June 17 2006
Our 6:th annual meeting at the Fantomen theme park in Eskilstuna.

 

Twenty-eight Event
Eskilstuna, Fantomenland June 17th 2006

Attending Members: Brian Jensen, Torbjörn Onegård, Jan-Ola Sjöberg, Andreas Eriksson, Magnus Eriksson, Simon Treschow, Christer Borg, Patrik Axelsson, Henrik Bengtsson, Mikael Lyck, Ulrik Lundin, Per-Åke Sjögren, Lars Fagerstedt, Hans-Erik Hansson.
Guest: Kristina Larsson

For the first time ever, it was time for me to travel to Phantom land in Eskilstuna. A bit ashamed over the fact that I hade never been there before, but "better late than never" as the saying goes. And I could hardly have chosen a better time to visit Phantomland.

June 17th 2006 was the "Phantom day", to celebrate both the comic strip's 70th anniversary, AND the 20th anniversary of Phantom Land.
Scandinavian Chapter had participated in planning the arrangement and would also help out during the day, which made it feel a bit like "our" special day too.

In the morning the brave troupe of SC members gathered for a meeting with coffee and planning. We were in charge of a tent where people interested in the Phantom could see some of our members' collectibles.
There was also a quiz that had been created by SC: Ten questions had been picked out after discussions on the mailing list.

After the morning meeting it was about time to start preparing the SC tent. Precious objects were displayed to the public eye. Everything from swimming-trunks, bed sheets, LP records, milk cartons, pins and various other Phantom-related objects filled the tables and tent walls.

Next to the SC tent was a tent hosted by Egmont, also well-filled.
Their tent was not filled with old memorabilia, but instead brand new books, magazines and collectibles. Among other things was the anniversary issue of the comic magazine, which hadn't even been released in stores or sent to subscribers yet. Mats Jönsson and Wilhelm Rejnus, who SC had encountered on other SC meetings, were working in the Egmont tent. Also, there was a Jungle Olympics for children (with events such as Thow like a Bandar, Find the gold at Keela-Wee, Solve the Phantom puzzle and the high jump), and there was an oppurtunity to get a face-painting with Phantom motif! The Phantom and the Jungle Band played on the nearby stage and entertained young and old during the entire day.SC members took turns standing in the tent and showing the collectibles to interested visitors. Besides that, it was free for all to walk around in the park and watch all the animals and – of course – meet the Phantom in the Skull Cave. There you could also see Lee Falk's signature carved in the wall from the opening of Phantom Land in 1986, as a message from the master to his fans. It almost reminded of the familiar scenes from the comic, where the Phantom in his mind can see his pleased anscestors looking down upon him after a job well done. I imagine that if Lee Falk could see us on this day he would have been pleased with all we have done to spread knowledge of his creation, which after 70 years continues to entertain readers all over the world.As a first-time visitor I must say that the park in general is well worth a visit. There are lots of interesting animals (although most of them were hiding in the shade, but that was understandable due to the heat on this day). The Phantom connection is more like "icing on the cake". Phantom Land is not exactly like Disneyland, but seems to be popular among the kids and thereby fills its purpose.Towards the end of the day, the Phantom (from the Jungle Band, and not one of the many other ghosts who walked in the park this day) gave out prizes to the winners of the quiz. Ten happy winners out of some hundred (?) participants won subscriptions, back packs and other things given out by Egmont.The amazing weather continued all day and when it was time to head back home again, it was with another memory of a successful SC meeting.

/Andreas