[Loch-soilleir] it's a good day to fight

[Michael Silverhands]

On Jun 5, 2007, at 1:29 PM, Paris Chelette wrote:

> As an older member (since 87) in the SCA, being it here in the Loch or
> Stargate,
> I have been to the U of H several times and was not inpressed. I  
> have seen
> as you have, to drive far and no one to fight. No one see's us at  
> night
> there
> whitch is what we want.  I remember the FrendsWood a park there so  
> beautyful
> and why did we loose it ? There mondans saw us and asked question,  
> made new
> friends
> and some new members to "Our Dream".
>   I say let StarGate be StarGate and leave the the Loch alone for our
> practice.
> The less the drive, more will show up.
>
> Mouse
>

Mouse,

I don't remember you being active at the time, so it's fair that you  
don't remember why the practice at Friendswood Park was combined with  
Stargate's at U of H.

The simple answer is: both Stargate's and the Loch's practices were  
dead on their feet. Each practice was lucky to have more than 2  
fighters to show up. That had been the case for several years, for  
both baronies.

There was much discussion at the time, culminating in a large talk  
held at Sir Alexis' house and attended by many interested parties  
from the entire region. (I can't swear to the exact number, but I  
recall it being somewhere around 20 people, about 50/50 Loch and  
Stargate.) The consensus that came out of those talks was that:
a) both practices were dead,
b) something needed to be done to rejuvenate them,
c) both practices needed to move someplace where more young adults  
(read here: college students) were likely to see them, since that age  
group is our best hope of recruiting new members and keeping our  
local groups alive.

By mutual consent, both baronies pooled their efforts at one joint  
practice to be held at U of H main campus. It took off like a rocket,  
and has been very, very successful since then. Even now, in the usual  
doldrums of summer, enough people still show up for there to be a  
practice. Maybe not a crowd, but enough.

So... before you get up on a soap box and start saying "let Stargate  
leave the Loch alone", please bear in mind that this was by *mutual*  
decision. Nothing prevents either barony from hosting other practices  
closer to home, and in fact there has been recent discussion in both  
baronies towards that end. But let's not forget why we combined the  
practices in the first place. :-)

Yours in service (in this case, performing the service of remembering  
our past),
Michael Silverhands