On this page we'll post answers to questions we get via email, Facebook, in person or the Blog. If we can keep up with the volume, we'll even hopefully add some of the most pertinent questions we've answered at the various Meet the Candidate events.
You can reach us on Facebook as Melanie Reasbeck and David Gotlieb or send an email to thetwohares@gmail.com. Avelyn is also on Twitter (@AvelynWex).
General Questions/Answers
Q: Why do you want to be Baron and Baroness?
A: As we explain in our Letter of Intent, we want to be Baron and Baroness because we feel it's an ideal way to continue to serving the Barony. The Barony has been very good to us and we feel we should give something back.
We also feel that it's very important that the Barony have choice in the selection process, and we are extremely happy to see two other pairs of worthy candidates on the ballot.
Q: What are your personas?
While we both have set personas (particularly Avelyn) we tend to vary the garb we wear depending on the theme of the event, the weather and how complicated we want to get with accessories etc. You'll often see us wearing everything from Norse, Anglo-Saxon, Tudor or Renaissance.
Avelyn's actual persona is from England in the late 14th century/early 15th century. She is the sixth child of the lord of Wexcombe manor and his late wife, who died in the days after Avelyn was born. A much more detailed persona write up is available on Avelyn's Wiki page.
Dafydd is a Welsh huntsman from the 13th century from the town of Swansea, which was a major trading hub at the time. The region was particularly known for its leather and wool trade, which explains where Dafydd picked up leather-working skills. His family has served the Lords of Gower for several generations as huntsmen (ask him about the story of why their family heraldry has a kraken on it).
Q: What strengths and assets would you bring to the role of Baron/Baroness?
Our biggest strength is how varied our SCA experience is. Between us we are active in almost every facet of the SCA, have held multiple officer positions at all levels in the Kingdom and know people across the Barony, and Ealdormere.
Our skills in communication, project and event coordination and negotiation are likely to be helpful in the role of Baron and Baroness as well.
We tend to get along with most people, work well together as a team and are good at finding middle ground.
Q: How will you get to know people across the Barony and what their concerns are?
The Meet the Candidates canton tour is a really great start to that process, because we'll hopefully get to meet most of the active members of each group. We really encourage everyone to come out and talk with the candidates, whether you are an official member of the SCA or not.
Should we be selected, we plan to try to rotate attendance at each group's meetings so that we are coming to hear what each group is doing, and to provide people with a chance to get to know us and talk to us.
We may also look at working with the Baronial Officers to do a bit of a survey to get input from the populace on what they would like to see and where they are finding challenges. Often concerns will fall under the responsibilities of various officers, but the Baron and Baroness can provide leadership and support so that we can provide the best environment for people to enjoy our hobby.
Q: Why doesn't Dafydd eat at feast? Would he still sit at head table/participate?
Honestly, this was one of the largest concerns Dafydd had about putting our names forward to run for Baron and Baroness. Even when he travels, food is his number one stress point. As someone who has cooked feasts, he knows just how complicated special dietary needs can be and he doesn't want to add more complexity to feast cooks jobs.
In the past, Dafydd has chosen not to sit feast because, with his dietary sensitivities (and just general pickiness), he would only be able to eat about 20% of most feast dishes (and most of those would be side dishes of vegetables etc.).
He's been brainstorming some options, and would want to discuss it with the populous and with the feast cooking community so that we land on a plan that doesn't offend or create more work for people.
The good news is there's lots of options, without affecting feast cooks significantly. Options range from him eating separately before feast and then sitting at head table to show support (and sampling things that strike his fancy), to having someone else join Avelyn at head table while he circulates the room visiting with the populous, or even serving feast.
Q: Do you have any personal-life obligations or challenges that might potentially hinder you in these roles?
We both work in communications for the Government, so while those tend to be 9-5 jobs, there are sometimes urgent issues and emergencies that pop up that require us to work overtime. That shouldn't have a huge effect unless there were some national emergency that required us to work on weekends that conflicted with an SCA activity. However, the odds of both of us being pulled into the same emergency are fairly low, so we would be able to split our responsibilities so that one or the other of us covers our SCA commitments.
Obviously, as with most people, family responsibilities are also a reality and finding the balance to spend time with family outside the SCA is important. We have talked to our families about what it could mean if we became Baron and Baroness. There may be times where Avelyn will need to spend time with her parents, who are seniors, while Dafydd goes to an SCA meeting or activity so that we can find that right balance.
As a team, we'll divide ourselves between responsibilities to make sure that we find that right balance.
