Historically, the Ducal Prize tournament has been held around Labor Day, and has been a co-hosted event between the SCA, and the KHTI. Just about everything and anything was available for a price, and it has been a favorite annual event for eagle eyed shoppers and fun lovers alike.
However, the primary focus of the fundraising for close to 40+ years had been building a war chest that could then be spent on a piece of property suitable for our needs. Since the property has been purchased, why do we need to continue the fundraising? Don’t we have enough?
Simply put, we have many additional funding needs that would entirely consume our limited remaining funding, which is earmarked to cover our modest property taxes and very basic operating expenses on a yearly basis. As such, The Ducal Prize Tournament will likely continue for many years to come.
It is true that by far the largest part of our foundation has been funded by generous donations from SCA members, we have additional sources of revenue that we have been pursuing since the purchase of the property.
One source of funding is that we realized that even under heavy usage, the property would be largely unused most of the year, so we have developed a partnership with local ranchers to lease cattle grazing rights to the property during the times we are not having the site rented. It’s a very modest monthly lease, with the aim of being more of a cost recovery for our annual property taxes, and a way to ensure that the integrity of the perimeter fencing is maintained.
As we grow, our hope is that we will see more and more of our funding coming from regular use by local groups and the SCA, that can provide additional revenue from site rentals, particularly, if a larger inter-kingdom war is held at the site, something we have been actively planning to accommodate.
Here is a partial list of future projects we have lined up, but need additional funding to implement:
- Extending of the water system into the Lower Meadow, possibly with another storage tank
- further development of new paved roads within the lower meadow, making it easier for passenger cars to navigate the site
- the creation of one or more pavilions to allow indoor activities and courts to take place in case of inclement weather
- elements of a medieval village that are desired but difficult to break down and move, like communal cooking ovens, and a forge area, and performance areas.
- long term storage for trailers and related items.
- rentable encampments and accessories
- EQ and Archery zones with additional support as appropriate
- a “grove of the ancestors” for memorials to passed friends of KHTI