Accomodations:

The “official” hotel of the Winter War/Vigil is the Comfort Inn

100 Centennial Ave.,
St. Thomas, ON, CA, N5R 5B2
Phone: (519) 633-4082
Fax: (519) 633-8294
Rooms: 1 or 2 queen-bed room, 1 queen-bed room w/hide-a-bed (sleeps 1 or 2)

Fifteen rooms have been reserved at the Comfort Inn in St. Thomas for “The Society for Creative Anachronism” so MENTION THIS when booking. The hotel is approximately 6 minutes from the event site.

Regardless of size the GROUP RATE is $84.99 CDN plus taxes. The reserved rooms are NON-SMOKING. If you are a smoker, mention you are with the SCA function but YOU REQUIRE A SMOKING ROOM (in a different wing of the hotel). There is NO surcharge for sharing a room. This is the BEST rate at the hotel, and they are doing us a favour in offering this to us (the usual group rate is $109/room/night!). The room rate also includes a complimentary breakfast. This group rate expires on the 5th of February 2009, so please book your room (under “Society for Creative Anachronism”) as soon as possible in case we need to add more rooms to our block.

For our American guests: a gentle reminder that $1.00 US is currently approximately $0.80 CDN, so keep in mind that the Canadian prices are approximately 20% less expensive than you think.

There are others:

• Ramada Inn - 292 Wellington Street, St Thomas, ON, N5R 2S9, Phone: (519) 631-2860
  Rates - 1 bed: $79.00/night; 2 bed: $89/night. Small CAA/AAA or AARP discounts can be applied.

• Glen Haven Motel - 1210 Talbot Street, St Thomas, ON, N5P 1G7, Phone: (519) 637-1562
• New Elgin Motel - 9701 Sunset Drive, St Thomas, ON, N5P 3T2, Phone: (519) 633-0580
• St Thomas Motel - 9668 Sunset Drive, St Thomas, ON, N5P 3T2, Phone: (519) 631-7499
  These are about 20 minutes from the event site, but they cost approx. $65/night CDN.

The shire is able to offer limited crash space.
Please email Anne Tinker for contact information if you would rather overnight with SCA’ers.

Theme:

TSivia’s elevation will be themed on the seven classical Knightly Virtues: Faith, Hope, Charity, Temperance, Justice, Fortitude, and Prudence. These values were understood to apply to more than just knights, but the first chivalric treatise (Llull) focuses on them.

Gifts:

TSivia’s elevation ceremony has been structured such that those friends and family of TSivia who cannot attend the event may still participate IF THEY SO CHOOSE. One idea has been to invite those with garb, jewellery, and accessory-making skills, to fashion gifts which would then be presented to TSivia as part of the elevation ceremony. This is NOT expected, but merely one way that friends from afar can be part of the elevation physically through the gifts from her friends’ hands and hearts. These gifts will be presented to TSivia during her Elevation ceremony in groups representing the Knightly Virtues. (This serves a dual purpose, as TSivia has lost over 150 lbs. and therefore has almost nothing that fits her properly any more!)

For anyone wishing to make a gift for the Elevation but without the means to afford the materials, TSivia will supply fabric and/or trim suitable for the project. (She is famously, “The Laurel Who Does Not Sew”.) It is entirely appropriate to embellish gifts with her personal arms, trilliums, hares (white or black, the main charge on the arms of the Barony of Skraeling Althing, which she founded) laurel wreaths, Pelicans, and/or bloodrops. As a chirurgeon, she particularly likes blood drops when they are NOT oozing out of people!

Measurements may be obtained by contacting Anne Tinker

What period is TSivia? Well, her persona is (yes, believe it or not!) a late 13th/early 14th century Highland Scot (Robert the Bruce period). She is a “crypto-Jewess”, and would have been known by her neighbours as “Mary MacGregor”. That being said, she is a period clothes-horse, and wears garb from (but not limited to):

Late Roman Empire Norse, circa 1000 C.E. Finnish, circa 1000 C.E. Tudor (English) Italian Renaissance

Spanish (incl. Ropas) High Gothic Norman Mongolian Near Eastern

Suggestions include (but are not limited to):

Headrails Wimples and veils Coifs Netted hair bags Hats Jewelry, hairpins, cloak pins, etc.

Stolas Over gowns (simple, complex, heraldic, plain, embellished or not) Under gowns Aprons Cloaks Coats (Norse, Mongolian)

Hoods Belts Pouches Stockings/hose Smalls (chemises, etc.) Shoes

For anyone planning on sending gifts:
It takes approx two weeks for anything to get to Canada from the US by post, and at least 3 weeks from Europe/Australia. TSivia will accept any gifts in person at Estrella War from those who are sending things, but will try to not look at them. (She doesn’t want to spoil the surprise BUT on the other hand she’s got to know what is in the packages for Canadian customs purposes, too). Other than in-person at Estrella War, please send all gifts (UPS etc., snail-mail, parcel post or bus parcel express) via Anne Tinker.

Heraldry:

Full Name:
TSivia bas Tamara v’Amberview
(Yes with all the oddities of spelling and capitalization – there is NO apostrophe in her first name. TSivia says to blame Countess Arastorm of the East for that one, and then just grins…)

Personal Arms:
“Azure, a doe lodged Or gorged of a baroness’s coronet and chained and on a chief embattled argent a sun in splendor gules.”

Badge of House Amberview:
“Azure, a doe lodged chained and collared Or carrying in its mouth a slip of laurel vert.”

Badge of House Red Wolf Thunder:
“Sable, a wolf’s head cabossed gules carrying in its mouth a lightning bolt Or within a ‘rolling thunder wheel’ argent.”

Affiliations:

• Head of House Amberview
• Matriarch of House Red Wolf Thunder, a clan of the Federated Houses of Rolling Thunder
• Mentor Chirurgeon
• Former head, Midrealm Bardic College
• Former Kingdom Chirurgeon, Ealdormere
• Member, Grand Council of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.
• Protégé to Master Cerdic O’Cuileamnain, O.P.

Dependents:

• Mistress Jocelyn Douglass of Fairfax, OP (Ansteorra, formerly of Atenveldt)
• Her Ladyship Cerridwen Ravenhawk of Conway (An Tir)
• Lady Emer nic Aiden (jointly with Mistress Marian of Heatherdale; Ealdormere)
• Lord Nele ap Llewellyn (Ealdormere)
• Lady Rosamund (Atlantia)
• Lady Claricia Nyetgale (Ealdormere)

Vigil Whims:

The Chiurgeonate holds a fond place in our Pelican Candidate’s Heart... she asks that Chiurgeons wear their baldrics for court, and/or red and white (or both!) on the day.

For those who wish to honour TSivia in other ways, her heraldic colours are blue and white (Azure and Argent). These colours can be incorporated into your garb, ribbons, and floral wreaths in your hair: be creative! As well, the colours of the Kingdom of Ealdormere are also Gules and Argent (red and white), its symbol is the Trillium (a three-lobed flower, seen in white on the Kingdom Arms), and its animal is the Wolf. All these are suitable themes as well, for Scarlet (or Crimson) and White, trilliums, and wolves, please TSivia greatly. The more the merrier!

For her vigil, TSivia would LOVE music: the more music the better. (She is, after all, a Bardic-arts type of Laurel!) We will have someone as a “master of ceremonies” making sure that music shall happen at the vigil, so please keep watching this site for names and contact information.

A Vigil Note:

TSivia would like to encourage anyone who is interested in coming to speak to her while she is sitting vigil, to PLEASE do so. All persons, of any rank, station or age, are welcome.

Links:

• Peers of Ealdormere
• Bards of Ealdormere
• TSivia's Blog (with Bid for Baroness)

Watch this website for further details...