The Ottawa Medieval Sword Guild is hosting the 7th annual Ottawa Medieval Camping Weekend from Friday, July 31st through Monday, August 3rd, 2009. As always, this is a family camping event welcoming people involved in WMA of all ages.

The camping weekend is being held on the Woods and McKee Farms, just north of Spencerville, Ontario. The two adjoining farms cover 167 acres and are entirely private land.

From its beginnings, the OMSG has strived to learn the ways of a 14c man-at-arms, martially and otherwise. We wanted to host an event that reflected our idealogy and so a gathering of men-at-arms and their families, their helpers and smiths, their hangers on and their horses, minstrels, and fools, all getting together in a field seemed a likely occurance. And so, for the seventh year in a row, we are hosting the Ottawa Medieval Camping Weekend.

The Woods-McKee properties allow us space for lots to be going on throughout the weekend. A large camp area with a common cook area is adjacent to the activities field. Here we have shade tents, weapons racks, a list and plenty of training area as well as a throwing stump and an archery range set up. The Woods Armory pavillion will be set-up with John's forge going. There are various walking trails to explore on both properties (ask John about the variety of wildlife that can be observed in the area). We keep the young people active with various activities and projects and for those traveling from afar, our nations capital (that'd be Ottawa) is a half hour drive away for a nice day-trip.

Although the weekend retains its informality, we do have scheduled activities which are:

Saturday/01 Morning - 3 hr seminar presented by Sean Hayes.

Saturday/01 Afternoon - OMSG armoured challenge to all who are brave enough to step into the list.

Saturday/01 Evening - Pig Roast Banquet for all attendees.

Saturday/01 After Dark - Lighting of the bonfire, oh ya, followed by great festivities, minstrels, and fooles.

Sunday/02 Early Morning - Nothing.

Sunday/02 Later Morning - 3 hr seminar presented by TBA.

Throughout the weekend, spontaneous training, fighting, knife/axe throwing, archery, and various other activities are ongoing. Socializing is an important theme of our gathering and the atmosphere is wonderful to behold. The nightly campfires are great.

Sean Hayes Master Northwest Fencing Academy	David Cvet Provost AEMMA	Brian McIlmoyle Provost AEMMA

To assist us in planning this years activities we'd like folks to register in advance as soon as they can by contacting us through the Contact Us Page. This year we are asking CA$75/attendee and CA$25 for spouse/guest/friend/any grown-up attending the feast.

Fresh water will be available on-site for cooking and cleaning. Guests also have access to drinkable water at both the Woods & McKee Farms. There are no shower facilities for the campsite, but a private, enclosed area will be set up for use with portable "camping" type showers.

Access to the event is via the McKee Farm on County Road 44 (as per directions below). A parking area will be set up near the main access point. We expect to also have vehicle access to the main campsite to allow guests to drop of their equipment, however, if vehicle access is unavailable (due to weather conditions) a shuttle service will be made available. We ask that all vehicles be kept at the main parking lot (camper vans & trailers not included).

The main campsite is located in a secluded meadow on the McKee Farm. The site allows easy access to both the Woods Farm as well as the guest parking area. This field has plenty of shade around the outer edges and a number of large canopy/shade tents will be set up for cooking and other activities. There is also a huge fire pit and fire wood at this site.

Two portable toilets (Porta-Potties) will be located in close proximity to the main campsite for everyone's use.

The Drummond's Gas Station & Store is located in Spencerville. Ice and other supplies can be found here (there's also an LCBO/Beer Store outlet inside the Drummond's). A number of other stores in Spencerville include a small Grocery Store and a Home Hardware. More ameneties can be found in Kemptville (a ten-minute drive north from the Farms), including grocery stores, several restaurants, and two motels. The Connell Rose Bed & Breakfast is also located just minutes from the Farms. Ottawa is only a half-hour drive north on Highway 416.

• Water storage containers
• Bottled water (for drinking)
• Citronella candles/torches and insect repellants
• Portable camp-shower
• Anything and everything "medieval" (weapons and armour would be good)
• In addition to the usual WMA gear (i.e. swords and gambesons) think longbows, crossbows, spears, throwing axes, shields, and siege engines!

• Citronella torches/burners/candles
• Oil lanterns
• Cirtonella oil
• Lamp oil
• Tarps (medium and large sizes)
• Rope
• Garbage bags
• Wrought-iron hooks, stands, and hardware
• Toilet paper

These directions assume that after you headed off you ended up driving east along the 401 to get to the Ottawa area. There is also a Google Maps link following the directions if you are more comfortable letting Google give you directions. For those of you who like to rely on fancy hi-tech GPS navigation systems, the global coordinates are: N 44.54.019, W 75.33.653

1. From Hwy 401, take exit 721 - Hwy 416 North to Kemptville/Ottawa
2. Take exit # 12 Leeds & Grenville Road 21 (Spencerville)
3. Turn LEFT at "T" onto Road 21 (follow sign to Spencerville)
4. Turn RIGHT at "T" (follow sign to Spencerville)
5. Pass through the town of Spencerville - note the Drummonds Station & Store
6. Travel approx. 3km out of town - turn RIGHT onto Ventnor Road - cross the over-pass
7. Turn LEFT (immediately after crossing over-pass) continue on County Road 44 (follow sign to Kemptville)
8. Pass through the village of Groveton (it's basically just that intersection with no town-like buildings)
9. The McKee Farm is the large red-brick farmhouse on the right with wide open spaces on either side. There is a huge tree in its own field by the road as you approach the farmhouse.
10. The street address is #9067 County Rd 44 (approx. 3.8 km from last turn)