6000 Toy Army Men Attack Wolcott

September 15th would have been my granddaughter Lisa's 23rd birthday. She died in February. She and her brother had long had a fantasy of having a "battle" of toy soldiers on the sidewalks of downtown Wolcott. So for her birthday her family decided to fulfill her wish. The crew of family and friends assembles in her parents living room at 3:00 am, a time picked to avoid curious onlookers.

Of course combat makeup was called for. Her sister Christine (the recent bride)

Most of us assembled our troops into mock battles.

Park benches made a good location.

Some of the troops begin work on the deserted main street.

No flat spot was safe from our endeavors.

Lots of soldiers were casualties.

My granddaughter Lisa. She had every gift except sobriety. We love you and miss you very much. Happy birthday.

The following appeared in the Wayne County Star Newspaper




WOLCOTT – When Lisa Lucas was a little girl, she and her brother Mark loved to play with plastic Army men, setting up war games all around their house.

Lisa passed away unexpected Feb. 6, at the age of 22. As her 23rd birthday approached last week, Mark and his wife, Christy, wanted to do something to commemorate the day. They wanted something that would be meaningful to Lisa’s memory, but also something that captured the fun side of the sister lost too soon.

The girl they remembered loved camping, traveling, flowers, music, her family, friends, shopping, shoes and clothes.

“When they were kids, they always thought it would be great to play with their Army men in downtown Wolcott,” said her father, Michael Lucas. “They never got to do it, but two years ago, Lisa gave Mark a bag of Army guys as a joke.”

Mark and Christy recalled that and thought Lisa would get a kick out of the fulfillment of the long ago desire to play Army around Main Street. So, nine members of the Lucas family, between 2:30 and 4:15 a.m. Sept. 16 with Lisa in mind, lined curbs and filled doorways with toy soldiers, tanks, forts and flags – 6,000 in all.

“They called it ‘Army-Geddon,’” Michael Lucas said.

Besides the line of small green and tan troops on the granite curbing, there were little battle scenes grouped on steps to businesses, on trash cans and even around the fountain at the corner of New Hartford Street.

Daphne Dudas, owner of Forget-Me-Not Tots, who found soldiers in her flowerboxes and on her steps, thought a group of teen-agers might have decorated the village as a prank. She thought the soldiers amusing.

Stacey Huff, who works at Village Restaurant and whose sister Diana Baker was Lisa’s best friend, thought the tribute was “a beautiful blessing,” and a fun way to remember a happy side of Lisa.

“She would have loved it; it was crazy and cute,” Huff said. The family, knowing that the Huffs would get the joke, also spread a slew of soldiers around the restaurant, even though it wasn’t on Main Street proper.

Michael Lucas said his family went to every dollar store and drug store between Wolcott and Camillus, looking for bags of Army soldiers and their accessories.

“We went all over the place,” he said. “We really wanted to do this. We didn’t know if there was an ordinance or anything against grown-ups playing Army in the night. We didn’t know if we would get into trouble or have to pay a fine, but we knew it would be worth it.”

Michael Lucas said he’s not sure if decorating the village in Lisa’s memory helped to give a sense of closure to her early death, but it was something that was important for his family to do. He said that anyone who wants to collect the soldiers and other items is welcome to them, something else that Lisa would have liked.

And even all these years later, he still finds reminders of his children’s love of the plastic figures around his house.

“Every once in awhile, there’ll be a solider on top of a picture frame or in a bookcase,” he said.