On a breezy afternoon at Rotary Centennial Park on Aug. 29, Dean Scott shouted "Lay on!" across the grass. A field of players in bright tunics and sashes charged at each other. They swung foam swords and staffs and dodged around inflatable obstacles while an instrumental "Seven Nation Army" played from a portable speaker. The Santa Maria Sun described the scene in its Oct. 15 cover story.
The battle was a party. That afternoon the group, called Watchers Keep, celebrated its official acceptance into Westmarch, the California "kingdom" of the live-action role-playing organization Amtgard. Westmarch's own event listing for its Aug. 29 Midreign calls Watchers Keep its "new Westmarch shire."
The fighting is new to Santa Maria, and it became official because people here kept coming back. Visiting groups helped it launch, but the locals made it last.
What Westmarch asks of a new group
A group that wants to play under the Amtgard name applies to Amtgard International and signs a chapter agreement. Amtgard's start-a-chapter guide says the group stays a "Freehold" until it joins a kingdom. To join Westmarch, a group needs a majority vote at the Kingdom Althing. Its size is then judged by a six-month average of distinct attendees each month.
The entry level is a shire. The Westmarch Corpora, the kingdom's rulebook, lists what a shire needs. Here is what Watchers Keep has on the record next to each requirement:
| Westmarch shire requirement | Watchers Keep |
|---|---|
| Average of five unique attendees per month | 43 active players reported by the Sun in October 2026; about 15 spar and play on a typical park day |
| Meets at least every other week | First and third Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. |
| Contracts with Westmarch and Amtgard | Listed as a Santa Maria shire on Amtgard's member database |
| Monarch and Prime Minister officers | Monarch Wrekless Crafthammer, Prime Minister Aspen |
The minimum is five people a month on average, and Watchers Keep brings about three times that many to a single park day. As of October 2026, the group's Amtgard profile shows 41 members active in the past six months and 44 in total.
From April 19 to Aug. 29
The first park day was April 19 at Rotary Centennial Park. The Santa Maria Sun reported that about 60 players from across California came. Scott planned a big debut, with a photographer, a food truck, extra gear and obstacles, and invitations to players from other parks. The group signed a declaration and played capture the flag. Ten of those players had come from Santa Cruz to "raid" the opening.
Sixty people on day one proves that a founder has friends in other cities. A shire is judged on the months after that, and in April the Sun noted that Watchers Keep still needed sustained attendance and a kingdom vote. Over the spring and summer, the group kept playing every other Sunday on the same grass at 2625 S. College Drive. By Aug. 29, 132 days after the opening, Westmarch was introducing it as a new shire. AmtWiki also records the vote as August 2026.
The visitors from out of town went home after the debut. The group that remained was mostly from Santa Maria.
The first-timers who made the count
Scott described that group to the Sun: "There's definitely a core group that are Santa Maria locals, like 10 or so people that have never done this before, that now every other week are meeting."
Some of the people in that core group:
- James Carlson, known on the field as Jae'thas. He lives in Guadalupe and met Scott at a climbing gym in San Luis Obispo. He brought his children to the April opening and has said he would not have started LARPing this year without Watchers Keep.
- Michael Zoppo, Zoppo the Archer. The Sun reports that he circled the Rotary Centennial parking lot three times this summer before he got out of the car. He played in borrowed gear, and a veteran player gave him the PVC-pipe bow he still uses. His son plays on the sidelines.
- Sarah Carroll, Elf Greenleaf. She is Scott's wife and has played for three years. She first served as monarch of the San Luis Obispo park and was then elected queen of Westmarch, a kingdom of 22 parks.
In Amtgard, players usually have to be 14 to take part. Watchers Keep lets younger kids run the sidelines as "siege monsters" who throw pretend explosives, such as beanbags, at the adults. That role brought the Carlson and Zoppo kids into the game, and it gives parents a reason to come back every other Sunday.
The group also keeps in touch between park days. Members meet online midweek, and the Wednesday calls are usually for crafting, whether that means shaping a sword, painting, or cooking. Scott, a leathersmith, also holds craft days in his garage, where he teaches people to make armor and belts.
Who keeps park day running
Turnout earned the shire status, and a small amount of unpaid work makes each park day happen. Scott pays for a storage unit to hold the group's supplies. Every other Sunday, he and Carroll unload the inflatable obstacles, gear, and bins of equipment onto the field. He handles the permits to use Rotary Centennial Park and referees the games, adjusting the rules for the number of players and their skill levels. According to the Sun, he has stepped back from playing since he founded the group.
"It's stressful, and it's tiring, but it's fulfilling," he told the Sun.
Money is handled the same informal way. Halle Bohlig, known as Aspen, is the prime minister, which in Amtgard is the treasury role, and the dues she collects are optional. Under the Westmarch rules, members who don't vote don't have to pay Kingdom dues. No admission price is posted for visitors.
If you walk over on Nov. 1
The next two park days are Sunday, Nov. 1, and Sunday, Nov. 15, both from noon to 4 p.m., according to the group's Amtgard profile. Westmarch's newcomer guide and its rules describe what a first visit looks like:
- Come as you are. You don't need gear or a costume.
- Introduce yourself and find the prime minister. That's Aspen at Watchers Keep, and she handles the waiver. Westmarch requires a legal ID to sign it, and a legal guardian has to sign for anyone under 18.
- Ask the champion for spare gear. Uzi currently holds that role at Watchers Keep, and the guide says the champion can also explain the game. The Sun's April story said the group has loaner gear.
- Bring younger kids with an adult. The Sun reported that children 14 and younger must be accompanied by an adult. Under Westmarch rules, kids under 14 can fight only with the local monarch's permission and a guardian present.
You can also just watch. At the August celebration, spectators sat in camp chairs under pop-up canopies along the sidelines and took photos. Not everyone fights, either. Zoppo told the Sun that Amtgard has plenty of roles that don't involve weapons, and Aspen said she would rather spar one-on-one than learn the spells used in battle games.
Aspen also had a first-day story for the Sun: "I'm like, 'There's absolutely no way I'm doing this. This is the dumbest thing I've ever seen.' But, by the end of the day, I was in love with it."
For rules and clips between park days, Watchers Keep posts behind-the-scenes clips on Instagram at @watcherskeepamtgard, and the full Amtgard rulebook is on amtgard.com.
Groups like Watchers Keep keep a neighborhood park busy on a Sunday afternoon, and I always like learning who is behind them. If you know of another Santa Maria group, league, or volunteer crew that deserves attention, or you'd like to talk about anything real estate in our area in English or Spanish, reach out to James Gallegos. Let's Connect.
