NK - On Northkeep and Toy Tourney (LONG)

[Sigen3 at aol.com]

Greetings to the lists, and apologies to those who receive this more than 
once.

It has come to our attention that in the past, Northkeep may have caused some
hard feelings over Toy Tourney.  We will try to address all of the points 
that were
brought up.

Northkeep wins because:

	“we’re bigger than a lot of other places in the north, so we
	have more money to toss into the pot”
Truth to tell, the total number of populace members from the barony who 
donated
toys last year was 24.  This is approximately 30% of our populace.  Some of 
the
folks who donated toys actually had fund raisers to make money to buy the 
toys.

	“we have some people who actually *have* the money to toss around
	  when -most- of the people in the SCA (at least in Oklahoma) are 
barely
	   making enough money to pay the rent)”
It is true that some folks in Northkeep do have discretionary income available
to buy toys for toy tourney.  That is their choice, and the children of  
Tulsa do
benefit.  As pointed out above, some who did not have extra money actually
held fund raisers, and had taverns to raise money to purchase toys.

	“Then when we DO win, we aren’t terribly gracious about it, crowing
	 about it as though it really meant something”
We are proud of our Barony.  We did not start the Toy Tourney.  When this
group became a barony, we thought that as the “baby barony”, it would be
fun to *try* to win a TOY TOURNEY.  Our group responded whole 
heartedly to our requests, and we did win.  If we did crow about it (we 
have tried to remember whether or not we made a big deal over winning)
we can’t remember being obnoxious about it.  If we were, please accept
our most humble apologies.

	“from what I hear from elswhere, this is how it’s seen by many -
	 we push for competition that’s an easy win for us, and then rub
	everyone else’s  nose in the fact that we (as a group) have more
	 money than they do”
As noted above, we did not start the Toy Tourney, we only took up the 
challenge
that was issued to us at the Crown Tourney that HE Mahdi won.  We have never
pushed anything.  We have laid the challenge down at our populace meetings,
and our populace has responded with their hearts to provide for children who
would otherwise have nothing.  We do not recall ever rubbing anyone’s nose
in the fact that our group collect lots of toys.  We have shared our knowledge
with all who have asked “how do you guys get so many toys?”.  We simply
do this for the children.  No other reason.  Yes we are proud of our members
who try so hard to help out, but we would be equally proud of them if we had 
never won
the tourney, simply because they did the best they could.

	“The result of this is that some people in other groups -are- 
resentful
	 and pissed off, and the net result is that fewer people are willing 
to
	 participate and the kids wind up getting fewer toys.
Again, we apologize if anything we have done has resulted in folks really
feeling this way.  We are prepared to ask our barony to only compete 
amongst themselves if this would make other folks more willing to compete
in the Toy Tourney.  The bottom line is that the more toys (and in Northkeep
we also collect clothing, diapers, and toiletries)  we all collect, the
more children will have something.  We were offered the challenge lo these
three years past, and took it up with a good heart.  We will with the same 
good heart withdraw, should that be the desire of the region.  The children
of Tulsa will still receive the toys from the folks here who wish to compete
in-barony.

It was never our intention to make anyone feel badly.  Our incredible populace
has always taken up any challenge fully, and with much entheusiam.  We
are grateful for that competitive spirit that has allowed us to make a 
difference
in the lives of those less fortunate.  Again, we ask you to make known your
thoughts on this. 

We remain in service to our Region, Kingdom, and the Children,

Thorgrim and Sigen
Northkeep