[Ansteorra] Defenders of the Rose thanks

[Kimberly Langhans]

Greetings, Ansteorra!

I’d like to thank everyone who came to the Defenders
of the Rose Tourney last weekend. We were blessed with
a beautiful new site, gorgeous weather, and the finest
company imaginable!

The newest Defenders of the Rose are:
Don Ingve of York – Rapier Defender
Count Romanius Vesperianus – Chivalric Defender
Baroness Suzanne Gabrielle Marie Beraud – A&S Defender
Lord Brian O hUilliam – Performing Arts Defender
Milord Sighieri Peregrina – Equestrian Defender
Master Phelim (Pug) Gervase – Archery Defender

The fighting was honorable, the arts were lovely, the
bardic was some of the best I’ve seen in some time,
the horses and riders were truly magnificent, and the
archers wowed us all with their skill. The Order of
the Rose is honored to call these fine gentles our
Defenders. We have made the difficult decision not to
host another Rose Tourney until 2009, so we are
especially grateful to these folks for agreeing to
represent us for the next two years.

I owe special thanks to the many folks who worked
together to put on the Defenders of the Rose this
year. This is long, but heart-felt, so I hope you will
bear with me and my long-winded wordfame for these
worthy gentles:

My skilled and hard-working co-stewards, Lady Isabelot
de Forens and Duchess Conal O’Riordain. Isabelot did a
huge portion of the work for this event including,
among a zillion other things, acting as a liaison with
the site owner, coordinating the Shadowlands
volunteers, and seeing to all the little details of
the event. And Conal – whenever I couldn’t figure out
how to do something myself, I just asked Conal to
handle it, and suddenly it was done! She took care of
all sorts of weird last-minute requests and issues
without blinking an eye, and was a big part of why
everything ran so smoothly.

The Shire of Shadowlands, who turned out in force, and
worked every aspect of the event, including chopping
wood, setting up and tearing down, and working a LOT
of gate shifts.
- Sir Rhodri, who was not only our Chivalric Liaison,
but who also toted, hauled, packed, unpacked, set up,
and tore down tirelessly from Friday to Sunday
- Diederic, who was our Rapier Liaison
- Solange, who was our Equestrian Liaison
- Paedric, who was our Performing Arts Liaison
- Krag, who was our A&S Liaison, and who helped run
the competition when I was unable to
- Bastian, who was our Archery Liaison and resident
Eagle Scout – he handled everything from coordinating
parking, to strangling a moose for the morning wakeup
call, to building a roaring fire for bardic, and then
staying up late to make sure it was out safely.
- Catan and Elizabeth, who tended to the privies
without a peep of complaint
- Malka, the Shadowlands treasurer, who handled all
the thankless tasks associated with that job, from
reviewing the budget to working gate to making sure
all the necessary checks were cut
- Iacobo, who coordinated site heraldry, and presented
a truly memorable court report on Sunday.
- The lovely young lady (whose name I didn’t catch)
who wasn’t able to attend the event, but who came out
to site on both Friday and Sunday just to help with
set up and tear down.
- Mistress Kaitlyn, who ran gate and helped with
decorations. It was a blessing and a joy to have
Kaitlyn involved with this event, because her
knowledge and experience meant that I never for a
second worried about the gate, knowing that it was in
her capable hands, and I never worried for very long
about anything else. If I started to fret about
something, Kaitlyn just pointed out, in her calm and
rational way, a speedy and logical solution. If
Kaitlyn told me something would be fine, I knew it was
true.

The enthusiastic support of the Shadowlanders for this
event and their willingness to get to know me and work
with me, even though we started as strangers to one
another, made stewarding this event an incredibly
rewarding experience. I know we’ll see great things
from them all in the future.

Lord Kane and The Shire of Emerald Keep – Kane pulled
together a terrific crew of volunteers from Emerald
Keep, whose assistance was especially invaluable at
gate and waterbearing. To Kane, Jacques, Olivia,
Griffin, Kaitlan, William, Shoki, and any other
wonderful Emerald Keepers I might have missed, thank
you! Your continued support of the Roses and this
event are so appreciated.

Sir Randall and the Shire of Tir Medoin – Tir Medoin
found the beautiful new site for us, and Sir Randall
provided all the firewood and helped haul things to
and from site. He also provided us with some splendid
fighting in the Chivalric Tourney!

My gentle and gracious sister Roses. I am so proud to
be in your company! Sibri sponsored Chivalric, Maggie
sponsored Rapier (and created our lovely website),
Julia and Rebekah sponsored Performance, Tessa
sponsored Equestrian, and Deanna sponsored Archery and
created three beautiful prize scrolls. Kat made all of
the gorgeous prize medallions, and Rebekah made the
prize banners. Valeria not only made our wonderful
feast, but she did it *way* under budget! I’m
especially thankful to Vanessa and Regina for
sponsoring the tavern. They donated all the food and
drinks for the tavern, so the profits could be donated
to the Kingdom coffers. Their generosity and devotion
to service are inspirational.

I’d also like to thank Leofwine and Cristyana (who
went above and beyond as our Defenders), Donnel,
Wookie, Micheau, and everyone who helped out in the
kitchen, Master Francois (who spent much of Friday
perched atop a very tall ladder), Theresa of
Bordermarch, Geoffrey Sparhauk, Malachi, the Baronies
of Steppes, Stargate, and Loch for loaning banners and
tables, the equestrians who put in so much work to
bring horses (Bella and Katherine, I think it was),
Mistress Michelle, and the many loving hands who made
this event possible, but whose names I may have
forgotten or failed to learn. Please know that we are
grateful for your help!

Lastly, I owe thanks to two of the most special men I
know: Tristan von Heidelberg, who loaded, transported,
set up, and tore down not one, but five pavilions,
hauled the Loch trailer, fought in the rapier list
during the day and then helped in the kitchen at
night, and basically worked tirelessly for three days
at an event that was three hours away from his home
group on a weekend when he was originally scheduled to
be at work. His unflinching support of this event and
of me has expanded my understanding of friendship,
service, and loyalty. And, of course, Master Modius
von Mergentheim, whose understanding and support have
spanned not three days, but two years. Thanks for
driving, working, making copies, offering advice,
being patient with my long nights at the scribal
table, fighting for me, heralding, cooking pancakes on
Sunday, and the million other things you do for me. I
love you!

I had a lot of fun this year, and I’m looking forward
to seeing everyone again in two years. Vivat
Ansteorra!

Warmest regards,
Sara




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