[Ansteorra] GW 2013 Attendance

[Robert G. Ferrell]

On 3/19/2013 8:40 PM, David Brown wrote:
> Provide the money. Does he not charge for the site? What does he do with that money?

Huge infrastructure and overhead, large staff, hotel, golf course, and 
additional properties, not to mention mortgages, loans, and other debts. 
King's Arrow is a major enterprise with major costs associated. The 
money we pay to attend Gulf Wars does not give Larry enough income to do 
much more than maintain things as they are. His other income-producing 
events (church camps, Boy Scout retreats, etc.) have dropped off 
significantly since Katrina and that has impaired his ability to make 
improvements. He does manage to make improvements every year, despite 
this. For example, the merchant area had three additional breaker boxes 
and two more lights installed this year, as well as a common tent in the 
food court.

Larry really does go above and beyond for the SCA; we've been his most 
reliable income source for many years. While Gulf Wars is going on, he 
essentially does not sleep. He makes or supervises repairs, grades the 
roads, mows, buries garbage, runs the restaurant, pays the bills, deals 
with the myriad issues of the hotel, maintains his own fleet of golf 
carts, keeps the golfers happy, answers dozens of phone calls a day, 
keeps ice and sodas stocked, deals with many plumbing problems, acts as 
landlord for many different tenants on the property (with all the 
maintenance issues that entails), and is generally on call 24/7.

To be brutally honest, we get more out of Larry and his property than he 
gets from us in return. Gulf Wars is an institution now, like Pennsic. 
King's Arrow Ranch has 22 years of the SCA's sweat, blood, toil, 
laughter, and tears instilled in it. Starting over at a new site is not 
something I personally can comfortably contemplate.

What does he do with that money? He provides us with a place to make magic.

CoB

-- 
Robert G. Ferrell
rgferrell at gmail.com
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