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<p class="MsoNormal">Noble Friends of the Bow,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This message may cost me some friends, but it
is something
that needs to be said, and something that should be read by every
target
archery marshal and MIT in Atlantia. I am speaking about the
deplorable
condition of our target archery loaner gear. Too much of it is an
embarrassment
to our local groups, and even worse, an insult to our guests.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yes, our guests. Keep in mind that everybody
who comes to
your range is a guest, and should be treated with all possible
respect and
courtesy. Respect and courtesy include issuing them loaner gear
that is in
good condition and safe to use. Anything less is an insult. This
goes double
for newcomers, who often have early contact with us through a
local archery practice or
at their first tournament.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If your guests don’t have a good time,
particularly if they
feel they failed at archery because of poor-quality loaner
equipment, they
won’t be back. That means they won’t be back to your range, but
they
are also unlikely to come back to your group for other activities,
or to any
other SCA group. If they feel particularly offended, they will
tell others
about their negative experience for years. Friends, we need happy
new Atlantian
archers, not bad PR.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The first way we fail our guests is a systemic
problem in
the way we fund archery on a shoestring. Many groups have loaner
equipment that
is ancient, and is likely scratched, dinged, faded, shopworn, or
otherwise
extremely trashy. Our guests aren’t stupid, and can see that what
we offer them
is from the bottom of the barrel. Sadly, even if you replace old
bows, what you
buy is likely to be more of the same--fiberglass youth bows. If a
guest
compares even new bows of this type to the nice composite recurves
or longbows
many of us shoot, they still may feel slighted and think, “Oh, I
see how it
works. You give us the junk [or the cheap toys] and keep the good
stuff for
yourselves. I’m not hanging around with you bums.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yet replacing old bows is something that must
be done. If
you have 30-year old Bears, Stemmlers, or Ben Pearson Jet Bows,
you’ve gotten
your money’s worth from them. A big obstacle to replacement may be
your
populace or officers, some of whom are likely to ask, “Can the
bows still be
shot?” When you answer “yes”, they will counter, “Then why should
be replace
them?” The answer must be, “Our archery loaner kit is one of our
best
recruiting tools. This equipment is an insult to our guests. If
you want new
members, please approve my request for new gear.” Write this
statement down.
Make it your mantra, and repeat the same words over and over again
in an even
tone to every objection. Hopefully, they will eventually cave.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The second problem is that much of our
equipment is filthy, and hasn’t been cleaned for years, if ever.
If you were invited to dinner and served
on dirty plates, you would offended, and rightly so. Is it any
different if we
give our archery guests gear that is covered in dirt, hand grease,
and old bow
wax? No! Sadly, we often make this worse by storing our loaner
gear in places
filled with dust, such as garages, old sheds, and worst of all,
barns. Even if
barns haven’t held animals for years, they are still filled with
dust from
ground up and dried animal feces that constantly rains down from
the rafters.
This is not only gross, but potentially dangerous to guests with
allergies and
other health issues.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The solution, other than storage someplace
inside your
house, is that bows should be cleaned at least once a year. One
possibility is to
hold a “field day” during the slack time in. Gather up fellow
marshals, press
gang some volunteers, and be sure to include your MITs<span
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>(we don’t teach them
anything about
equipment maintenance in our training program, and this should be
worth a signature on their form). Lay in a supply of soft drinks
and order some pizzas and make the work session a fun social time.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The bows should have their strings removed for
close
inspection and re-waxing. Bows themselves should be cleaned with a
towel dipped
in a bucket of warm (not hot) soapy water, and rinsed with clean
water and
another towel. Wooden bows should be dried off immediately. Use
this
opportunity to do a thorough inspection, and after restringing,
adjust the
brace height and nock point position.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">ARROWS SHOULD BE CLEANED AND INSPECTED AFTER
EACH TIME THEY
ARE ISSUED, AND BEFORE THEY ARE USED AGAIN. Give a newcomer a
dozen arrows, and
I can almost guarantee that every one of them will have been
grounded by the
end of the day. Clean your arrows with a moist paper towel or
cloth, skipping the fletching. Be sure to clean
out the nocks. No guest should have to pick dried mud out of a
nock before they
shoot. Squirt some inexpensive furniture oil onto a paper towel
and rub it onto
the points to prevent rust. Any arrows that are damaged, including
those with
chunks of fletches missing, should go to the shop before being
reissued. Any
arrows damaged beyond repair should be destroyed or converted to
some other use
(such as line markers).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Finally, we too often give out equipment this
is broken in
some way. I’m mostly talking about arrows here, since we do a
pretty good job
inspecting bows. Most of our loaner arrows are in short sets,
either through
loss or damage, or because they were donated by some archer who
didn’t want
them anymore. Sadly at tournaments, guests are often given just
six arrows
(frequently mixed from the remains of several sets). This is
insulting,
since guests can see they are getting leftovers. At many
tournaments there are
a few targets that require eight or nine arrows to complete. How
can we expect
guests to feel satisfied if we don’t give them enough arrows to
compete? We’re
telling them we want them to participate, but not fully.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Arrows should never be lacking fletches or
points. These
arrows won’t fly right, and pointless arrows will likely bounce
off the target
if they do get that far. This is only going to frustrate our
guests. It also
shows them we don’t care enough to give them equipment in working
condition.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">No guest should start the day with less or more
than 12 arrows
in their quiver. Why 12? When everyone starts with 12, it’s easy
to keep track
of how many they have shot, or how many are still in the grass.
Additionally,
no guest is likely to feel that they were shorted.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When a marshal makes a new set for their
loaner kit, it should have 15 arrows rather than 12. Keep the
extras at home. If a
guest breaks or loses arrows, it is easy to replace them before
the set is used
again. When the total falls to 12 arrows (or less) it is time to
build more
replacements. New sets added to our loaner kit are no longer
colored or
crested. This saves production time both with the new set and with
any replacements. Of course, they are
still sealed with three coats of polyurethane, just like my
personal arrows. Replacements for older “pretty” arrows still get
staining, but I often skip the cresting.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After all this carping, let me offer you a
couple of
positive ideas that will impress our guests. At a local practice,
never offer
guests a used bullseye target. Start with a fresh target every
time. They only cost a buck or so. However,
you might want to reuse a homemade novelty target if not too badly
shredded.
You could say something like, “We used this target at our last
tournament, and
it was so much fun I saved it for you to shoot.” This turns a
potential insult
into a thoughtful gift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Finally, keep a clean cloth with your loaner
kit. After
stringing a bow, but before handing it to the guest, take a moment
to wipe off
any bow wax, especially on the upper limb where the string has
just slid into
its slots. With recurves, remember to also clean the limbs where
string slap
has deposited more bow wax. For few seconds of extra effort, you
will show your
guests you really do care about giving them nice equipment. It
could be the
gesture that impresses them into coming back.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We simply can’t afford to chase these newcomers
away. Do
everything you can to make them feel that the SCA is going the
extra mile so
they can have a good time. In the film MRS. BROWN, Prime Minister
Disraeli says
to the ghillie John Brown, “With queens you have to lay it on with
a trowel.”
That’s good advice for us too.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yours Aye,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
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