Sci-fi comes to life

Six stewards of the sands recently embarked on a weeklong journey to Tunisia -- the majestic landscape featured in various "Star Wars" movies as the fictional planet Tatooine -- to repair Luke Skywalker's home, also known in the movies as the Lars family homestead. The team included "Star Wars" superfans from around the world -- Mark Dermul, Mark Cox, Terry Cooper, Robert Cunningham, Imanuel Dijk, and Michel Verpoorten.

Before arriving, the Save Lars group visited the mountain range Jebel Krefane (near the village of Bouhlel), which served as the backdrop for several scenes, such as when the Jawas captured R2-D2, Tuskens attacked Luke, and when we first met Obi-Wan Kenobi.