The year is 1509. King Henry VII is dead and his young son, Henry VIII is left to take control of England. Many believe that he will marry Katherine of Aragon, the widow of his older brother who died from tuberculosis. However, the young king-to-be seems to have little interest in running the country. The stage is set for a courtly drama.

But the machinations of the ruling elite matters little to the Edmonds family.

They run a peddler's booth at the local market and earn what money they can from games of chance. Suzi Edmonds, a hard-working wife and mother of three, draws passersby in with an opportunity to win an odd trinket, while her husband, Tom, a red-faced man full of bluster, gambles their earnings away in a running chess match.

It sounds like a 16th century tragedy, but it's really just a part of the show at the 32nd Annual Hanford Renaissance of Kings Cultural Arts Faire.

For Tom and Suzi Edmonds, this marks the 26th year their Patch N Pixies Pastimes booth has been a part of the faire. Loosely translated, the name stands for "Fun for Fools and Children."

It's a game booth, basically, where guests pay a dollar and get a chance to win a fabulous prize.

"People like it; everybody wins," said Jeremy Edmonds, the couple's only son. "We give out interesting prizes, like Ren Faire outfits and rings and goblets. Depending on your eye-hand coordination, this can be hours of fun."

The main draw is a game called Fishing from the Peddler's Cart, where a dollar earns you a chance to filch a pouch out of a small cart using a crude fishing pole.

As Suzi explains it, the game has some historical relevance.

In olden times, a merchant would have to pass through a gate to enter the city's market district. Guards would search each cart to determine the value of the product coming in and then charge the peddler a fee on their wares. This was not a quick process, so carts would often get backed up just waiting to get in.

Thieves, then, would walk the street with small hooked poles. As they moved past, they could reach into the cart and yank out a small bag, then disappear into the crowd before anyone got wise.

"These cutpurses were known as hookers," Suzi said. "Obviously, we had to change the name a little."

Despite the historical context, the origins of the booth are actually much more mundane.

The Edmonds family has hosted their booth at the local faire for more than a quarter-century, but they've attended for much longer.

"It was getting to the point where I had to pay a baby-sitter to come out with us, because our hands were so full taking care of the kids," Suzi said. "I called the Recreation Department and asked them how much it would cost to set up a booth. I figured this would give me an area where I could keep an eye on my kids while still participating in the faire."

The type of booth was a matter of practicality. Suzi likes sewing costumes, but she didn't feel she could make enough to sell them. She could've sold food, but then she wouldn't have room for the children.

A game booth, she decided, would be the best option.

In the past, the Edmonds would host other games. Tom once ran a Ring-A-Bottle game that drew in large crowds, especially of young men with ladies to impress.

"He was great at goading them into playing," Suzi said. "We made so much money from it that we were able to pay off our first house after 11 and a half years."

With a little hustle, they could easily make about $1,200 from each faire. Couple that with multiple faires up and down the state, and the end result was pretty lucrative.

"Now we're just happy if we make back our booth space fee," Suzi said.

Money is not the primary draw for the family. Instead, it's the social interaction, the chance to get out and spend time with a unique community twice a year.

"It reminds me of my childhood," the couple's youngest daughter, Jessica Edmonds, said. "I was raised doing it, and I just think of it as an entire weekend of playing around and dressing up. It's always a lot of fun."

"There are people we see only at fairs and we don't know them by any other name than what they go by at the faire," Suzi said. "Now, we've been doing this for so long that we get kids coming to play our game, and we remember their parents once had to stand up on a haybale just to reach it.

"Every year I tell my kids this is the last year, then we are going to stop. But then summer rolls around and I'll smell wood smoke and hear people laughing and it just gets me in the mood for another faire."

The reporter can be reached at 583-2425.

(Oct. 3, 2009)