Galleria Mall Demo/Event - Johnstown

Greetings everyone! This weekend is the Baronial Championship Event and Demo at the Galleria Mall in Johnstown. If you're reading this post and wondering who or what we are, this event is a great opportunity for you to have your questions answered. If you're a member already, then we hope you'll come along and help out!

Here is the most recent email from Their Excellencies, Baron Quinn & Baroness Vivienne on the Event/Demo:

Well, we are coming down to the wire for the demo this Saturday at the Galleria Mall in Johnstown.

Friday evening after 3 pm we will be setting up the list field and the pavilions in which we will be displaying all the items we can muster to interest our audience in our organization and, hopefully, swell the membership of our Barony.

There will be a porta castle available for SCA member use only throughout the day. (It's a bit of a walk to get into the mall proper from our site and the closest indoor bathrooms are down the hall from the food court next to Boscovs.)

Saturday morning we need to arrive at the site early to set up the inside and outside displays, say around 8 am. The mall does not open until 10 am and we will have our first procession through the mall at 10:30 to stir up interest for the Fencing Tourney which will follow at around 11 or 11:15 am. We will need "several" of you to don the Baronial Guard Tabards, hoist a sharp-pointed-hicky-thingy, and accompany us. Anyone else who wishes to join us will be welcome as well. The mall has agreed to make announcements for us over their intercom system regarding the times when we will be holding the other Tournaments and our final, formal court later in the day.

As it now stands, Fencing will commence, as mentioned above, at 11 or 11:15 am. There will be a short court following each tourney where we will award the new champion his scroll and accoutrements of his new position. (This is so the audience present at the time can get an idea of how a court is run.) The Heavy Weapons Tourney will be around 1 pm, Thrown Weapons Tourney at 3 pm, Combat Archery Tourney at 5 pm, and our formal, closing court at 7 pm in which we will again present our champions with the scrolls/etc., that they got during the earlier, shorter courts that followed each tourney. There will also be some other Baronial business handled during this court. We will be processing the mall prior to the final, formal court around 6 or 6:15 pm.

Demonstrations of heraldry, calligraphy & illumination, costuming, Sekanjabin, gingerbread, and pretzels, card weaving, lucet work, wire weaving, ancient coins, music, as well as dancing, thrown weapons, and a calibration exercise will be presented concurrently throughout the day at miscellaneous times depending on the interests of our audience. There will be hands-on opportunities for people to try the card weaving, wire weaving, lucet work, and calligraphy. Inviting people to join our dancing (the wench toss) is always popular. As of this writing, it is possible that our War Trebuchet will also be available for demonstrations during the day.

The Thrown Weapons range and Calibration Exercise will be open to the public as long as they sign a waiver to participate, get their hand stamped at Connor's pavilion, and follow the rules as presented by the marshals in charge of these two areas, Lord Kenn and Lord Connor.

Our inside display will consist of a table which will hold our TV/VCR/DVD playing the Pennsic War continuously and some small A&S items to garner interest. We will need volunteers to man this area inside the mall on a rotational shift basis (1 to 2 hrs). At least two people should be there at all times to answer questions and direct the public to our outside site below the mall's Food Court exit.

Handouts consist of Business cards containing the Baronial device and our website address which we will have available to the public in the pavilions outside. For anyone who actually signs our book for more information, we will be giving them a copy of Forward Into the Past as introduction to the SCA. Mistress Cynthia has arranged (with gracious assistance and permission from our Canton members, Otto and Elena) to provide both samples of Sekanjabin and a medieval gingerbread for the audience, and has small handouts with the recipes on one side and activities we currently hold throughout the week on the other.

We would remind everyone to dress in the best they have available, be prepared to interact with the public in as courteous a manner as possible, and come have fun with your fellow Boggers as we present the Current Middle Ages to the modern world.

A post revel hosted by Lady Katya and Lord Kenn at their home, will follow clean up which will occur after our 7 pm court. They will have driving directions available for those who need them.

We are looking forward to a great day being with our Bogger family and choosing our next Baronial Champions.

Thanks in advance to everyone,

Quinn & Vivienne