[Ansteorra] TRF demo 2001 or "What I did on my sabbatical"

[Gerald of Leesville]

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Greetings all from HL Gerald of Leesville, former liaison for the SCA demo at Texas Renaissance Festival.

Well, the last weekend is now over, and while much fun was had by all, those of us who have attended all seven weekends were glad to see a stop for the year.

First of all, I'd like to thank anyone and everyone who wished us good weather.  It worked!  There was only one Saturday where we had rain, and one weekend where the temperature broke into the 80s.  It helped the attendance of the fair and, consequently, our compound attendance.

TRF had their 3rd best attendance this year with 309,000 for the final count.  By conservative estimates we usually see approximately 3% of the TRF patrons come into the compound or stopping at the battle mound to watch the fighting, so that we were able to show some aspect of the SCA  to over 9000 people over the seven weekends.  This year we received almost 400 contact signups, plus we gave out over 1000 information flyers including flyers from the various branches that sent information to our Information booth coordinator.

At the end of the demo we still had approx. 700 passes left for participants.  Our fighter population was sparse at times, with the last round of fighting on the last day consisting of three chivalric fighters and five rapier fighters.  The average fighter population was 5/6 (chiv/rapier).

The artisan population, on the other hand, filled the compound area with colorful displays of their works as well as with projects in-progress.  Dancers demonstrated English country dancing and were able to entice a few patrons into learning the dances as well as dancing with them.  Our bards played music for the dancers, sang songs, told stories and entertained (and sometimes educated) the patrons as they passed by or entered the compound.

This year the procession to the battle-mound was resumed, with enhancements including a drummer (usually) and a set of six large banner-poles hung with colorful banners that were then placed around the battle-mound.  Another change was a tightening of the introduction to the fighting as well as a more rapid turn-around between fighting bouts.  This helped us retain our audience between fights, but due to the lower number of fighters it required the fighters to fight more often per round to fulfill our contractual obligations.

There were two weekends that were not sponsored by any branch; the 3rd and 7th.  Compared to last year when all seven weekends were sponsored, it is hoped that other branches will take the opportunity to show off their talent and flavor in next year's demonstration.

The liaison for the 2002 season demo is Ld Beoan Mac Tarbh.  He is currently in search of a deputy to take his place for the 2003 season.

In the end, none of this would have been possible without the help of the coordinators.  The people who help make this largest SCA demo in the Known World sacrifice seven weekends (in a row!).  Some of these people volunteered to do so at the last minute.  I would like to thank each of them for their help in making this a smooth demo.  They are:

Chivalric Coordinator :    Ld Malcolm MacLean
Rapier Coordinator:        Don Iago Cabrera de Cadiz (substituting for Ld Elyas McCree)
Information Booth:          Ldy Caitlin bean Gherailt
Field Marshall Coord:     Ld Mahee of Acre
Water Bearer Coord:      Ldy Tegan Gwylt
A&S Coordinator:           Mistress Shanahan the Fey
Bardic Coordinator:        Ld Rabert of Clan Stewart
Heraldic Coordinator:     M'lady Victory of the Rose
Crowd Marshall Coord:   M'lord Jody
Parade Coordinator:       M'lord Angus the Piper
Pass Coordinator:          Ldy Serin (she was actually deputy to Ld Beoan, but sat at Troll all three days of every weekend and should receive some credit!).

A few more special thank you's to:

Lady Anne of Gate's Edge - who tirelessly helped wherever possible as well as helping to provide ice for the compound throughout the entire fair.

M'lord Patrick - a man who wandered into the compound, asked if there was something he could do, and in the process became both a field marshall AND a field herald for all seven weekends!

Lord Lucius Scaevola - for providing many hours of service by making chainmail, answering questions, and providing a springboard for others to learn.

M'lord Trean - who helped wherever needed as well as fighting on the mound and providing a much-needed helping hand to my deputy.

Finally, I would like to thank each and all who came out to the fair and served your kingdom and our Society by working the demo.  Your presence, your hard work, and your smiles were appreciated throughout the season.  It made it easier to act as liaison, and I hope that all of you will return, and more will consider spending a day, a weekend, or seven, at next year's demonstration.  The current e-mail addresses for contacting either the TRF liaison (trf_liaison at hotmail.com), deputy liaison (trf_deputy at hotmail.com), or pass coordinator (trf_passes at hotmail.com) will be available throughout the year.  If you have questions concerning the demo, how your branch can sponsor a weekend, or how to become a coordinator, please visit http://home.houston.rr.com/scaattrf/ or e-mail the liaison.

This will serve as my report of the demo at TRF.  If there are any questions concerning the 2001 season demo, please direct your e-mail to jerryn at houston.rr.com.

Thank you.

In service to the dream with a song in my heart, I am
HL Gerald of Leesville
A bard of Stargate
Kingdom, Ansteorra