Beltaine '97 edition
Congratulations to Mainlia for defending his title as Clan champion, and to Guthrum for winning the First annual Celtic He-man contest!
Beltaine
Beltaine was AWESOME!
Well.... A number of you have been thanking eachother on the message board for outstanding effort at the events. Showing your apprication in this fasion is strongly encouraged. I would especially like to thank Volund for cooking the main course. He had to miss a large portion of the event to make sure we were fed. Plans are being discussed to avoid this situation in the future.
Normally, on the Friday of an event, its just mostly setup and mundane hanging out as people scramble from work to home to the site and just try to set up in the dark while saying a prayer to the gods to hold off the rain till they get their tent up...
This event was particularly unique in that on Friday, a medieval atmosphere was created almost instantaneously... set up went pretty smoothly and every one got in garb just as soon as they could. Part of this was due to several people taking off work that Friday to get to the event early... also i think part of this was due to the "Community Stew" which relieved people from having to run off site to get something to eat. It was a pretty cheap and easy way to get people comfortable and into the scene, and hopefully, we'll be doing it at every event from now on.
It seems that we improve every event and this event was the best example of that yet... The Celtic He-man competition was great despite a few bumps... the competition was pretty fierce and it was as exciting to wacth as to compete. Any body who has ideas for next year is encouraged to post their ideas. Also if you check out the Message Board, Rutager has posted some quick and easy instructions for making some down and dirty javelins... just like the ones that were used at the event.
The events that took place and winner were(listed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd):
- Hammer throw - Rutger, Guthrum, Mainlia
- Javelin throw for distance - Rutger, Mainlia, Guthrum
- Javelin throw for accuracy - no points scored
- Axe throw for accuracy - Mainlia, Guthrum, Aonghus & Eberwolf (tied)
- Mini caber toss - Comyn, Aonghus, Eberwolf
- No Holds Barred Foot Race - Guthrum, Mainlia
The Talent competition was postponed till next Imbolc for several reasons. The indoor venue may be more conducive to this type of activity, every one will have plenty of time to prepare, and the impromptu mead tasting after the feast sort of distracted (inebriated) a good portion of the clan to the point of jeapordizing the ceremony (luckily, Cymrot was still able to perform his duties as Clan Druid). In the future, lets endovor to make any alcohol tasting the absolute LAST event for the evening.
As promised, this event saw the distribution of the clann's first COINS!!! For those who missed out, they are about the size of a penny and made of bronze (selling four for a buck). The quality of the first minting may show our lack of knowlage in this area, but several members are refusing to part with the coins because they are the first minting and a source of clann pride despite their humble beginnings. Also, several folks did not get to purchase as many as they would have liked because we struck a limited amount and wanted to make sure everybody got a chance to buy some. Next event will see even more coins minted and things are in the works to improve the image quality as well. Im hoping to maybe get a few sets of real knuckle bones by then so we can do some real period gambling as well (Anyone who knows where to get these please let me know).
For those of you who don't know, their are some new people managing the park. And, being new, they want to do eveything by the book and are real sticklers for detail. Or at least they were untill a few members got a chance to schmooze with them and let them know that we really care about the park. The new management has agreed to handle things the "old way" for our group (and only our group) so our future and continued use of the park is as secure as it ever was. HOWEVER, we must be carefull of two things.
1. No Uncontained Ground Fires. For those of you who have had the (dis)pleasure of camping at Southhaven know that the campground is all ash from the thousands of campfires their. The management of the park has installed fire rings at the sites to prevent a similar fate at "our" park. I have found out that they also have half barrells that we may use should we require an additional firepit.
2. Alcohol. This event was plagued with beer bottles and cans. This CAN NOT happen again!! Part of the problem was our unanticipated consumption and heavey partying on Friday. Hopefully the need for bottles and cans will be averted by brewing more. But from now on ALL non period drinking containers are BANNED from outside of your tents. This means if you want to bring six packs or cases... you will have to store them in your tent and fill your horn or mug there and keep the bottles and cans in your tent untill you can dispose of them off site. Offenders will be FINED in clan coins.
In Addition:
Also, ALOT of people have been forgetting their stuff at events. The last people to leave are usually stuck with the responsability of seeing it back to its rightfull owner. A lost and found is going to be set up. You will have a grace period of one month to reclaim your posessions. After a grace period of 1 month you will have to pay a storage fee to reclaim your items. Unclaimed items will be auctioned off at an annual clan event (most likely Samhain). All money will go to the clann treasury.
Also for consideration:
We may be having a clan meeting / clan-b-q this summer to discuss Samhain. Things to consider are: who is running for office, the feast, and other event activites.
Clannsfolk should take advantage of the Message Board to communicate their opinions and ideas on these and other subjects with the clann..
editor note: The message board referred to above (AOL) is no longer maintained.