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Awards
Taking the time to say, “Thou Dost Rock! Events and meetings are all volunteer run. The people that work in the kitchen at feast, teach renaissance dancing, play music at dinner, and create the lovely scrolls that are awarded in court, are all done by members of the SCA, who slapped down the same event fee as everyone else. Awards exist as a way to say “THANKS!” for going above and beyond to make the SCA experience interesting and enjoyable for all. What do these awards mean in terms of the life in the SCA? Actually, very little. They yield what is scientifically referred to as a ‘warm and fuzzy’ factor. It feels good to see someone, that you know is deserving, get officially recognized for their efforts. Sometimes awards are accompanied by scrolls or official titles. In the SCA the award scrolls resemble pages from illuminated manuscripts (created by Kingdom artists), not period legal documents. While the titles don’t necessarily impart ‘society influence’ they do sound pretty cool. (ie. Petra of Syracuse may become Lady Petra of Syracuse.) There are three tiers of awards: Society-wide Peerage orders: Given to people who have put in many years of service not just within their local group but across kingdoms! (follow the link and and see "Rank in the SCA, or How Come She is Wearing a Crown?") SCA Kingdom and Principality Orders, Awards, and Honors: Mostly awarded to people who have put in years of service and whose efforts have been felt throughout their kingdom. Recommending Someone for an Award(...so much simpler than understanding the SCA award structure itself...)Is there someone that you feel deserves a good pat on the back? Recommending someone for an award is simple. There is a great article "Suggestions for writing award recommendation letters" on the Barony-Marche of the Debatable Lands (Pittsburgh) website, that gives some excellent tips. Make sure you know the person's society name, real name, and who has the authority to give him/her the award. If it's a society or Kingdom level award the reigning monarch needs to receive the recommendation. AEthelmearc has an online award recommendation form on their website. If it's a local award it would be the current coronet. Anyone can recommend deserving persons for an award! You don't have to have to have a specific title or be a member of an order to recommend someone else be inducted! Do it for our friends who are really making a difference, do it for the King/Queen/Baron/Baroness who won't have to much to do in court otherwise, do it for the rest of us who also won't have a lot to do in court otherwise... Just Do It! |