Ren met SCA at the recent Santa Fe Renaissance Fair held at El Rancho de las Golondrinas in New Mexico, where members of both communities entertained the crowds. Staci Matlock of The New Mexican visited the Fair and reports. (photos)

Matlock writes:

Young Navaree Freedé was dressed to the nines in a red lion-embossed tunic and shield Saturday, wearing a sword almost as big as himself. The 7-year-old stopped short when he came face to face with a towering dark Japanese samurai warrior, Lord Edrichich. Navaree reached out his leather-gloved hand to tentatively touch Edrichich's leather and metal armor. "His armor was really cool," Navaree said later, before pulling out a shining dagger to show an admirer.

Lord Edrichich, aka Patrick Trujillo, is an Albuquerque electrician who grew up in Santa Fe. He welds, rivets and sews all his armored outfits. "It's my hobby," said Trujillo, a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism.