Festivals have been a big part of my Paganism since 1998. The Free Spirit Gathering is my home event, and over the years I’ve been involved in its production in roles ranging from kitchen help to President. (Though my plan for next year is to start shifting away from a production role and more into a presenter one.)
Putting on an event with several hundred people — especially a camping event — takes a lot of work that most attendees will never think much about, from schedule Tetris to renting port-a-johns to filling tiki torches to running sound for concerts. But providing for first aid and safety is surely one of the most vital but often unnoticed jobs at such events.
Scott W. was a leader of our medical and security staff. (We still live in a world where Pagans can face discrimination. I’m not sure how “out of the broom closet” Scott’s family is so I won’t use his full name here.)
Somewhere along the line FSG staff started dubbing the head of our security department “Sheriff”, so many people knew him as Sheriff Scott. He and I weren’t close personal friends; we saw each other a few days a year at FSG and kept in touch on-line, but we’d never been to each others homes. But we shared hugs and laughs. We endured business meetings together. We talked about ways to improve our event.
He had worked as a forensic anthropologist, a firefighter, an EMT, a bodyguard, a store manager, and a teacher, and he brought that diversity of experience to the work he did for our community.
Last Saturday afternoon, during a lunchtime Facebook check, I saw a sad message that he had posted the night before. In fact the tone of his posts over the past week or two had sounded uncharacteristically sad. He was apparently having a rough time and I thought to myself, “Hey, I should shoot him a note when I get home.”
But I learned that night that Sheriff Scott had already passed away, suddenly that morning.
I’ve been thinking about adding a tip jar link or a Patreon account to this blog. Maybe I’ll do that next year, but for now if you’d contribute to something like that, if you’ve gotten some amusement or enjoyment out of my writings here and would be willing support that with some green energy– or if you’ve spent time at the Free Spirit Gathering, if you appreciate the event and would like to help the family of a valued staff member independently of your opinion of my writings — I ask you to consider contributing to his family here: https://www.gofundme.com/nqarbz2s.
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