Servo - May 2008

The R2 Builders Club ...

desire to make a positive impact in the world. And so it was devastating to all who know Alvin and his family when they learned that his six-year-old daughter Katie had a brain tumor. A bright and shining star to all who knew her, Katie’s friends and family were deeply saddened by this news.

While attending a church service with his family shortly after his daughter’s diagnosis, Albin had a lightbulb moment. According to the R2-KT website ( www.r2kt.com/): “Albin noticed something funny about the sanctuary’s windows. Call it a sign, call it Al not paying attention in church, but the window looked eerily like an R2 unit and it gave him an idea: Why not build an R2 to watch over Katie as she slept (just like R2-D2 watched over Padme in Episode II)? Katie’s older sister Allie went one step further: Why not paint it pink and name it after Katie: R2-KT? An idea was born ...”

In April of 2005, Albin discovered the R2 Builders Club. Upon hearing of Albin’s intentions to build his courageous and wonderful daughter a pink R2-D2, the group was eager to help him realize this goal. Given that an R2 Builder’s first droid can take years to complete, it was clear to the group that something unprecedented would need to occur in order for R2-KT to take shape.

Greene suggested that the R2 Builders Club build an all-aluminum R2-KT and donate it to the Johnson family. Greene offered to orchestrate this group build and assemble the droid himself. Albin graciously and humbly gave the club

permission to proceed. Shortly thereafter, Jerry began creating sketches of R2-KT and posting requests to the group to donate the parts he would need to build this one-of-a-kind, pink astromech droid. The response was overwhelming. While the group set about building an all-aluminum R2-KT, R2BC member Andy Schwartz did something quite extraordinary, as well. He disassembled his own R2-D2, painted all of the blue sections pink, put it back together again, and arranged for this original R2-KT to be delivered to the Johnsons’ home. This act of generosity allowed Katie to have her very own pink astromech droid to keep her company and lift her spirits.

After a brave fight, Katie Johnson passed away on August 9, 2005. Her family, her friends, and the Star Wars community mourned her loss.

The R2 Builders Club decided to continue building R2-KT as a memorial to this wonderful girl. It was an emotional process for everyone involved. Eager to express their compassion for this family, dozens of R2 Builders from around the globe donated astromech parts to the R2-KT project. Over the next year, box after box of donated parts arrived at Greene’s Rhode Island home, where he worked tirelessly in his basement studio to assemble this unique droid. (Visit JAG’s “Project R2-KT” website at www.r2- r9.com/Project%20R2-KT.html to read a chronology of the build and see images of all this robot’s parts.)

By July 2006, R2-KT was complete. Greene and the R2 Builders Club constructed this adorable, circus pink and white astromech droid in record time, taking little more than one year from start to finish. Once the robot was complete, Greene and his g“irlfriend, Lisa, loaded R2-KT in their minivan and took it on its first adventure. Jerry and Lisa drove