[Steppes] SCA @ SMU

[Quill]

Haven't done one of these in awhile...

Things have been slow at SMU this semester, and Quill has spent a lot of
time in his box set aside while other priorities are kept. I'm sure we're
all familiar with the Call of the Mundane. (Related to but quite different
from the Call of the Wild.) There are still pockets of definite interest,
but the people I whose interest I had already captured who I thought would
want to get involved have, alas, been retaken by other concerns, and I can't
blame them; even I've had to back off from some of my extracurricular
activities.

Even so, we've done well. Eight new people (both here and in other parts of
the kingdom) have been to a populace, a fighter practice, or an event, and
continue to talk about them, so word is spreading and enthusiasm is there.
This is where we build foundations.

The campus Medieval Club has suffered from several afflictions this year,
several of them coming from issues before my time. We've struggled along and
barely manged to maintain our charter this semester. Still, I have high
hopes for us, and the fact that we still set high goals for ourselves is a
good sign.

On Sunday afternoon, April 20th from 1pm-4pm we will be holding a very small
Medieval Faire on the grounds outside of Meadows Museum. It will consist
mostly of History and Medieval Studies students displaying what they've
learned and projects they've been working on, and will also include things
like a stage combat show, facepainting, and so on. I would encourage anyone
who finds themselves without plans for that time to come and support us, but
the Barony of the Steppes has also been specifically invited to do a small
demo for the SCA as well.

Which brings me to my own plea. I have spoken with Her Excellency Steppes,
and with our vivacious Hospitaler Vyolante, and if there are just get a few
people who can spare some items of eye-catching interest, and a handful of
folks willing to come down and represent the Society at it's philanthropic
best, I believe such a showing will make a great impression on those
students who aren't yet fully convinced that our hobby can be theirs also.
I'm not kidding when I say there is fertile ground here, and what I see in
some of my fellow students are not just seeds, but true gems; still, I
cannot sow alone! So please, I know it's quite short notice, and I realize
there are a number of other events (not to mention the BOD meeting and tall
that entails) on that particular weekend that will have plenty of you
scattered to the corners of our kingdom (or just plain exhausted from
whatever) but if you aren't doing anything in that small time frame I urge
you volunteer for this demo. It need not be nearly as elaborate as the
homeschool demo we just finished with, nor as drawn out as the AllCon was
(although to give you an idea of the level of involvement we had in mind,
that table we had at AllCon would be the ideal sort of thing to try and do
again here at SMU - only just for four hours, and sans fighter
demonstrations or workshops).

That is essentially the last thing I have from SMU for this semester, so
once that's over I'll have nothing to report from the school until August. I
still hope to eventually coordinate a fighter practice or two that will
accommodate student schedules, Quill will not stop dragging his friends to
this populace or that event, and I continue to sing the Society's praises to
all who will listen. And let's be honest, a Bard doesn't have breath to
waste on unworthy causes, so I must extend my thanks to everyone - and I
mean Everyone - for simply being wonderful people who are worth telling
tales about.

-- 
In service to The Dream and Dreamers all,
Cuillioc /|\ "Quill"
Titled Bard of the Barony of Bonwicke
Mendersham Bard Emeritus

"It is said that the Devil never crossed the Tamar into Cornwall on account
of the well-known habit of Cornish women of putting everything into a pasty,
and that he was not sufficiently courageous to risk such a fate!"

-From the cookbook _Cornish Recipes Ancient and Modern_