Last Chance Ideas.

.....We're here at Fight Practice and I'm taking notes from the meeting to discuss Last Chance Feast and Tourney. Kassian has volunteered to autocrat the event and we're brainstorming ideas on what worked and what didn't work last year.

.....The site is going to be the Silver Spurs Equestrian Center next to the Fairgrounds. It worked out as a great site last year. The unfortunate thing this year is that our preferred dates are not available on the Silver Spurs calendar. The open dates were the first and third weekends of October. The weather becomes VERY problematic as you get later into October, so we're going to push to hold Last Chance October 2nd through 4th. There is a thought that this conflicts with some other event on the calendar, but the online Kingdom Calendar shows an event at Wastekeep and a Madrone A&S Championship. So we're going to try for the first weekend of October. We'll see what kind of disruption this does to Madrone.

.....Need to check in with our current Equestrian Champion, Mistress Miranda, to see if this weekend will work for her as well as she would like to be part of the organizing group for this activity. Countess Miranda was in the loop when the date was first saved on the calendar, so now that it is being forced to be moved we will need to get her input ASAP.

.....Sorcha and Idaminious (sp?) are planning their wedding for Last Chance and have volunteered to coordinate the feast for the event. The Barony will provide the main dish and the setting (tables and chairs), and Sorcha and Company will do the actually preparation of the feast. Last year we had a roast pig and there was thought that maybe the Barony could provide a half-cow, or a sheep, this year. More to follow as the pig from last year was not universally liked.

.....Sorcha will have modern guests for the wedding, so we will use the same formula that was used for Karl Redstone's wake of several years ago in that a list of expected attendees will be provided to gate as a check list when they show up. The wedding will be timed for later in the day so as to not conflict with the event itself. Those attending the wedding will not all be in medieval garb, which is why the wedding is timed for later in the day. Those who actually want to attend the event will be asked to formally sign in at gate and pay a site fee. But those attending just for the wedding will be checked off of the list and will not be asked to pay a site fee.

.....It was mentioned that it might be a good idea to combine the Harvest Ball with Last Chance and have a dance after the feast. Those present seemed to think that this was a good idea.

.....The Arts and Sciences area will be located OUTSIDE the fence near the building this year (as opposed to inside the fence as where it was located last year).

.....It was suggested that the Baroness Tea be done again, but there was not a lot of enthusiasm for this by those present. More discussion to follow. Kassian needs to touch base with Her Excellency to get Her thoughts on the matter.

.....Last year the archery range was located at the far end of the site and it was something of a hefty walk to get from one end of the event to the other. Those present, especially His Excellency, want the actual 'EVENT' more combined, or compact, instead of spread out. A couple of placement ideas were drawn up on the dry erase board and a placement was decided.

.....The placement of Court was discussed. There was some problem with the ambiance of Court being disrupted by having a mass of plastic tables and chairs being in the middle of 'Court'. So it was decided that Court would be set up at a location separate from the actual feast area.

.....Last year, with Last Chance being the weekend after September Crown, the attendee numbers were probably a bit skewed over a typical year. This will have a bearing on the number of Portable Restrooms that are ordered for the weekend, and the number of pumpings that are required. Kassian is going to talk to Arontius and Aelianora on the side to discuss how many should be ordered.

.....Heidi of Dragon's Laire volunteered to arrange for decorations at the event. She was excited about utilizing the Baronial owned banners for enlivening the event and had a bunch of ideas about doing this.

.....Moira and Manus volunteered to be the Gate Coordinators. Kassian needs a Marketplace Coordinator. Need someone to arrange for Pied Piper activities.

.....Need someone to arrange for prizes. His Excellency reminded us that the CHAMPIONSHIPS are their own prizes and so prizes are not needed for these categories. But prizes will be needed for other activities.

.....Waterbearing was discussed. It was acknowledged that waterbearing as an office no longer exists, but it would be nice if something formal was arranged. Last year the Barony purchased a couple of cases of bottled water and left them near the erics. This worked O.K. for the fighting community, but if someone could be found who would take on organizing waterbearing activities, it would be appreciated. Kassian will scout for a volunteer.

.....Need to touch base with the Silver Spurs people on the on-site food vendors to see if they will be present.

.....Kassian will touch base with Aelianora to get a run down of expenses from Last Chance for the past several years to get an idea of what expenses to expect.

.....Last Chance is the event where the Marshallate Championships for Dragon's Laire are decided. The Heavy Fighting, Rapier Fighting, Equestrian, Archery, and Thrown Weapons Championships are decided on Saturday. On Sunday, the Captain of the Baroness' Guard is decided by Tourney.

.....Arontius needs to ensure that the date is changed on the Kingdom Calendar ASAP, and will also touch base with Tsuruko ASAP to see if there are any conflicts with other Equestrian Events on October 2nd through 4th.

.....Site walk-through will be arranged sometime in the next couple of months.

.....Kassian will put together a budget and share it with the Baronial Finance Community sometime in the next month, after discussing past expenses with Aelianora.

.....Let me know if anyone present for the meeting sees any errors or omissions in my notes.

.....Aaron / Arontius.