[Sca-cooks] Pennsic Question

[Stefan li Rous]

Aislinn commented:
<<< 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. >>>

Correct. This does have the advantage of minimizing the tourists who  
just want to drop in and see the Renn. Fair going on.

<<< You  cannot
daytrip, and you cannot pay for only the days you attend. >>>

Depends on your definition of "day trip". If you mean staying in a  
motel or someone's house offsite and coming to Pennsic each day, that  
can certainly be done. At times they've even had special close in  
parking for such folks. I still think it would be a good idea in that  
case to arrange with a group to pitch a tent onsite or to leave stuff  
in someone's tent so you don't have to carry everything you might  
want on site to and fro each day.

<<< 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.>>>

I doubt the non-SCA folks attend Pennsic because it is in August.  
They attend because it is Pennsic. And the non-SCA groups can be a  
boost to Pennsic, not necessarily a detriment. It was at my first  
Pennsic, Pennsic 21, that I saw someone working with a pole lathe. It  
was in a camp on the Serrangetti, and the group was not SCA. They  
were a reenactment group and their camp was much more authentic than  
the surrounding SCA camps.

<<< 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. >>>

Define "SCA group"? Define "SCA participant"? Is that an official SCA  
paid member?  Many "fringe element" folks such as the Tuchux can  
afford to pay SCA dues. Many valuable SCA folk can not.

I think Pennsic has gotten more authentic over the years in many  
ways. As someone else mentioned, a lot more period and period like  
pavilions these days. However, where I camp, with SPCA, down by the  
lake there literally is no room to put the large medieval pavilions  
because of the spacing of the trees. And if that was a requirement, I  
probably couldn't attend since flying in with a medieval pavilion  
isn't really possible.

<<< I cannot say I had a fantastic time when
I attended in '86, so that may be clouding my judgement. >>>

I'm sorry to hear that. Pennsic isn't for everyone and there are  
times when I wonder if the hassle factor is worth it, myself.  When I  
attended my first Pennsic with my wife, she had an undiagnosed  
chronic illness and it proved difficult for her. This has colored her  
impression of Pennsic and she has not wanted to go again.

<<< I just wish
Pennsic was only SCAdian, but as long as the Coopers own the site,
that'll never happen. >>>

I'm often not happy with some of the Cooper's decisions and many of  
them are made strictly on protecting their own monopolies, but I  
don't think they have a lot to do with some of what you are  
complaining about.

For more on Pennsic and on various suggestions to make the War more  
comfortable, see the PENNSIC and the SCA-CAMPING sections in the  
Florilegium.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****