The contest is hosted by Steven Kirk who always does an outstanding job as MC and was the man behind the Walk of Heroes concept.
The Celebration closes on Sunday with a skit just as it began on Thursday. It was now time to say goodbye to all of our friends, pack our bags and head home. To most of us this is a little sad because we look forward to seeing each other all year. But we take home great pictures and memories to look back upon and look forward with great excitement to see what the great city of Metropolis and the Man of Steel have in store for us next year.