White Hart wrap-up
Jul. 10th, 2006 05:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rowangolightly*sigh* Mixed feelings....it's over for this year.
I apologize right now to writing geeks and editors; I am not editing this for style or sentence-completion; deal! I am just spouting this to get it all down.
Gods, what a ride! We worked and we hoped and worked some more, trying to get this new faire off the ground. There were a few little 'downs' in with the 'ups' but my feeling is of overwhelming thankfulness at the outcome.
I'll make a prediction right here; if this faire continues in the same vein of everyone working together as it began, this will be one amazing faire. No, it's that right now; amazing, wonderful and magical. Give us five years and we'll be breaking all attendance and involvement records and starting a wave of a new type of faire across the country. We've already broken the curse of "no renfaires succeed in Missouri!" by a whole lot!
Notice that I'm not using words like, "biggest" or "best" ...who cares about such qualtifiers? When what you're going for is quality and inclusiveness and magic, size truly doesn't matter. I have no intention, very clearly stated, of comparing White Hart to any other faire or event; I've said it before and will say it again. Every faire has its own 'flavor' or culture and environment; what we are building here is a family made up of folk from all over the place, literally. My dream, our dream, is to have a big, inclusive family made of performers, management, vendors, crew, patrons and playtrons; everybody working towards a common goal of making a magical place for visitors to come and feel like they've truly come HOME.
And we've made an excellent start at it. Let me say this right off: Everyone contracted got paid immediately at the close of the day. The faire did not clear a profit but neither Charles nor Di expected it to so; everyone who knows about such things understands that such events don't start breaking even until about the third year. But these folk are in for the long haul with realistic plans and the means to accomplish them.
I'm not going to try to document the whole faire; would take too long. But some memories need to be written down so they're not lost so this is going to ramble in no particular order. As I've said to a couple people; my primary memory of this weekend is standing up at morning meeting, looking out over the assembled cast, crew and vendors who are all smiling, nodding in agreement and in one accord, knowing that what we're building is a very special, magical place and that we're all a part of it, sharing in it as family, knowing that this is the base from which we'll build, help to bring in more folk and keep it growing and building on this framework. It's immensely satisfying; very tiring, but so very wonderful to have this dream coming true.
I have to note my gratitude and overwhelming appreciation for the way I'm treated here; there's absolutely no difference in what I'm doing here (except for wearing that additional ED's hat) as to how I've done this elsewhere. But here I'm inundated with praise for the job I'm doing, told by the owner that I'm now 'his gold-standard of how queen should be portrayed' and being treated, well, like a Queen. Having the loving and appreciative support of my beloved partner, Bruce, who has to run the musical group without me, means the world to me. Having the loving support of new friends who 'get' what I'm trying to do and are there to work at it right beside me, is more than I ever could've hoped or dreamed of and had actually given up on ever finding.
Memories, since I could gush all day: Having a fun set of jousters who encourage me to play. Apparently I say, "you Bastard!" in a way that really gets atttention. Apparently it's impressive to draw the fighting dirk from Sir Richard's back scabbard to menace the Spanish Knight myself, along with the rest of my guard and gentlemen drew 'oohs' from the audience that the Queen was so riled that she was ready to take him on herself. That was fun! Lots of blood and gore....great guys to work with. It worked much better for me to not be at the first joust; more time greeting patrons and making the circuit to greet the vendors as well; something I like to do each and every day, no matter how big the faire will get.
Comments from children; "Can I be your friend?" to which I reply, "Of course, my dear, you're all my friends!" and then, "Could I come and play with you?" ...awww! and getting to knight both of Robin's kids! Yay! Then walking to front gate at the end on Saturday, this lovely girl who was one of my new 'Ladies' asked, "can I walk with you?" to which I reply, "Yes, of course!" then after closing and the jam session, she says, "Can I walk with you to your Castle?" AWWW! I have to tell her, "Well, sweetheart, I'm going by carriage nearby since I'm staying with one of my Knights who lives nearby and you must go with your parents. But I'll see you back here again next year, alright?" and get a big hug and a kiss....squish!
The brilliance of my 'new' guard (whom I'm going to lose as guard next year to become my royal caterer; not the right title but certainly a good trade off) who spoke with the children whom I'd just knighted to enlist their help in protecting me during the final joust. I didn't know he'd done this until I saw on Saturday, when the Spanish knight pointed his sword at me, not only did my Guards and Gentlemen draw their swords and stand in front of me but this whole line of children immediately jumped to their feet, brandishing their wooden swords and shields, defending their Queen, as they had just solemnly sworn to do.
The amazing adaptability and skill of Sir Richard, while assisting in the Children's Knighting, to turn each newly-dubbed Knight or Lady out to receive the accolades of the crowd and announce them assign to them an attribute to go with their name. With the older ones, he turned and seriously looked them in the eye, to assign them a serious attribute that usually sent shivers down my neck and made the teenager really take note...well, well done indeed. I can't imagine running a Knighting without that able and creative assistance; you may be stuck there for that part of the day, I'll warn you of that right now!
The occasional moments of music during the day with Raleigh, the impromptu fencing lessons that Walsingham gave to Brian, the delightful antics and silliness of Lady Grace that had us all giggling, the success of the ribbon-rose making that drew a huge audience while the court was 'resting'; the care with with all my court cared for me and worked as a team...made my job so much easier.
The easy comradery and smoothly-working mechanics of all my courtiers, who with minimal instruction, lined up and introduced the lines of children, repeating the names so that each child got his or her moment of glory and notice, making my job so very much easier and letting me focus on each child. They all worked together flawlessly to make the ceremony meaningful for everyone; getting to start each Children's Knighting with a 'real' knighting, either of the Blue Garter or for the fighting garrison's Knightings worked very well indeed. My thanks to everyone; I could not ask for a better group of friends with which to work. My extra thanks to Erin and to Kerri for fitting in so seamlessly and wonderfully so that no one watching would ever have known that we hadn't worked together forever. My gratitude and love to Heather and to Barbara Lea for steadfastness and inclusiveness in caring for me and working so hard to make the illusion work. Words cannot express my gratitude to Bill and to Mark for coming out to join the Court and to be so brilliant outside their normal framework of 'playing' and again, to Chris for everything he did so very well. I simply don't have enough words to express how much working with these folk in Court means to me.
Other memories: the vendors. Eric, the blade vendor, and his lovely lady who play just as well as the sell their wares and who gave me a lovely Scottish dirk with eating utencils included on the very first day and who constantly worked to include patrons in the ideals of honor. The Storm Watch folk who completely understand that getting in on the ground level of a new faire will accrue benefits far beyond mere dollars, who fixed my broken crown and would not let me pay. The delightful Blacksmith and his dear wife the Basket-weaver who are such dear people and fit in so very well; she is making the broom that Bruce and I will use at the hand-fasting this fall. They were utterly surprised to be invited to the hand-fasting and I hope they come.
The pleasure of teaching a new song to the assembled cast/crew and seeing how everyone appreciates the meaning of it; the pleasure of being able to announce at morning meeting that Bruce and I will be hand-fasted this fall and seeing the delight of everyone; receiving word from so many of the dear folk that they'll be attending.
In my first circuit of the grounds on Saturday, I saw a new vendor set up where Storm Watch had been the first weekend; what I saw were beautifully crafted wooden swords and even wooden scabards for them to fit into as well as wooden shields, full-sized Roman shields, miniature carriages and pictures of many more. After speaking to his lady, who was busily turning out peaked hats for girls, and trying to greet the very shy black dog hiding under the table, I spoke with this new vendor and quickly realizing that this is an old friend. The gentlemen turned out to be one of the crew of "Excalibur" in Blue Eye. He'd been one of the wood-workers making benches and helping build the stages. Along with some others of the crafters, he'd been stranded there after the faire closed but had exercised his craft, building carriages and had re-built. I was absolutely delighted to see him there and hoped to chat some more with him on Sunday but he completely sold out his wares on Saturday and so was not there on Sunday. But with his initial success, I have no doubt that he'll be back.
Another memory; the faire's first marriage proposal by Charles, one of the local SCA fighters whom I knighted one at a time during faire for the beginning of the Children's Knighting. It was done on the jousting field with the cooperation of the Jousters, the Black Gryphon ladies, the Royal Falconers and the Court. That was one damned impressive proposal, with the ring being flown in to the groom by Lady Valkyrie. Well done, indeed! And the party that night with grilling and music and fun was great; fun, too, the next morning to shout our morning greetings to the newly affianced and hung-over gentleman who was about to be bashed in bouting all day long!
Then there was the large Nordic-looking chap who showed up at closing the second weekend. Out side the gate at the ending jam session, I turned to see a lovely large white horse dancing Lippizoner-style to the rousing jig, his rider wonderfuly in synch with this gorgeous horse. It was amazing and delightful to watch; then with one last rear and flourish, he galloped away down the road. The fellow, Adam by name, turned up again on Saturday at the after party and grill. Another one hooked; he showed up with that lovely horse harnessed into an old carriage on Sunday morning so that I got to ride up the hill. Amazingly, the horse was well-trained enough to go so slowly that the rest of course could nearly keep up! The quick-thinking crew and cast (Lord Mayor, I'm betting) opened the gate to the left of the people gate so that we could drive right into the faire. Lovely!
I got to perform a Wedding vow renewal for two of the crew members, Maynard and his dear wife, and it was sortof impromptu but went so well that we all ended up teary-eyed. This humble, hard-working couple have busted their butts in the background of the faire and simply wanted a renewal of their wedding vows after 10 years of marriage. They were so earnest and so eager, I could see through a filter the youngsters they were ten years ago, shy and in awe and wondering what life was to hold, that it inspired me to (as I have done many times during this faire) wonder, "WWJD" or translated, "What would John Auld do?" and it became the most natural thing in the world to invite them up, turn them to face one another and bless and renew their commitment to one another. When I asked them if they had words for one another, the soft loving words they spoke brought tears coursing down my cheeks. Chad slipped me the lovely carved wooden rose to present to them at just the right time, before I announced them as husband and wife once again. And I could see Charles standing, glowing, at the back. I'm thinking, for the first time ever, that it might be well if I got a minister's license for just this sort of event; never felt appropriate before now.
Wel, this is getting huge and I have dinner to fix (where did the day go?) but there is one more story that needs telling, that so beautifully typifies this faire and what's happening. Eric, the sword vendor, and his lovely wife, Julie, held an axe-throwing competition throughout the faire, every day. He posted it to the yahoo group just as he told me the story during the day, so I'm going to paraphrase him:
"By the way for those of you that havent heard the story
yet, 5 qualifiers came to the Finals with about 60 people watching.
One young man by the name of Grayson came every weekend with his
mother and he was so excited about competing in the event. As the 5
finalists showed up Grayson saw how old they all where and began to get
discouraged, seeing that they all were twice his age. A gentleman
named Jordan (the guy dressed in the Blue and Black that escorted one
of the Queen's court on the last day) told the young Grayson not to get
discouraged, but to have heart. The finalist all began by drawing straws,
and then each one took their turns.
At the end of it all the young Grayson had 5 sticks in the target
and Jordan had 6. When I gave the trophy to him (a beautiful $100.00
double headed display axe) and the crowd gave their applause, he made
an anouncement. The gist of it was, that it was not the strength of arms
or skill that made a man but the strength of his heart, and that the
boy, Grayson, had that strength of heart, and in front of everyone he
gave the trophy to the boy!!!! WOW, I couldn't have scripted it better.
Truly that was what the Faire was about; that kid will never forget that
experience for the rest of his life.
Jordan, my hats off to you for your kindness."
And now, reading that, I remember knighting that young man, Grayson, and seeing Eric standing there so proudly in the audience. There are so many moments like that; chats with Don, one of the Hanlon-Lees Jousting company, about how everybody is an equally important part, from the Queen and court to the ticket-takers to the grounds crew and vendors and stage shows; how keeping drama and politics out of it can really be done and how those of proper heart and willingness to work will continue to be drawn here from all over to help build this dream.
Yep, sad that it's over but looking forward to next year.
I apologize right now to writing geeks and editors; I am not editing this for style or sentence-completion; deal! I am just spouting this to get it all down.
Gods, what a ride! We worked and we hoped and worked some more, trying to get this new faire off the ground. There were a few little 'downs' in with the 'ups' but my feeling is of overwhelming thankfulness at the outcome.
I'll make a prediction right here; if this faire continues in the same vein of everyone working together as it began, this will be one amazing faire. No, it's that right now; amazing, wonderful and magical. Give us five years and we'll be breaking all attendance and involvement records and starting a wave of a new type of faire across the country. We've already broken the curse of "no renfaires succeed in Missouri!" by a whole lot!
Notice that I'm not using words like, "biggest" or "best" ...who cares about such qualtifiers? When what you're going for is quality and inclusiveness and magic, size truly doesn't matter. I have no intention, very clearly stated, of comparing White Hart to any other faire or event; I've said it before and will say it again. Every faire has its own 'flavor' or culture and environment; what we are building here is a family made up of folk from all over the place, literally. My dream, our dream, is to have a big, inclusive family made of performers, management, vendors, crew, patrons and playtrons; everybody working towards a common goal of making a magical place for visitors to come and feel like they've truly come HOME.
And we've made an excellent start at it. Let me say this right off: Everyone contracted got paid immediately at the close of the day. The faire did not clear a profit but neither Charles nor Di expected it to so; everyone who knows about such things understands that such events don't start breaking even until about the third year. But these folk are in for the long haul with realistic plans and the means to accomplish them.
I'm not going to try to document the whole faire; would take too long. But some memories need to be written down so they're not lost so this is going to ramble in no particular order. As I've said to a couple people; my primary memory of this weekend is standing up at morning meeting, looking out over the assembled cast, crew and vendors who are all smiling, nodding in agreement and in one accord, knowing that what we're building is a very special, magical place and that we're all a part of it, sharing in it as family, knowing that this is the base from which we'll build, help to bring in more folk and keep it growing and building on this framework. It's immensely satisfying; very tiring, but so very wonderful to have this dream coming true.
I have to note my gratitude and overwhelming appreciation for the way I'm treated here; there's absolutely no difference in what I'm doing here (except for wearing that additional ED's hat) as to how I've done this elsewhere. But here I'm inundated with praise for the job I'm doing, told by the owner that I'm now 'his gold-standard of how queen should be portrayed' and being treated, well, like a Queen. Having the loving and appreciative support of my beloved partner, Bruce, who has to run the musical group without me, means the world to me. Having the loving support of new friends who 'get' what I'm trying to do and are there to work at it right beside me, is more than I ever could've hoped or dreamed of and had actually given up on ever finding.
Memories, since I could gush all day: Having a fun set of jousters who encourage me to play. Apparently I say, "you Bastard!" in a way that really gets atttention. Apparently it's impressive to draw the fighting dirk from Sir Richard's back scabbard to menace the Spanish Knight myself, along with the rest of my guard and gentlemen drew 'oohs' from the audience that the Queen was so riled that she was ready to take him on herself. That was fun! Lots of blood and gore....great guys to work with. It worked much better for me to not be at the first joust; more time greeting patrons and making the circuit to greet the vendors as well; something I like to do each and every day, no matter how big the faire will get.
Comments from children; "Can I be your friend?" to which I reply, "Of course, my dear, you're all my friends!" and then, "Could I come and play with you?" ...awww! and getting to knight both of Robin's kids! Yay! Then walking to front gate at the end on Saturday, this lovely girl who was one of my new 'Ladies' asked, "can I walk with you?" to which I reply, "Yes, of course!" then after closing and the jam session, she says, "Can I walk with you to your Castle?" AWWW! I have to tell her, "Well, sweetheart, I'm going by carriage nearby since I'm staying with one of my Knights who lives nearby and you must go with your parents. But I'll see you back here again next year, alright?" and get a big hug and a kiss....squish!
The brilliance of my 'new' guard (whom I'm going to lose as guard next year to become my royal caterer; not the right title but certainly a good trade off) who spoke with the children whom I'd just knighted to enlist their help in protecting me during the final joust. I didn't know he'd done this until I saw on Saturday, when the Spanish knight pointed his sword at me, not only did my Guards and Gentlemen draw their swords and stand in front of me but this whole line of children immediately jumped to their feet, brandishing their wooden swords and shields, defending their Queen, as they had just solemnly sworn to do.
The amazing adaptability and skill of Sir Richard, while assisting in the Children's Knighting, to turn each newly-dubbed Knight or Lady out to receive the accolades of the crowd and announce them assign to them an attribute to go with their name. With the older ones, he turned and seriously looked them in the eye, to assign them a serious attribute that usually sent shivers down my neck and made the teenager really take note...well, well done indeed. I can't imagine running a Knighting without that able and creative assistance; you may be stuck there for that part of the day, I'll warn you of that right now!
The occasional moments of music during the day with Raleigh, the impromptu fencing lessons that Walsingham gave to Brian, the delightful antics and silliness of Lady Grace that had us all giggling, the success of the ribbon-rose making that drew a huge audience while the court was 'resting'; the care with with all my court cared for me and worked as a team...made my job so much easier.
The easy comradery and smoothly-working mechanics of all my courtiers, who with minimal instruction, lined up and introduced the lines of children, repeating the names so that each child got his or her moment of glory and notice, making my job so very much easier and letting me focus on each child. They all worked together flawlessly to make the ceremony meaningful for everyone; getting to start each Children's Knighting with a 'real' knighting, either of the Blue Garter or for the fighting garrison's Knightings worked very well indeed. My thanks to everyone; I could not ask for a better group of friends with which to work. My extra thanks to Erin and to Kerri for fitting in so seamlessly and wonderfully so that no one watching would ever have known that we hadn't worked together forever. My gratitude and love to Heather and to Barbara Lea for steadfastness and inclusiveness in caring for me and working so hard to make the illusion work. Words cannot express my gratitude to Bill and to Mark for coming out to join the Court and to be so brilliant outside their normal framework of 'playing' and again, to Chris for everything he did so very well. I simply don't have enough words to express how much working with these folk in Court means to me.
Other memories: the vendors. Eric, the blade vendor, and his lovely lady who play just as well as the sell their wares and who gave me a lovely Scottish dirk with eating utencils included on the very first day and who constantly worked to include patrons in the ideals of honor. The Storm Watch folk who completely understand that getting in on the ground level of a new faire will accrue benefits far beyond mere dollars, who fixed my broken crown and would not let me pay. The delightful Blacksmith and his dear wife the Basket-weaver who are such dear people and fit in so very well; she is making the broom that Bruce and I will use at the hand-fasting this fall. They were utterly surprised to be invited to the hand-fasting and I hope they come.
The pleasure of teaching a new song to the assembled cast/crew and seeing how everyone appreciates the meaning of it; the pleasure of being able to announce at morning meeting that Bruce and I will be hand-fasted this fall and seeing the delight of everyone; receiving word from so many of the dear folk that they'll be attending.
In my first circuit of the grounds on Saturday, I saw a new vendor set up where Storm Watch had been the first weekend; what I saw were beautifully crafted wooden swords and even wooden scabards for them to fit into as well as wooden shields, full-sized Roman shields, miniature carriages and pictures of many more. After speaking to his lady, who was busily turning out peaked hats for girls, and trying to greet the very shy black dog hiding under the table, I spoke with this new vendor and quickly realizing that this is an old friend. The gentlemen turned out to be one of the crew of "Excalibur" in Blue Eye. He'd been one of the wood-workers making benches and helping build the stages. Along with some others of the crafters, he'd been stranded there after the faire closed but had exercised his craft, building carriages and had re-built. I was absolutely delighted to see him there and hoped to chat some more with him on Sunday but he completely sold out his wares on Saturday and so was not there on Sunday. But with his initial success, I have no doubt that he'll be back.
Another memory; the faire's first marriage proposal by Charles, one of the local SCA fighters whom I knighted one at a time during faire for the beginning of the Children's Knighting. It was done on the jousting field with the cooperation of the Jousters, the Black Gryphon ladies, the Royal Falconers and the Court. That was one damned impressive proposal, with the ring being flown in to the groom by Lady Valkyrie. Well done, indeed! And the party that night with grilling and music and fun was great; fun, too, the next morning to shout our morning greetings to the newly affianced and hung-over gentleman who was about to be bashed in bouting all day long!
Then there was the large Nordic-looking chap who showed up at closing the second weekend. Out side the gate at the ending jam session, I turned to see a lovely large white horse dancing Lippizoner-style to the rousing jig, his rider wonderfuly in synch with this gorgeous horse. It was amazing and delightful to watch; then with one last rear and flourish, he galloped away down the road. The fellow, Adam by name, turned up again on Saturday at the after party and grill. Another one hooked; he showed up with that lovely horse harnessed into an old carriage on Sunday morning so that I got to ride up the hill. Amazingly, the horse was well-trained enough to go so slowly that the rest of course could nearly keep up! The quick-thinking crew and cast (Lord Mayor, I'm betting) opened the gate to the left of the people gate so that we could drive right into the faire. Lovely!
I got to perform a Wedding vow renewal for two of the crew members, Maynard and his dear wife, and it was sortof impromptu but went so well that we all ended up teary-eyed. This humble, hard-working couple have busted their butts in the background of the faire and simply wanted a renewal of their wedding vows after 10 years of marriage. They were so earnest and so eager, I could see through a filter the youngsters they were ten years ago, shy and in awe and wondering what life was to hold, that it inspired me to (as I have done many times during this faire) wonder, "WWJD" or translated, "What would John Auld do?" and it became the most natural thing in the world to invite them up, turn them to face one another and bless and renew their commitment to one another. When I asked them if they had words for one another, the soft loving words they spoke brought tears coursing down my cheeks. Chad slipped me the lovely carved wooden rose to present to them at just the right time, before I announced them as husband and wife once again. And I could see Charles standing, glowing, at the back. I'm thinking, for the first time ever, that it might be well if I got a minister's license for just this sort of event; never felt appropriate before now.
Wel, this is getting huge and I have dinner to fix (where did the day go?) but there is one more story that needs telling, that so beautifully typifies this faire and what's happening. Eric, the sword vendor, and his lovely wife, Julie, held an axe-throwing competition throughout the faire, every day. He posted it to the yahoo group just as he told me the story during the day, so I'm going to paraphrase him:
"By the way for those of you that havent heard the story
yet, 5 qualifiers came to the Finals with about 60 people watching.
One young man by the name of Grayson came every weekend with his
mother and he was so excited about competing in the event. As the 5
finalists showed up Grayson saw how old they all where and began to get
discouraged, seeing that they all were twice his age. A gentleman
named Jordan (the guy dressed in the Blue and Black that escorted one
of the Queen's court on the last day) told the young Grayson not to get
discouraged, but to have heart. The finalist all began by drawing straws,
and then each one took their turns.
At the end of it all the young Grayson had 5 sticks in the target
and Jordan had 6. When I gave the trophy to him (a beautiful $100.00
double headed display axe) and the crowd gave their applause, he made
an anouncement. The gist of it was, that it was not the strength of arms
or skill that made a man but the strength of his heart, and that the
boy, Grayson, had that strength of heart, and in front of everyone he
gave the trophy to the boy!!!! WOW, I couldn't have scripted it better.
Truly that was what the Faire was about; that kid will never forget that
experience for the rest of his life.
Jordan, my hats off to you for your kindness."
And now, reading that, I remember knighting that young man, Grayson, and seeing Eric standing there so proudly in the audience. There are so many moments like that; chats with Don, one of the Hanlon-Lees Jousting company, about how everybody is an equally important part, from the Queen and court to the ticket-takers to the grounds crew and vendors and stage shows; how keeping drama and politics out of it can really be done and how those of proper heart and willingness to work will continue to be drawn here from all over to help build this dream.
Yep, sad that it's over but looking forward to next year.
