[MR] 20 year - Autocrat's observations and thanks

[Barbara Bilodeau]

Dear friends of Atlantia,
Lord Alaric asked how 20 year went this last weekend.  My observation
(and that of Lord Ruaidhri who relayed this more dramatically than I
could) is that "There was a plan....and then it rained." 

It started raining on Friday night, and rained through Saturday.  St.
Mary's recorded four inches of rain fell on Saturday.  We had some
significant changing of schedules to accommodate the climate, including
having to cancel all the fighting events on Saturday as the fields were
impassible.  The rain stopped sometime during the Saturday evening
feast, not to plague us again until Sunday night.  Still, the damage was
done: rivers and ponds had formed where none had been before, and there
was much wet garb, boots that went squish, and mud everywhere. It was an
amazing thing to see how much water could be sitting on a nice flat
field!  The ground was so saturated that there were muddy swamps under
the huge feast tent that had been covered for the duration of the rain.

The feast of Saturday night was a marvel: lots of food served at a
pleasant pace, tasting wonderful, and at the right temperatures.  The
most talked about dish has been the carrot stuff - the first hot dish
served on a cool wet night - coming out steaming, sweet, and tasty.  The
umbrella crew relay assisting the serving staff was a grand sight.  In
my opinion, the cook staff and serving crew all richly deserved the KAE
that His Majesty granted them.

Sunday dawned with clear blue skies. A field that was starting to dry
was found to hold the martial activities so the tournament was finally
held.  While many people with wet feet bailed out on Sunday evening and
left the site, I understand that both a hofla and ball on Sunday evening
were enjoyed by many. (I had hoped to play some music at the ball, but
had simply run out of energy by then!)

Those of you who took down your dry pavilions on Sunday evening may have
made a good choice as another violent storm hit on Sunday night.  About
4:30am, the wind blasts off the river were sufficient to pull the out
ALL the rebar stakes on the river side of the feast tent - 140 feet
worth of tent.  While there were rips in the tent, I'm pleased and
relieved to report that the rental company considers them to be
relatively minor and, as this is clearly in the "act of God" category,
are not holding us accountable in any way.  Indeed, they were much more
concerned that no one was hurt in the collapse.

Only one note of dismay marks my view of the weekend, but even in this
we were lucky.  One of the caretakers quietly pointed out to us a box of
empty beer bottles clearly visible by the dumpster.  Those bottles were
quickly loaded into my truck for disposal elsewhere.  I'm very
disappointed that someone in our group had the poor judgment to leave
evidence of alcohol consumption plainly visible at this no-alcohol
site.  We are clearly lucky that is was seen by someone who didn't have
an issue with alcohol and was apparently not going to report it to those
who set their policy.

I was back at the site yesterday to supervise the turn over of all the
rented stuff - the tent, tables & chairs, and porta johns.  Everything
was retrieved in good order, verified by the appropriate rental
companies, and the site has been left in good shape.  In the sunshine,
many of the muddy paths we created were drying nicely.  While the
parking field ("mud pit") will probably take longer to recover, the
caretaker was starting to work sand into the pot holes that formed on
the roads.  The caretakers were pleased with how we left the site,
saying "its cleaner than when the Police come out here for a party" and
"maybe the weather will cooperate better for you NEXT time you come
here!"  Hopefully their boss (who will be inspecting the site today)
will agree and return our security deposit.

I'd like to publicly express my thanks to a few folks for service above
and beyond what any of us expected:
-Lord Fritz, Sir Balynar, and their folks from Caer Mear, for moving the
list field multiple times to try to make the tournaments happen.
-The kitchen staff under Lady Grace Whytting and Lady Anastasia da
Firenze for providing us with breakfasts on Saturday and Sunday morning
AND supper on Sunday evening. (You realize that some of them helped send
out FOUR meals to you over the weekend?)
-Countess Kyneburh and Count Ragnar for towing many people's vehicles
out of the aforementioned mud pit/parking lot with MUCH good grace and
willingness.
-Baron Donald and Lord Muirghen, my deputy autocrats, for working so
very hard at the hopeless tasks of putting straw down over muddy areas,
re-directing traffic and parking, and re-arranging schedules
-My apprentices Lady Celia and Lady Brigantia for not only taking on
"autocrat nanny" duty but also doing being the autocrat's gofer staff.

Atlantia is an amazing group to behold, for given adversity of the
weather they come through with good grace, working together to find
other forms of entertainment.  This wasn't the event we had planned,
with many big activities going on simultaneously.  It was instead an
event where people spent more time visiting with friends from across the
kingdom, and sometimes that can be even more special.  I, together with
all of our staff, hope that you had a great time and that you are
happily dry again!
Anne.