Swordsman and Artisan Need Our Help

My name is Christopher.

My very good friends Doug and Jen have had their home ruined by mold, their savings drained by mysterious health issues, and their current financial prospects diminished by an earnings reversal. These guys prove better than anyone else I can think of the extent to which the system in this country lets talented, hard-working, good-hearted people down when their luck runs wrong.

First, let me introduce you if you haven’t had the good fortune to know them:

Doug Mumaw is also known as Dirk Perfect, the taller half of Renaissance Festival stage powerhouse The Swordsmen. He and his partner Dave Woolley have spent the last three decades and change touring the country and showcasing their considerable martial and comedic skills, in addition to teaching stage combat. The second time I was recognized as an actor-combatant with the Society of American Fight directors, it was Doug who instructed me and Dave who adjudicated. When I say The Swordsmen is a renfaire powerhouse, that is no exaggeration – this duo is an ‘anchor’ act which reliably draws massive crowds to flagship stages. Once you hear the signature laugh these self-titled ‘Bold and Stupid Men’ teach their audiences – to wit, HAH ha-ha-ha HAAAAH! – it stays with you for life.

But Doug is more than just a deeply respected renfaire performance colleague – he’s a good friend. This is a guy who’ll drop everything to come help you when you need it.

Jen Snitko is a savvy renfaire business owner who has been creating and selling jewelry at Bristol and other shows for over 20 years. She’s also an accomplished equestrian with a deep and abiding love for horse-kin of all statures. Jen is one of my favorite people to talk about books and literature with; her mind is sharp and her library is deep. Her spirituality is woven into nature, and it is hard to think of her anywhere that does not have flower-fields and a big sky. If I were casting a movie about Vikings, her blond hair and tall frame would put her on the short list for a Scandinavian matriarch or warrior; or maybe just a farmer leading horses with her sure, gentle hand, her ready smile, and her kind sea-colored eyes.

It was a hard thing to watch Jen’s health decline nearly four years ago. As Doug put it, she went from doing burpees in the garage to an ER barely able to breathe in the space of 48 hours. You’re thinking “Ah, Covid.” But it wasn’t. What was it? Eventually they got answers (spoiler alert – mold bio-toxin illness , CFS and chronic Lyme disease with multiple co-infections), but this was only after a host of appointments with cardiologists, pulmonologists, and all within the drapes-on-fire shitshow that is the American medical system. It wasn’t until they ventured out of traditional (read: covered) medicine that they began to find functional medicine doctors and nutritionists and integrative specialists who could really help. I’ll spare you an exhaustive timeline, but my wife and I were close witnesses to much of this, and helped out as we could by bringing meals over or doing horse chores or whatever was required. I’ll just say that Jen was very sick very mysteriously and expensively for a very long time. In the end, Doug estimates that they spent $70,000 out-of-pocket trying to get a diagnosis and relief.

But the mold.

Mold is perhaps a homeowner’s worst fear. Unless it is caused by a specific event (e.g. flooding) it is considered by home insurance companies as an upkeep problem – even though it can be hard to detect until it has become catastrophic. This is exactly what happened in Doug and Jen’s case – by the time they had a handle on what they were dealing with, the mold was so pervasive and toxic - especially to Jen - they had to get a trailer and live in that while dealing with their now very dangerous – and, as it turns out, unfixable - house. They have been in that trailer for over a year, and are beginning their second winter.

So, house ruined by uninsured problem.

Savings depleted by illness.

What to do?

Downsize to a smaller used home? Mold is a big problem in this area, and Jen is now super-sensitive to it. This is not to mention the horses.

Move somewhere dryer? Jen’s elderly mom now lives here, and Jen is her primary caregiver.

Sell the house to an unsuspecting third party?

These guys aren’t built like that.

No, Doug and Jen are honest, bootstrap, nose-to-the-grindstone folks who would never kick a dangerous problem down the road to someone else. They’re picking themselves up and they’re starting over. Their plan is to work and save and demolish the old house and rebuild.

But there’s another problem – an unexpected business setback has changed their financial outlook and put a dent in their current ability to earn. It will take some time to create new opportunities and put them back on the earnings path they were on before.

Right now they’re looking at about a $70,000 dollar shortfall in their hopes just to get back to square one, stay in their community, and keep the animals Jen loves and lives for.

And these aren’t thirty-year-olds with decades of peak industry before them.

This was a very bad point in life’s arc for them to get effectively wiped out.

Crowdfunding often helps people raise money after illnesses or thefts, but I hope it’s clear that this is on a different order. The scope of their misfortune is mind-boggling, and it’s especially hard watching it happen to people who have brought so much joy to others for so very long.

One thing I love about the extended festival family is that, perhaps because of the fragility of our lifestyle, we take care of our own.

So this is me, trying my best to help a brother and sister out with a big, big lift.

If you’ve ever laughed or thrilled at a renaissance faire stage show, or been delighted by some lovely handmade gift bought at one of these magical events, this is a chance to do a solid for two OG pillars of the renfaire community who’ve always given more than they asked.

Whatever you can do will be so deeply appreciated by these two, and also by me.

I want to roll up to these guys in a year or two, ask them how things are going, and hear “Damn fine, thanks.”