[Western] Disappointed
HE Kainin Tepesa
kainin at copycraft.com
Tue Oct 7 08:35:52 PDT 2003
Greetings Baron Gavin, Countess Britta and the West,
Let me be the first to publicly offer personal apologies to Countess
Britta for our lack of attendance at Three Queens this weekend past.
Mundane matters kept us away. My sister who lives in Washington, and
who I have not seen since Christmas, was in town with her husband and
so our weekend was filled with much needed time with family. I had
assumed that the West and Countess Britta would be well represented
at Three Queens and that since neither Oriana nor I are currently
fighting our presence would not be missed; it appears I assumed wrong
and so again I am sorry.
However, I must also address what his Excellency Gavin has said. You
are correct my friend, something in the West has changed. I too
remember the day when a kinsman could give a call for help and could
expect to be overwhelmed with the outpouring of support from this
Region. The West has never been known for the pomp and circumstance
of other regions, the West has never had the strength of numbers
boasted by several of the other Regions, but the greatest strength
that the West has always had is the fact that the West is a family.
Oriana and I have a unique opportunity to watch the interaction
between groups in the West as we have held court at nearly all of her
events. Though we have not yet made it to Blacklake or Trelac in our
first year as Baron and Baroness, I think that I have a pretty good
feel for the level of interaction from my experience as my
predecessor's court herald. There are a select group of faces that I
can be pretty sure to see at most of the events in the West. The
interaction in the southern collection of groups (Blacklake,
Crossrode Keep, Mendersham and Trelac) is pretty solid, those groups
interact fairly well with Bonwicke (central) and Bonwicke with them.
Where I see the greatest weakness and where the group of familiar
faces dwindles, is between the northern part of the Region,
Adlersruhe, and the southern collection. For instance, I saw very few
of the familiar faces at Passe de Arms in Adlersruhe this year. On
that note, how many of you are coming to Am Loch this Saturday?
I agree with Gavin that something has to change, we have to find some
way to get back what we have lost. I think that Lord Ian has a
wonderful plan in the works to encourage interaction between groups
and inspire Western pride. He has worked hard on the Western point
race and has come up against ridicule and many complaints. There were
some growing pains the first year, that was to be expected, but the
kinks are worked out and this year should be much smoother. I hope
that everyone will support and encourage this year's race and that
this will become a grand tradition in the West.
Also Lady Ryah has suggested a Western round table meeting and though
I loath the idea of another business meeting, I see the wisdom in
this. It would be a great chance for the officers of the West to sit
down and discuss the health and direction of the Region. Most
importantly this would give the Seneschals of the West a chance to
sit down with a calendar to make sure that no group plans an event,
last minute, on top of another. With an established Western calendar
we can all make better plans to attend and support each other's
events.
I don't know the answer that Baron Gavin seeks, but I do know that I
am proud to be from the West. I know her history, I know what she is
capable of and I will strive to see that what she has lost is
regained. I hope that all of you will take Gavin's words to heart and
join me in my own personal quest to see the Western moon shine bright
again.
Vivat the Western Region!
--
In service,
Baron Kainin Tepesa
Lord Bonwicke
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