Who Ya Gonna Call?

So, what do you do when you suddenly decide you absolutely must have a gypsy wagon? I mean, you don't generally find this sort of thing on Ebay or Craigslist, or in the yellowpages under 'Gypsy Wagon - Delivery', do you?

So I was presented with a bit of a problem.

I mean, Norman is very good at many different things, but framing out a vardo on a trailer to be roadworthy at 55 MPH was a bit beyond him. We have friends with various degrees of skill, but getting a whole bunch of 'personalities' in one place at one time to accomplish a task like this would be rather like herding cats. (That goes double for SCAdian types. Love you, but wow! Organization is not the strong point!)

So who ya gonna call?
Turns out, this guy:

Lars Elling Lunde.

Starting with Rachels' site, I spent a lot of time wandering from link to link. Ultimately, though, the gods smiled upon me and I happened upon this site: Midknight Construction, which is the construction website of Mr. Lunde.

I started noodling around his website and realized that I had actually met him before, sometime in the early 90's. In fact, he was deeply involved with the Sterling Forest Renaissance Festival. So much so, that a great majority of the constructions on his website were projects for the Faire. Including two gypsy wagons! Not only that, but working so much with the Sterling Forest folks, it was a pretty good bet he was local. Local was very important, as the next closest person I knew of with any experience or inclination in vardo-building was in Canada.

As it happens, Mr. Lunde is one of those multi-talented people you come across only once in a blue moon. Not only a talented carpenter, set designer, photographer and filmmaker, but also a fabulous metalworker. I actually have in my possession a dagger that I purchased from his armory sometime in the mid 90's. The hilt ends are roses, with a heart in the center crossed by chains.  Here's a picture of it:

Pretty, isn't it? The drop shape in the middle is an opal that my grandmother gave me. I had always hated the setting it had been in, so I dug it out and had it placed in the hilt. The scabbard was made by my good friend Ragnarr Dragonheart, A Squire. I wear it all the time with my 'wenchwear'. (Sorry about the picture quality, it's the best I could get.) And this is one of the more simple designs he's done. Most of them are very elaborate, with gargoyles and demon heads, and vines and bats and things on them.


 So I used the ubiquitous Facebook and got in touch. Turns out, he was very interested in my project, and his fees were very reasonable. So we got together for a brainstorming kaffeeklatch at our local pub. Papers and arms flew around, enthusiasm reigned. A master plan was hatched.  I must mention, that in addition to all the aforementioned talents, it also happens that Mr. Lunde is a very smart and funny guy, very nice, and what's best of all, he's a doer.

In the words of Bugs Bunny:

"If I dood it, I get a whippin!"
".....I dood it."



Next Installment:
The Trailer Gods Smile.