DARK SIDE BEWARE: JEDI TRAINING AT THE FAIR

A week later, my son still remembers his training. He holds the blue foam sword high and repeats the instructions.

“Ready position,” he says, standing upright and prepared. “To the right. To the left. Duck.”

He built the lightsaber himself at the North Idaho State Fair, using PVC pipe, colored tapes, a pool noodle, and help from the Rebel Alliance.

In this case, the Alliance is 11- and 14-year-old sisters Loren and Lila Roberts. According to their father Marty, the girls are big “Star Wars” fans. Once they heard the theme of the fair, they jumped on the chance to bring something special to fairgoers.

After building his lightsaber, my son stepped into the training arena—a section of the booth space shared with a pottery seller—with Loren. Loren is the barker, the face and voice of the operation, out front inviting new trainees to become Jedi knights.

In full cosplay as Rey from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” Loren provides the training.

She guides the padawan (young Jedi in the initial training phases) on using their self-made lightsabers. But there is more to the training than just what one sees.

“They (Loren and Lila) programmed all the music and matched the choreography and script into a 10-minute class,” Marty said.

The girls are home-schooled, so the Jedi Training Academy is more than just a fun activity and a place to show off the speeder and TIE fighter they built at Coeur d’Alene’s local makerspace. It’s a business venture.

“They had to make a business plan and determine how many trainings they would have to do in a day to get their investment back,” Marty said.

He smiles, as proud of his daughters as I am of my son as he takes direction from Loren.

The sisters made the replica lightsabers adorning the training area and the Jedi look down on the trainees in a manner of welcoming. Join the Alliance. Be a Jedi. Fight the Dark Side.

And that is when things get interesting. The music gets deeper and the familiar sounds of “The Imperial March” can be heard as Loren reminds the padawan to remember their training.

Finally, Lila comes out, fully dressed as Darth Vader, using the only red lightsaber in sight. She is significantly taller than her younger sister and even taller than the padawan in the arena. This Darth Vader is appropriately menacing, but in an all-ages, fair-worthy manner.

Vader speaks, Loren—as Rey, remember—and the trainee must now prove themselves.

“Ready position,” Loren commands. The trainee holds his lightsaber high and ready.

“To the right,” she says and both Jedi swing their sabers against Vader’s attack.

“To the left,” she shouts, and the padawan responds in kind, taking his saber to Vader’s.

“Duck,” Loren says, and they both kneel in order to avoid a slash from Vader’s glowing saber. The battle is nearly won.

“To the leg,” Loren points and sabers attack Vader’s outstretched leg, preparing the villain for a final strike.

“To the head,” Loren says and my son, the padawan in training, thwaps his lightsaber against Lila’s full-head Vader mask.

This, however, is not the end. Sabers are not enough to defeat Darth Vader.

From deep in the arena comes the voice of Yoda, compelling the Jedi to use the Force. It is the only way to defeat Vader.

With hands held before them, Loren and her padawan use the Force to push Vader back and out of the training grounds. Lila disappears until the next trainee is ready. Loren and her padawan bow before their families.

Another Jedi has been trained.

“This was the best $10 I ever spent at the fair,” my wife says as we watch our son beam with joy.

“Everyone says that,” Marty Roberts says.

We leave with a card proclaiming our son as a fully trained Jedi.

Best day at the fair ever.