[Ansteorra] Group Status Changes

[Hugh Killingbury]

Replied to privately.

YIS,
Lord Hugh Killingbury
Steward Gate's Edge Harvest End
Stargate Baronial Waterbearer


--- On Tue, 7/15/08, Paul DeLisle <ferretpd at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Paul DeLisle <ferretpd at gmail.com>
> Subject: RE: [Ansteorra] Group Status Changes
> To: hughkillingbury at yahoo.com, "'Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA,  Inc.'" <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
> Date: Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 7:39 PM
> Sigh...
> Good-my-lord Hugh... I have been reading this thread for
> quite awhile. I was
> going to stay silent, but I must make a few observations. 
> While I appreciate your well-intended attempts to
> understand and/or critique
> the current situation; someone needs to point out that you
> Simply Don't Get
> It.
> 
> Speaking as someone who has lived for long periods of time
> in both a large
> SCA group in a Metropolitan area (Bryn Gwlad/Austin, where
> I received my
> White Scarf & Iris); and in the exact opposite type of
> area in the Western
> Region (Rosenfeld/Tyler & Mendersham/Abilene; where I
> received my Star, and
> was the Western Regional Seneschal) I think I am thoroughly
> (if not
> singularly) qualified to comment on this situation.
> 
> Until you have lived in such an area, you cannot understand
> the challenges
> that face these groups. 
> First off, you have the lack of available population to
> draw your new
> members from. Most of the Western region (and many other
> areas) are (for the
> most part) wide-spread and under-populated. This adds
> additional complexity
> to everything from Fighter practice to attending
> Kingdom-level events
> (especially in this era of $4/gallon gasoline.) 
> I remember, many years ago, seeing a poll in TI, asking how
> far you would go
> to a Major Kingdom-level event. The answer choices ranged
> from less than 10
> miles to over fifty miles. Everyone who saw it (around
> here) laughed.... in
> the Western Region, people travel 100 miles to go to
> *fighter practice!*
> Dedicated folks, eh? ...How does *your* dedication stack up
> compared to
> that?
> 
> This area is also economically depressed. Pay is lower;
> jobs are primarily
> blue-collar, and these people often don't have a lot of
> ready cash to "throw
> away" on a hobby as intense and potentially expensive
> as the SCA.
> 
> In addition, the SCA is regarded as far more of a
> "fringe" group in these
> areas than in, say, HOUSTON. (I actually had one Lady ask
> me (in a
> frightened voice) at a Demo if this was some sort of
> religion...) That makes
> it difficult to recruit. The attitude is pervasive...even
> in a city that has
> 3 Universities (Abilene... but they are all *Christian*
> universities; with
> all of the built-in repression and intolerance that image
> invokes.)
> 
> Finally, the few people who *are* interested in What We
> Do...the Dreamers,
> the folks who want to Beat People With Sticks, The ones who
> thought that
> Ivanhoe or the Three Musketeers were the ultimate movies;
> the Historical
> re-enactor wanna-bes, and all of those who we gather under
> our umbrella of
> The Dream (tm)...
> Those people (for the most part) want nothing more than to
> shake the dust of
> West Texas off of their boots, and move someplace
> civilized!
> So, we are left with a few people tied to the area...doing
> the same jobs
> over and over (when was the last time *you* were a local
> officer for ten
> years' straight?) *shrug* People get tired. 
> 
> So...with all of this against them; of *course* it makes
> perfect Business
> sense for Ansteorra to cut their losses, and liquidate the
> Western Region...
> 
> .....Except that we AREN'T a Business. We are (or
> *were*) much more than
> that. It is a place where we can share a concept of honor,
> of chivalry, of
> courtesy. A place where we call people we may see a few
> week-ends a year
> "Family." A place where some Shmoe who hasn't
> played in years can break down
> in the middle of nowhere (in the Western Region,
> thank-you-very-much); and
> still be able to call around to people they know, and get
> rescued, with
> several hours of driving involved for the rescuer... BTW,
> that Schmoe was me
> (and my Lady)... My thanks and Wordfame go out to their
> Excellencies Chiang
> and Gavin... they saved our bacon!)
> 
> But the Crown and the Seneschal apparently don't see it
> that way. The
> Western region is not a *possi*bility that needs help, but
> a *lia*bility
> that needs removing, because they are Inconvenient. All of
> the potential
> that is buried in the Western Region; all of the Peers, and
> Crowns, and even
> just the everyday populace that make events worth going
> to...the ones who
> were desperately looking for a bunch of weirdo dreamers who
> (also) believe
> in stupid ideas like noblesse oblige, and honor...those
> that never were (and
> never will-be) are heaped at your feet; because
> TheNonProfitOrganizationThatIsTheSCA can't be bothered
> with such trivia.
> Good business decision, guys. You have my derision.
> 
> As someone pointed out in an earlier post...when one cannot
> trust their
> leaders, and it's no longer fun....it's time to
> stop playing. 
> 
> As I have done.
> 
> I still carry Ansteorra in my heart, and always will...but
> apparently, what
> I carry is not what exists now. And so...I cling to the
> memories....and sigh
> for what has been lost.
> 
> In Service, I (still) remain
> Alden Pharamond
> Ansteorra
> 
> 
> > With the respect, this sounds more like an issue with
> local officers by
> > your missive. In my local area we utilize with great
> effect the
> > collective experience of our "circle of
> elders". Our officers handle
> > their duties as per Kingdom mandate, if an officer has
> an issue and is
> > unsure if they are handling their office correctly,
> well that is why
> > they have an upline and handbooks are online for
> written guidance. With
> > growth, membership and economics the way they stand at
> this moment I
> > would believe this course of action was the last
> option available to
> > protect the Kingdom as a whole from unnecessary
> hardship. We should all
> > try to remember that on the upper end of this game
> that we play, we
> > have to fulfill certain obligations to the US
> Government for our non-
> > profit status. Just as WE have to fulfill our duties
> to the Kingdom to
> > retain our status as local groups.
> > 
> > Life is a fluid environment you have to be able to
> swim or you will
> > surely drown.
> > 
> > 
> > YIS,
> > Lord Hugh Killingbury
> > Steward Gate's Edge Harvest End
> > Stargate Baronial Waterbearer