One Last Time, The One Last Party

“All’s well that ends better.”

TheOneRing.net hosted the last Oscar party for fans of the Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit movies this past weekend at the American Legion in Hollywood. Traditionally, the fan parties took place during Oscar night so we can all gather and watch the award show together. This year, the party took place the night before the show on Saturday and I think it is because The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies didn’t get nominated for any categories this year. Boo-urns, Academy Awards!

Either way, it didn’t stop the fans from gathering to appreciate our fandom for one night together in fancy dresses and dwarf gear.

The night started out with dinner for me where I was promised a “buffet” style dinner with my party ticket. All lies! I served myself a modest amount of food, expecting that I can go back to get more if I was still hungry… only to be told that I couldn’t have second servings and was turned away. Honestly, the worst thing you can do to a girl who thinks she’s a Hobbit deep inside — refuse her more food. Again… boo-urns!

I was a loner for a bit as my social skills fails me all the time, but I did have pleasant conversations with a couple of TheOneRing.net‘s staff members. Honestly, the people behind that website are always so awesome and kind so I am mostly sad that there might not be any more chances to hang out with them.

Since we weren’t watching the live broadcast of the Academy Awards, a line-up of entertainment was planned for the evening. Emerald Rose, a fan favorite, returned and we got a little dancing in.

William Kircher, the actor who played Bifur in The Hobbit movies, had a cover singing group called California Dreams who serenaded us with 60s music for the majority of the evening. It was a little random but they were quite the show on stage! The highlight: we took photos with Sala Baker, because he’s pretty awesome.

Bruce Hopkins (Gamling) and John Bell (Bain) also attended the party and hung out with fans. Royd Tolkien (JRR Tolkien’s great-grandson) was also at the party, as well as the Hillywood sisters who are adorable! We had a good time and like I said before, was a little sad that it was all over. We had hoped to see more of the cast members at the party to say farewell but I have all my wonderful memories from all the parties… the Return of the King party was my first and that was so epic.

I am eternally grateful for all the people who worked so hard to organize these parties and gave me the chance to live out my fandom dreams. I will miss everything.