FROM CRIMSON KNIGHT FLEET
AS I hurriedly write this to
get it in under deadline, it occurs to me that it has been almost four
years since the official launch of the Crimson Knight Fleet, and at
least four and a half years since the idea of a new fleet first was
hatched. A lot has changed in those years.
Back then, we were a bunch of revolutionaries whose anger towards our
old club sometimes got in the way of a smooth transition into our new
one. Now, many of our members belong to both clubs, and we have
had many events that were supported at the local level by both clubs.
We have also become able to stand on our own two feet. At the
beginning, we were still struggling to make a name for ourselves apart
from the club we left. Now, the word has spread across fandom
that the Crimson Knight Fleet is KAG's Canadian Fleet.
When we first started out, the proto-fleet was "led" by a council of
officers. Although that council achieved great things in terms of
building the foundation for the fleet that was to come, it came at the
expense of a lot of discussions, differences of opinion, and downright
arguments. Now, we have a solid chain of command that smoothly
and efficiently connects us to the rest of the club.
At the beginning, our general membership roster contained of a lot of
"paper members", people who joined the fleet because that was what
everyone else was doing, but who were not really interested in
participating. Now, we are seeing an upsurge in member
participation. More new members are getting costumed, and more of
them are willing to devote their time to events such as charity drives
and security details.
Early on, there were very few events for our members to take part in;
in 2001, for example, there were only four events in Toronto.
Nowadays, we are busier than we have ever been before; in the last
year, Toronto alone has seen 21 events (not counting those in nearby
cities).
We certainly have come a long way in those years. But the
question is, where do we go from here? I think we still have room
for improvement in all the areas I just mentioned. We can
continue to build bridges with our Klingon brothers in our former club
(and other clubs for that matter). We can spread the name of the
Crimson Knight Fleet far and wide across Canada. Our command
officers can get more involved in projects that benefit KAG as a
whole. We can recruit more new members, and encourage them to be
more active. And we can encourage more of our ships to hold new
events in new areas.
I am proud of what this fleet has accomplished, and no matter what the
future (the "Undiscovered Country") may bring, I will always be proud
of this fleet and its members. To paraphrase Commander Klag: "Our
future is honour; our present is serving the Crimson Knight Fleet!"
Colonel Krikor sutai-jechwI'
(Krikor AJemian)
Crimson Knight Fleet Commander, KAG
<krikorjechwi@yahoo.ca>
