RIVER CITY JOURNAL: 'STAR WARS' MEMORIES: LOBBY PICNIC AND A SINKING SAILBOAT

Yes, I'm going to see the new installment, but it will pale next to the excitement of the first trilogy.

I guess if you haven't seen "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" by now, you're really an old fogy.

Like me.

Yes, I intend to see it, once the hoopla dies down a bit. After the excitement of seeing all three of the first "Star Wars" movies with two young sons, how could I not see this latest offering?

Besides, I liked all of the early "Star Wars" movies. I expect I'll enjoy "The Phantom Menace" too.

On the telephone recently, younger son recalled the family outings to see each of the first trilogy, even though he was just 3 years old for the first movie. Not too long ago, he saw the re-released, upgraded series at a high-tech movie house in San Antonio.

"Gosh, I didn't realize how awful the stories were," he said.

That can be a jolt for adults whose memories are pulled through a child's prism.

Let me tell you what I remember about the first set of "Star Wars" movies:

When the first "Star Wars" came out -- I guess that was Episode IV if you understand George Lucas at all -- we were living in Independence, Harry Truman's town on the east edge of Kansas City. The only movie theater showing "Star Wars" was in Johnson County, Kan., on the far southwestern edge of Kansas City. So to see the movie, we had to go to another state. Imagine that.

We decided to go to a late-afternoon show because we needed to get both boys home and in bed at a decent hour. Older son was in elementary school at the time.

As we drove into the setting sun, we fought rush-hour traffic across the metropolitan area, stood in a long line for tickets and then settled into the crowded theater lobby for a long wait.

We hadn't thought about dinner, but we quickly decided to turn the concession stand into a buffet line.

I think all of us remember the rather elaborate picnic we made out of junk food in the lobby before the movie started better than the movie itself.

I might add there were no leftovers.

When "The Empire Strikes Back" came out in 1980, we were living in Maryville, Mo. We knew it would be weeks, if not months, before the movie ever made it to our town in the northwest corner of the state. So the boys and I made the trip to downtown Kansas City, where the movie was showing.

While we were waiting, I had a copy of the Sunday Kansas City Star to pass the time as we waited in a long line to get tickets. The line was so long, in fact, that I read the hefty classified-ad section. An ad for a sailboat caught my eye.

Don't ask why. I don't have an answer. There were no sailing lakes near Maryville. I had never been on a sailboat before. But all through the movie, the boys were caught up in light sabers and intergalactic wars while I was dreaming of a sailboat.

Turns out, the boat's owner lived in a residential lake community north of Kansas City -- conveniently on the way home to Maryville. We stopped by, saw the boat, bought it, tied it to the roof of the car, received five minutes of sailing instructions and headed home.

The next weekend we went to Lake of Three Fires near Hamburg, Iowa, a small fishing lake in a wooded state park. We launched the boat, raised the sail and took off.

Really took off. The wind was blowing directly down the length of the lake toward the dam. We went along for a pretty exciting ride.

It occurred to me along our route that I either needed to turn the boat or go sailing into the dam. I didn't have a clue how to make the boat go any direction but the way the wind was blowing.

Finally, I turned the tiller. The next thing we knew we were all in the water grabbing for a capsized sailboat. When we collected our wits, we tried to right the boat only to find the mast was stuck in the mud of the lake bed.

Fortunately, the operator of a canoe-rental concession on the shore saw our plight and came to our rescue. He took us aboard, helped us get the sailboat upright and towed the waterlogged vessel back to the dock where we had launched.

We had some fun with that boat over the next few years, but we never became proficient sailors. Before we moved from Maryville, we sold the boat at a garage sale to a trio of young men whose desire to take to the sea had been stoked by more than a few bottles of beer. I cautioned them that drunk sailors face dangerous shoals. I passed along the same five-minute course in seamanship I had received and sent them on their way.

Then I watched the paper for the next few days to see if there were any reports of boating mishaps.

It's funny what we remember about certain things. To me, the picnic in the lobby of the movie theater and the adventures with the boat we affectionately christened "Tippy Canoe" will always be linked to those first two installments of the "Star Wars" series.

And what about "The Return of the Jedi" that came out in 1983?

I don't recall.

Apparently we just went to the movie and ate popcorn.

How dull.

~R. Joe Sullivan is the editor of the Southeast Missourian.