2023 Newsletter
May events: May 14th, 2023- Special Kids Day
May 25th, 2023- BOD 2nd Quarter Board Meeting
May 26th-28th, 2023- Shasta Renaissance and Fantasy Faire
June Events: June 24th, 2023- Picnic at Lake Elizabeth in Fremont
July Events: July 15th-16th, 2023- Central Coast Renassiance Faire(SLO)
August Events: August 20th-21st, 2023- MidsummersFairytale in Plymouth
September Events: September 2nd-3rd, 2023- 157th Annual Scottish Games in Pleasanton
September 16th, 2023- Fresno Scottish Games at Kearney Park
September 26th, 2023- BOD Quarterly Meeting at OSRP HQ 5pm
OCtober Events: TBA
November Events: Novemeber 11th-12th, 2023 Kearney Renaissance Faire in Fresno.
Special Kids day by the Lions Club
Don Juan, Dame Tory, Nick and I arrived on site at 8:30am. It was a warm beautiful day; full sunshine, no rain. The temperatures stayed with us. It was a muggy warm day, with temperatures near 90.
After finding Danny and determing our new location and shooting area, we pulled the treb and few items off of the truck and got set up. Dame Tory and I set off to water the balloons, and the other folk were able to straggle in. Once we had everything in place, we were able to greet Dame Bonnie, Sir Ryk, Sir Killian, Doogan, Alana, Ella and Darius to join us.
They had us set up in the quad with everyone else this year. We were able to hit the bridge facing the area where we have been set up previously. We had a great showing by the kids, however the numbers on the kids were down. Dame Tory and I made over 50 balloons, and we had nearly 1/2 left when we were done firing for the day. It's sad that there wasn't a greater turn out. We're hopeful that things will turn around for next year.
BOD 2nd Quarter Meeting
This board of directors meeting was mainly a check in, new faires added to our list include pleasanton highland games.
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Shasta Renaissance and Fantasy faire
Don Juan, Dame Tory, Sir Killian, Nick and I arrived on site at 2pm. It was a warm beautiful day; full sunshine, no rain. The temperatures stayed with us. It was quite warm, no idea how hot, though. After Special Kids Day, our internal thermometers were all out of whack.
We met up with Allyson with the faireboard to determine where we were located and where we should camp. Got that taken care of and began set up in both locations simultaneously. Tory did most of the camp set up, which was very helpful. Doogan, Alana and the kids arrived on site as we were finishing up the sleeping set up. We had taco bowls Friday night, which was a great new treat. They were mostly premade, and easily warmed up on the griddle. Great success. We were all in bed by 10.
The 'grass' we were camped on wasn't friendly, and there were many stickers, but we were all together, which was terrific.
Saturday dawned bright and clear. It was a great day, lots of people came by and fired the trebuchet. We taught the Royal Scots Guild dance, which was a welcome respit. We had gate duty in the late afternoon, possibly a bit too late, but we were there meeting and greeting and wishing others well in their future endeavors.
Saturday evening, after a very busy warm day, we had tritip and squash for dinner, along with a birthday cake for Sir Killian. Rain and thunderstorms hit us as we went to camp, stayed with us until we went to bed. We all checked out early, I think we turned in by 9.
Sunday was again bright and clear. We were lucky and our items dried out over the day...with the exception of the carpets. The day was very full, but much the same as Saturday. There were many vendors on site, some we knew, and some new ones, including some photographers from Scotland. It was an excellent faire.
We stayed again Sunday night, which was a welcome reprieve. Again with the tritip, but with Potato and Macaroni salad side dishes. We all started gathering up items, and tucked in early. We were all up and moving Monday morning, and out of the faire site by 10am.
A fun faire, that we would be willing to return to!
Cheers!
June 24th, Picnic at Lake Elizabeth
Saturday was a beautiful day in Fremont...
Don Juan, Dame Tory and Kyra arrived on site just before 11am. Dominique arrived shortly after. Kim, Jessica and Johnathan arrived about a half an hour later. Followed swiftly by Amanda, Evie & Elliot. Doogan, Alana, Ella & Darius arrived a bit after that, and then Sir Ryk and Dame Bonnie,
Don Juan set up two croquet courses. We had bocce ball with us, but unused. We also set up walk the plank, which, unfortunately no one but the kids and myself would play with. Doogan did play with the swords with the kids, as did Don Juan, though.
Several of us played with the croquet, which is always my favorite at the picnics.
There was so much food. I cannot believe how much food showed up!
A nice day, I think, was had by all!
August 20th-21st, 2023 Midsummer nights in Plymouth
We were welcomed with open arms to this event, so Tory and I headed that way with the dogs on Friday. (That's right, I told them that I had no other opportunity and that I would be bringing three dogs with me...they were okay with that).
We arrived at 10:30pm. Were told where they wanted us, and started setting our very minimal stuff up. We were in bed by 12:30.
The next morning Nick joined us. We finished getting things together and jumped right in. They said that they had 1500 people through the gate on Saturday, but I don't think we really saw them. We were firing water balloons, which rarely fired correctly all weekend. Nick also brought some cabbage with him. Those were firing short, but true. I think three water balloons fired correctly the entire time. We would fire 2-5 water balloons and follow up with a cabbage so they could see what it should do.
Royal Scots Guild was the court at this faire. They had us teach them dancing both days. We did two on Saturday (Black Alman and Jenny Pluck Pears) and three on Sunday [with their queen] (Black Alman, Queen Mary's Promenade and Jenny Pluck Pears).
Saturday's faire was a bit hard, as in it was very hot, and ran until 8pm. There was absolutely no foot traffic in our area after 4pm, so it wasn't that bad. Saturday evening we had lightning storm, with high winds, followed eventually by some rain. Everything was mostly dried by 7am Sunday morning.
Sunday we were greeted by Dominique, which helped. Not that we were overloaded with work, but it was nice to have the company. Sunday was more of the same. The guests that stopped by were very nice. The faireboard folk were fabulous. They told me that they would let us know about upcoming events.
We were on the road before 7pm.
July 15th-16th, 2023 Central Coast Renaissance Faire
SLO! another great year at CCRF, the wind was insane but the heat was pretty bearable. Saturday we welcomed Sir Mandrake into the knights order of Saint Johns. A very well deserved award for Sir Mandrake. Sunday we had a few potential joiners return to spend more time with OSRP and we were more then happy to oblige them with information.
September 2nd-3rd, 2023 Pleasanton Scottish Highland Games
Friday set up was different. Dame Tory and I arrived on site (with the dogs in tow) about 10:30 and started slowly to unload the trailer. Sir Killian came over and helped get the base of the pavilion up, which was very helpful. Folk started arriving at 2pm to help with the rest. Sir Ryk and Nick (ha, that rhymes!) were terrific, and a great help! We got the trailer unloaded and were continuing on with the build when Don Juan arrived. We were completely set up and headed to dinner together about 6:30.
Saturday was overcast and coolish. With humidity sneaking up here and there. It was odd weather. So much nicer than usual, though! Everyone was on site early (thank you!), we had a wonderful breakfast (biscuits & gravy) provided by Dame Bonnie, and we were off to the races. We were so busy until about 3:30 that I don't think any of us knew what to do with ourselves. It was nearly dead thereafter.
Sunday was also overcast, but clearer. A little warmer than Saturday with less humidity. Again (!) everyone was on site early and another wonderful breakfast was provided by Dame Bonnie (biscuits & gravy and fresh made cinnamon rolls). The day wasn't quite as busy as Saturday. Our biggest issue was when the chainmaille or the catapult would turn up missing...we would have to wrestle them out of Sir Ryk's hands. ;0 It was quite interesting to see the poor soles that Sir Ryk accosted. He did say that he warned people that if they didn't say anything he would continue to talk...and talk he did! I'll bet he slept all day Monday!
It was a very busy weekend, with a bit of time on Sunday for most everyone to leave the encampment to see what was around. The games itself was a little smaller than we are used to. There were holes in the halls (i.e. vendors missing) and they didn't have all of the buildings open that they usually do. Many of the clans were missing as well (*sniff* no MacNeill's or Stuarts for that matter). It also seemed like the bands were playing less. We were never over powered with music. There were two bands at the near stage, and they weren't that loud. Really odd!
I think we had so much foot traffic because it was a cooler event (than it's ever been). So folk were coming out of the halls, perhaps buying less. Not really sure.
September 16th, 2023 Fresno Scottish Games
once we got the key situation worked out, Tory, Don Juan and I were all on site and got our small bunch of items set up. The weather was very warm. Friday night sleeping in the RV was miserable. Tory said it was nice sleeping on the grounds. Will be doing that (again) next year!
Saturday started beautifully. Dame Tory, Nick, Valentina and I were in attendance. Don Juan decided that he didn't want to experience any further bugs (there were midgees Friday night), so stayed in the RV with the dogs all day. The event started roughly at 8am. We were busy-ish most of the day. Things died down at 3pm, although we couldn't drive on until 5pm. I think we could probably get away with leaving our vehicle (and trailer) on site next year, which would make tear down much quicker.
We played the Viking game with the kids, had the red rider trebuchet out for the kids to launch and were launching the large treb hourly. There were many people who came by to visit, watch the treb and play our games. We were quite busy, but not inundated.
It was Valentina's first event in garb. She had a good time until she got too hot. She retired to the RV early. It was wonderful to have her! She was great with the kids and the Viking game. :)