[Sca-cooks] Travel Times/comping feasts

[Sharron Albert]

>You ought to be in our shoes it's a 2 hour drive to the closest group
>(and that's one way).
>
>
>Chass Brown

Oh, quit yer whining (G). Our closest group is nearly 400 miles away 
(Fairbanks, Alaska to Anchorage, Alaska). And we all travel the 
distance regularly. A large contingent of us will be heading south to 
Anchorage late in October, when their baron and baroness step down 
and hand the reins over to their heirs.

I was at the event their first baron and baroness were installed, in 
AS XIII, and only missed the second one. I do not intend to miss this 
one either.

I would much rather fly, but it's just too expensive these days. No 
$50 commuter flights for us.

And I would add to the comments about small feasts/attendance and 
comps. We're lucky to get 40 people to our annual feast, with 
visitors (small group, very isolated, fluid population of students 
and military). We don't comp anyone automatically. We may trade some 
the fee for scullery/clean up work. And if the kingdom or 
principality royalty attend, we do not argue with them if they assume 
they are comped. But we remember they stiffed us.

Our first royal visitors were King William (the Lucky) and Queen 
Andrea (of Claremont) back in AS XV (IIRC, maybe XIV). We tried to 
comp them, but William insisted on paying the event fee, saying he 
knew that small groups needed every penny and shouldn't make a habit 
of comping tickets. This after paying for their trip, too. A shining 
example of courtesy and understanding I have always remembered. 
(Another memory I cherish of William, was at a feast a few years 
later, at the end of cleanup, when I called out for some male to 
check the men's bathroom one more time, I got to watch William race 
the younger men to the bathroom for that privilege -- he won.)

Larger groups probably can afford to comp more often. But I think it 
should be gifted, not expected in most cases.

Morgana yr Oerfa
Founding Baroness, Winter's Gate