Greetings my faire family,

The past two weekends have been very interesting to say the least. One hell hot weekend that had the patrons going from one shady spot to another trying to stay cool and beautiful weather this weekend with just a touch of wind hither and yon. Doesn't our new front gate look phenomenal, great work guys and gals! I would like to give a hardy HUZZAH! to the newest stand manager and her crew at The End of the World for a job well done the Saturday of second weekend. They were rewarded by our esteemed General Manager with a delectable platter of yummies from the Black Hart for being the stand that came closest to balancing. Way to go! Keep up the good work and keep having fun!

We should all be given three hardy HUZZAHS! We have continued to do what we do best and do it well given the circumstances, however, its not working as well as it once did.

We all know these well-known phrases; Oh what tangled webs we weave when first we practice to deceive. You reap what you sew. What goes around, comes around. We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. But it all comes down to, isn't KARMA a wonderful thing.

I don't know about anyone else, but I highly resent being considered nothing more than money generating 'Cattle'. Attempts are being made to control where we are allowed to partake in our Saturday morning meals. Herded towards the cattle troff so to speak, the coin operated troff. Years of guild family tradition are being destroyed out of sheer greed. Do I really have to say her name? I didn't think so. She thinks that by stopping anyone beside herself from providing food to his or her guild or crew that they will automatically go to her. Eh! Wrong! I for one will not be told where I may or may not eat and would just as soon share a troff with one of the beauties in the equine guild then to ever patronize any of her establishments no matter the time of day. Anyone for road apples?

But seriously, unlike Devore there are many eating establishments VERY close to site for your Saturday morning repast. Granted this is not the same as a home cooked family meal or as convenient but anything at this point is better than being made to think you have no choice but to conform to her will. Anyone having a BBQ, sandwich fixings or any kind of food for that matter that is meant to be shared with friends and family be warned, you're being watched and if you're not careful she may make a phone call to the authorities to report you as well.

As a parent this next subject disturbs me greatly and should be taken as a warning for anyone with teenage girls looking to work for her or are working for her, get them out now lest they be made into whores. Our children are being taken advantage of. Young teen girls are being told to pull their sleeves down off their shoulders, tighten their bodice for better cleavage, lean on the counters and beg for tips to line her own greedy pockets. These girls are at a tender age, some already have self esteem issues and she's teaching them that using their bodies and looks will bring not only attention but money as well. Tell me that is not the job of a pimp. Selling her greasy carnival food and begging for tips seems to yield less than $20 a weekend in tips for her counter girls after she counted and divided the tips from all of her booths. We have all seen those tip baskets on the counters at one time or another and they are always filled with bills and these girls are getting less than $20 for a weekend of work? It didn't occur to me till now why the loss of one of her 'Best' counter girls was so hard on her. She told me this girl would bring in $250 a day in tips, but what she didn't tell me was the girl only saw about 10% of it and she obviously took the rest. Does she not know that there are laws regarding tip pooling and that there are strict guidelines as to who can and cannot take part in the pooling? Anyone that has the ability of hiring or firing employees is NOT entitled to any portion of the tips! And the tips cannot be used to pay their wages unless they were told up front that they were working for tips only. Heaven forbid you tell her you want to quit less you receive a viperous verbal attack and threats of having your pass pulled and told you will never work anywhere in faire again.

Can anyone send me the montra that Venta used to end our morning meetings? I don't recall it in its entirety but I do know that it ended on a loud positive note that let everyone on site know why we were there. "We love our faire!" Unlike the end of her montra that I heard about last year that ended with, "Why are we here?" "To make YOU money!"

Correct me if I'm wrong but up until this season she could always be found hovering around her many food booths, like a buzzard circling a rotting carcass. This season she seems to be out and about examining all the vendor booths and the products there in. Is she now preparing to snake her way into taking over marketplace as well? Or will faire have yet another new owner added to the list next year?

The situation seems to now be going far beyond the boundaries of just the beverage department and encompasses the entire faire. Do we really want Barney the Giant Purple People Pooping Dragon back joined by roller coasters and ferris wheels?

Because this seems to be becoming so wide spread, I ask that anyone who knows someone in a guild, entertainment, booth owner, FOF or anyone else that has a vested interest in our faire be it emotional or monetary, please share this with them.

And to those that will scoff at this and state as they have before, 'I have a life outside faire, this is a business', all I can say is, leave and leave now. You don't get it, you never will get it and you just don't belong. I'll put it terms you may better understand, if you can't envelop the spirit, meaning and the way of the faire into your heart then maybe this isn't the place for you, go join a carnival.

We are the true spirit of the faire.

P.S. Kirsten, we appreciate you trying to step into our shoes but quite honestly you need to pick up the pace people are waiting.