Monday, April 26, 2010

Community Event: De Luna Ranch, May 8, 2010

Photos thanks to Rene DeLuna:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13980881@N08/sets/72157624066124170/


Photos thanks to Danny DeLuna:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13980881@N08/sets/72157623926178281/

Photos thanks to Wil Mandac:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildabeast71/sets/72157623913304141/

Photos thanks to Kyra MacNeil:










































































































































































































Friday Don Juan and I arrived on site at 1:45pm. We quickly found Sir Guy with Danny, who decided to show us around the property and the house.

Danny gave us a pop-up to use in lieu of our pavilion. We decided to put our walls up on the pop-up, (a) to make it look better and (b) because I thought it would be cooler than the ‘plastic canvas’ walls. It worked really well, as our walls were slightly smaller than the pop-up (we think the pop-up was an 11x11), and we were backed up against an ivy covered fence, so we left the back partially open, allowing for more air flow. Not having to put the pavilion up saved us a huge amount of time. We were done with everything and gone by 4pm.

Saturday was beautiful. We (Don Juan, Tory & I) arrived on site at 8:45 to a bustling encampment. Killian had been there for a while setting up his stuff, and Sir Guy (surprise...not, he's always early!) was already there. Orion, Gavin, Wil & Morrigan all arrived just before we pulled in. Detta & Merrick showed up shortly after, with Kieran & Robin popping in around 10:30 (they got a bit lost, but were in good spirits once they got there).

We decided to fire water balloons instead of cabbage, as we had a nearby water source, it was a community event rather than a faire, and cabbages are costly. Worked out great. The treb behaved itself all day and there weren’t any mis-fires that I’m aware of.

The Vikings and the Romans were set up practically on top of us, so it was a bit difficult for folk to realize that it was three different groups, but it made us all look as if we were very full. The shade of the area that they gave us was quite welcome. I think we ended up with the better of the three spaces, as we had the driveway to the house perpendicular from our location, and had a lovely cross breeze most of the day.

Don Juan and Wil fired the treb constantly pretty much all day. I think we fired close to 100 water balloons. The kids (Tory, Merrick & Gavin) had a bit of a water balloon fight as they heated up. Orion manned the smaller scale siege weapons table. Morrigan & Detta spun and spun and spun. Killian worked on his chain mail (when Kieran wasn’t stealing his seat), and worked on the public, with the able bodied assistance of Kieran himself. Robin was a god-send, making sure that Don Juan was watered while he was in the sun. Sir Guy seemed to have a good time instructing folk on the various hand held weapons and armor, as well as polishing his plate armor.

There were lots of bodies on site. Danny told me that there were approximately 2,200 people in attendance. It was an invitation only event put on by the Lions. I don’t think I saw anyone with a frown or angry look on their face. The Boy Scouts kept us watered (although we had our own) and fed. They kept stopping by with food (burgers & dogs in lunch boxes with chips, or cookies). There was also shaved ice, cotton candy and ice cream bars available, if you were willing to go find them.

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