[Artemisia] Pay to play

[JRoss007 at aol.com]

Having played this "Game " for some 20 something  years ( First event in 83 , 
I think)
    I am in agreement that membership should be  mandatory for Official 
offices, and to compete in various Tournaments. (Crown  Tourney comes to mind.) 
    I do not believe that you should have a membership  to receive awards of 
less than Peerage level, (AoAs , GoA, etc..) These are  given out for 
recognition of a job well done,
    And to not recognize a person's hard work just  because they don't have 
the cash to get a membership is just plain rude. Though  if they are paying the 
NMS at so many events, one would wonder why they have not  at least invested 
in an associate Membership. 
 
        As for Pay to Fight, well  that opens up a whole nother can of worms. 
Many insist that
 just signing their waiver should be enough,but I have been told by  
relatively knowledgeable
persons that that is not a guarantee that for one: Your family members  could 
still sue in the case of lost wages or injury , or Heaven forbid , a  
Wrongful Death lawsuit.
    And remember the line, " Is this your signature  sir?" " No, not mine."
    I would hate to think such a thing would happen in  our little family, 
but stranger things have happened. 
    At least with a paid Membership , such things can  be covered by our 
insurance.(I would hope.) 
        
    Eoin Maclulich