[Nordskogen] WW thanks

[Susan Henry]

Greetings from the Jara half of WW's Autocrat Team!

I need to echo the gracious thanks of our Baroness Eithni to all of those 
who made lucky number 13 a resounding success. We reached a new attendance 
record of 1,257 individuals, and we sincerely hope that you all had a 
sufficiently good time to come back next year (and bring your friends...we 
can squeeze in a few more...). ; )

If you enjoyed the event, please take a moment to thank one of your many SCA 
friends who you saw volunteering --

**Ed the Tall and his BRILLIANT set up crew, who provided us with showers, 
benches, tables, mounted the 20 foot long banners at "party central", and 
fixed every last thing that we could even try to break. E-KAT, Nanny & 
Jeffy, Reinholdt, Lance, Joyce, Antwon, Matthias, Elspeth & Sheamus, Sol, 
and all the others whose names are temporarly cooked out of my noodle have 
my undying thanks and gratitude. A special thank you also to Sionna, Lilith, 
and the "Straw Boss Gourmet" cooking crew who kept us well fed -- they say 
that an army travels on its stomach, and you made sure that we could all go 
the distance. A special thanks to Baroness Anne and Baroness Madeline for 
hosting such a fine Fourth of July staff party, complete with parade and 
cookout. What a great work week it was!

**Rienholdt and the Resource Coordinators, who not only ensured that we had 
everything we needed, when we needed it, in the general vicinity of where we 
wanted it, but who also stayed until oh-crap-thirty on Sunday to make sure 
that it all got put away.

**Genvieve, Cwyn, and Aesa for greeting all of our visitors with a smile, a 
convenient and well-run registration process, and plenty of information on 
what to expect from the event. Great Job!! Thanks also to Ivan for managing 
our budget and finances, and to Kenya and Alisdair for overseeing 
fundraising and T-shirts (which sold out for the second year!).

**The Aggressive Activities Crew Leaders -- We recieved endless compliments 
on the quality (and quantity!) of Fighting, Fencing, Archery, Thrown 
Weapons, and Youth Combat. Thank you for once again demonstrating why WW is 
one of our favorite summer "Meet and Beat" events!

**Ingus, Aine, Iohanna and Samia for making the "Village Green" sparkle -- 
between the fine array of merchants, the begining of a great tradition with 
the opening of Artisan's Row, Fishy&Flaky decor, and yet another outstanding 
Baronial Showcase, you made our central mingling area the place to be. Thank 
you so much for putting such a beautiful face forward.

**Andrikos, our class coordinator -- thank you for finding us such an 
exciting array of classes. From making period cheese in camp to running 
around with Johann, the Chicken Laurel (tm), you helped make really fun 
things happen.

**MOST IMPORTANTLY, thank you to the behind the scenes staff members who 
kept us safe, well-watered, and patched up. Froberry ran a tireless and 
dedicated security network and helped us address "issues" before they became 
"problems"; Mikkel, who watered everything in site to prevent heat 
exhaustion (including the EPIC and soon-to-be-legendary-if-I-can-help-it 
Battle On the Beach); and Margalit, who staffed a fabulously efficient 
Chirgeon's Point.

**Thanks also to the many fabulous, generous guests who devoted a portion of 
their event time to volunteering. Thank you for carrying water, walking 
security, working Porter, helping the Chirgeons, teaching classes, and 
running martial activities. You made this event a joy to attend, and a 
pleasure to run. We couldn't hope to run this event without you.

Last, but never least, thanks to the cheerful "minions" who made themselves 
available at all hours, for all purposes (no matter how silly or fruitless), 
at the discretion of the autocrats -- Blue, the Parking Patrol Guy; Chuckie, 
Matthew (Chum!), Drachon and Cianna, Delphine, Iohanna, and Jagiello. I was 
able to enjoy this event because of your tireless and selfless efforts. Good 
show, mates. I really owe you one. Especially for that Pirate episode.

I'm sure that I've forgotten someone (or someones), and for that I'm truly 
sorry -- it's the volunteers, not the autocrats, that make WW shine, and you 
guys did a damn fine job. Thank you every so much.

Until next year, I remain --

Seraphina de La Warr, of Jararvellir