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Beloved Kinfolk of the Consortium,
As you know, the seven shires of the Consortium strive to be a family, something I have often described as a household of shires. Most of the time, we succeed admirably. We work hard to support one another as we are able, we achieve amazing things, surprising even ourselves. Meridies knows that we are here. In contrast, sometimes, among individuals within individual shires, things get fractious for a while, but we have always worked through those problems...like any strong family. More often, though, our mutual affection is palpable. One of my greatest SCA prides, second only to my knighthood, is the fact that the people of the Consortium have permitted me to serve as Weard for nearly two years.
This brings me to my perception of the Consortium's purpose. As Weard, my goals have been to give the Consortium a structure that will withstand changes in leadership quality. I hope it will be successful; but we must wait and see. However, the ultimate goal of the Consortium is to work itself out of existence. What I mean by this is that the Consortium's purpose is to strengthen its member shires to the point where they do not need one another's support, but merely enjoy it. Currently, in any given year, one or more of our sister shires hits a serious low, and what may keep them going is the ability to draw on their kinfolk for demos and events. Until each shire is large enough to withstand such fluctuations alone, comfortably, the Consortium has a definite purpose.
That is enough of dire talk, so I shall close with part of a lyric by the late Anglo-Saxon poet Brun, son of Jack, in his book of laments De Ficung.
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