FriendsOfMDRF.org - THE BLOG!

Because we were at my 30th HS Reunion all weekend (fri-sat at least) and we couldn't pick up the dogs from the doggie daycare till after 5pm on sun, we decided to head down to MDRF for the day and go in civvies.

Made for the perfect day too!

Stopped by Steak on a Stake and not only was I greeted with a smile and a yummy piece of dead animal flesh, but the group behind the ledge sang for me. I tipped 'em an extra $5 for treating a non-garbed customer so well!

Next stop was to be some water but was stopped by two castmembers that I didn't recognize who wanted to help me decide what show to see first (I was glancing over the map of Revel Grove while walking). They gave Cyn and I some direction, with a smile, then set upon the next set of wandering guests.

We got our water and the young lady behind the ledge recognized me out of garb and complimented me on my new, stylish black bowler. . .she got a $2 tip for being so nice.

Since not a lot of folks recognized us out of "uniform," we got to run here and there without stopping to chat with different peeps. It was a wonderful day, albeit short (we left at 1pm).

It just goes to show that it doesn't matter what you wear when you walk through the gates of MDRF, you're always greeted with a smile by everyone, be they cast, crew, vendor, or guest. . . . and the smiles are always addictive!

Link: http://www.gamepuzzles.com/renfest.htm

The Gamers that are located next to First Aid, near The Boar's Head have been building and selling games for decades. Their website, because of its devotion to MDRF is always listed in the top five on Google and we've just recently surpassed them in the listing under the search phrase "Maryland Renaissance Festival."

They're made up of a wonderful group of people and even King Henry VIII has been known to sit down for a game or two.

If you've not visited them in the past, make sure you see them next season in Revel Grove. . . . you'll end up making them a "must-visit" spot!

Three Towson students spend their weekends working in the 16th century
By Lauren Slavin

For most Towson students, the weekend is a time of relaxation after a long week at school.

Sleeping, studying and the occasional party keep many students occupied on Saturday and Sunday.

But for three Towson students, the weekend is spent working nine hours a day in the 16th century.

These students are employed by the Maryland Renaissance Festival, an outdoor entertainment venue in Annapolis.

“I’m a normal person Monday through Friday,” junior theatre major Alex Li said.

“But Saturday morning I have to get up at seven o’clock in the morning, bright and early; I have to get dressed because we can’t wear normal clothes obviously working at the Renn Faire, we have to wear costumes; and we have to be out of the house by eight o’clock.”

Employees arrive at the fairgrounds around 9 a.m., many still in clothes from the 21st century.

But once the cannon goes off and the festival opens at 10 a.m., modern clothes and slang are replaced with old English and period costumes.

Li works at the Fantasy Guilde Studios where he sells clay nymph and satyr horns that are best sellers throughout the festival.

“Working [at the Renaissance Festival] is different, it’s not like any other job,” Li said.

“It’s a different environment. You don’t have an actual store front, you’re more like just little booths, and you don’t have a cash register or all the different things of modern stores.”

This is Li’s first year working at the Renaissance Festival, but he already benefits from several perks of employment.

“When you get off of work you can enjoy your rest of your day at the faire,” Li said.

“Technically, you’re just getting in for free; granted you work, but you’re also enjoying yourself, which is something I don’t think a lot of other [work] places do.”

The relationships that come from working at the festival are another great part about the job, according to Li.

“I’ve made a lot of friends since working there,” he said. “All the different vendors there are like a really close group, they’re like a family. Every year this is what they do.”

Senior biology major Allison Allen has been a part of this family since her childhood.

Her mother owned a booth at the Renaissance Festival when she was younger, and she started working at the battle axe throwing game when she was 15 years old.

At age 21, she is now the assistant manager.

“The job isn’t very easy; you have to be pretty bulked up to work there,” she said.

“You carry 50 pounds of axes back and forth every 40 seconds to two minutes.”

She works with senior digital art and design major Michael Vares. Because of the heavy lifting, the workers at the battle axe game are predominantly male. But that hasn’t stopped Allen from climbing to the top of the ladder.

“I get to make the men look really silly cause I’m better at it then they are,” Allen joked.

Both Allen and Vares have worked retail jobs, which lack in comparison to working at the Renaissance Festival.

“I was working at Michael’s the past few years. I’d probably get the same amount I get working one weekend [at the festival] over the two week cycle [at Michael’s],” Vares said. “I was only part time [at Michael’s], but still.”

Apart from the pay, there’s also the factor of gratitude from costomers and employers.

“People actually will appreciate you for the things that you do,” Vares said.

“We have some people who are like ‘I can’t believe you do this, this is the hardest job at the faire.’ When I’m at Michael’s I’m picking up crap that people leave all over the place all day, and that’s expected of you.”

Li sees the Renaissance Festival as a more ideal place for someone with his talents to work.

“I think for someone who makes costumes and does theatre it’s more or less a fitting place,” Li said.

The one downside to the job all three students could agree on: the commitment to give up their weekend.

“You are giving up a big chunk of your time to this. I haven’t had a free weekend since the last weekend of August,” Li said.

“But I think what you get out of it in return is really worth it.”

Pulled From: http://www.thetowerlight.com/arts/a-job-for-the-ages-1.2025974

By Nicholas C. Stern

Mount Airy — Mead, a fermented honey beverage, may be the oldest alcoholic drink made by man, its production dating back some 6,000 years.

Beyond studying the history and culture behind the honeyed beverage, Linganore Wine Cellars winemaker Anthony Aellen makes about 7,000 to 8,000 gallons of it each year. He also makes about 120,000 gallons of wine.

Despite the storied use of mead in world culture, most Americans have never tried it.

Aellen thinks this lack of experience presents a great opportunity to not only introduce people to the sweet wine, but also to keep an ancient tradition alive.

The first clues about mead's production might be traced back to cave paintings in Scandinavia that depict the process, Aellen said.

Honey is too sweet to allow yeasts and other bacteria to grow, he said. However, people who processed honey would leave the comb and other honey dregs in vessels that eventually filled with rainwater. The water diluted the honey, allowing fermentation to take place.

Egyptian pharaohs were buried with jars of mead to drink in the afterlife; the libation was considered a gift from the sun god, Aellen said.

The tradition of a honeymoon after marriage can be traced to a Scandinavian custom where the man had to capture his bride-to-be for a month, or one full cycle of the moon, and then drank mead with her to celebrate their new marriage.

Mead and other honey products were popular around the world until the end of the 18th century, when refined sugar took over as a coveted product that became easier for people to buy, he said.

Much of Aellen's mead production goes to the Maryland Renaissance Festival, which ends later this month.

Drinking the beverage helps give visitors the feeling they are in medieval Europe, he said.

Bottles of the mead can be purchased at the winery's tasting room in Mount Airy .

"It's one of those old-time drinks to come back to," Aellen said, "doing the same thing cave men did."

Pulled from: http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=96444

Link: http://www.gazette.net/stories/10022009/businew174504_32526.shtml

Thousands of gallons of honey-based mead, forerunner of today's beer, are transported each year to the metal coffers of people who look like cast members from "The Private Life of Henry VIII."

The anachronistic image stems from the partnership between Linganore Winecellars in Mount Airy and the Maryland Renaissance Festival in Crownsville. It is one of the several partnerships the festival shares with businesses in Maryland, although its relationships with Linganore and another local winery feature the most reciprocity.

"People who never knew mead existed try it at the festival and come here," said Anthony Aellen, president and winemaker at Linganore.

The winery was established by Aellen's father in 1971. The Aellens have been making mead in basements since emigrating from Europe in 1912.

Linganore has provided mead and other wines to the festival for 20 years, including when the festival was still in Columbia. The drink, which was mostly popular in Europe and continues to be so today, usually takes about a year to prepare and, aside from the equipment involved, is made using the same methods as 6,000 years ago, Aellen said.

"The neat thing about it is that is exposes people to a product that is the oldest fermented product known to man," Aellen said. "People taste it and go, ‘Wow, it tastes like honey,' and you go, ‘Well, yeah, that's what it's made from.'"

Linganore Winecellars is the largest vineyard in Maryland, according to the Maryland Winery Association. Linganore planted its first vines in 1972 and has been selling wine since 1977. Aellen said previously that Linganore expects to sell more than 50,000 cases in 2009.

Mead dates to a time when everything was sweetened with honey, as sugar was a luxury until the mid-1800s, when it became the primary sweetener, Aellen said. The drink is also associated with darker legends of the honeymoon, which tell of grooms kidnapping their wives and hiding them for a month, toasting the "marriage" with mead upon eventual return to the family, he said.

"It's neat to re-create an old-time product and watch the reaction on someone's face," Aellen said. "It's also nice to have with ham or salmon — there's so many different things you can do with mead."

He said the partnership with the Renaissance festival complements both businesses, giving the festival a period beverage and Linganore happy customers eager to try it.

"Jules and Justin [Smith] are a charm to work with," Aellen said of the family that owns and operates the festival.

The other winery involved in the festival, Basignani Winery of Sparks, has sold three different wines to the festival for about six years, including chardonnay, Riesling and the blended Marisa.

"It gets our wine exposure. It's fabulous for us," owner Lynne Basignani said of the festival partnership. Basignani approached the festival about selling its wine and has provided about 50 cases to the event each year.

The winery is 23 years old and grows 80 percent of its own grapes.

Basignani said wine works for any type of festival atmosphere, and thinks the local touch lends something special to the Renaissance festival.

"We've had people come to our winery after trying at the festival. We're always happy to have our wine poured anywhere," she said.

Similar business synergy with the festival can also be found among Maryland's location for Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament restaurant, which began in Kissimmee, Fla. Medieval Times hosts meals served in period style and accompanied by medieval tournaments and re-enactments.

Medieval Times' Baltimore Castle at Arundel Mills in Hanover cross-promotes with the festival, offering family-of-four giveaways before each show and handing out festival brochures at both its gift shop and ticket office. In exchange, the Renaissance festival distributes Medieval Times brochures at information desks and invites Medieval Times actors to demonstrate at the festival to generate interest. This year, though, Medieval Times had to cut back on the demonstrations and had just two of its players greet festival-goers because of the recession.

"We've been doing it every year since we opened here in 2004," said RaeAnn Cinquanto, marketing manager for the Baltimore Castle. "People have left the festival and come here in the past."

Cinquanto said Medieval Times has partnerships with surrounding Renaissance festivals in its other locations, but its closeness to Maryland's festival works especially well. People also used to think Medieval Times was part of the Renaissance festival, she said.

"It's guerrilla marketing," she said. "The Maryland Renaissance Festival has been around for a long time and has a big audience."

pulled from: http://www.gazette.net/stories/10022009/businew174504_32526.shtml