ST - Moving fighter practice

[Ron Hardy]

Damn, you don't read email for a day because your getting ready for a
newcomers revel and you guys just explode.

What a shame that most of the most active voices on the email soapbox
were not at the face to face discussion we had at populace Thursday
night. Had you been there you would have witnessed a delightful display
of courteous and polite but spirited two way conversation on this very
subject. Had you been able to stay till the end of the meeting you would
have been able to hear your Baron and Baroness comments on the subject.

They are,
(1) Lets face it Flagpole Hill really doesn't meet our needs as a barony
anymore.
        The bathrooms suck
        For a vital few the terrain is difficult
        The bathrooms suck
        For awhile there was no water (thank you Corrine for getting
that changed)
        The bathrooms suck

(2) And more importantly You, the people of the Steppes, don't seem to
want to be there anymore as is evidenced by the poor turn out of the
populace for several years now.
    Why? Is it our travel on weekends? Is it the placement of Flagpole
Hill in the Steppes? Or do you just not care to get out on a weekend and
drive to fighter practice in the middle of Sunday?
I think that this is the real question we need to address. Where we
practice is a matter of real estate. The heart we bring to it is what
will make it The Steppes Baronial Fighter Practice.

So what needs to change in this equation.

It would great if the city would build and maintain a bathroom over by
where we practice. That's not going to happen.
And it still wouldn't change the terrain difficulties.

We could stay at Flagpole (we've been there for 25 years) and exclude
some fighters and others who can't or don't want to be there for
whatever reason.

Or we can look for another place that does suit our needs today and see
if that will reinvigorate our baronial enthusiasm to attend fighter
practice.

This is your choice people, all of the people of the Steppes.
This is our Baronial fighter practice, your fighter practice.
But if you don't show up at the face to face discussions and then at
whatever location we end up at or stay at, you will - by your absence -
tender your vote on the subject. You will give up your voice to those
who do show up.


So (taking off the baronial hat and speaking as a long time member of
the Steppes and  as someone who was first introduced to the sword and
shield at FlagPole Hill, the Hill holds a special place in my heart)
My vote is to maintain and continue this discussion regarding attendance
(or lack of) at the hill. To ask and perhaps answer the question of "why
doesn't anyone go to fighter practice any more, we used to have so much
fun there! "

And to try out having practice somewhere else for a month or two to see
if a new setting will make a difference, we can always go back to The
Hill if it doesn't work. We can speculate all we want about what
variables may make a difference but unless we change a variable and
experiment we will never know.

So my vote is to continue talking, to continue working together to find
out what you, as a group want, in your fighter practice and while we're
"pontificating" we should experiment with new locations (start looking
in your neighborhoods) and see if a change of scenery will meet our
needs better.

Putting back on the Baronial hat now.
Catrin, Duncan and I will be working with Dux and coming up with a time
table for our experimental moving of fighter practice. We will also come
up with a date for our next meeting regarding fighter practice
attendance. This next meeting will be at The Hill after the regularly
scheduled fighter practice (if we can't get the fighters to attend the
meeting then we'll take the meeting to the fighters) we will also
publicize it widely and hope that all the interested parties can attend.

I have a personal request as well. While I, as your Baron, would never
what to stifle discourse or discussion on a subject I also feel that
this email media is not the best place for sharing ideas or having a
conversation. I want to encourage all of you to talk face to face with
those you disagree with. That is why we're going to meet more on this
subject matter and have a two way conversation regarding what is best
for the Barony. When it comes right down to it that is what we all want
, isn't it? I am going to ask that we as a group stop "beating this
horse" via email and lets talk together, as group to try and find what's
best for the group.

And, for my part, I will not post again on this subject except as
regards meeting announcements. If you want my opinion on this subject
please come to a meeting or call me at (214) 821-1223.

Fritz








-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.ansteorra.org/pipermail/steppes-ansteorra.org/attachments/20010421/37473dad/attachment-0001.htm>