[Sca-cooks] Pennsic Question

[Helen Schultz]

Aislinn wrote:
<quote>
My lord and I are making plans to attend next year also. He says that you
have to pay from whenever you hit site until the end of the war. You cannot
daytrip, and you cannot pay for only the days you attend. Personally, I
wish the SCA would hold Pennsic during July, and all the other fringe
groups who come to our war could attend their own event in August. It would
be the best of both worlds for the mercenary Coopers - they could double
their profit while halving attendance at each event and reducing the stress
on their utilities. I've just become such a snob over Pennsic. It was okay
when we shared the site with the Tuchux (it was originally theirs, after
all), but I've heard Pennsic has gotten very fringe element and less
medieval-oriented over the years. I cannot say I had a fantastic time when
I attended in '86, so that may be clouding my judgement. I just wish
Pennsic was only SCAdian, but as long as the Coopers own the site, that'll
never happen.

~Aislinn~
Et si omnes ego non.
<unquote>

Sorry, I'm about to go into semi-rant mode.

Things have changed a lot since '86 (my first Pennsic year)... because of 
the large numbers of people who now attend, one must pre-register to get 
land (250 sq ft per person), and it is no longer a good idea to just "show 
up" anymore, as the non-registered lands go fairly quickly.  By the way, 
next year, Pennsic does start the last full weekend of July (to accommodate 
the new school schedules, which usually start back during the traditional 
second week of Pennsic)!!  You are correct about having to pay for the full 
two weeks if you arrive anytime during the first week.  There is no other 
way to manage this many people... they have no way of ensuring that the 
person who "says" they are leaving for good is not just using it as an 
excuse to get back in for a cheaper price.  It is still a very cost 
effective 2 weeks camping... actually less than $5 a day for the whole 2 
weeks, when normal mundane camping fees are somewhere around $10 or more a 
day, I believe.  And, no, I am not a Pennsic staff member, I just know a few 
people who have been.

I'm not so sure the Coopers can be described as "mercenary."  Think about 
this for a minute... the Coopers and their staff work hard to provide us 
with a good place to attend this event, have put in water connections in 
what used to be a cornfield, make sure there is a pair of porta-potties 
every 50 yards or so (along with having them cleaned twice a day!), order in 
enough ice and sundries for 10,000+ people for 2 weeks, make sure the grass 
areas are cut as close to the event as possible, keep a paid staff on site 
24 hours a day to make sure we don't have gate-crashers, tow people for free 
who get stuck in the mud when it rains, provide parking for said 10,000+ 
attendees, then spend another month cleaning up after we all leave... hmm, 
sounds more like a great service than being mercenary!!  Yes, they probably 
make a good profit, but they are a business, and they close down their 
regular campground during the peak of the camping season just for the SCA!! 
Personally, I don't begrudge them one penny they earn.  And, one quarter of 
the profit from Pennsic goes into each of the three main kingdom's coffers, 
you know (East, Middle, AEthelmearc).

I'm also not sure what "fringe groups" you are talking about... except for 
maybe the Tuchux, themselves.  We finally got rid of the vampires and elves 
(thank goodness) several years ago, so now it is 98% real Medieval 
atmosphere... there are still a few folks who have trouble understanding 
what Medieval really means and come dressed in fantasy stuff, but that 
happens at almost all our events, and they usually end up buying new 
clothing when they see how out-of-place they look.  You will have to look 
really closely, too, to find large numbers of mundane tents now... almost 
everyone has either a canvas pavilion, or a Medievalish looking mundane (or 
have found ways to make a mundane look more Medieval).  This scan is of 
Pennsic 33, but you can see what I mean... 
http://meisterin.katarina.home.comcast.net/pennsic33-full.JPG  (sorry for 
the big arrow, it points out where my camp was located <sheepish grin>).

Pennsic last year even had someone doing a full "over the fire meal using 
pottery cookware," which I think was super cool... I'd love to be able to do 
that some day.

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Meisterin Katarina Helene von Schönborn, OL
Shire of Narrental (Peru, Indiana)  http://narrental.home.comcast.net
Middle Kingdom
http://meisterin.katarina.home.comcast.net

"A room without books is like a body without a soul." -- Cicero

"The danger in life is not that we aim too high and miss.
The problem is that we aim too low and hit the mark."  -- Michaelangelo

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