A clear blue sky, a warm day without humidity or too much wind, gentles relaxing, laughing, and having a wonderful time… we couldn’t have asked for a better day for our first championship event! In watching all the competitions on October 7, we saw perseverance, skill, and great shows of courtesy… and quite a bit of delicious humor. Don’t archery competitions always include ketchup packets? <smile>

First and foremost, we congratulate our new champions: youth champ Gabriel, heavy weapons champ Spyke, archery champ Haiko, thrown weapons champ Ye Jian Ying (aka Hawk), A&S champ Eldjarn, and our bardic champs Dehka & Ye Jian. We applaud and thank Yasmina for agreeing to serving as the rapier champ so ably and cheerfully. We also commend Eldjarn on winning the populace’s favor in the A&S competition and Finn on being the most honorable youth fighter. In addition, we salute all the gentles who participated in the day’s competitions. You all do the barony proud, and we thank you in advance for your service to Thescorre and your willingness to represent the barony.

We also express our gratitude to those who ran the competitions: Daedez for the bardic, Kadlin for the A&S, Athos for *both* the thrown weapons & heavy weapons (and then let the rather over-enthusiastic baroness and a calm baron play on the range with the really cool spears), Cedric for the archery, Yasmina the rapier, and Nivah & Mairghread the youth fighting. We thank you and the other outgoing champions: Fridrikr, Ulric, and Caedemon. Thank you all for sharing your time and talents with us.

Thanks, as always, to the ever-busy scribes for creating such lovely scrolls for our champions: Matilda, Portia, Sorcha, Daedez, and Collette. Thanks, as always, to Matilda for heralding our courts with wit and a ringing voice. Thanks to the Brute Squad for their ever-reliable help in herding thrones, food supplies, and other car contents to their destinations, and congratulations on inducting Ryan as your newest squad member.

Our gratitude to Sue for patiently and diligently organizing such a delicious and diverse potluck dinner. While the hall grew chilly in the evening, the luscious food, joyous camaraderie, and wondrous performances made it a truly warm and memorable repast.

Our final, most heartfelt thanks to Katrina for running such a well-oiled, unstressed, and successful event. Although the day had a busy schedule, it was incredibly relaxed. You always had an answer for any question or concern, or were already on your way to finding one, and everyone seemed to be smiling wherever we looked.

Vivant to all, and Bob Raef!!

Eric & Katja