OCT, 2011 A flood of spandex-clad heroes from DC, Marvel and Dark Horse descended upon Flemington, NJ yesterday October 1, 2011 to help raise money for Hayley’s family.

The event was organized by Flemington’s Hometown Club who has also put together other fundraisers during the year for Hayley’s family. Hayley is 13 now. She was released from a Philadelphia hospital for treatments for malignant pinoblastoma.

We were supported not only by members of the 501st and Rebel Legion but also the Capital City Jedi Knights who gave demonstrations all day long to the local padawan learners. They learned proper fighting techniques for lightsabers on the soggy field in front of the Dutch Market.

The Dutch Market might have seemed like an odd choice for venue but once hungry heroes explored inside, they were in fresh baked heaven surrounded by Amish pastries. Spandex was covered in powered sugar by the end of the day.

Generous costumers came from West Virginia, north Pennsylvania, south Jersey and New York City to donate their time and talents for the day. The craftsmanship of the costumes and the variety of personalities in them makes for a great social networking experience in honest-to-goodness real life instead of online.

The East Coast X-Men seemed to be led by Jubilee (Jackie) rather than Cyclops. She “blasted” Batman among others with her pockets full of gold tinsel. There were a few professional photographers that absolutely loved her. The X-Men and the Avengers playfully sparred all day leaving the Justice League to go about its own business.

Speaking of photographers, many thanks to Black Lab Studios for being the official photographers for the day. They had a portable printer so that anyone making a donation could get a snapshot with any hero and have it printed within minutes. We’ll be doing this for Superhero Weekend too at Comic Fusion on Oct 29-30. Tyrus Flynn and Dawen Huang spent the day snapping pro pics with their fancy looking cameras too. There should be lots of amazing shots hitting facebook soon. Dawen’s gallery is at smugmug.

We owe thanks to all the merchants of the strip mall: the Dollar Store and the Pet Store that allowed us use of their bathrooms for changing. Some of us still opted for the parking lot but bathrooms are so appreciated!

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.