Photon Landmarks, Photon Legends

I recently spent a day in Dallas, TX, which from start to finish was filled with Photon landmarks and Photon legends.

Photon Dallas was the very first Photon center and, as such, the world’s first laser tag arena. I jokingly say I made a pilgrimage to the mother ship by seeking out this building, but it is really a very special place because of all it represents and all that began right here. This is where laser tag began. Thanks to Beathan Miller (aka Lord Beathan) I have a photo to show of what the place looked like 40 years ago as well.

Before making my way to the former Photon site I made a small detour to another building with Photon significance. I first pulled up the television episodes on YouTube to be sure of what I was looking for. At the beginning of the Skin Deep episode there is a very clear image of the home where local filming of the show took place. Here is the Jarvis house then…

And here is the Jarvis house today.

While spending some time seeking out these Photon landmarks I communicated with Beathan who told me he lives quite close to the old Photon location and kindly invited me to stop by his home where we had a wonderful visit!

There was something a bit surreal about meeting face to face. I felt like I had known him forever even though I was meeting him (and his lovely wife Hope aka Tempest) for the first time. It’s really astounding how Photon has connected so many people across distance and time. Bear in mind, the Lord Beathan I first recognized as a little girl looked more like this…

I guess the real Beathan looks a lot like that too! He greeted me with his incredibly rare character figure prototype, which anyone can agree is the spitting image of the man himself.

I spent about an hour and a half with Beathan and Hope sharing their Photon memories, which was such a treat! They are a significant part of Photon history and I loved getting a chance to visit with them. I also appreciated getting to hold a real piece of history. If my younger self at six years old who watched Photon back in the day had any idea her mind would have been blown!

After our visit was complete I went out to lunch with George Carter and his lovely wife Debi. While this man definitely falls into the Photon legend category, I am so glad that over the course of the last ten years I have moved past solely appreciating him because of Photon. I now consider him a friend who just happened to develop the game that started it all…40 years ago! This lunch was to celebrate George and the 40th anniversary of his original Photon game system. I was able to present him with the International Laser Tag Day poster and thank him on behalf of the industry.