Our Board Members and Directors
Board Member Bios:
RCEAF’s co-founder and President, Brande Watson (she/her), is a licensed tax preparer, with more than 24 years of experience running Renaissance festival businesses, Uncommon Adornments and Celtic Leatherworks. She has 6 years prior experience as a non-profit Board Member and Advocacy Program Chair.
Co-founder and Vice President Arleen Miller (she/her) Arleen Miller began her festival career in 1999, and co-owns Broomhilde and Crow Nouveau with her husband, Byron Miller. Together they have raised their son out on the festival circuit. As a founding member of RCEAF she has served as Vice President as well as Advocacy Chairperson.
RCEAF’s Secretary is Cat Lyons (she/her). Cat has a B.A. in Psychology and her master’s degree in Human Services, and has performed and worked booths at Renaissance festivals since 2005.
Currently Cat tours as Lady Prudence, the Court Composer, playing guitar, harp, and singing to make the world a better place, in addition to her non-profit work.
Nancy Jones (she/her), RCEAF/RenCASA founding member and current board member, has been working full-time as an employee and manager for multiple Renaissance Festival vendors since 2014. Nancy’s background is in employee benefits, human resources, and business consulting, so she’s been using her past experience to assist her community both in person as a prior advocate with RenCASA as well as behind the scenes helping to get our early fundraising efforts going and with ongoing graphic design.
A founding board member of RCEAF, Rebecca began her Renaissance Festival career more than a decade ago and is the owner of Twisted Spiders. She is compassionate, caring, and committed to serving the community that she loves. She sits on the RCEAF Fundraising and Disbursement Committees as well. A proud mama to four amazing adult children, and a mother-figure to many on the festival circuit, she is fondly referred to as Spidermom by many.
Heathyre started her Renaissance Festival career over 20 years ago selling flowers and she’s been traveling the country ever since. She finally “settled down” in New Orleans, retired her flower basket to pursue festival staff/management. Currently, Heathyre manages the Social Media at her home show, the New York Renaissance Faire (in Tuxedo, NY), and also acts as the Promotions/Social Media at Scarborough Renaissance Festival & Screams Halloween Park (in Waxahachie, TX) in addition to acting as Scarborough’s GamesKeeper to oversee the management of the festival owned games.
Heathyre is a founding board member of RCEAF and is the RCEAF Social Media Director. She specializes in random acts of googly-eye vandalism and enjoys iced coffee, king proteas, rainbow everything, collecting uranium glass, practicing the hurdy-gurdy, rescuing cats and walking her dogs on the levee. Heathyre loathes talking in the 3rd person, writing bios, polyester, and internet trolls.