[MR] HRMelees Thank-yous

[Glynis Gwynedd]

As the deputy autocrat for Highland River Melees, I would like to
thank everyone who made the event so successful.

First, I would like to thank the SCAdians who demonstrated courtesy
and chivalry throughout the weekend.  Our Society is built upon a
dream of the middle ages as they should have been, and each and every
time we show these traits it brings us a bit closer to that worthy
goal.  The passers-through at the demo were most impressed with the
way we treated each other and themselves.

I would like to thank the Highland Foorde Cooks Guild for providing a
wonderful feast.  Lord Ed, Lady Dorothea, and Lord Gerasimos, along
with their helpers from Bright Hills (and wherever else) put on a
fantastic lunch and feast.  Master Chirhart deserves a big hand of
applause for the work he did not only in the kitchen but setting up
and providing shelter.

I would like to thank the Barony of Bright Hills for the use of their
Pavilion.  Each year they let us borrow it, and each year we
appreciate it more and more.

Clan Cambion set up near the bridge, and Master James and Mistress
Fevronia played their harps and sang together for the entertainment of
those passing by, and gave me a chance to sit down for 20 minutes and
relax.

Lady Anne la Settere replied to my desperate cry for a waterbearer and
volunteered to run the waterbearers point.  Fortunately for us, she is
also a chirurgeon, because the person who had volunteered to serve as
chirurgeon was unable to attend.  Lady Anne saved the day with her
generosity and organization.

Thanks to all the Marshalls, both from within the group and without,
for making the Melees what they are all about - Melees.  Lord
Siegfried ran archery, I saw at least 15 marshalls in the heavy field,
and about 30 rapier marshalls.  Without the marshalls, there can be no
fighting, and without the fighting, there would be no one for the
ladies to sigh over.

Thanks to the merchants for displaying your wares, and for being
patient with the populace of the known world, and the unknown world as
well.  There will always be those that are inconsiderate, and it is a
good thing to see disrespect handled courteously.  I sincerely hope
all the merchants did well - there were some beautiful items for
display and for sale.

Thanks to THLady Livia, Lady Courtney, and Lady Wolfwynne (I am unsure
of her titles) for organizing and running the silent auction.  Also
thanks to Lady Lucrezia and Lady Grainne for running the chatelaine
booth with such grace and kindness.

Lady Alessandra did an excellent job in the A&S booth, both running
the competition and setting things up in advance.  Thank you to Lady
Thyra and all the others who ran Herald's Point.

Lady Deirdre of Highland Foorde ran troll, along with our Seneschal -
THLady Francesca, Bruce and the newest member of the Barony - Ramsey
Siegfriedsson.  All in all, I believe troll went smoothly and they had
few problems.  Again, courtesy and chivalry were the rule, rather than
the exception.

A big thank you to Alecia Mordan for running the Bake Sale.  Alecia
always pitches in to help out wherever she is asked to, and always
does a good job at it.  She has given up her time in which she might
have visited with others of her age group, or wandered the merchants,
listened to the performers, or watched the fighting, in order to sit
under a hot canopy and sell cookies for the benefit of someone other
than herself.  I consider this to be a selfless act and deserving of
praise.  And not only did she run the bake sale, but she also baked
some cupcakes herself to donate to the cause.

A big thanks to Lady Adriana di Salaparuta for serving as the liason
to the Royals.  Having a point person to direct them to was very
helpful.  She then went on to serve as a marshall and explain to the
populace as well as the visitors what was going on.

Duncan of Highland Foorde, Galen of Highland Foorde, and Lord Fergus
of Hanna were vastly helpful in the set up and take-down, along with
trips off-site to get supplies.  Lord Fergus also goes out to the site
each year a week or two before the event to work on the poison ivy
problem.  I am sure that others like myself who are vastly allergic to
that vile weed are more than grateful.  THLord Nathaniel Sharpe helped
with the moving of almost 100 bales of straw as well as setting up the
barriers to keep travelers out of the archery range, and setting up a
large portion of the rapier activities.

There are countless numbers of people who I've not named that are also
deserving of praise.  I am sure as soon as I send this, I will
remember half a dozen more names... such as Lord Llewellyn, and Joan
of St Joan, who helped coordinate the parking, Francois du Lac (Young
James of Aethelmearc) who attended this as his first event and went
offsite to get water bottles for the waterbearers and donated them to
the barony, and the Baroness, who leads us all by Her example with her
shining brow and bare feet.

And lastly, thanks to the official Autocrat, Lady Devorguilla of
Darragh.  Between the two of us we managed to pull this off a second
year in a row.  I think it went fairly well.

In service to Kingdom, Barony, and the Dream...
-- 
~Lady Glynis Gwynedd
Webmistress, Baronial Harper, Barony of Highland Foorde
Cornet herald at-large
"Have you hugged a harp today?"