Scarborough Royal Guard

Toga Party!
Well, it seems that the Toga party was a success to all that attended. If you were able to attend, you would have enjoyed the company of a great host and hostess as well as many other friends from Faire. Jim fired up his grill once again for some wonderful food and others filled the tables with other fair for all to enjoy. Music provided by SIR 7 brought back memories of days gone by. They also played some original music as well to lighten our spirits. Fireworks provided a good show to get close to your respective other or whatever the case may be. All in all, it was truly good to see everyone again and I most certainly will be attending whenever I am invited.

Weekend of April 23-24
Highland games weekend. Sunday started out like any other day at faire, with one notable exception, the majority of the Royal Guard were toting around bananas! As the merchants and cast walked through our ranks, several commented on all the banana peels but no one amongst us dared to explain and ruin the surprise. The Scots started out of the gate and it looks as if they were prepared for something to happen, but didn't know what exactly. Many of us noticed for the first time they had bagpipes accompanying them, apparently to drown out the voices of our officers. But we were one step ahead of them! On a pre-arranged whistle signal from our officers, a sea of banana peels attached to green strings were launched into the road just as the Scots approached. For the first time, we saw the Scots break ranks and even smile a bit! Not something you see everyday.
The next bit of fun to be had was when the parade stopped for the first time. When lined up, the idea was formed to start a wave amongst the guard. So we started at the first stopping point. The first attempt was pathetic at best since the back ranks were unaware of what we were doing. But persistently we tried again and it got better. Again we did it and this time got the crowd involved! It was such fun that we decided to try again and the next stop. All in all it was a success but with the guard and the crowd.

Weekend of April 30-May 1
This weekend found the Guard serving up tasty treats for our friend Nibbler the Tinker Gnome. The previous week, instead of his usual demand to give back his Oreos, Nibbler cleverly changed his spiel and yelled "Give me back my lobster tail!" He hoped, in vain, to thwart us, but a few of us were too smart for him. So on Saturday, Nibbler received 2 stuffed lobsters (stuffed animals that is) thrown at him. Then on Sunday, as planned, the entire guard was equipped with cookie elves with little green sashes. So Sunday's parade found our Gnome barraged with Guard cookies, affectionately known as "Elfing the Gnome". This week he has asked for sashimi, a Japanese dish of raw fish. Well, I think he's on his own there.

Weekend of May 7-8 Mother's Day weekend
Saturday we were graced by the presence Their Majesties as well as his Grace Charles Brandon. Upon this occasion the King and Queen decided to create a new sash for our brothers and sisters of the Musketeers and the French Contingent. Each of the French will now wear a blue sash to signify their place in the Guard. They are still one with us, but the blue is more aesthetically pleasing upon their tunics. His Grace Charles Brandon then led the new members of the Guard in a moving recitation of our Oath. Also, Their Majesties were treated to a trial run of the Guard singing Do Wah Diddy Guard Style. From the looks on their faces, they appeared quite amused. That evening we were privileged to provide an honor guard for the wedding of one of our own. Sir Adrian Smythe married the lovely Lady Katherine Dorothea Von Engle. It was a beautiful ceremony in a quaint garden and the Royal Guard provided a glorious arch for the couple to walk through. It was an honor and a privilege for all.
Sunday we were considerably lighter in numbers, but not in spirit. A combination of Mother's Days festivities and inclement weather early in the day kept several of our number away. We discussed Ensign Oliver Garrett's plan for Strategic Real Time Chess and ran through a dry run. The game is scheduled to be played 2 weekends from now.

Weekend of May 14-15
Saturday was another glorious day at Faire. It was the second weekend of beta testing the Real Time Strategic Chess match with some generous cast volunteers. Also, we promoted 3 new people. Captain Melpomene Dare was made Chief of the Yeoman Ushers, Sir Matthew Sharpe was made Corporal of the Crown and Dame Marie De La Guerre was made Corporal of the Warders. Sunday we were all honored with a knighting of the Guard. The King and Queen both took the time to touch the shoulder of every single guard member present thereby making us Sirs and Dames. Once again they expressed their gratitude for our services but the honor and pleasure is definitely all ours.

Weekend of May 21-22
Saturday the Royal Guard paid tribute and homage to our brothers and sisters of the Scottish Regiment. Although we teased them with Operation Monkey Food, we still respect and admire them so we felt that it would be fitting to do something to honor their heritage. Cpl. Klaus and his family kindly made little Scottish flags for all of the Royal Guard to wave as the Scots came through for parade. Also, Klaus arranged for bagpipe music to be played for them as they came through. We heard later that the gesture was very much appreciated by all. Not much else on the agenda this weekend but trying to keep cool. The sudden rise in temperature and lack of breeze on Saturday caused a lot of heat related issues. Many members of the cast as well as many patrons fell victim to the heat. Just a few words on what to do. First off, drink LOTS of water. Don't just drink Gatorade all day. Best thing is to drink some Gatorade to replenish but keep drinking the water! Also, eat things like pickles to replace lost salt in your body. Here are some symptoms to watch out for.

What to do if a patron/cast member/playton, etc look to be suffering from heat stroke.

Send someone in the group to alert first aid and they will come and get them
Seat them in a cool, shady place
If they are wearing a heavy costume or layers of clothing, you can help them loosen or remove them
Give them fluids, water or Gatorade.
Place cloths with cool water on the back on their neck, wrists and/or head. DON'T USE ICY COLD WATER! If the water is too cold it will be a shock to their system.
Fan them until help arrives.

Weekend of May 28-30, Memorial Day weekend (Final Weekend)
Can we say RAIN? Saturday was a down-pouring of the wet stuff almost all day long, except during the parade for which we were all very grateful. Today we had a special treat for our friend the Tinker Gnome. Myself, my sister and Amy Gehr got together and created gnome shaped cookies painted with icing to resemble our friend. And as a final tribute on Sunday, Dame Sapphire and her husband Sir Lawrence provided a final barrage of Oreos for Noobler thus ending our season long assault on our friend.
On Monday, Memorial Day, emotions were running high for many reasons. Throughout the faire you could see yellow ribbons abounding, worn proudly by the veterans attending Scarborough that day. Today of course the parade takes on new meaning and new life. The veterans, be they mundane, playtrons or cast were given a place of honor at the beginning of the parade so that all in attendance could pay their respects and say thank you for their service. In addition, today the Royal Guard, The French Contingent and the Scottish Regiment combined their forces to become the Honor Guard. Today we marched, not strutted, swords drawn, not in separate groups but mixed as one guard. It was also our privilege for all 134 of us to make form a sword arch for all the veterans to say thank you in our own way. In addition there were sights of several American flag favors of different shapes and sizes as well as arm bands, etc. The out-pouring of support was overwhelming and beautiful to see.
In other news, our good Sargent Major Osbert Sevier was promoted to Lieutenant. Congratulations and well deserved Sir! Also, an attempt was made to overthrow our good Queen Margaret as Regent of Scotland. Duke Albany tried to take the title from our good Queen and he was backed by Earl Argyll. Viscount Mountgarret made an impassioned plea for a show of support from the Royal Guard, acting not as officials of the English court, but as individuals in favor of Her Majesty. A grand show of support quickly quashed any dreams the Duke had of taking over and he relented his claim. While all this was going on, at the Iris and Rose show, a fellow guardsman was proposing marriage to his beloved. He had requested a Guard presence in case his would-be fiancee planned to run. Luckily for him, she did not run and accepted his proposal.
Monday was also the birth of a new sport in the Royal Guard known as Rat Piking. This is not to be confused with rat pucking. Rat Piking uses a larger rat than rat pucking and involves someone launching the rat, trebuchet style into the air and is going for distance. Unfortunately, the game did not last long because our inaugural rat suffered a critical blowout when Sir Adrian spiked him into the ground. We gave the rat a very nice service and Capt. Dare promises that he will be back next year, better for his ordeal and the rat piking will continue.
Aside from the Memorial Day tributes and salutes, was the bitter-sweet knowledge that today was the end of faire. Many of us felt the same way, we were exhausted and glad that the faire was coming to an end, but sorrowed that next weekend we wouldn't see our friends and what we now think of as family again for awhile. We comfort ourselves in the knowledge that we will see each other soon at an event during the year or another faire, or simply keep in touch with our comrades via the newsgroup or this website, but it is still a sad day. But next year is another season and we have months to get new garb, come up with new antics for the Guard and to dream of plots and schemes to entertain ourselves for 2 months next Spring. And with that, we close another wonderful season at our beloved Scarborough.