SC - Bizaare hobby-NOT!-OT
LrdRas at aol.com
LrdRas at aol.com
Fri May 19 07:13:23 PDT 2000
In a message dated 5/19/00 6:59:59 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
CBlackwill at aol.com writes:
<< Aside from a few here who probably have degrees in medieval history,
aren't we all just a bunch of yokels who share a pretty bizarre hobby? >>
No, most of us are not 'yokels'. Most of us are serious students of
historical cookery. Most of us are professionals in one form or another. Most
of us are extremely active in an organization which has the main focus on
education and research. Most of us like to have a good time doing it. A good
portion of us bend over backwards to disassociate the organization from D & D
and other fantasy activities and have little understanding why anyone would
think our hobby is any more 'bizarre' than any other hobby. Not a few of us
put hundreds, if not thousands of dollars into both our hobby and the
organization annually. Many of us have had our works displayed in libraries
and museums. Many of us have published learned treatises on our various skill
areas and some have contributed to university knowledge banks in a way that
will be recognized for years to come. A yokel who is a party animal that
thinks of the SCA as a bizarre hobby lasts about one event in our shire.
<<From an outsiders point of view, don't you think they might consider it
the same as asking a group of Dungeons and Dragons players for a dissertation
on life in medieval times? >>
Not in my area. We have at least a dozen schools ranging from kindergarten to
high school that, we do demos for every year. The James V. Brown Library has
us do a series of weekly classes on medieval subjects annually.
The Lewisburg Museum recently set up a room on medieval history where many of
our shire members displayed accurate reproductions and authentic artifacts
from the middle ages, including pottery, illumination and calligraphy,
costume, weapons, etc. They also have us set up a medieval village in the
park every year where folks can wander through and enjoy vistas of pavilions,
calligraphy, firepit cookery, metelsmithing, embroidery, etc., including a
complete setup of an herb garden.
For several years we transformed an actual reproduction of a German medieval
castle into a medieval castle for the day with archery, fighting, spinning
weaving, weapons displays, animal husbandry and agriculture, cooking and
eating, etc.
Once a month period dancing demos are performed at the Lycoming Mall with
demos occurring there throughout the year and we have become the major
consultants for a community medieval fair in Wellsboro, providing both
technical and practical help. They in turn provide a madrigal group and
background musicians for Will's Revenge.
Our entertainer's guild produces plays for a number of groups and churches
throughout the year.
Perhaps there are groups within the SCA that are all fun and fantasy and D &
D types, but that certainly is not the case in our shire by any stretch of
the imagination. Our shire and it's members are a respected part of the
community and in no way thought of as 'yokels' or bizarre.
There are other shires who do the same thing including Nithgarrd, Eisental,
Silver Ryll, etc. Maybe it's just an Aethelmearc thing but most groups around
here are serious and their communities take them seriously.
Off the soapbox.......
Ras
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