Michael St. Sever Memorial & Julian/Gene hold the field
Our second major theme for the day was a memorial for Michael Plotts, CSG founding member who passed in 2009. During the year, we took up a collection to make a "postage stamp" shield of the sort Sir Michael St. Sever was known to carry, and I designed pins for those who would carry the shield at least once.
Following the pass, the shield was passed from Brian to Gene, who will conduct the memorial bout next year. Following, Gene led cries of, "Michael! Michael!" joined by the combatants and gallery. In the evening, Brian presented Gene with an enamel pin, carried by those who have fought with the shield in at least one bout in memory.
Once the Sir Michael memorial fight was complete, Gene's son Julian took to the field with his bill-hook, intending to hold against all comers. Many fights were accomplished, and Julian earned much renown with his resilience and steadfastness. Once he had accomplished a great deal, forced to retire from the field, his father Gene held in his place, "for the honor of his house," - "just those guys still in line, not a bunch of other people." But indeed, "a bunch of other people did in fact descend to take up their place in line, and further renown was won by Gene for himself, his family, and the CSG.
Third Pass
The third pass of challenges was conducted "in the round," meaning that all combatants could register a challenge, with the usual result that most combatants had multiple fights.
Fourth Pass
Still MORE renown was had in the shorter fourth pass. Since Emily had to scamper off to get the dinner prepared, she had several fights in a row at the start of the pass.
We have more video; watch this space links to the GoPro footage from the back and front, as well as some taken by other members of the gallery!
Recognitions
Emily and Whitney worked to provide an ample feast of roast meat, and, gathering around the tables, combatants made individual presentations of tokens for deeds done on the field. I was presented with a edition "Kingmaker" game by JJ and the Cohort. Elisabethe gave three handmade tokens and vials containing a relic of her first MMA fight, a touching gesture. Bryan Johnson gave a falchion and a St. George token to Emily, in recognition of her stout and steadfast fights, usually timed bouts. I gave King Rene pins, washed in gold, to all combatants who took to the field, along with the Michael St. Sever token, which went to Gene. Brian, Wendy and Gene gave tokens to Perry and Rowan for their help as sergeants during the day. Gene also offered gold plumes as tokens to Julian for holding the field, to Will in recognition of his fine first fight with Gene; to Whitney as her helm had no plume; to Elizabeth and Ed for the daga fight; and to JJ in recognition of his towering elephant. Finally, Gene, Ed and Julian swore to attend one deed per month during the calendar year, safekeeping a gold plume with Brian for the year, against the penalty of $100 donated for each deed missed.
Special Renown
As was likely true of medieval feats of arms, ALL of the combatants earned renown, though some more than others. Of particular note were Gene Arnold, whose bold chivalry stood out as exemplary, augmenting his keen prowess. Gene won both the baton commencaille and was selected to carry the Michael St. Sever shield at next year's pas d'armes. Bernadette J Tix, showed both poise and skill; and who has grown nicely into her SCA peerage recognition as a Master of Defense. Edward Price, Julian Arnold, Dennis Pritzel and Emily Pritzel, for their fighting and presentation, and to those who came from so very far, including Seth and David, both of who fought like lions. Ed Wells earned a great deal of renown over the course of the year, for his steadfast dedication in travel, and he had some bright instances on the field during the pas showing his stretto integration.
Many thanks are owed to those who made this one possible; chiefly, Wendy Price, for her patience and sacrifice and Emily Pritzel who, assisted by Whitney and Wendy, provided the excellent food and refreshment to keep combatants and the gallery sustained; Dennis Pritzel who worked with a ton of combatants to complete their armour on the field; K Elisabethe Allen who worked herself crazy on amazing sewn cottes for Emily, Tom and her own Ukraine-colored one; the folks who helped with setup and takedown, especially Dennis Pritzel, Bernadette J Tix, Andrew MacKenzie and his lovely wife Marissa; Gene Arnold and Julian Arnold; and Frank Giger for doing an interesting multi-angle GoPro video capture.