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Maryland Renaissance Festival |
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Nine weekends of merriment in a virtual 16th century village, the annual Maryland Renaissance Festival features hundreds of professional entertainers — King Henry VIII and his entourage, jousts on horseback, 12 stages of continuous entertainment, comedy and skills, magicians, acrobats, authentic costumes, music, taverns, yummy foods and superb craftspeople.
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The spacious interior of the Kadon booth has lots of room for displaying many puzzles on the walls, and plenty of seating for players and puzzlers to be entertained. In 2010 we added new chandeliers, followed in 2011 by an antique-looking ceiling fan.
On the far left wall is a special banner of Don Quixote tilting at a windmill metaphorically representing myths and fallacies, and celebrating the mathematician Thomas Bayes' contributions to reason and logic. Banner is courtesy of Joe Marasco, who also wrote an Ode to the Reverend Bayes, using a clever rhyme scheme of 47 ways to rhyme with "Bayes", which we posted on the tower door. Here are close-ups of banner and verse:
For many years, visitors were greeted by the friendly smile of "Sir" Fabian (above left), who also built much of the pavilion. He was greatly missed when he retired to Florida. Filling in during the 2004 season was the energetic Bjarne Viken (above right), a handsome "pirate" from Norway. After the season, the Kadon crew, in costume, celebrated an evening of dinner and horsemanship at Medieval Times. Here's the official group portrait.
At the end of our entrance ramp, lately painted a cheerful green, a groundhog had dug an entrance to his tunnel that runs under the entire booth. No matter how often management tried to fill it with concrete, the determined fellow dug it out again. We finally decided to give him his permanent entrance and only close it off during show hours with a hinged gate, nicely painted by Sue Bare:
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Here's a typical scene of eager crowds at play with boardgames and puzzles. Many visitors arrive in costume to match the theme. |
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Mistress Katrina, the proprietress, is seen here in her Renaissance regalia, with bodice laced, ready for visitors to test their wits on the puzzles. |
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Mistress Eileen introduces a young visitor to the strategies of Tara, the game of Celtic knots. Eileen is a member of the Games Club of Maryland and the Baltimore Science Fiction Society and a most gracious hostess at the Gamery.
A visitor concentrates deeply as he matches wits with the Gamery's resident mathematician and instructor, Elijah Allen (at right), in a game of The Power of Two. Dick Jones is part of the Saturday crew. He's especially good with the kids who eagerly come in to try the puzzles.
Rolinda Collinson, our lovely and vivacious goose mistress from the 2008 season until 2014, brought fun and delight to visitors of all ages in experiencing an authentic Renaissance game, The Royal Game of the Goose, a unique and exclusive feature at Ye Olde Gamery. Even the King and his court succumbed to her charms and visit annually to engage in gaming and royal banter (see pictures below). Rolinda, a special-education teacher in real life, followed her heart and moved to North Carolina in 2015. She will always be missed.
In 2019 (below) we were honored several times by visits from his royal majesty, King Henry VIII, who always plays with unrestrained enthusiasm, to the delight of visitors who get in on the game.
100 Years of Martin Gardner—The year 2014 also marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Martin Gardner (1914-2010), and the Gamery hosted an official Celebration of Mind, one of many commemorative events world-wide. We had a special banner for the beloved author who inspired us and millions of others with an appreciation for mathematical games. Kate designed a special Latin Square puzzle as a souvenir for visitors. Feel free to print out a copy for yourself.
Celebrations of Mind 40 Years of Maryland Renaissance Festival— The Maryland Renaissance Festival celebrated its 40th season in 2016, and Ye Olde Gamery designed and presented to the management a special award honoring the family Smith, four brothers and their father, who founded the Festival and whose incredibly hard work through the decades has made the Festival an enduring success. We've been with them 35 years (as of 2018) and look forward to many more.
With deep gratitude 
As Kadon's resident gamemaster for 30 years (he retired in 2013), Sir Richard was one of the most colorful and esteemed characters of the "village." Here he is again, in 1999, this time with longer hair and shorter beard, pondering a particularly strategic move. Note the now-finished stucco walls. At right, an even longer beard to approach the Gandalf look.
Sir Richard kept careful logs of his seasonal wins and losses. Here, with his non-leaky quill he's recording the day's scores. On a good day, challengers had a 15% chance of victory.
The challenge game tradition continues, with various games featured for visitors to learn and to match wits with members of our crew: |
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The Shakespearean gamepuzzles catalog
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Patrons in costume make merry at the gaming table set in front of the shop, a special attraction with a large market umbrella providing shade and atmosphere. In black leather (above and at right) is Sir Kenneth Isbell, who inspired and for a number of years, until 2006, manned the game table featuring the 
We were sad to learn in September 2018 that the elder Mr. Jules Smith had passed away suddenly in his Minnesota home. He was 88. In a remembrance album all the exhibitors signed for the bereaved family, Kate wrote this haiku:
