Days of Knights III - 2014

[Ian]

What is the Chaucer award?

It's an award given out at the Frankfort version of Days of Knights for a newcomer to medieval living history.  The judges will ask you questions regarding your kit and it's context etc. 

[Sir James A]

I really think all the people on the facebook thread should refrain from speculating and give Nicky the time to address it himself.

I don't know why he'd make a post which will have quick and substantial questions and speculation without giving the details to head that off early. Only way we could have had more intrigue and speculation would be if he said "The city of Frankfort AND THE TEMPLARS have decided..."

[Sir Edward]

I really think all the people on the facebook thread should refrain from speculating and give Nicky the time to address it himself.

I don't know why he'd make a post which will have quick and substantial questions and speculation without giving the details to head that off early. Only way we could have had more intrigue and speculation would be if he said "The city of Frankfort AND THE TEMPLARS have decided..."

lol... And perhaps the Illuminati?

[Ian]

Yes, he left it a bit open-ended, but like I've said speculation doesn't help.  There could be a million reasons why this decision was reached.  It just fans the flames and whips people into a frenzy on tangents that are unfounded in reality, and doesn't do anything to correct the situation we're inevitably left with regardless of why it ended the way it did.

The important part is the end result; that Days of Knights will not be returning to Frankfort in 2016.

My concern is not why it won't be there, but rather the fact that a bunch of folks who have either attended one DoK or no DoKs at all seem to be hell bent on making the next location as convenient as possible for themselves while disregarding the fact that half of the participants are East Coast folks.  We all have a vested interest in this event as some of the folks who helped get it off the ground at DoK 1.  I know I don't just speak for myself when I say that this is a very special event to a lot of us, if not the only big LH event some of us get to attend.  I'd hate to see a bunch of new guys rip it out of our grasp so they can reduce their drives by a couple hours.  Meanwhile we were all making 10-14 hr trips out there, and moving further west would certainly put it out of reach for us.  I fear we will see a fracturing of the group.  I think the knowledge sharing and online community will remain intact, but I'm nervous about the future of the event itself.

This is especially troubling because it would be on the even years that this happens.  And those are the years that more folks can attend (WMAW conflict on the odd years for a lot of people).  If it can't ever be in Frankfort again, I'd almost rather see it be in Oak Grove every year.  The beauty of KY is that it was centrally located enough to get the Midwest and East Coast folks.  It seems a lot of the Midwest folks are forgetting that a huge portion of the participants are East Coast guys.  Either that or they aren't really concerned.

[Sir James A]

Agreed. Oak Grove is just really too much of a hike, at somewhere around 11-12 hours drive time. Gas cost starts to get ridiculous at that point, too; it was almost $400 for just gas alone to do Frankfort.

[Ian]

Patience is a virtue:

Frankfort will not be hosting Days of Knights in the future. However, I have been informed that another Kentucky community is considering becoming the event host for DoK V in 2016. Obviously, they cannot put together a coherent plan overnight, so I suggest a period of quiet reflection while they work on their proposal. DoK V is two years away, after all. I expect to be able to endorse this proposal with enthusiasm, but I need to see the details before I can do so, of course. Meanwhile, I suggest that we give our attention to gearing up for DoK IV, which is only one year away.

[scott2978]

Well this doesn't sound good. I've been looking forward to doing something like DoK for a long time. News like this... it does not look promising. If I can't make it by IV I might never get to go to one!

[SirNathanQ]

Yeah, it annoys me as well that so many people are trying to move it out of our reach. The point was that both regions met in the middle, a compromise of sorts. Changing this would splinter the community and the event, something I, and many others, do not want to see happen.

Personally, I don't know the distance involved, but the KY horse park area sounds promising.

[Ian]

I think there's hope in that new news from Nicky.  Hopefully our fears will prove unfounded.

[Sir Douglas]

I hope everything works out for the prospective DoK V site. The community is fairly large seems pretty eager to see it continue, so I'm sure everything will work out in the end, and I'm glad I got to attend at least one. Still, I can't help but feel a little discouraged.

[Frater deTyr]

We ended up with a total of fourteen pavilions in camp.  Three of mine (RainBringer, LittleCloud, Clara), three of Kyle's (Viking Wedge, wall tent, slant-wall square), Adam Carnahan's round, Terence Harned's round, Peter Novak's round, the Chapel, Frater Rogerson's slant-wall square, Kimetha Loidolt's marquee, Joe Metz's pavilion and Ron and Julie Johnson's wedge tent.  Add to it five canopies (Joe Metz's, mine, Terence's and John Brunette's) and there was quite a bit of canvas to put up and take down.  It explains why it took eight hours to set most of camp up, and four to tear down and pack!

[Sir Patrick]

Is there a date set for DOK IV yet?  Ft. Campbell is a doable drive for me!

[Ian]

Is there a date set for DOK IV yet?  Ft. Campbell is a doable drive for me!

2-4 Oct 2015