Holy Schnikes! 'Tommy Boy' Fest planned

SANDUSKY — Feel free to arrive via sailboat while dressed as a fat guy in a little coat. Just like Chris Farley comically did in a cult classic, people can celebrate all things "Tommy Boy" this summer in Sandusky. To celebrate the movie's 30th anniversary, Shores & Islands Ohio on Tuesday announced a new multi-day celebration dubbed Tommy Boy Fest. While not actually filmed in Sandusky, many local tributes and mentions of Sandusky are spoken on screen, prompting local officials to properly honor this production with a party three decades in the making. Figuring out the festival Tommy Boy Fest takes place Aug. 7-9 in Sandusky. Here's a look at the upcoming schedule with comments by Shores & Islands Ohio: Thursday, Aug. 7 — Party at the Pier on Jackson Street Pier, 221 W. Shoreline Drive, Sandusky The outdoor concert that night, sponsored by Shores & Islands Ohio, will be highlighted by The Menus, a popular Ohio rock band playing high-energy covers for more than 40 years. Friday, Aug. 8 and Saturday, Aug. 9 — on and near Jackson Street Pier Activities planned include a: • Downtown movie- and television-themed classic car show along Washington Row • Outdoor screenings of the movie on a giant screen at Jackson Street Pier • Tommy Want Wingy Throwdown, sponsored by Ability Works, character look-alike contests • Sights Not Seen in the Movie Sandusky scavenger hunt The weekend will be highlighted by an appearance and question-and-answer session with the movie's director, Peter Segal. Segal will also be bringing his restored 1967 Plymouth Belvedere II GTX convertible, the actual vehicle used in the movie by Tommy and Richard to traverse the Midwest, for photo opportunities. Additionally, anyone local with the name Tom or Tommy is invited to participate in a photo op. The festival coincides with Small City Taphouse's annual CLAG Brewing festival, also taking place in downtown Sandusky on Friday and Saturday. The beer festival will feature live music, a street party, beer releases and more within the 200 block of Columbus Avenue. Both events are within a few blocks of each other for easy enjoyment of the weekend. Props to Sandusky For those unfamiliar with the film, here's a brief synopsis as provided by Shores & Islands Ohio: "Tom 'Tommy Boy' Callahan III, (Farley) hits the road with Richard Hayden (David Spade) to try and save his late father's company," the fictional Callahan Auto Parts. And it doesn't take a film critic or movie buff to realize no scene in "Tommy Boy" was filmed in Sandusky. Anyone with even a tiny tie to the area knows the Sandusky Municipal Airport, Callahan Auto Parts or a Safeway never existed in Sandusky. But the film did make a true effort to recreate the area, according to Tim Fleck, the Sandusky Register's former chief photographer. "I got contacted by the film company out of Toronto, and they were looking for props they could use for the movie," Fleck said in a 20th anniversary retrospective article the Register ran in 2015. So Fleck took pictures of various items in Sandusky, including city police cruisers and Register newspaper boxes — both of which the movie team recreated in various scenes of "Tommy Boy." Some real props did make it on screen, including Register newspapers. "It's kind of cool knowing you had a part in helping (make) a national, big-time movie," Fleck said. "They went through the trouble to use my pictures and then try to make things, (such as the police cruiser) real. They could have just used a black and white generic cop car, but they put the effort into it to make it look like a real Sandusky police car." 5 fun facts from 'Tommy Boy' 1. The film's original working title was "Billy the Third: A Midwestern." 2. Rob Lowe isn't credited in the movie because he was contractually obligated to Stephen King's "The Stand" (1994) at the time, so he took the part simply as a favor for his friend, Farley. 3. On the list showing the exam grades of the students at the beginning of the movie, look at the bottom. One of the names is Helen Keller, who scored an F. 4. Tommy graduates from Marquette University, which was Farley's real-life alma mater. 5. When Bo Derek's character comes out of the pool, Tommy says to Big Tom, played by Brian Dennehy, "Whoa, dad. She's a ... 10!" Bo Derek and Brian Dennehy both appeared in "10" (1979). Source: Internet Movie Database