Jump to content

Cubs in Shining Armor in November


Recommended Posts

We just had our planning meeting last night for the November pack meeting, for which the Program Helps theme is "Cubs in Shining Armor". I thought it might be nice to pass along some plan ideas.

 

We are having members from the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), a medieval recreation group, come to do a demonstration of various activities at our pack meeting. I'm a member of the SCA myself, so contacting and arranging the demonstration was simply a matter of talking to some friends.

 

But if you don't know about the SCA or don't know how to contact them, here is some info which might be helpful.

 

The SCA recreates all sorts of medieval arts, sciences, and martial activities. They have fencing, "heavy list" fighting (in armor with wooden weapons and shields), archery, equestrian activities, youth combat (in armor with boffer weapons), and these martial activities hold a lot of appeal to the kids. But they also do a lot of arts; calligraphy, woodworking, leatherworking, cooking, dancing, games, fiber arts; you name it, if it went on in the middle ages, someone is doing it.

 

For our pack meeting, we are having fencers, fighters (adult and youth), jugglers, someone doing games, and a falconer. I thought these would be activites of most interest to the boys, and also easiest to do in the time and space allowed.

 

If you want to contact your local group of the SCA to request a "demo", a good place to start is www.sca.org. If you go to "SCA groups", that will take you to a list of the "kingdoms" and their geographical correspondences, and from there, to the webpage for the kingdom you live in. From there, you should be able to find a local group nearest you and how to contact them.

 

However, time is getting short if you want to have them at your November pack meeting, as it takes time to recruit people to help at a demo. So contact them today if you are interested.

Link to post
Share on other sites

We are also having an SCA group come and give a demo. My husband and I were in the SCA years ago, and we remember being the entertainment at a Blue and Gold banquet one year, so when I saw this theme, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. The Cubs are really excited about the November pack meeting.

 

Elizabeth

Link to post
Share on other sites

Excellent!

 

What kinds of things are you going to have the SCAdians do?

 

One thing we've discussed is that we don't really have room for a real heavy list demo, but I figured letting the kids touch and try on the armor, weapons, etc. would still give them a big kick. Fencing takes up less room, so I think we will be able to have actual demonstrations (probably highly choreographed to be more fun and interesting).

 

What sorts of arts are you going to showcase? My concern is that most stuff would either take too long to demonstrate (metalworking, leatherworking), be of little interest to the boys (cooking, bleh!), or be too fragile (like scrolls and stuff). Maybe if someone who makes chainmail might bring some to demonstrate, they would probably think that was cool.

 

What are your thoughts?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Great minds think a like ... we brought in SCA early. We got them in this past Pack meeting. They brought swords, chain-link armors, damsels in distress ... okay ...womem dressed in medieval garments, a knight in rusted armor, ect. They also showed the boys slides of the Renessaince Festival and talked to them about the medieval time period. Great stuffs!

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

History, History...

 

And if you ask, they will come...

 

But first ya gotta find'em to ask!!

 

Any time something like this comes up, I ask myself,"" Self? What would I, a mere Cub Scout, really like to see for the XYZ theme?"" And then I start asking friends, listening to my allegorical memory (ummm... Armor... Knights... swords...) and pay attention to what comes up . SCA? neat. Also: Here in Maryland, we have ROMAN recreators!! Legio XX. So Google the "Roman Army Recreators" and see what happens... Check with your local University liberal arts department, or the library.

 

What Ho, Varlet!!

Link to post
Share on other sites

SSSCout -

 

Perchance Western MD or close to the WV Eastern Panhandle?

 

I thought I saw a small sign by the side of Route 9 heading west to Hedgesville advertising an SCA event a few months back. I'll have to Google...

 

John

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...