[DFT] excerpt 4 Letter of Intent #2

[Diana at oldstyle.net]

Unto Their Royal Majesties do we, Lochlan Dunn, Duke of Ansteorra and
Sabine le Curter, Baroness of the Court of Ansteorra send greetings during
this most joyful Season.

 After much deliberation and conversation with one another and our
families, Baroness Sabine le Curter and I have made the decision to
submit before you our joint letter of application to be considered for
the Baronetcy of  Elfsea.  While we are well aware that our pairing may
seem nontraditional on the surface, we are eager to demonstrate to you
and the populace of the Barony that raised us both our willingness to
serve our populace and represent them to the Knowne World.

 Sabine and I both found the SCA and our love of the Dream through the
Barony’s nurturing arms as newcomers to the Society over a decade ago. 
We were newcomers together, and experienced much of our initial exposure
to the Barony and the organization as friends, together.  Though in our
time, I have stayed local and played on a Kingdom level, sometimes moreso
than local, and Sabine has had the opportunity to travel the Knowne World
and experience the customs and traditions of many kingdoms, we both find
that our roots still tie us here.  She has recently returned to her home
barony as a full-time resident and she carries with her experiences she
has found as a subject of Atenveldt, Meridies, Trimaris, and as a Citizen
of Gleann Abhann (though she did not live there, that Kingdom has
extended to her the right and privilege of claiming it as her land
through an award extended by their Crown).  These differences in our
Society experiences coupled with our love of our Barony make us a pairing
for this opportunity that can bring a lot to our Barony as we work
together and with our populace, to help Elfsea to shine with the splendor
that we recall from our days as newcomers.

We look forward to working with all of Elfsea’s populace to see us ascend
to the next level in hospitality, camaraderie, and functionality. The SCA
has been a positive influence in our lives that transcends the distinction
of simply being a hobby, and we desperately want to impart that to all
whom we may.  One of our visions is to see Elfsea hosting a pavilion or
table of hospitality at each Central Region event that it is feasible,
given the blessing of the steward, of course. We would love to see a
gathering place at our local events where our populace might find respite
from the day to enjoy fellowship with one another even as they enjoy the
day with those of other groups.  Could this mean additional work for
ourselves, our friends, and our barony?  Absolutely. However, we feel that
the work and time given to acts of hospitality are infinitely more
rewarding than the cost of time and energy, and we’d like to take small
steps such as this to help establish with newer members that Elfsea is not
simply an SCA branch, but also a functioning family and support network
for those who call her “home”.

In that vein, we would like to assist the office of the Hospitaler by
cultivating the attitude that we are all Hospitalers, and working with
them to help fine-tune our recruitment and newcomer retention practices. 
We want to see the faces of those Baronial members who have “retired” or
gone inactive, either on a local level or entirely, return.  It is our
intention to review the past census records to try to locate those
individuals, and extend to them the hand of friendship and camaraderie. 
We’d also like to continue cultivating the healthy relationships we
already have with Dragonsfire Tor, The Steppes, and Loch Ruadh to help see
the SCA continue to thrive in the DFW Metroplex.

Regarding the health of the Barony on an Organizational level, we have
great faith and love for those who currently hold offices that serve this
Barony.  We’d like to cultivate healthy relationships with those officers
so that if they feel that they need assistance, help in finding deputies,
or additional resources we can work with them to identify those needs and
see them met. It is not our intention to do the jobs of our officers, nor
to completely rearrange the Barony to some perception that we have in our
minds.  It’s  just our intention, should we be blessed with serving as the
Baron and Baroness of Elfsea that we serve as facilitators to assist the
officers and populacesee the dreams realized that they hold for our
Barony.

Finally- I am aware that as a Duke of Ansteorra, it may strike some as odd
that I am choosing to submit my name for such a position in conjunction
with that of a dear friend, and not with my wife, Her Grace Gwen.  Gwen
supports this bid of Sabine and I, however, due to mundane
responsibilities, she does not consider herself to be a viable candidate
for Baroness at this time.  The three of us have had many conversations as
we are aware that this position is one that has a duration of two years or
more, and should not be entertained lightly.

 We thank you, and the Barony, for your consideration.  If any should have
any questions regarding our bid for this position, please don’t hesitate
to contact us.


 Ever in Service,

 Duke Lochlan Dunn and Baroness Sabine le Curter


Duke Lochlan Dunn
Brandon McDermott
lochlanarms at yahoo.com

Baroness Sabine le Curter
Tara Derington
purpleermine at gmail.com