Des Moines Renaissance Faire - Faire Fun for September 11 - 17, 2008

IowaIt’s closing weekend at the Des Moines Renaissance Faire and it’s all about Romance, Wine, and Royal Reverlry. To save a little time and money, you can buy discount tickets at area Hy-Vee stores.For the best chance at spectacular cast photos, make sure to see the opening and closing gate …

Michigan Renaissance Festival - Faire Fun for September 11 - 17, 2008

Michigan
Experience the Wonders of the World at the Michigan Renaissance Festival this weekend and bring your pet along for the Pet Fest.

You can get discount tickets a couple of ways:

Buy-one-get-one for Albion & Traverse City this week, plus four schools
Click’nPrint your discount tickets and walk right in the gate
Participating Wendy’s, …

Ohio Renaissance Festival - Faire Fun for September 11 - 17, 2008

OhioThere’ll be Rogues & Blades abounding at the Ohio Renaissance Festival in Harveysburg this weekend, just the thing to steal a Lady’s heart.

There are several ways to get discount tickets, including
ClickNPrint for Season passes and discount tickets
Printable $2.00 coupons from 980 WONE (scroll down about half way)
Donate blood …

New York Renaissance Faire - Faire Fun for September 11 - 17, 2008

New YorkNew York Renaissance Faire continues this weekend in Tuxedo with their first ever Pirate Weekend. Don your pirate garb and practice your pirate talk, then enter the costume and “Arrghh!! contests. Save time and/or money with one of these links:ClickNPrint - save time & money by buying onlinePasses - …

Avery Renaissance and Fantasy Faire denied permit

WashingtonMason County Commissioners have given the Washington Faire community another setback by denying event permits to Avery Township owner, Gregg Paisley. He had planned to hold the kick-off for the Avery Renaissance and Fantasy Faire at the site the weekend of October 4 & 5, 2008 and a full event …

For developers of Bend’s Shire, ‘dream’ is over

By Jeff McDonald / The Bulletin

The rise and fall of Bend’s real estate economy has resulted in foreclosure proceedings against The Shire, a village-themed concept in southeast Bend patterned after J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” series.

A notice of default was recorded last week in the Deschutes County Clerk’s Office on the 31-lot development, which had a “Disneyland-like feel” according to one of its developers and was characterized by Old World housing styles and a fantasy setting.

The Shire concept originated with Ron Meyers, who sold his share in the development for an unspecified amount to Dr. Lynn B. McDonald — a former emergency room physician at St. Charles Bend. McDonald died July 7.

“It basically destroyed my life financially, but that’s the price of a dream,” Meyers said. “The development wasn’t able to materialize fast enough before the market crashed.”

McDonald and his wife, Jan, had taken full ownership of the project in May with the hope they could sell it, Jan McDonald said Wednesday.

Jan McDonald is trying to sell the 14 developed lots, one house and additional land before the 6-acre property goes to public auction in December, she said.

The family owes Umpqua Bank $3.4 million on the project, according to the default notice.

The notice also names Meyers as a guarantor.

“It was Ron’s concept, and it was a good one,” Jan McDonald said. “Had the market not gone to where it went, it had the potential to be successful.”

The project — whose features include unique stonework, artificial thatched roofs, terraced gardens and a network of streams and ponds with a pathway leading to what’s called “The Ring Bearer’s Court” — captured media attention outside Central Oregon, including a December 2006 feature on BBC Radio.

The development drew about 6,000 visitors over two weekends in summer 2006 at the Central Oregon Builders Association’s Tour of Homes and has continued to attract curious onlookers, Meyers said.

Meyers and McDonald drew up a set of rules — similar to codes, covenants and restrictions that govern rules in many subdivisions — and called them the “Declaration of Interdependence.”

“We wanted to create a community — not just another subdivision,” Meyers said.

One home has sold for $650,000 since the project broke ground in fall 2006.

Shire Development acted as developer and builder for the project.

Another home, called Butterfly Cottage, is nearly completed but has not been sold. It’s listed for $899,000. The 3,200-square-foot home overlooks an amphitheater, has 26-foot-high ceilings and interior finishes that include bamboo flooring, a Japanese soaking tub and granite countertops. The house has a “hobbit hole” in the backyard for storing garden supplies.

Both of the homes have artificial thatched roofs and a storybook look that includes dragon-shaped support beams.

The Shire began to unravel in summer 2007 when the subprime mortgage crisis began to dry up credit sources, Meyers said.

“Banks were getting nervous,” Meyers said. “They’re still nervous.”

The dream died for many other reasons, including bad timing, legal challenges with the city of Bend over planning and permit issues, and lack of sales, Meyers said.

“Some people were turned off by living in ‘Disneyland,’” he said. “It’s more of an artists’ community for a certain market segment that wanted something different. There’s been enough people that have come through that would say, ‘What a wonderful concept.’ But then the market crashed, and everyone (went) home.”

If McDonald can’t sell the development, Umpqua will hold an auction at the Deschutes County Courthouse on Dec. 2, according to the default notice.

Umpqua, citing privacy and pending litigation, declined to comment.

Greg Steckler, a designer of the project, is the lone owner of a Shire home, where he lives with his wife and mother-in-law. He calls himself the resident greeter and the resident hobbit, after the joyful characters who occupied a magical village called The Shire in “The Lord of the Rings.”

The development stills draws several curious visitors per day who come to see the unsold home, but has not drawn any buyers, Steckler said.

“People always come back to see what’s happened with the development,” Steckler said. “I’m always sad to tell them, ‘Not much.’”

Questions remain about what will happen if the bank sells the project, if the buyer will continue the original concept, Steckler said.

He and landscaping crews still maintain the diverse plants on the grounds.

“The bank is probably going to discount everything quite heavily,” he said. “Whoever buys, I hope they’re like-minded and want to keep the same theme going. But at the same time, we’re realistic. We might need to make some modifications with the economic climate. In other words, we don’t need to have a thatched roof. But it would be nice if similar architectural styles are kept.”

Court rejects bid for new trial in slaying case

A state appellate court on Wednesday rejected an Acampo man’s bid for a new trial in the slaying of a former Vacaville woman and her unborn child.

Convicted murderer Timon Pool is serving a life-without-possibility-of-parole sentence for first-degree murder stemming from the 2006 strangulation death of former Vacaville woman Lillian Brenna Best, and a related count of second-degree murder for the death of Best’s unborn child.

Best and Pool reportedly had begun a relationship roughly a year prior to the slaying after he encountered her while she was performing with the Northern California Danse Macabre during a Renaissance Faire near Gilroy.

According to trial testimony, Pool strangled the 20-year-old woman during a loud, ongoing argument at a rural Acampo apartment during the early morning hours of July 23, 2006.

Pool admitted to first strangling Best with his hands, then using a twisted bed sheet “to finish it up.”

He claimed to have no knowledge of Best’s pregnancy at the time of the killing.

A San Joaquin County Superior Court found Pool guilty on both counts of murder in September 2007, and he subsequently appealed the conviction, charging that the court had improperly instructed the jury on the law governing murder of a fetus.

He also argued that the Stockton jury should have been given the option of an involuntary manslaughter count in the death of the fetus.

After reviewing the trial and the jury instructions, a three-justice panel of the state

Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, rejected Pool’s appeal Wednesday, ruling that the jury had been properly instructed.

Justices also pointed out that, “The trial court could not have instructed the jury on involuntary manslaughter because there is no such crime as manslaughter of a fetus.”

Permit Reality Check Puts a Halt to Washington Renaissance Faire

There will be no sword-fighting, gypsy-dancing or wandering minstrels in Belfair this summer: Ron Cleveland’s dream of bringing his renaissance festival to North Mason county came to a halt Monday.

Cleveland planned to hold his Washington Renaissance Fantasy Faire on a 206-acre property off Old Belfair Highway. On Monday, the state Department of Natural Resources affirmed a notice of compliance it issued earlier stating that Cleveland needed a zoning conversion to clear portions of the forested land.

Mason County has issued a moratorium on developing the property because the state’s notice prevents the county from issuing and permits or licenses.

Because it will take months for Cleveland to get a zoning conversion, the fair is off for this year — and maybe forever. Not being able to hold the festival will cost him about $250,000 out-of-pocket, he said.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Cleveland said. “This is putting me out millions. This may very well destroy me and most of the vendors.”

Cleveland said he will try to refund the vendor’s fees and presold tickets, but he’s not sure if he has the financial means to do it right now.

The festival was held in Purdy for nine years, but that site had become too small for the approximately 80,000 attendees. So Cleveland signed a four-year lease and purchase option on the Pope Resources-owned property on Bear Creek-Dewatto Road.

The festival was scheduled for three weekends next month: Aug. 2-3, 9-10, and 16-17.

In previous years, the fair has drawn thousands of people from outside the state. Cleveland estimated the festival would bring more than $5 million to the community. In addition, Cleveland planned to hold other events throughout the year, including a Shakespeare Festival, a Dickens Festival and Civil War re-enactments. These events, many lasting for multiple days, could have brought as much as $45 million to $50 million to the area, he said.

North Mason Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Frank Kenny was a supporter of the project, touting the economic benefits.

“This event will be of value to not only the families that attend, but also to those who depend on the small businesses of North Mason,” he said in an e-mail.

Community members, however, had mixed reactions to the festival. Some had even signed an online petition against bringing the fair to Belfair.

Signee and Belfair resident Keith Morrison said he was concerned about having thousands of cars on a steep, narrow road leading to the site. He also said few people knew about the specifics of the fair.

“The first time I heard about the issues was when I was asked to sign a petition,” said Morrison, who lives less than two miles from the site.

“There’s been little information given to the community and most people around here have no idea of the scale this is going to be.”

But Bremerton resident Wesley Weaver was doubtful the problems associated with holding the fair would outweigh the benefits. Like Kenny, he thought holding a multi-day festival would boost local businesses. A longtime renaissance fair attendee, Weaver pointed to the success of a festival in Larkspur, Colo. The town bases its livelihood on the fair, he said, and holding a similar event could catalyze development in Belfair.

“Saying ‘No, we don’t want the millions of dollars the fair is going to bring to the community’ is ludicrous,” Weaver said. “It’s self-destructive.”