Held July 13, 1996 in Carillion.
Royalty: Bjorn and Morgen
Retiring Champions: Nicetas Lecapenus of Antioch and Li Kung Lo
Winner and Queen’s Champion: William of Barnesdale
2nd Place and King’s Champion: Urho of the Pines
This account was compiled in 2026 and consists of the memories of several noteworthy archers who were present that day. It was an unforgettable competition because it took place during hurricane (or tropical storm?) “Bertha“. If any readers have memories to add — or photos! — please pass them along to the Archery Webminister.
From Alberic Maqi Droata:
… Ramos’ amazing targets!
From Daryl of Avalon:
[We shot] during a hurricane. Had dump out my quiver many times. Fun times.
From Li Kung Lo:
The eye of the hurricane passed over the field between the first and second rounds. We had a port-a-john rolling across the field, and I had to check to see if there was a person in it.
The hurricane Gloria finals were your score, with any negatives, ratioed over your time, so no ties. Ramos was doing great. He had hit every target he needed to, except the last one, that would stop the clock. He reached back to find an empty quiver. He hurled his Martin Ventura about 10 yards across the field, knocking over the stop target. Nicetas and I were running dual stopwatches and averaging our results, so it was pretty tight. After Ramos did that, me and Nicetas looked at each other, nodded, and both stopped our stop watches within 1/100th second of each other.
Of course, court was right afterward. The hurricane was over, the sun was out, and all the rain on the alfalfa field next to the open pavilion glittered like diamonds. Most of us had no time to change for court. We all looked like drowned rats.
From Ygraine of Kellswood:
I spent most of the day “up close and personal” with many friends huddling under our gazebo, which weathered the wind and rain very well. I vividly remember watching a port-o-john rolling across the field, and there was speculation about whether it was occupied.
The outgoing champs were Nicetas and Li, who greeted the participants with something like “welcome to the first Q&K Archery Championship and Swim Meet”, and Nicetas had a life preserver and canoe paddle.
The finals targets were by Ramos. The premise was that we were archery champions attending to the Royalty in Court and we were ordered to “take out” the threats. I remember having to shoot between “Marilyn’s” legs to hit a sniper, and shooting the baby with the bomb without hitting it’s mother. Great stuff. I miss Ramos and his twisted but entertaining art.
The skies cleared just before Court, and a beautiful rainbow appeared over the site.