[MR] Thank you!

[Glynis Gwynedd]

Unto all who read this missive, greetings, from Lady Glynis Gwynedd of
Highland Foorde, autocrat of Highland River Melees.  I hope that
everyone had a good time at the event, and hope that if you have any
comments or feedback you'd like to pass along that you feel free to do
so by sending me a private email.

I would like to thank everyone for coming.  The National Weather
Service lived up to their end of the bargain (you have to slip them
the right bribes) and we had a beautiful day, though a bit breezy for
some.  There were no major mishaps that I am aware of (and if there
were, please let me know off-list).

I would also like to thank, in no particular order:

John Nelson, curator of the Hager House, for allowing us to have this
event so many years in a row at the park.  What many of you might not
know is that John Nelson's brother was Father Thorkel of Neville's
Cross, mka Charles Nelson.  He passed away last fall, and I extend my
deepest sympathy to his family and friends who were left behind.
Thorkel was instrumental in getting the site for Highland River Melees
to begin with, and without him, we wouldn't have such a beautiful site
to play on.

Lady Devorguilla of Darragh, for serving as troll and sitting over
there all day (and for several hours Friday evening as well).  Debbie
has always done a phenomenal job as troll/reservationist, and deserves
to be well-commended for her service.  Troll is often a thankless job,
and the people working it deserve to be treated with respect and
gratitude.  With the restrictions that are placed by Corporate (with
good reason, mind you), troll can also be a difficult job,
particularly at such a large event where very few people
pre-registered.

Master Chirhart Blackstar, Mistress Jean Tenneur de Bec, and all of
the worthy nobles who helped out in and around the kitchen and the
feast, cooking, cleaning, setting up, tearing down.  Without them, we
would not eat - or we would have to bring covered dishes - or worse
fates that could ensue.  Cooking a feast for over 100 people with no
kitchen facilities is a daunting task, and yet Chirhart always tackles
it with enthusiasm and joy.

Lady Adriana di Salaparuta, who served as my co-autocrat and general
lackey, throwing in her efforts wherever they were needed.  Her
organizational skills are to be commended, and it was her idea, along
with Lady Elena, to have a theme for the event.

Lady Elena di Salapartua, who serves as our group's exchequer (another
thankless task with lots of restrictions) also serves as a deputy A&S
minister, and helped out with the A&S part of the event.  Helped out
does not extend far enough to fully describe the amount of work and
thought she put into this event.

Lady Alessandra di Venizia, who is our group's A&S minister, who
pulled together about a google's worth of artisans to teach classes,
she scheduled them to so they would not conflict, she organized, she
judged, she ran around and did a lot of things.  Such enthusiasm is
rarely seen, and should be applauded.

Lady Dorothea of Highland Foorde, who ran the Silent Auction, and with
the help of her daughter Alycia also ran a bake sale.  Alycia did most
of the work at the bake sale, with help of several other young ladies
both from within and without our Barony's borders, cutting brownies,
packaging cookies, fudge, brownies, etc.

Lady Livia of Ravenswode, who wore so many hats at this event, that I
doubt I could list them all... chatelaine, troll's helper when troll
got backed up, runner-arounder as needed, MoL, serving feast, loading
and unloading the trailer to schlep stuff back and forth from the
Baronial shed to events, the list goes on and on.

Sir Tascius Severian Fabius and all the marshalls who worked on the
list field.  Tash also helped greatly with setting up and taking down
the event, along with transporting the Baronial "stuff" back and forth
from event to event as needed.

Lord Stephen Bridewell who traveled many hours to serve as our rapier
marshal, so that others would be able to play.

Lord Geffrei de Maudeleyne, who traveled all the way from the Barony
of Sacred Stone to serve as our group's MoL.  Without him, there would
not have been any fighting at the Melees this year.

Lord Siegfried Sebastian Faust who was the Marshall in Charge, Archery
Marshall, and helped with setting up and taking down the event.  His
lady, Lady Francesca Angelo, who has served as our group's seneschal
(another thankless job) for quite some time, marshalling all of us
around and herding cats to get things done.  Francesca was a nice
quiet point that I could return to when I needed to just go sit down
for a minute.

Baroness Deirdre, Baroness IsBella, Baron Llywelyn, Baron Konrad, Lord
Ed the Tinker, Eric and Linda, Galen, Eleanor, Emily, Alessandra's
husband Bob, Metallurgical Paul (who risked life and limb to make the
bosses for the round shields used in the tourney and given as prizes,
and was nearly decapitated when one went flying across the workshop),
my own lord, Lord Fergus of Hanna (who is the only person who knows
how to put up the brown pavilions) all helped immensely with this
event.  There were many nameless notables who are all overwhelmingly
deserving of recognition, including many folks who were first timers
to the event and helped out immensely.

And lastly, but not least, I would like to thank the members of the
populace of Sylvan Glen who helped with the event, covering tight
spots as needed until the other areas settled down (such as Nanna and
Marianna covering the chatelaine table when troll got swamped) and
providing scrolls for deserving notables (this was Lady Marija of
Sylvan Glen).

The event would not have been such a smashing success without the help
of all the people who helped in anyway, including the people who
folded up their chairs and tables after feast to help get the feast
tent torn down.  Thank you everyone, for coming and helping with the
event (and reading all the way through this email)!

-- 
~Lady Glynis Gwynedd
Webmistress, Baronial Harper, Barony of Highland Foorde
"Have you hugged a harp today?"