'Animal House' Actor is still thanking God.

Byline: Mark Baker The Register-Guard

COTTAGE GROVE - "Thank you, God."

The words rolled off Sean McCartin's 14-year-old lips in the fall of 1977 with relative ease for a novice actor, but it didn't stop the Playboy Bunny who flew through the bedroom window from crashing into his ribs and knocking the wind out of him.

Take 2: This time the "Bunny," who was actually a Hollywood stunt woman, nailed her dive as McCartin's character - "Lucky Boy" - took his eyes off the centerfold in the 1963 Playboy magazine he was holding, and blurted his three-word line.

The rest is history.

Motion picture history.

That scene from "National Lampoon's Animal House," filmed on a set at the Cottage Grove Armory, is a bit ironic for McCartin, now 39. A couple of years after thanking God on the big screen, he found him during his junior year at Elmira High School.

The film, No. 36 on the American Film Institute's list of 100 greatest film comedies, shot its final scenes here in 1977 and most of the rest on the University of Oregon campus. Released by Universal Studios in 1978, the movie quickly becoming a cult classic and one of the top-grossing films of all time.

It will always be a part of McCartin's life - and video collection - as will his relationship with God.

"I feel like God's had his hand in every part of my life," said McCartin, who joined Campus Life, a Christian youth movement, in high school after having battled drugs and alcohol since the sixth grade.

Today, he is pastor at Eugene's Eastside Faith Center on Centennial Boulevard, the church he founded with his wife, Tan, in 1994.

"Isn't that crazy?" said McCartin, who plans to return to Cottage Grove on Aug. 30 for a Universal-sponsored 25th anniversary bash. "I was praising the Lord even back then," he said of his line, uttered as the Playboy Bunny character was supposedly catapulted off a float in the film's infamous parade scene, filmed up and down Main Street here.

"Lucky Boy" was thankful then, and the city is thankful now that Universal has come on board for what is being billed as the "World's Largest Toga Party" - ever.

The film's 25th anniversary celebration was originally scheduled for July 5, but the city decided to delay it two months at the request of Universal Studios, whose home video division is releasing a new DVD of the film, the "Double Secret Probation Edition," on Aug. 26. The DVD will include a "Where are they now?" segment on cast members and director John Landis.

"It'll be a bigger deal now," said Tim Flowerday, president of the Cottage Grove Chamber of Commerce and the event's lead organizer. "There's a lot of potential now. We were sweating bullets before," he said of efforts to finance the party, which has been 18 months in the planning and is expected to draw thousands.

Event organizers are searching for local people, such as McCartin, who played bit parts or were extras in the film, so that they can record their stories on a CD that will be sold at the event in between band sets.

The Kingsmen of Portland, who sang the classic rock hit "Louie, Louie" in the film, plan to attend, and there will be two showings of the movie at the Cottage Theatre.

"I can see myself 32 times in the film," said Eugene real estate agent Maida Belove, an extra in the film whose most memorable scene was when she swiped the "beanie" pledge hat off the head of "Flounder," one of the characters in the film, after he walked through the doors of the infamous Delta House for the first time.

Although Belove, a member of the organizing committee, wouldn't miss the Aug. 30 bash, Eugene resident Murray Gast said he wants nothing to do with it. "Oh, I don't care," said Gast, also an extra in the film as one of the Delta pledges.

Now 47, Gast back then was a member of the UO's Sigma Nu fraternity, where many of the film's scenes were shot. "That was fine and dandy back then. But I think when my kids go to college, I'll be wary of them joining a fraternity," he joked.

Organizers have even contacted the Guinness Book of World Records to see what the current record is for a toga party. Turns out there isn't one, so this will be it. Toga parties became popular on college campuses across the country after the debut of the film, which featured a drunken toga bash instigated by the beer-swilling Bluto Blutarsky, played by the film's star, the late John Belushi.

The Cottage Grove Historical Society is even selling toga kits, with bed sheets donated by area hotels, for $15 each as a fund-raising event.

Organizers are hoping that Universal's involvement will spur several of the film's actors back to Cottage Grove. Actor Stephen Furst, who played "Flounder," the fat, bumbling fraternity freshman Kent Dorfman, in the film, is the most likely cast member to show. Furst was already on board to show for the event on July 5, said organizing committee chairwoman Debbie Williamson-Smith.

But now, the hope is that more of the film's stars, such as Tim Matheson (Eric "Otter" Stratton), Karen Allen (Katy), Kevin Bacon (Chip Diller) and Tom Hulce (Pinto), will come, said Williamson-Smith, who works closely with the film industry as tourism and film marketing manager for the Convention & Visitors Association of Lane County.

McCartin, who still gets residual checks from Universal for his small part in the film, said he will most definitely be there Aug. 30 if it doesn't conflict with his busy schedule.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "You bet. Toga! Toga! Toga!"

WORLD'S BIGGEST TOGA PARTY

When: Saturday, Aug. 30, beginning with a 7 a.m. breakfast and ending with a late-into-the-night toga party

Where: Downtown Cottage Grove, where the final scenes of "National Lampoon's Animal House," including the parade scene on Main Street, were shot in 1977.

Tickets: $15 each and available for purchase online at www.animalhousecelebration.com. Those who bought tickets in advance assuming a July 5 date will be able to attend the Aug. 30 party. Those who want a refund should call 515-2405.

CAPTION(S):

Sean McCartin, who thanked God in "Animal House," doesn't make a big deal of his role - few in his Eugene congregation know about it.