Days of old return with Renaissance Faire

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By JEFFREY HAGE jeff.hage@lee.net
Friday, June 16, 2006 9:14 PM CDT

Imagine stepping back in time, through the gates of a 14th Century village set on the border of Scotland and England. What adventures lie waiting on the other side?

That’s what Lady Marie Hunter hopes to find out today at the inaugural opening of the Wisconsin Renaissance Faire.

Lady Marie Hunter is really Amanda Lonsdorf of Chippewa Falls. A young woman who enjoys wearing renaissance period dress and visiting renaissance fairs across the region, Lonsdorf is looking to the newest addition to the Chippewa Valley’s vast entertainment scene.

The Wisconsin Renaissance Faire will have many activities for children of all ages including kid’s quests, horse rides and a petting zoo. You’ll also find knights and gypsies, unique shops and fine food — all with lively music, dazzling entertainment.

Visitors can even step into the renaissance storylines to interact with colorful town characters — and that’s where Lady Marie Hunter comes in.

For Lonsdorf, Renaissance fairs allow her to idealize and romanticize about a time when chivalry was king and people were courteous, passionate and full of creativity.

“Growing up in the 80s, cartoons and movies were fantasy-oriented,” Lonsdorf said.

Lonsdorf was fascinated by the history of the Renaissance period and the sense of fantasy that came with it.

“It was a time where people had morals. They fought for you and stuck up for you,” she said.

That’s romantic, Lonsdorf said, and something that attracts many people to the medieval periods when King Arthur and Queen Genevieve ruled the majestic castles and the likes of Robin Hood played the role of medieval pirates.

Lonsdorf didn’t know Renaissance festivals existed until she was 16- years-old when her aunt took her to a fair in Bristol, Wis.

Now four years later, she can be found in her homemade period dress and traditional snood roaming the hillsides of her own medieval past.

Her attire is a tribute to her ancestors, who hailed from Normandy France and relocated to Scotland at the request of King David, Lonsdorf said.

“As Lady Marie Hunter I am able to honor my ancestors and, in a way, give them a new life,” she said.

Festivals also allow Lonsdorf to enter her own world of fantasy.

“It’s one way I meet individuals who share the same interests as I do,” she said.

“The pageantry, colors, and smells take me back to another time,” she said.

At the Wisconsin Renaissance Faire that time will be a time of adventure, said Shane McVey, president of the Chippewa Falls fair.

“Come visit with the queen and her ladies, watch the well-meaning village thief, Ferret, as he eludes the captain of the guard, and be on the lookout for the cunning Lord Gower as he plots to take the town from the noble Lord William,’ McVey said.

“Each day is new, so you never know what surprises will greet you,” McVey said.

FAIRE FACTS

The opening weekend of the Wisconsin Renaissance Faire on Nelson Road is today and tomorrow. The fair will run from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends through July 15-16. Admission for adults is $12 and $8 for children ages 6-12.