TheBanyanTree: Ren Faire reporter

[Russ Doden]

Hail and well met, and merry met again!

Well two weekends of OKRF are now in the books - for what they are worth.

Friday was a "special" day.  It was "children's day" at the village of
Castleton known as the Oklahoma Renaissance Festival.  Oh gawd.  What
Children's day translates to is mayhem.  You see, a lot of the schools in
the region are invited to bring kids there for the day at a very reduced
rate.  The schools take advantage of it to work medieval and Renaissance
European history into the schedule then have a field trip to Castleton at
the end of that bit of class work.  Well, over 70 - schools were
represented, resulting in over 6,000 kids ranging from 10 to 16 for the most
part.  The place was crawling with kids.  The vast majority were really into
it, but when you have that many you are bound to have a few kids that need
to be put in the stocks and left there for a couple hours!  It was funny
watching these young teens eagerly listening to 3 older gents sing old
traditional folk songs, and pirate songs and that kind of thing, and then be
full of questions afterwards.  Several kids were really asking about what it
is like to be a performer.  They were all kids interested in the arts and
were thrilled to talk to performers that were willing to sit and visit with
them.  All in all it was an "interesting" day.  The weather was even fairly
decent.

Then came the weekend.  At least we were back on our regular schedule.
Saturday was threatening rain but it never really did it, but the threat
kept a lot of people at home.  It was a good day for the most part though
and as usual the Bedlam Bards filled the pub in the afternoon.  That night
was the "Masked Ball".  What that means to the performers and participating
cast is after a long busy day, we get to frantically change into different
clothes (mostly to get out of smelly garb from the day) and then play/dance
and entertain the visitors for another 2.5 hours in the evening!  By the
time I got back to the campground I was one tired puppy - and my fingers
hurt from playing so long.

Sunday dawned gray and chill.  We knew it was going to be an off day with
the heavy clouds and cool temps.  I was really glad I had that light weight
cloak along!  About all that was good was that it didn't rain on us!  It was
so cool and gray and it looked like it could rain at any time most of the
day.  By days end our fingers were stiff from playing out in the cool
weather!  The people that made the effort to be there though sure got
individualized attention!  We heard so many times how much fun they were
having so that was a big plus.  By the time the closing canon went off, we
were all ready to pack it in till next weekend.  That eve it started to rain
as I was packing up to go home so the weather gods were kind in that regard.

This week we have had severe storms in the area.  I had to call the Castle
to see if everything there was OK since a major storm developed over
Muskogee where OKRF is.  As usual with the storms we have here, one area
catches hell and 5 miles away just gets light wind and rain.  The grounds
where OKRF is held just got wind and rain while the east end of town got
severe wind, hail and heavy rain!  We have been under severe storm warnings
all week so it will be interesting to see if it holds!  The forecast for the
weekend is another wet one so we will see what we will see!

The funny thing I am finding is that while I know the Bedlam Bards have a
major fan contingent there, and they have their share of what could be
called "groupies" (whom we sometimes find quite . . . strange);  Andrus
(that is me at OKRF) has developed a few of his own over the years - both
fans and groupies.  Yikes, how did that happen?  Also, for a long time now I
have always managed to have a small number of "faire brats".  Most of these
are young girls (about mid to late teens to about mid twenties) that have
learned from word of mouth between friends, that if someone is hitting on
them, they can come over to Andrus and get a hug, the person hitting on them
disappears.  Word spreads and soon I have anywhere from 5 to 20 gals popping
in for a quick hug and then disappear.  The guys don't know if I'm daddy,
grandpa or sugar daddy and it doesn't make any difference - they aren't
about to hang around to find out!  That is happening again this year.  What
is really funny is that when "faire brats" from prior years bring serious
boy friends around for "approval" or bring their new hubby or soon to be
hubby around to introduce them to me the next year.  I have even had a few
of them ask me to officiate at their wedding - which is really an honor.
What makes me feel OLD is when faire brats that I had 10 years ago bring
their kids around to introduce to me!  Here are kids that I first met when
they were just kids now are all grown up and have families of their own -
and still hang around the same entertainers.  It is strange that some first
met us at our "sweet and silly" sets, then as years went by were in the
bawdy sets and  now they bring their kids to the "sweet and silly" set!
That really makes a person feel old!

And so I am trying to get ready for another weekend.  This weekend is a 2
day weekend but with the "Kings Feaste" as an after hours event.  That means
a quick change and being available from feaste start to end to sing songs
and be full of energy - after a long day of doing just that!  It is fun
though!  The friends one makes there transcend ages and all other
boundaries.  That in itself is a great feeling and experience.

Till next report, I remain your humble scribe and bard,
Andrus of the Bedlam Bards

ps.  the attached photo is of the Bedlam Bards.  I'm on the far left.  The
fellow in the middle is Cedric and on the right is Hawke.  They perform
together year round - I only team up with them at OKRF.