[Ansteorra] Thirtieth Year White Scarf Celebration last week

[Jay Rudin]

It had all the ingredients to be a disaster.  Cars stuck in the mud, list 
field unfightable so we fought on concrete, event ended early, at least one 
car accident, many activities canceled -- a dreary, rainy, muddy event.

Only it wasn't.

It was a shining moment of love and joy and nostalgia and honor and 
excitement.

King Gunthar opened with gracious and powerful words.  Mistress Hanna, 
Baroness Rixende, and Lord Sylvius made a banner for the White Scarf and 
presented it in court.

The Roses provided cake and ice cream for the White Scarf birthday party, 
with two specially decorated cakes, one with an exquisitely painted top. 
We took pictures of all the White Scarves, and various people's lineages. 
Don Durrmast returned from An Tir.  Don Diego returned from AEthelmarc. 
Osprey returned from Gleann Abheann.

We greeted people we hadn't seen in years.  Four of the first seven White 
Scarves were present.

Three generations of Moondragon.

Don Diego brought a copy of an illuminated family tree of Tivar's White 
Scarf all the way from AEthelmarc as a gift for Tivar.

We fought a memorial tournament for Don Christoforo, which Piet won in a 
final bout against Stephen Crowley.

Pictures and old documents were passed around (in a notebook compiled by 
Mistress Serena), including an 18 year old trivia quiz.  (Who won the first 
Queen's Champion tourney in Ansteorra?  Who was the first Queen's Champion 
in Ansteorra?  No, they aren't the same answer.)

In front of the assembled White Scarves, Queen Elizabeth gave a Queen's 
Rapier to Duchess Sieglinde Syr, for her work in the eighties developing 
the bond of love between the fencers and the Queen.

For the first time in over a quarter century, Gilwell challenged the world 
(to be fought at Steppes Warlord, the last event for practice before 
Queen's.)

Stephen Crowley received the Sable Talon for rapier combat.

And a group of guys, mostly from Shadowlands, spent the afternoon pushing 
cars out of the mud.  Wet, muddy and unkempt, they produced more laughter 
and singing than anyone else.  Kudos to their extravagant and sloppy 
devotion to helping others.  (Kudos also to Darkwood Armory, who donated a 
t-shirt to each of them, so they'd have a clean, dry shirt to wear home.)

Wow.

Unto the baronies of Stargate and Loch Soilleir, who chose to honor the 
White Scarf in this way, at an event that already had a big theme, my most 
humble and appreciative thanks.


Those of you who missed it, well, you won't see another like it for ten 
years.  (But I can't in fairness call you stick-in-the-muds.  We were the 
ones stuck in the mud.)

Robin of Gilwell / Jay Rudin