Dear Leah,<br><br>Welcome! And congrats on your
daughter!! I have raised one in the SCA and she is still
interested and active at age 9. It can be great fun and
matching garb can be soooo cute!<br>You asked about levels
in the SCA. There are really not that many. On the
local level you will have your basic group. It may be a
Barony, Shire, Canton, College, etc. I suspect there may
be regional variations on how those all go together
but suffice it to say that Baronies are bigger and
have a Baron and/or Baroness "in charge." Cantons are
smaller groups that are part of a Barony (at least around
here!) Shires are smaller groups that are independent of
the Barony they are in the middle of. Colleges are
usually part of a mundane college or university and are
part of the parent Barony.<br>Over these will be a
Kingdom. There might be a Principality in between as I
have here. There are two kinds of Principalities,
those that are headed for Kingdom status and those that
intend to stay Principalities. Kingdoms all report to
the Board of Directors. When I say report to, I
pretty much mean just that. It is the administration
side of things. There is no part higher than Kingdom
that does non-business stuff.<br>There are numerous
"unofficial" smaller groups, most of them called households.
These can range from 2-3 people just hanging out
together to one of the largest, The Great Darke Horde,
which recreates the Mongol influence. Since households
have no official part in the structure of the Society,
they really vary as to structure and what their goals
are. You can belong to several households at once (if
the households permit.)<br>That is a short version of
structure in the SCA. It has a bit more detail than that
but actually, not much! And it may be different where
you are.<br>Hope this helps at least
somewhat!!<br>Kathryn

Hi!<br><br>You might try contacting some of the
people listed at this site.
<a href=http://slavic.freeservers.com/maillist.html
target=new>http://slavic.freeservers.com/maillist.html</a><br><br>It is run by
one of the people from my local group
(although I didn't know about it till I found it on
line!!)<br>I see that at least one person lists Romany
(gypsy)as an interest and the overall point of the list is
Slavic interests. I bet these people could direct you
right to what you want!!<br>Kathryn

Whoops! Posted too soon (again!)<br>This one goes hand in hand with the other
site!<a href=http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~jdmiller2/gallery/index.html
target=new>http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~jdmiller2/gallery/index.html</a><br><br>Kath\
ryn

Hi!<br><br>Several of the groups in your area
have event lists posted. And some of these actually
cross reference where the various groups are! Try
starting with your Kingdom web-page and working down the
various levels.<br><a href=http://www.west.sca.org/
target=new>http://www.west.sca.org/</a><br>You may
find the King and Queen are rather busy. (They get
that way!!) Try a Chatelaine or Gold-key person, they
specialize in questions like this.<br><br>As to RV's, this
will really depend on the event. I know that around
here (the upper midwest) it is very unusual for there
to be accomodations for RV's but then most events
are not camping ones! (That pesky snow stuff!) Our
main camping event here, Warriors and Warlords, has
switched sites this year. There were not spaces for RV's
at the old site (actually there were but not for us)
but I don't know about the new site.<br><br>Good
Luck!<br>Kathryn

Dear Edwardius Byrdius,<br><br>Your catapult
sounds really interesting! Did you see the episode of
Junk Yard Wars on the Discovery Channel where their
assignment was to build working catapults in 10 hours from
the scrapyard and then knock down the enemies tower?
It was quite good and even had an SCA person from
Drachenwald (England in this case) as the "expert." She was
very interesting to hear and had several working
models.<br>One thing to keep in mind is that the City of Madison
has VERY stringent laws on such things. You might
want to move to a site out in the County if you
haven't already done so, and best to check the County
ordinances too. I am not as familiar with those. I can get
you a link to the City ordinances for sure and
probably the County ones but your best bet it to contact
your Council representative and make them do the foot
work for you. (After all, that is what the tax dollars
pay for!!)<br>Have fun and don't aim towards my
house!<br>Kathryn

Whoops! (again!)<br>It is acutally The Learning
Channel, a sub-set of Discovery.<br>Here is the web-site
for the show but it doesn't list
much.<br><a href=http://tlc.discovery.com/tlcpages/junkyard/tunein.html
target=new>http://tlc.discovery.com/tlcpages/junkyard/tunein.html</a><br><br>Kat\
hryn

Thankyou for all the advice I'll be shure to check into the ordinances and don't
worry I'll be carefull where I aim the thing   I hope it works well

Come and Celebrate Spring in the Shire!<br>This
is one of the earliest camping events of the year.
As always, it is prudent to plan for _cold nights_
and _damp weather_.<br>There will be activities for
everyone. After opening court on Saturday morning there
will be the traditional egg hunt to choose the Lord
and Lady of the May. We will have the Heavy Tourney
to see who will be the keeper of the Mace for the
coming year. Rapier Tourney, Saturday evening Bardic, a
Chess tournament, pied piper activities, and Arts and
Sciences competitions. Don’t forget the Archery
competitions! This year it will be easier to see. Saturday
evening there will be a reservation only feast. Contact
either Lady Mary at reimer@... or Careann at
anti_scrappy@... . A paid reservation is a confirmed reservation.
Ages 11 and up $7 under 11 $4. Don’t forget the
Maypole Dance on Sunday!<br><br>For those who would like
to participate in the Arts and Sciences there will
be:<br>1. Artwork suitable for the Shire newsletter, “The
Eye of the Hurricane”<br>2. Best thing made on site.
Materials to be supplied. (Use as many of the items in the
bag as possible, trade items with other contestants;
no two bags will be the same, use things you can
find on site, you cannot buy additional items, or
leave site to find things.)<br>3. Best use of the
dreaded DUCT TAPE.<br>4. Best new garb made new for this
season under $10.<br>5. Original Spring poem recited, or
read, at the Feast. Feast reservations not required to
participate.<br>6. Catapult in a shoebox. (Distance and accuracy
with hardboiled eggs)<br>Other activities will be
announced on Site.<br>This year we will be using the East
side of the Fairgrounds. We will enter at the GREEN
gate (two gates east if where we have entered in the
past). The Site will open 4pm Friday and will close 4pm
Sunday. Please be prepared to pack out your own garbage,
as the Fairgrounds do NOT provide this service. All
fires must be above ground (at least 18”) We have
shower facilities on site.<br>For further information or
directions, contact Lady Mary at reimer@... , Careann
at anti_scrappy@... , or the Autocrat, Maj at
maria_ethier@...

Careann,<br>This sounds like fun. I don't expect
we will make it since we are in Wisconsin and I am
guessing from your location in your Bio that this will be
somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.<br>We usually have a
Mayday event here but I am guessing it will be somewhat
low-key this year as we are doing the Principality
Coronet only a month later. <br>Hope you have lots of fun
where ever you are!<br>Kathryn

Hello all!<br>Ooooh! We're talking about siege
engines! Several friends of mine are doing the siege
engine thing for Rowany. *grin* I don't think ya wanna
let me near siege engines.<br>I hear you can use
playground equipment such as slippery dips and see-saws. Is
this right? Its just because a friend of mine is
getting rid of a whole lotta stuff from their backyard,
and I was wondering if it would be useful for my
Shire.<br>Thanx.<br><br>Vivat Agaricus!<br>Vivat the Dreame!<br>Morag

AAARGGH! All this talk makes me wish I lived in America! Oh well, one more year
'til we go Kingdom, so hopefully that will make for more events.<br><br>Morag

A'wish ma champion lived in the Kingdom of Atenveldt near Phoenix. ;)<br>
Your Champion<br>                     Sheridan  (>

My persona is 15th Wallachian. I know that there
was a heavy Roman influence in that area, but was
there enough sea travel going on at that time, from
that area, to quantify a mixture of garb? Or a mixture
of armor?

I don't know about playground equipment, we are just useing wood and nails, plus
a little rope!

Who do I need to talk to if I need to borrow some garb for
saturday?<br><br><br>-Jara<br><br>Dima Stratonikova<br>(Stacie

Stacie,<br>The garb closet is now stored at the
stock pavillion for easy access. You will need to talk
to Peter who is now the Chatelaine. You can usually
find him very near ;) Lady Senta over by the archery
line.<br>Os

I've been eying the Society Of Creative
Alcoholism for a little while now. I have even been talking
with a few of my local members, I work with three of
them. I've been kicking around a few ideas for my
persona and a thinking on weapon of choice. I think I
will try every weapon they have and the different
sword styles and from that figure out which best fits
me. If I am a natural sword and board, I might forget
my thoughts of rapiers. Or perhaps I am an archer?
We will see. My persona ideas must be researched
much more before I out them. Well, I just wanted to
say hello.<br><br>Goodbye,<br>Steven

Greetings. I am known as Morag the Carde I am looking forward to knowing
ye.<br>*Bows*<br>I remain-<br><br>yours in Service to the Dreame,<br>Morag

Was the alcoholism thing supposed to be funny or was it just a typing error?

Tal,<br>It was humor. I have heard it used
before. Right or wrong, there is quite a lot of drinking
just about everywhere you look in our country and the
SCA is no exception. When you make it to Pennsic, you
may well see what it is like when that many (mostly)
reponsible adults have a chance to party without worrying
about driving home afterwards.<br>There are still many
other dangers to over indulgence and in the SCA we face
a whole different crop of them with all of our
knives, swords, and fighting equipment to name only a
few.<br><br>Kathryn<br>who isn't supposed to drink alcohol because of
medication conflicts but loves an annual sip of Roberre's
wonderful cordials!

Dear Steven,<br>Welcome! Why not do all three? No
reason not too, other than time, money, sore muscles...
Oh right, this is supposed to be a positive message.
Go for it!<br>Persona will come. My advice is not to
rush with that and just let it evolve from your
interests. It is a lot easier than trying to figure out
contorted explanations of why your persona would do your
favorite activity later! (Been there!)<br>And keep in
mind, you are never locked into a persona. Change is a
good thing!<br>Feel free to ask any questions. We will
always try to answer!<br><br>Lady Kathryn

Hi Morag!! :-)<br> It is good to see you online
at the same time.<br> Look forward to chatting with
you this pleasant night - or day - in your part of
the world.<br> Newayz, till the blessed next
time....shortly.<br> Your Champion<br> Sheridan

It was a joke, in your parts they may not use that one though. Tim seems fond of
it, he teaches the sword around here.

In time I just might do all three, but for now I
will find one (or two) I like and train with them. My
persona ideas do come from my interests, but I want to
look into the history of it before I choose. If it
ended up being contradictory or if I didn't want to
dress in a certain manor or what have you. And perhaps
I will change my persona a few times, but first I
need to choose one. I need to find time to sit down
and read a few books, but there never seems enough
time. The society prefers historically correct personas
right? The don't look down on original ideas if they can
be backed by history right?

Fantasy ideas are discouraged strongly.<br>Yes,
we prefer it be documentable even if you don't
personally know the exact book and page or carry your
library on your back. There are many things in the SCA
that you can "piggy-back" on such as T-tunics, small
eating knives, etc. Things that are commonplace in the
Society. But there are a few things that are probably not
really accurate but have become custom, such as honey
butter at every feast.<br>Don't feel you need to write a
thesis to document your participation, just keep your
eyes open, read whenever you can, and if it seems to
be out of the norm in your area, do a bit more
research. You might be the one to establish a new fad in
the current Middle Ages!<br><br>Kathryn

Hi folks,<br><br>I'm new to the club. I've had a
few contacts with SCA groups over the years, but
never anything serious. Looking to learn and decide how
deeply I want to get involved, if at all, since I'm in a
remote rural area and far from any SCA
unit.<br><br>Looking forward to talking to you
all!<br><br>Scott<br><a href=http://www.thevikingtrader.net
target=new>http://www.thevikingtrader.net</a>

It's a standard joke floating around. Huzzah for the SCA- Sex, Costumes and
Alcohol!<br>By the way, happy ST. Pat's day!<br>Morag

Merry Meet Ma Dearest Morag and all other Good
Gentles!!<br><br>A happy St. Patrick's Day to all good gentles in
the SCA.<br> <br> Carpe Diem <br> Sheridan

Byrd...<br>You may want to replace the nails with
screws...The whole she-bang will start loosening up and coming
apart after a few shots from the shock. A catapult
blowing apart in your face =BAD.(Been there , done that,
burned the t-shirt)<br>What are you planning on firing
from it?<br><br>In Omnia Veritas<br>Sven Njalsson

Thanks for the advice. I am making this for my
eighth grade science class. I will be doing an
experiment with it soon so I will probably be firing
different sized rocks. Rocks are really all I have to work
with. I want one, two, three, four, and five pound
ones. If that doesn't show a big enough gab in my data
i will go to one, five, ten, and fifteen pound
rocks.