Castle Wars, Meeting Minutes, Midwinter A&S

January Baronial Business Meeting

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

04 January 2023, Time: 1930

Notes submitted by Baronessa Aelia Bassina, South Downs Chronicler.

Master Mathias called the January meeting to order. Our Seneschal, Lady Raven Helmsplitter, greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. Lady Raven read the Kingdom Anti-Bullying statement.

Officers’ Reports

Seneschal, (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)

  • In-person meeting space through the end of June 2023 has been set up at Doraville Civic Center.
    • 1/18
    • 2/22
    • 3/22, 3/29 (5th Wednesday!)
    • 4/19, 4/26
    • 5/3 (in-person business meeting with a test for streaming), 5/17, 5/31 (5th Wednesday!)
    • 6/21, 6/28
  • The Barony is expecting to submit a bid for RUM to fulfill our obligations to the kingdom; we will have a second business meeting (virtual) on 1/25 to discuss and vote on the bid. Bids for RUM are due by 1/31.
  • I’ve uploaded a PDF of the photos and notes I took during Ximon’s and my site visit to Indian Springs State Park (where Red Tower 2023 will be held) to the Barony’s FB group.

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)     

  • Nothing to report.

Knight Marshal (Lord Eirikr Palsson)

  • Heavy practices are back on.  
  • We didn’t have any the last 2 weeks due to Christmas and New Years’ day.  
  • Practice on the 15th will be covered by THL Margheraed so no loaner gear will be available as I will be at panhandle skirmishes.  
  • I will also be looking into a substitute marshal for the 29th so I can attend war college.
  • There will also be a Regional Figher Practice the weekend of Midwinter.

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

  • HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Seems like the holiday season took a bite out of our practice routine.  Probably a healthy thing…
  • Work is a bit more manageable for me right now, but I will continue to need help making sure that a marshal is present for practices.  Anxious to be getting back in the swing of things myself.  Thanks to all of our Barony’s rapier marshals for stepping in as needed.
  • Otherwise, practices proceedeth apace, weather permitting. 

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

  • Current plan is to have our January practice this coming Sunday, 1/8.
  • Weather may be a factor. If we are rained out, I will push it to the next week.
  • Society has started coming down with score sheets for thrown weapons. They are still working out a couple of the kinks, but I will see if we can get some interkingdom challenges going at practice.
  • If you’re interested in sharp, metal things flying through the air, please come to practice.

Reeve (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

  • Not much new this time! Our current bank account has $7,581.89, but considering checks pending deposit, the balance in our ledger is $7,010.02 as of the end of December. 
  • With the new year comes a new annual budget, which we discussed last meeting, so if you have any questions or if you are an officer that has approved expenditures, please reach out. SCA-rs is now officially retired, we are back to PayPal for pre-Registration, which will be available shortly for Midwinter.
  • The 2022 “Doomsday” report (Q4 fiscal year-end report) is due at the end of this month. If you have any outstanding business with SD, it will pool over into the 2023 report. 
  • Again, please let me know if you have any questions about this process.

Quartermaster (Mistress Isabetta de San Marco) 

  • We have stuff!
  • Will work out a time with Margavati to get things out for Midwinter.

Chatelaine (Lady Ogata Tarō Hiroyuki)

  • I want to draw attention to just one major item of interest – Atlanta Comic-Con is happening on the weekend of February 24th at the Georgia World Congress Center.
  • In between holiday madness, I’ve been talking to the organizer, Croix Provence. She is offering us an exhibition hall at 3.5k sq ft for demos and panels, as many tables and chairs as we need, a breakout room for our volunteers, and space on the con’s promotional material.
  • I cannot understate that she is VERY interested in drawing Scadians and making this as frictionless as possible.
  • This really feels like the holy grail of face-to-face interaction with engaged nerds in the metro Atlanta area
  • However, what sucks is that many of us in the fencing community will not be in town to help make that happen because that weekend is also MCA.
  • So, I’ve reached out to a couple of other officers in the barony as well as some of our neighbors in Tir Briste and Depedale to see who’s available to participate and, most importantly, who’s interested in leading a demo.
  • From where I’m sitting and what I’m looking at, Atlanta Comic-con is looking like a very large, very accessible, and very visible empty box that we can fill with any tournaments, classes, panels, and demonstrations that we want.
  • As far as I understand, Atlanta Comic-con draws a more local crowd than DragonCon. So the vibe seems to be like Conjuration Con or Anachro Con, both of which have been historically key demo opportunities for us. This would be on an even bigger scale.
  • If you are interested in taking the reins on this demo or otherwise helping out, please do reach out to me ASAP
  • Just as a reminder, Atlanta Comic-con is the weekend of February 24th.

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

  • Nothing to report.

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

  • Our Midwinter A&S event is just around the corner. 
  • The Facebook Event page has been updated with a link to pre-register A&S entries. I highly encourage folks to do this as it will help with the setup of the room.
  • As usual we will have tokens, probably large beads, that will be available so the attendees can vote for their favorite entry.
  • There will be sheets/booklets available for each of the entries so that the populace can leave remarks. I’m really hoping that the attendees will take a moment to let the artisans know what they liked about each entry. Positive feedback can be so important for artisans who have put time and energy into a piece.

Provost (Daegam Soong Myeong-Su)

  • I hope that everyone had a great and safe holiday!
  • Class this month will be a virtual Commedia class on January 25th with Master Mathias.
  • We’re looking to start filling the monthly classes for this year, so please reach out to me or Lord Ælfric if you’re interested in teaching.

Chronicler (Baronessa Aelia Bassina)

  • The newsletter, The Read Tower, will be published this month. I’m just waiting on one particular article.
  • That being said, if you have an idea for an article, please email it to the chronicler email address.
  • Tonight is my last night as your Baronial Chronicler. I have resigned to our wonderful seneschal. If you have an interest in what it takes to be the Chronicler, please reach out to Lady Raven. 

Social Media Minister (Lady Isabella Parr & Lady Agnes Halydaye) 

  • Nothing reported

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer (DEI), (Lily of South Downs)

  • I’d love to have suggestions for anything you guys would love to do. I’m a sponge for your suggestions.

Webminister (Lady Zhelana Vovkivna)

  • Created MWAS Webpage

Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)

  • Nothing to report.

Their Excellencies, (Master Wistric Oftun & Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)

  • Not a lot from our end. We are looking forward to Midwinter.
  • Wistric shared the Procedure for Succession of the Baronial Seat. The document is available on the baronial FB page.
    • Vote was approved to adopt. Forwarded to Kingdom Seneschal. 

SCA Business

  • Midwinter A&S status
    • Thank you to everyone for your patience. 
    • We’ve started taking class submissions for Midwinter, contact me or use the Google Form posted to the Barony’s FB page or the Midwinter Event page if you’d like to teach!
    • Justina is looking to get a Paypal link for pre-reg.
    • Piers has agreed to be our set up and tear down guy.
    • I have a bunch of positions already filled, thank you, everyone.
    • Rhi is running the faire. Please go sign up.
    • I’ll post positions that need to be filled on the FB page.
    • Please consider signing up for a troll shift.
    • So far we’ve got a track of Commedia classes with an Iron Commedia session with Master Mathias and a Leather Carving and Tooling class from our own Thedomir (TJ) but are looking for more!
    • There will be no food vendors on site due to restrictions. I have posted information on how to get food.
    • Schedules will be posted as soon as we finalize them. 
  • RUM Business
    • I’m currently working to put together a bid for RUM this year July 15th at the University of West Georgia, hoping to have a bid ready later this month to present to the Barony so that we can meet the bid submission deadline.
    • Please let me know if you’d be willing to help in any way for the event!
  • Post-mortem of Castle Wars
    • Thank you to everyone who helped with CW. We’ve heard so many people say it felt like we’ve finally gotten back to SCA wars.
    • All positions were filled. It was amazing. 
    • We did have one incident, it was an aggressive dog. The dog was removed by the owner. No one was harmed.
    • There was a snafu with the High Table silverware. We need to do a better job of keeping track of that. We need to do inventory. 
      • Who is responsible for setting up the High Table? Unknown who set it up. 
      • It was suggested that the royal liaison be responsible for taking things out of and putting things back into the totes.
      • An event quartermaster?
      • There is an inventory list on each tote when it’s taken out of storage.
    • Justina: One thing I strongly suggest is to have an info point near troll, but not at troll. When troll is busy, it can be too hectic if people are coming up and asking questions about things going on at the event.
      • Maybe have a board for posting updates near troll.
        • Brendan: There are also a lot of people who turn off their phones at events (If I weren’t marshaling, I’d be one of them).  Paper and voice heralds are still a thing.
      • Pocket Herald may be an option as long as there is signal at the event.
    • Myeong Su: If you took classes and want them registered for RUM, just let me know and I can check your entry and add it to the system!
    • This was the first time we used the Boy Scout camp. Their rates have increased from a flat rate to a per person/per day rate. We did not make as much money this time at CW because the cost for the site was about $1k more than it had been in the past.

Non-SCA Business

The business meeting was closed @ 2058.

The next business meeting will be held on 01 February 2023, 1930, via Zoom Meeting.

Meeting Minutes

DECEMBER BARONIAL BUSINESS MEETING

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

06 December 2022, Time: 1930

Notes submitted by Baronessa Aelia Bassina, South Downs Chronicler.

Lady Bú Feiyan called the December meeting to order. Our Seneschal, Lady Raven Helmsplitter, greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. Lady Raven read the Kingdom Anti-Bullying statement.

Officers’ Reports

Seneschal, (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)

  • Discussion of how many in-person meetings we should have in 2023. Each meeting space rental at Doraville Civic Center is $100 (for 2 hr rental). The financial committee recommends keeping our current schedule and revisiting it in June once we better understand our financial situation.
    • 2x/month (current schedule)
    • 3x/month (all except business meetings)
    • 4x/month (as in the before times)
  • SCA business
    • Post-mortem of Castle Wars
    • There has been some interest in submitting a bid for RUM 2023 (14-16 July), which is great as we need to submit a bid for a KLE for 2023.
    • We have reserved Indian Springs State Park for Red Tower 2023 (8-10 September). So if you’re interested in event stewarding Red Tower, you don’t need to find a site.

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)     

  • We have a bunch of people that got awards recently. Unfortunately, my list is still packed up in my Castle Wars stuff because I went back to work. I would like to be very happy about all the people that got awards. 
  • I would like to know what everyone would like to learn about heraldry so I can try to drum up some classes for us.
    • Master Mathias suggested a class on how to make your own personal heraldry and/or voice heraldry class. Or, showing the different ways to display heraldry. 
  • I am still looking for a deputy.

Knight Marshal (Lord Erikr Palsson)

  • We’ve been having a lot of practices. Last practice, we had 3 new people in loaner armor. The time before that we had 2. This month we will not be having practice on Christmas or New Year’s Day.

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

  • No report was provided.

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

  • Sharp pointy things have been flying through the air. The next practice will be held this upcoming Sunday, depending on the weather.
  • Live weapons at Castle Wars went very well. We were able to get a bunch of people qualified for second-class Weapons Master. 

Reeve (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

  • No report was provided.

Quartermaster (Mistress Isabetta de San Marco) 

  • Nothing to report

Chatelaine (Lord Ogata Tarō Hiroyuki)

  • November was absolutely packed for activities
  • We had a ton of newcomers attend Castle Wars!
  • This is mostly an extended thank you to everyone who helped our newcomers feel at home that weekend in November
  • At the moment I’ve lost count of the exact numbers, but I know it was definitely over 8 because that was how many feast kits we gave out. Shout out to Mistress Andriette for providing us with those melamine feast kits for newcomers. And a special shout out to Seong Daegam for being ahead of the curve in that regard and for just being a really well-organized camp lead.
  • In the weeks before Castle Wars, I had been closely monitoring our Gold Key inventory to make sure we had enough cloaks…and then about 7 newcomers came out of the woodwork in the week before.
  • I would like to thank our neighbors in the Shire of Tir Briste for loaning us a surplus of cloaks to ensure our Gold Key was well-stocked for the day. If you see Dikon de Stokke, thank him because he handled that really well at the last minute.
  • I have made a budget request, which was approved and which I used to purchase a small roll of fleece. I’ll use this to make new cloaks and reinforce some of the lighter ones we have on hand, just in case we get slammed by newcomers at next year’s Castle Wars.
  • Interestingly, we had one newcomer from Tir Briste who had been trying unsuccessfully to establish contact with her local group and the kingdom chatelaine. And then her post kind of blew up on an unofficial known worlde discussion page on Facebook. Although we did not meet personally during Castle Wars, rest assured I caught up with her online and she reports that she had a really good time and everyone was nothing but nice to her the whole weekend. She has since been put in contact with her local group and she has the correct email for the kingdom chatelaine.

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

  • I am working on finalizing the date in January. Once I have that, I will post it to our Facebook pages to find out who is available. That is the only demo I am working on right now.
    • Raven made a suggestion to request people from some of our neighboring groups.

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

  • This month at Castle Wars we held the Baronesses Challenge A&S competition. We had a pair of beautiful entries. Both deserved recognition and we awarded prizes to both. The theme of the contest wasn’t really met, but we’ll keep trying until Meridies catches on to the format of the Baronesses Challenge.
  • Midwinter is just around the corner and I’m really excited since this will be the first in-person Midwinter since Covid.  I’m hoping South Downs shows up in a major way for both the A&S competition and the Faire. At Magna Faire this last weekend there was a category for “Anything Tudor” and I’m looking to do the same type of thing. So whichever bid is chosen, I’ll be reaching out ASAP to find out what the theme is so I can start schilling it up. Also, I’d like to encourage folks to teach a class if you’re interested. It’s a great way to share your Art or Science as well as help South Downs shine.

Provost (Daegam Soong Myeong-Su)

  • No classes this month for the holidays! Hope everyone has a great holiday and we’re looking to start taking class sign-ups for next year. Master Mathias has offered a Commedia class for the January class night, so be on the lookout for more details.
  • I’d like to give a shout-out to THLady Isabella Parr for teaching two classes this past weekend at Magna Faire: Tudor History 101 and Gable Hood & Codpieces: Navigating the World of Tudor Fashion! Both were wonderful classes and her first time scheduling classes at an event!
  • If you took classes at Magna Faire and would like RUM credit for them, please let me know! I have a Google Sheet that I’m collecting the info in so I can update the RUM website.
  • Midwinter business:
    • Going to start taking classes for Midwinter soon, so think about what you’d like to teach!

Chronicler (Baronessa Aelia Bassina)

  • Exciting news! The Read Tower will be back for the 4th quarter of this year. Please consider writing an article, even if it’s only a paragraph. Your contributions really do help.  It can be as simple as your most recent event experience, or your favorite memory. As of right now, I have two articles.
  • Please remember to get your officer reports to me prior to the start of the meeting. If you can’t provide it before then, please get them to me as soon as possible. It is often hard to understand everyone in a Zoom meeting, especially being hearing impaired. 

Social Media Minister (Lady Isabella Parr & Lady Agnes Halydaye) 

  • There’s been some renewed interest in having a discord group. I should have that set up shortly. Other than that everything is going well.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer (DEI), (Vidushi Mewadi Margavati Bai & Lily of South Downs)

  • Nothing to report

Webminister (Lady Zhelana Vovkivna)

  • Updated Seong Myeong Su’s page
  • Updated Raven’s page
  • Updated seneschal page links
  • Updated Castle Wars Page
  • Update from HE Piers
    • Distribution lists have been created for events so we no longer need to use personal email addresses.
      • Redtower@meridies.org 
      • MidwinterAS@meridies.org 
      • Castlewars@meridies.org

Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)

  • Castle Wars went well. We didn’t have any kids in the morning. (It was cold and I wouldn’t have wanted to get out of bed either). The adults outnumbered the kids in the afternoon, but we all had a lot of fun anyway.

Their Excellencies, (Master Wistric Oftun & Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)

  • We don’t have much to say. We’ve had a great event season. We’re very excited about how Swift’s Heart has progressed. 

SCA Business

  • Discussion and voting on Midwinter bids – listed in order of receipt:
    • Piers and Aelia
    • Margavati and Sabine (this bid won!)
  • The Castle Wars post-mortum will happen next business meeting
  • If you are interested in doing a demo at the Atlanta Comic-Com, please let Ogata know!
  • Party at Their Excellency’s house for the Baronial Holiday Party.

Non-SCA Business

The business meeting was closed @ 2059.

The next business meeting will be held on 04 January 2023, 1930, via Zoom Meeting.

Meeting Minutes

NOVEMBER BARONIAL BUSINESS MEETING

02 November 2022, Time: 1931

Notes submitted by Baronessa Aelia Bassina, South Downs Chronicler.

Master Mathias Blackett called the November meeting to order. Our Seneschal, Lady Raven Helmsplitter, greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. Raven read the Kingdom Anti-Bullying statement.

Officers Reports

Seneschal, (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)

  • Tentative meeting schedule for November – please keep an eye out on our FB group for the final schedule:
    • November 2 – Business meeting (virtual)
    • November 9 – TBD (virtual)
    • November 16 – TBD (in person); this is also the last meeting before Castle Wars
    • November 23 – Thanksgiving eve, no meeting
    • November 30 – TBD (in person); this is also technically a 5 th Wednesday, so… potluck?
    • Note: we have no in-person meetings scheduled for December, due to everyone’s schedules over the holidays
  • Meeting schedules for 2023 – I will submit my budget and reserve meeting space for 2023 soon. Now that we’re having events (and income), we can consider adding more in-person meetings, noting that each 2hr meeting reservation is $100. Discussion for the populace – should we:
    • Continue with our current schedule (2x/month virtual, 2x/month in person, with the 5th Wednesday’s in-person)
    • Add one more in-person meeting/month (leaving just the business meetings virtual)
    • Change back to the Before Times schedule (all meetings in-person)
  • Red Tower was an excellent event – everyone had a great time and it was good to be back together in person. More details from the stewards later on in the meeting.
  • Castle Wars is coming! The Event Stewards will share their status report later in the meeting.
  • We have secured Indian Springs State Park for Red Tower 2023, with a new date of 8-10 September 2023. Master Ximon and I toured the site last week and were impressed with the facilities there. I will set up a photo album on the baronial FB group so everyone can see the pics I took. 
  • Still looking for bids for Midwinter A&S, scheduled for February 3-6, 2023. If interested, please contact Raven or Their Excellencies.
  • Reminder – As a barony, we are required to submit one KLE (kingdom-level event) bid per year, so we should start looking at something to bid on for 2023. Available bids for 2023 are the following – if you are interested in submitting a bid on any of these, please contact Raven or Their Excellencies:
    • Less than 6 months out, so bids are encouraged ASAP:
      • Spring Coronation (31 March – 2 April 2023)
    • Events 6-12 months out:
      • Spring Crown/A&S (“Artsy Crown,” 26-29 May 2023, Memorial Day weekend); Please note that if no bids are submitted for Spring Crown/A&S, the Kingdom Seneschal may decide to drop the A&S part of the event as Crown Lyst (and Coronation, for that matter) is required to happen. If this happens, then Crown Lyst will be a minimal event.
      • RUM (14-16 July)

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)     

  • No report was provided.

Knight Marshal (Lord Erikr Palsson)

  • No report was provided.

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

  • Preparations are underway for Castle Wars.  Rapier’s schedule is attached.  Communicated with Event Stewards re logistics.
  • Could use volunteers on Thursday of CW to build the castle.
  • I’m out of town until the Wednesday evening before CW, so practices will be handled by Celebrity Guest Stunt Rapier Marshals.  Please be kind to them.

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

  • No report was provided.

Reeve (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

  • As of Oct 31, 2022, South Downs has $6,396.31 in the bank.
  • Vote

Motion vote on the Head table feast gear Myeong Su discussed last month, requesting a $225.10 budget to cover.

  • SCARS

Society is phasing out SCA Reg sys version #1- no new events past Winter Market will be through SCARS while a new system is set up. In the meantime, we will go back to PayPal for online registration

  • Budgets

If baronial purchases are made, the pre-approved budget needs to be adhered to as closely as possible. If it is not feasible to make needed purchases within budget, please consult the event steward or financial committee before making purchases. Unauthorized overages are not obligated to be reimbursed.

  • Annual Budget meeting

This Sunday, the financial planning committee is going to meet to discuss the 2023 baronial budget, if you have any budget requests for baronial expenses, please let me know by the end of this week. We will also be discussing the financial policy, and both should be ready for a baronial vote at the December business meeting

Quartermaster (Mistress Isabetta de San Marco) 

  • We have a new unit and we have stuff.
  • Inventory load up for castle war is Nov. 16th at 4 pm

Chatelaine (Lord Ogata Tarō Hiroyuki)

  • No report was provided.

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

  • No report was provided.

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

  • No report was provided.

Provost (Daegam Soong Myeong-Su)

  • No class nights for November and December for the holidays. Thank you to everyone who has taught this year virtually and in person and kept activities going in the Barony! This a reminder that I will be handing the office over to Lord Aelfric at Midwinter, so please treat him well as your new Provost when the time comes! 
  • If you’re interested in teaching in 2023, we are taking early class sign-ups! Reach out to me or Lord Aelfric and we’ll get you on the schedule.
  • Still taking some classes for Castle Wars, but the slots are filling up. Reach out to me if you’re interested in teaching! I will be closing the form for sign-ups by the end of this week/beginning of next week so we can finalize schedules for the booklet.

Chronicler (Baronessa Aelia Bassina)

  • Exciting news! The Read Tower will be back for the 4th quarter of this year. Please consider writing an article, even if it’s only a paragraph. Your contributions really do help. If If you have something longer, I would love that as well. It can be as simple as your most recent event experience, or your favorite memory.

Social Media Minister (Lady Isabella Parr & Lady Agnes Halydaye) 

  • No report was provided.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer (DEI), (Vidushi Mewadi Margavati Bai & Lily of South Downs)

  • No report was provided.

Webminister (Lady Zhelana Vovkivna)

  • Updated CW page

Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)

  • I’m going to write the schedule for children’s activities this week/weekend and so far it’s going to be Myndee, me, and probably one other person running activities.

Their Excellencies, (Master Wistric Oftun & Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)

  • No report was provided.

SCA Business

Non-SCA Business

The business meeting was closed @ 2107

The next business meeting will be held on 06 December 2022, 1930, Zoom Meeting.

Castle Wars, Meeting Minutes, Red Tower

October Baronial Business Meeting

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

05 October 2022, Time: 1931

Notes submitted by Baronessa Aelia Bassina, South Downs Chronicler.

Master Mathias Blackett called the October meeting to order. Our Seneschal, Lady Raven Helmsplitter, greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. Raven read the Kingdom Anti-Bullying statement.

Officers Reports

Seneschal, (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)

  • Tentative meeting schedule for October – please keep an eye out on our FB group for the final schedule:
    • October 5 – Business meeting (virtual)
    • October 12 – Theodosia Colloquia, hosted by La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri (virtual)
    • October 19 – Scribal night (in person)
    • October 26 – either a  Halloween potluck or A&S class on period gems (in-person)
  • Still looking for bids for Midwinter A&S, scheduled for February 3-6, 2023. If interested, please contact Raven or Their Excellencies
  • Reminder – As a barony, we are required to submit one KLE (kingdom-level event) bid per year, so we should start looking at something to bid on for 2023. Available bids for 2023 are the following – if you are interested in submitting a bid on any of these, please contact Raven or Their Excellencies:
  • Less than 6 months out, so bids are encouraged ASAP:
    • Meridian Challenge of Arms (24-26 February 2023)
    • Events 6-12 months out:
    • Spring Coronation (31 March – 2 April 2023)
    • Spring Crown/A&S (“Artsy Crown,” 26-29 May 2023, Memorial Day weekend)
    • RUM (14-16 July)

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)     

  • Still looking for a deputy. If you’d like to try out Heraldic stuff Castle Wars is coming. We will need lots of voices!

Knight Marshal (Lord Erikr Palsson)

  • Red tower was good, we had three tournaments.
  • Two new fighters got authorized at Red Tower
  • This weekend there will be heavy practice
  • The next weekend we will need someone to step in as I will be at War of the Wings
  • I appreciate all the help people gave at Red Tower.

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

  • Castle Wars!
    • Plans are underway for a Friday night fundraiser tourney and melee games on Saturday
    • The re-boot of our castle is underway.
  • Practices continue, Sunday afternoons and Tuesday evenings.  This leads to…
    • My work is increasing again for the fall season.  I’ll need help making sure that our official SCA practices have adequate marshaling and gear management.  Please contact me if you are willing and able to help cover when my slack butt can’t be there.
    • I am currently expecting to be traveling almost constantly from this coming Monday until Castle War.

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

  • No official practice was held due to Red Tower
  • The new Baronial Archery Champion is Lord Ælfric Hort
  • The next official practice will be held on Sunday 10/23.

Reeve (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

  • Our Current bank balance is $9,617.52
  • We have moved to a new storage location… literally a few units down from our old one, but the cost is $407 instead of $583, so we will be saving a substantial amount. Thanks so much to His Excellency Wistric for securing that for us, and to everyone who was able to help move everything. Thanks to Mark Baron for allowing us to have the previous unit- the old unit is closed and everything is transferred.
  • The financial planning committee will be meeting on November 6th to discuss the 2023 budget and there will be a baronial vote on December 7th. Officers, please submit your 2023 budget before then, and also everyone who may have suggestions or requests for baronial purchases, let me or any of the officers know and we will be sure to discuss it in the November meeting.
  • I want to look into adding a cash advance request form to our current baronial financial paperwork to keep things tidy
  • Next barony meeting, I would like to have a quick review with everyone about budgets and how they function in correspondence with bids and the reimbursement process.
  • Castle Wars SCArs application is in- thanks for your patience as these applications go through for preregistration, they go through a lot of hands to help make things smooth, and you will be able to pre-register soon. If you don’t want to wait, you can mail a check to the barony PO box listed on the event flyer with your reservation names and contact information as well as membership numbers and expirations.
  • Red Tower #s
    • Profit: 620.97
    • 172 in attendance
    • Including 28 newcomers and 18 children

Quartermaster (Mistress Isabetta de San Marco) 

  • We have stuff and it moved!
  • We have new inventory sheets printed and ready for Castle Wars.
  • The measuring wheel is missing from the inventory. If anyone knows where it may be, please let me know. We may need to think about replacement.

Chatelaine (Lord Ogata Tarō Hiroyuki)

  • So we have newcomers!
  • At Red Tower, I met Claire Metzler who had previously contacted us over email. Although I had to run back to the kitchen, I left Claire and her boyfriend in the hands of Duchess Gwen. I caught up with them again recently and (good news!) they both had such a blast that they’ve got Castle Wars on their calendar.
  • Potentially, we’ll see more of Claire and her boyfriend at our weekly meetings once she’s finished up her midterm exams.
  • Additionally, our newcomers are taking on some pretty exciting roles in our community!
  • First, I want to tell you about Lola Eichler’s interest in archery and in teaching. These are two things I’ve always seen her closely associated with, so it was really cool to see her sign up to teach about Mongolian-style archery at Red Tower! Unfortunately, I was in the kitchen all day and Lola had to leave before I could catch up with her. From what I understand, the class went really well and she’s absolutely interested in doing it again sometime!
  • Also, Maryam al-Jawhariyya (MKA Katie Earles) stepped in at the 11th hour to serve up breakfast at Red Tower featuring a stellar bread pudding. And then she was insanely helpful for the rest of the day while I stumbled through my first feast. I can only keep so many plates spinning in the kitchen at once, but she was right there ready for anything I threw at her. Also, she gave me a preview of her historic gemology class on the drive to Red Tower, so y’all are in for a treat when that rolls around.
  • I think Lex technically lives in Bryn Madoc, but we can take credit for her as long as she continues gracing us with her awesomeness! As Lady Una pointed out, Lex put together a program on Chinese culture for the children’s track at Red Tower. Also, she was behind the Chinese Lion Dance performance at Coronation. She and Brecht performed as the Lion with Tryggvi accompanying on percussion.

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

  • Nothing is currently scheduled. Still waiting for a few groups to get back to me. Will update the Barony when that happens.

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

  • Currently not a huge amount going on in my area. Many thanks to Tami and anyone else who helps schedule classes! Y’all ROCK!
  • Gearing up for the first Baroness’s Challenge A&S competition that will be held at Castle Wars. I’ll be reposting my original FB posts about it as well as schilling it up in other posts. I’m really hoping some folks from the Barony will enter.
  • As always please remember to post your A&S work on our Baronial spreadsheet. Those entries help show how talented our Barony populace really is.

Provost (Daegam Soong Myeong-Su)

  • This month’s schedule looks like:
    • Tonight (10/5): virtual business meeting
    • 10/12: virtual – Theodosia Colloquia
    • 10/19: in-person: Scribal Night
    • 10/26: In-person Halloween potluck?
  • We are looking for classes for Castle Wars. Please look for the sign up.

Chronicler (Baronessa Aelia Bassina)

  • Exciting news! The Read Tower will be back for the 4th quarter of this year. Please consider writing an article, even if it’s only a paragraph. Your contributions really do help. If If you have something longer, I would love that as well. It can be as simple as your most recent event experience, or your favorite memory.

Social Media Minister (Lady Isabella Parr & Lady Agnes Halydaye) 

  • Made castle war event page and we still got social media!

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer (DEI), (Vidushi Mewadi Margavati Bai & Lily of South Downs)

Webminister (Lady Zhelana Vovkivna)

  • Updated seneschal to Raven
  • Updated km to Eirikr
  • Updated chatelaine to Ogata
  • Updated RT page
  • Updated Castle Wars Page

Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)

  • Red Tower went great and a shoutout to Lex for putting it all together even though she couldn’t be there. She’s a newcomer and didn’t have to jump in this hard, but she has and it has been wonderful to have her help.

Their Excellencies, (Master Wistric Oftun & Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)

  • Send in award recommendations!
  • We now have 1500 baronial business cards printed and ready for you to distribute to members of the unsuspecting public! Come get some at in-person activities and spread them far and wide
  • Thank you to everyone who made Red Tower awesome. We heard “It’s like the good old days” and “it’s like the SCA is finally back” from so many people and that is a result of the deeds of the people in the barony. Congratulations to our new champions! Heavy – Mairghread Wilson; Rapier – Piers Simmons; Archery – AElfric Hort
  • We were thrilled to see the new populace award given out at feast at Red Tower. Thank you to everybody who participated in the nomination and voting process. Thank you to Raven, Iazzie, and Mairghread for deciphering the vote results. Thank you to Sabine and Red for making the beautiful regalia. Thank you to everybody who participated in the ceremony at feast – it was magical.
  • We’ll be going to Danelaw in style – day shades, banners, and all, to celebrate their Nextellencies of Bryn Madoc. We welcome you all to join us under the day shade and on a retainer shift throughout the day.
  • The baronial succession policy is 11 years out of date and no longer reflects the actual polling process. A draft updated baronial succession policy will be posted to FB and the website for feedback from the populace – please take a minute to review and point out any issues you notice.
  • We are planning to host a baronial holiday party Saturday, December 17th at our house in Clarkston. Stay tuned for more details.
  • Send in award recommendations!

SCA Business

  • Red Tower
    • Thank you to everyone that helped out. Thank you for being a fabulous team. We are back and solid. It was heartwarming to me when I was told it felt like the good ole days
    • Do you have any comments? What worked? What didn’t?
    • Tables and chairs for scribal. Cushions for troll would be greatly appreciated.
    • If more people could help with set-up it would be greatly appreciated.
    • The porta-potty company we had canceled on us two weeks before the event. One of the bathrooms was out of service, so the site covered 2 of the 4 were covered and didn’t have to come out of budget.
    • We would need new walkie-talkies because the ones we had didn’t reach from the hall to the field.
    • Maybe set up a paige program for the older youths to help with running things around the site (messages and such), and then another site runner for someone that could go off-site if needed.
    • Moving more things to the field will help with folks who have a difficult time physically (or time constraints) for the walk back and forth.
    • Having a quiet space in the hall was a good thing. The quiet space was awesome. I didn’t think I’d want it until I wanted it, and it was much appreciated!
    • I seem to remember we had an event once where there was a volunteer lottery at the end, where volunteer time earned you tickets to the lottery, and the prizes were donated by the populace.  Something like that might avoid drama about comping some people and not others, paying out of SCA funds, etc.
  • Castle Wars
    • Eirikr found bronze Roman Coins. We could give each person one when they troll in. That way as people move through time, they start in Rome.
    • Our feast is built that way as well. https://www.facebook.com/events/832349081259578/permalink/847750956386057
    • We are looking for a few people to volunteer as well. 
      • Nasty-crat
      • We need someone to do a fundraiser lunch. If you know anyone willing, please send them to Piers.
    • Piers did talk to SCARs deputy. We are just waiting on the Kingdom to approve it.
    • We can actually be on site the Wednesday before (the 16th). I would like to do the set-up as early as possible on Thursday.
    • More than likely, we will be getting things out of storage on Wednesday.
  • Zimon
    • I had asked about doing a silent auction fundraiser. It would be for the MoB for tournament prizes and to put money back in our coffers. We wanted to have a memorial shield tree for fighters that are no longer with us. I’m gathering stuff for the auction so if you have anything you would like to donate, please let me know. I’m going to start in the next week or so to put something together. 
  • Raven
    • I will post the screenshot about Gulf Wars and post it on the baronial site. The great news is that we will have Gulf Wars at the site in the years coming!

Non-SCA Business

  • Ælfric
    • There is a medieval faire in Brazelton this weekend. I will post a link on the Baronial page.
  • Ogata
    • Recently, Lola had some surgeries lately. She is strapped for cash. If you are able to help, please do so.

The business meeting was closed @ 2107

The next business meeting will be held on 02 November 2022, 1930, Zoom Meeting.

Castle Wars, Meeting Minutes, Midwinter A&S, Red Tower

September Baronial Business Meeting

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

07 September2022, Time: 1931

Notes submitted by Baronessa Aelia Bassina, South Downs Chronicler.

Master Mathias Blackett called the September meeting to order. Our Seneschal, Lady Raven Helmsplitter, greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. Raven read the Kingdom Anti-Bullying statement.

Officers Reports

Seneschal, (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)

  • Nikoslav has received the refunded deposit for our meeting site and is working on getting the check to Justina to deposit into the baronial account
  • I am still working on getting info about the art space site as a potential alternate A&S or project night site
  • The September meeting schedule has been posted to our FB group:
    • Tonight – Baronial Business meeting (virtual)
    • 9/14 – Project night (virtual)
    • 9/21 – A&S night Building scrolls (virtual)
    • 9/28 – Dance night (in person – yay!)
  • We are looking for bids for Midwinter A&S (Saturday, 2/4/2023). Please contact Their Excellencies or the seneschal if interested or if you have questions
  • As a Barony, we are required to submit a bid for one KLE each year. As of now, the following 2023 KLEs have not had any bids submitted:
    • War College (1/27-29/2023)
    • MCA (2/24-26/2023)
    • Spring Coronation (3/31 – 4/2/2023)
    • Artsy Crown (5/26-29/2023 – Memorial Day weekend)

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)     

  • Nothing to report.

Knight Marshal (Lord Erikr Palsson)

  • We won’t be having practice the weekend of Red Tower.
    • Not planning on bringing loaner gear, but I will be bringing authorization paperwork.
  • I will be looking to see if there is interest in a substitute marshal the weekend of MGT, I know our 2 regular knights aren’t attending so one of them may fill in for me.

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

  • Red Tower!  Thanks to Baron Piers for taking on the Rapier Marshal position for RT, and thanks to Master Ximon for helping him out (I understand they are collaborating so both can participate.).
  • Castle Wars!  Plans are underway for a Friday night fundraiser tourney as well as Saturday melee activities.  WooHoo!
  • Practices continue, Sunday afternoons and Tuesday evenings, which leads to…
    • My work is increasing again for the fall season.  I’ll need help making sure that practices have adequate marshaling and gear management.  Please contact me if you would like to help cover when my slack butt can’t be there.

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

  • August practice changed locations due to the site hosts needing to prep for Dragon*con.
  • We held practice at my house in Lawrenceville; we held 2 archery classes, practiced with an atlatl, and recorded 2 TWICs.
  • Additionally, Roís O’Shannon completed the Reaper Challenge, shooting 100 arrows every day for 100 days.
  • Archery at Red Tower is looking like it’s a go.
  • Practice for this month may not happen, stay tuned!

Reeve (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

  • Our bank account as of Sept is $6,761.64
  • Storage has been paid for September but they are raising the price again so next month it is a $583 payment, which is $117 more than last month, making our cost difference from the beginning of the year up by $234 per month.
  • We now have a PO Box:
    • P.O. Box 681863
    • Marietta, GA 30068
  • So moving forward, mailed-in reservations or necessary public addresses can go through there. I’ll be checking it on Fridays

Quartermaster (Mistress Isabetta de San Marco) 

  • Nothing to report.

Chatelaine (Lord Ogata Tarō Hiroyuki)

  • I would like to give a shout-out to our lovely scribes and calligraphers who helped make the August scribal night happen. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there in person, but I’m really happy that our newcomers had a chance to deepen their connection to the scribal arts
  • So, thank you immensely to…Sunneva, Aelia, Myeong Su Daegam, Lorenzo, and Emelina
  • Y’all rock!

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

  • Nothing new currently.  
  • Waiting on a response from AWA to confirm our table still.

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

  • Not much to report this month. 
  • I wanted to thank everyone for filling in the Baronial A&S tracking spreadsheet or sending me the info when the sheet does not behave. 
  • We’re finishing up the details for the first Baroness’s Challenge to be announced at Red Tower and run for the first time at Castle Wars. After it’s announced in Court, I’ll post all the details to the FB page.

Provost (Daegam Soong Myeong-Su)

  • Class this month will be virtual on September 21st at 8:00 PM. It will be Building Scrolls with Hlāford Bran Mydwynter from Atlantia. 
  • Class for October will be a Theodosia Colloquia (Ted Talk) hosted by La Magnifica Justina Di Silvestri. Come out and share your knowledge!
  • Red Tower Notes:
    • The overall schedule is being finalized and will be published soon. We’ve got a lot of great classes, so I hope everyone is excited! Thanks to Lord Aelfric for organizing the classes for Red Tower.
    • Still looking for some spots to fill for various jobs for Red Tower, so if you’re interested, please let me or Isabella know!

Chronicler (Baronessa Aelia Bassina)

  • May have a new deputy, woohoo!
  • Nothing else to report.

Social Media Minister (Lady Isabella Parr & Lady Agnes Halydaye) 

  • Business as usual with Social Media. We have social media, we gain a few friends and got some engagement on posts!
  • For those who love the numbers:
    • Facebook page reached 831 people and 503 engagements. 12 new followers
    • The Facebook group got 2 new members
    • Instagram gained 27 new followers. A lovely boost from our demo at the lag and shout-out on their IG.
    • Twitter remains the same.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer (DEI), (Vidushi Mewadi Margavati Bai & Lily of South Downs)

  • Nothing to report for this month except in that in a month or two when the kingdom office changes over, he will not be able to continue his role. I will be stepping into his role. This means that Lily will be stepping up as the Baronial DEI officer. We’ll make an official announcement when the change happens.
  • Will be looking into quiet space for Red Tower.
  • Lord Red is teaching a DEI class at Red Tower.

Webminister (Lady Zhelana Vovkivna)

  • Nothing to report.

Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)

  • The schedule for Red Tower 2022 has been decided. Myndee (Deputy MoC) and Lex (our guest teacher) are going to be helping me all day. 
  • The classes are going to be:
    • Morning: The Story of the Moon Festival and Intro to Chinese Characters and Basic Paper Lanterns – Pretty and Practical
    • Afternoon: Lion Dance Intro: The Magic of Luck, Lore, and Noise and Knot So Lucky – Intro to Chinese knots
  • We’ve already started purchasing supplies and will send receipts to Justina as soon as we have them all.

Their Excellencies, (Master Wistric Oftun & Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)

  • I don’t have a huge amount of stuff to report. We’ve been busy preparing for Red Tower.
  • Wistric will be joining later, he’s catching up on work.
  • The Order of the Swift’s Heart. Please fill out your ballot. Remember this is a work in progress. We appreciate the enthusiasm. 
    • The very first medallion is being worked, it will be very beautiful!
  • Veronica is our new Baronial Scroll Boss. YAY! I know she’s going to do an amazing job!
  • We are so excited about Red Tower. We’re working hard to keep up with all of you planning this. We need retainers, a link will go out soon. 
  • We might need a helping hand with Carver during court. We would be willing to pay for a camp sitter!
  • The person doing the class this class is my apprentice brother! The most recent scroll he created was a bronze age mirror for someone with that persona and a bass scroll. It was quite cool.
  • Keep on being awesome!

SCA Business

  • Master Mathias
    • For those who remember Wulfstan and Thorkatla’s reign, there were two scoundrels that acted up during their reign. We are looking for people. Please let me know if you are interested in helping out.
  • Lord Ogata Tarō Hiroyuki
    • Vices & Virtue
      • Mistress Veronica was inducted into the Order of the Bough.
      • Lola authorized for rapier
      • Captian Pietro won the Patience & Wrath sword and dagger tournament.
  • Red Tower Notes:
    • Daegam Soong Myeong-Su
      • The overall schedule is being finalized and will be published soon. We’ve got a lot of great classes, so I hope everyone is excited! Thanks to Lord Aelfric for organizing the classes for Red Tower.
      • Still looking for some spots to fill for various jobs for Red Tower, so if you’re interested, please let me or Isabella know!
      • Feastcrat is looking for servers
      • We are still looking for help with Royal Lunch.
      • We need help with setting up and tear down. 
      • I will talk to Margavati about the quiet space
      • If you pre-reg you get a cabin! It’s cabins only, no camping.
      • We have a port-a-potty company
      • Shout out to Mirghred for the traveler’s fare. Shout out to Ogata for the feast. Owl’s Nest will be doing a fundraiser lunch.
  • Castle Wars
    • Baron Piers Simmons
      • We need a pottycrat
      • Our pre-reg will be open soon
      • The roses have contacted me and they would like to do a fundraiser Friday Night Fight. It’s a single-elimination event. With your donation for Breast Cancer, you get a second life.
      • If you have questions, let me know.
    • Seong Myeong Su – Will there be encampments?
      • Yes. We are trying to use a similar map as we did last time.
  • Seong Myeong Su – I made Their Majesties Trimeris coronation garb.

Non-SCA Business

  • None

The business meeting was closed @ 2011

The next business meeting will be held on 05 October 2022, 1930, Zoom Meeting.

Castle Wars, Meeting Minutes, Midwinter A&S, Red Tower

August Baronial Business Meeting

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

03 August 2022, Time: 19

Notes submitted by Baronessa Aelia Bassina, South Downs Chronicler.

Lady Bú called the August meeting to order. Our Seneschal, Lady Raven Helmsplitter, greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. Raven read the Kingdom Anti-Bullying statement.

Officers Reports

Seneschal, (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)

  • In-person meeting space has been secured through the end of November (available dates in December run up against the end-of-year holidays, so we didn’t reserve any dates in December (yet). Stay tuned as we announce the upcoming monthly schedules.
    • The original security deposit for our meeting space is being returned to Nik as he is no longer seneschal. We should have that back in the next 2-4 weeks. We paid a new security deposit when I set myself up as the new contact with Parks & Recreation.
    •  Looking into using the art space next door for potential project night or A&S classes, in addition to our regular meeting space
  • We are looking for bids for Midwinter A&S (Saturday, 4 February 2023). Note: kingdom calendar has the entire weekend reserved for Midwinter, in case a bid wanted to propose a weekend event.
  • Outstanding Kingdom Level Events in 2023 that need bids
    • War College (Jan 27 – 29)
    • MCA (Feb 24-26)
    • Spring Coronation (March 31 – April 2)
    • Artsy Crown (Memorial Day Weekend)

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)     

  • It’s that time to tell me any heraldry stuff you’ve been up to. May, June, and July are covered in this report! Thank you to everyone who has been in touch so far!

Knight Marshal (Lord Erikr Palsson)

  • There will be practice this weekend.

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

  • His Excellency & I have discussed making Tuesday evening practices “official” again starting in August. The website still shows it on the practice schedule, so all that would be left is to start posting about it and making sure that the appropriate marshals are on hand. We’re pretty much ramped up for it on the rapier side of things, and in unofficial get-togethers, we’ve learned some things and developed some questions.
    • The park added electrical service along the side of the field, and we’ve been able to put our own lighting in for safe visibility. Expanding the light kit is not difficult if we need a bigger space.
    • The park doesn’t simply close at 9 pm anymore (We always thought it did). We aren’t limited to a 2-hour block.
    • The plan is to begin (from the rapier side) on August 9 (I’ll be at Pennsic that week, but His Exc will marshal that evening)
    • Is there interest in a Tuesday evening practice on the armored side?  Do we have an available marshal?
  • Red Tower
    • Odds are that I will not be available for Red Tower.  Master Ximon will be our RMiC.  Currently seeking a MoL.
  • Castle Wars
    • I am planning to be the RMiC for CW.  Plans are underway to hold a Rose Tourney on Friday evening (Rapier & Heavy).  Further details to follow.

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

  • Live weapons report (because I’m at Pennsic): practice was able to happen thanks to Ælfric and Roís. We had lots of people at practice. The next LW practice is scheduled for August 28th.
  • While wandering the merchants at Pennsic, I found a used atlatl set for a steal. So we will be able to add atlatl to Live Weapons practice!

Reeve (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

  • Our bank account balance as of July 31, is $9,002.64
  • Expenses in July: $1,503.43
    • Printing for RUM $37.43
    • Deposit for Castle Wars $250
    • Meeting space August-November $750
    • August storage $466.00
  • RUM
    • 101 Preregistrations (not counting 9 comped)
    • 87 at the door
    • 197 total (including comped)
    • We still need to do the final paperwork with expenses, but my math is we have a total income of $1,874.84, and our share is $937.42
  • Requesting motion to baronial vote on a PO Box maintained by the exchequer for the Barony: est  cost $212/yr
    • Passed
  • Red Tower:
    • Online reservation is in the works
    • To secure a weekend spot, an online reservation is strongly encouraged

Quartermaster (Mistress Isabetta de San Marco) 

  • Nothing to report.

Chatelaine (Lord Ogata Tarō Hiroyuki)

  • New wardrobes in Gold Key courtesy of Ælfric Hort and Sabine de Seint Clear
    • Unisex medium Japanese
    • Girls’ small tunics
    • Women’s medium bodices
  • Our demo at the LAG in Underground Atlanta went beautifully! I can let Bu take point on her Demo Deputy report, and I want to drive home how much of an MVP she was through the whole thing

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

  • We had a great demo at LAG ATL. Looking forward to future demos at their events. 
  • Currently looking for someone to take part in a demo at a school in January or February. More updates on upcoming demos soon!
    • May be during the week (school day)

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

  • As always I want to remind everyone to please record A&S activities on our Baronial A&S Spreadsheet. You can find it by clicking the A&S tab (not the dropdowns, just the tab itself). This takes you to the A&S site for the Barony and has a couple of spots to click for the spreadsheet. I will be sending over an edit soon to the Webminister to update the page.
  • Now for the fun! Her Excellency and I are creating a new A&S competition to be held at Baronial events. It will be called “The Baroness’s Challenge”. We will be coming up with ideas for categories that tie into the theme of the event. I’m hoping it will spark some creative fun and of course, there will be prizes.  The official announcement for the competitions will be announced at Red Tower with the first competition to be held at Castle Wars. I’m looking forward to seeing the different kinds of A&S projects the populace of Meridies brings to the competition.
  • Link to Baronial A&S Spreadsheet

Provost (Daegam Soong Myeong-Su)

  • Virtual class night on August 24 will be on Honor with Baron Wistric.
  • Next month, the class will also be virtual on Thursday, Sept. 22 – Building Scrolls by Hlāford Bran Mydwynter from Atlantia.
  • Also, we’re currently seeking classes for Red Tower this year and will soon put out a call for classes at Castle Wars too. Come teach us cool things!

Chronicler (Baronessa Aelia Bassina)

  • Still in need of a deputy. If you know anyone who may be interested, please direct them to me.

Social Media Minister (Lady Isabella Parr & Lady Agnes Halydaye) 

  • We have social media.
  • Created a couple of official events from our page: one for DEI meeting and one for the demo at the LAG.
  • We’ve gained 3 Instagram followers, and 7 new FB group members. We are started to inch our way to 1,000 in that group!

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer (DEI), (Vidushi Mewadi Margavati Bai & Lily of South Downs)

  • No DEI this month due to being booked up and Pennsic.
  • Next month will be about Feast accessibility or Middle Eastern Calligraphy

Webminister (Lady Zhelana Vovkivna)

  • Created Castle Wars Website

Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)

  • Nothing to report

Their Excellencies, (Master Wistric Oftun & Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)

  • Thank you to everybody who helped make RUM a huge success! We’re looking forward to Red Tower next month and if you can contribute with setup or takedown for the event or a troll shift, please do so.
  • Drix, of Calontir Trim, has designed some custom trim for South Downs and is soliciting pre-orders. It is verrrrrah nice. (see pictures)
    • He needs pre-orders of at least 300 yards to make it happen, and we are currently up to 225 yards of pre-orders. The price is $3/yd – or $2.50 if we get to 500 yards worth of pre-orders. 
    • There’s a post on the baronial Facebook group which I bumped (link is: https://www.facebook.com/groups/baronyofsouthdowns/posts/5114757841891368/ ) where you should go comment how many yards you’d like.
    • Her Excellency and I have pre-ordered some for use as favors and/or to mark loaner garb (including belts), but the barony may want to order some as well.
  • We’re in need of new business cards to hand out at demos, fighter practices, and wherever else we may encounter potential recruits. I posted the designs for the new cards in the baronial fb group. 
    • The idea is to print 1,000 of general use, and 500 for officers.
    • The current design is ready to go in VistaPrint, and will cost approximately $125 with shipping, handling, and taxes. I may be able to get the cards printed by Office Depot or Staples for as little as $80, I’m still looking into how good I can get them looking from those services. I’m requesting baronial approval to spend up to $130.
      • Passed
  • We have been gifted his collection of books from 30+ years. I will be bringing them to the in-person meeting on the 17th. They are free to a good home.
  • Swift’s Heart announcement: 

SCA Business

  • Red Tower – Isabella & Myeong Su
    • SCARs and Pre-reg should be up by the end of the week. If you want a cabin with your friends, everyone should pre-reg together so you can be grouped together.
      • No tent camping on site
    • We are still looking for people to do foodstuff: breakfast, travelers fare, and royal luncheon.
    • We need another List Master. If you are interested, please let me know.
    • We will also need a field steward.
    • We are still accepting prizes for the gift baskets. At court, you will have a chance to will cool prizes.
    • We will also be having a silent auction. Please donate so we can raise funds for the baronial storage unit.
    • We need more merchants for Red Tower.
  • Castle Wars – Piers
    • We have a couple of jobs open: Dep Merchantcrat (great opportunity to learn something new) and we also need a Pottycrat.
    • It will be called “Castle Wars: Battle Across Time”
    • No breakfast or traveler’s fare, only feast
  • Scroll Boss – Aelia
    • The baronial scroll cases are getting rather thin. If you would like to contribute, we would love to have you. If you have any questions, please let me know.
    • The in-person event for the barony on August 17th will be a scriptorium. So please come out and play with paints!

Non-SCA Business

  • None

The business meeting was closed @ 2042

The next business meeting will be held on 08 September 2022, 1930, Zoom Meeting.

Meeting Minutes

June Baronial Business Meeting

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

01 June 2022, Time: 1932

Notes submitted by Lady Raven Helmsplitter, stunt South Downs Chronicler.

Master Mattias called the May meeting to order. Our Seneschal, Master Nikoslav Mikolaevich, greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. Nikoslav read the Kingdom Anti-Bullying statement.

Officers Reports

Seneschal, (Master Nikoslav Mikolaevich)

  • If anyone has not seen it, he posted the info about the meeting space and schedule options
  • After talking with the officers, we’re looking at adjusting the in-person schedule to maximize time together and minimize costs.
  • Multiple options are shared online, all at the previous Doraville location
  • Doraville – not that much different in cost compared to other locations, and the contract is easier (other places need a new contract for each meeting)
  • Mathias said he’s a fan of having the business meetings online (because he loves Justina’s pie charts). Makes it easier for everyone to attend, even if they’re working or out of town
  • Online accessibility options are another advantage
  • Perhaps we can do dinner after project night instead of business meetings, to maintain community (Yeoung Su)
  • Emelina is really excited about having project nights in person – it can be difficult to work on projects while trying to participate online
  • Señor No commented that ongoing Zoom meetings outside of work is discouraging. Nik replied that this can always be revisited once we start getting $$ in after Red Tower/CW
  • Yeong Su mentioned that it’s been really hard to find suitable locations that are cheaper
  • Nik said that next Wednesday is potentially open in Doraville – we could start with the Option 3 schedule beginning 6/8. He’ll check with Doraville this week and see how far in advance we can schedule our meetings there.
  • Storage unit search is ongoing. Nik is checking out every public storage space in metro Atlanta. Justina said the current price is $466/month (?). Staying with Public Storage is good because we can pay at any location. Looking for a 20×20. We either need to move or get the price sorted out by the end of June – price increases in July. The budget has already been approved
  • Castle Wars bids – Nik posted on the FB page. No site yet, no theme yet, so completely open.

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)     

Knight Marshal (Lady Mairghread Wilson) who 

  • Nothing new (new Knight marshal)

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

  • Thanks to Master Wistric and Master Ximon for covering practices while I’ve been away on business trips.
  • We have a couple of new fencers that I’ve barely had a moment to meet.  Perhaps Ld. Ogata can make those intros for us.
  • Ogata and Pietro seem well on their way to getting marshal’s warrants, which will help make South Downs Rapier more accessible.  Huzzah!

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

  • Last month’s practice went well – 20 people showed up
  • Agnes qualified for 
  • Donated arrows for youth archery
  • One more person qualified for 
  • One more person qualified for axes and spears
  • The next practice held on 6/19 – yes, it’s father’s day but that’s the date that’s available
  • Roice (sp?) is going to work on youth archery, which is really needed in this kingdom

Reeve (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

  • The RT deposit check was lost, but Isabella was able to secure the reservation and she was reimbursed for the $675. The remainder will be due at the event.
  • The site fee has an additional $100 in admin fees and taxes, bringing the total to $1350, and the barony will vote to approve. Populace approved.
  • The original check has had a stop payment placed, the fee for that is $36. The Financial Committee has approved this expense and as it is under $50 does not need a populace vote at this time.
  • New checks have been ordered, the cost is $112.35, previously approved in the reeve annual budget.
  • June was the last month of the cost increase for storage, so storage fees increase to $466/mo starting in July

Quartermaster (Mistress Isabetta de San Marco) 

  • Nothing new
  • We have stuff
  • Trying to find a new place to store our stuff – the best deal she can find so far is a 10×30 for more $$ than what we’ve got currently

Chatelaine (Lord Ogata Tarō Hiroyuki)

  • I’ve also completed a Gold Key Donation intake document in the form of a Google survey and I’ll be getting in touch with our web minister to have that added to the Chatelaine page
  • Also uhhhhhh, we have more newcomers than I ever expected
  • Lola, Giovanna MKA Armena, Maryam MKA Kaity, Sein, and Red, and Laura McWhorter had a pretty solid time at ArtSci Crown. I could say that I had an enjoyable weekend, which could be the end of the report.
  • However, at different times this past weekend, our newcomers approached me in confidence to tell me how they were personally affected by casual discrimination and bigotry.

I don’t think we’re going to solve systemic bigotry once and for all in a single zoom meeting. What I would like to do right now is repeat some advice that Kehinde had during their class on Diversity Equity and Inclusion in the SCA.

Most of us don’t have bystander intervention training.

If someone approaches you to talk about a time they had to deal with bigotry, or even if they’re being targeted that way right in front of you, the best thing you can do is check in with them as a first reaction. Offer to get them out of the situation if that makes sense, listen to them sincerely, and trust them to tell you what they need at that moment.

I know the first reaction for some of us is to step in with dramatic, romantic gestures and promises about how we will act on their behalf. On some level that makes sense, a lot of us have this image of a knight as someone who steps in to defend the weak and take on any challenge no matter how great, and… you get the idea.

But that’s just one example of knightly behavior.

Instead, I think we could all stand to practice grace by asking our friends what they would prefer to have happen to resolve what they’re going through.

Also like, I know we’re getting a lot of newcomers and it may be hard to tell who is who.

What I would offer as a solution is some solid advice that was already offered by one of our newcomers.

Rather than asking “Hey are you this person?” try introducing yourself and then asking their name. Or, if they’ve already told you and you’ve forgotten, you can even try “Would you mind telling me your name again?” I guarantee, that someone will be way more forgiving of forgetfulness than casual discrimination.

Even if you’re 100% sure and you’re confident that they are who you think they are, the worst case scenario is you’re wrong and now somebody has been reduced to a category rather than being seen as an individual.

  • I hate the idea of ending this with something like “we can do better” and I would prefer to say something more concrete.
  • However, in the interest of time, I’m going to end it there by saying I trust y’all.

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

  • Nil sent Bú and Ogata an email about a potential demo at a school
  • Holy Spirit prep 7th-grade history teacher looking for fighters and C&I in Dec/January. More info to follow

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

  • No report

Provost (Daegam Soong Myeong-Su)

  • Class this month will be virtual and is How to Read Music by Noble Cellach ingen Oengusa. They will be moving to Boston, so they can only teach virtually this month. It is currently set for June 22, but I plan on talking to them in case the meeting schedule will shift things around. If we start with in-person this month, we’ll need to reschedule the June class since it will need to be done virtually. So – if you have an in-person class you’d like to teach, talk to Myeong-Su
  • Switching hats from South Downs Provost to Dean for RUM – Get your classes submitted for RUM by June 15th! We’re hoping to have a virtual track so you can teach even if you’re not going to be able to make it to the event. Use this form to submit your classes.

Chronicler (Baronessa Aelia Bassina)

  • Still in need of a deputy. If you know anyone who may be interested, please direct them to me.

Social Media Minister (Lady Isabella Parr & Lady Agnes Halydaye) 

  • Isabella says we have social media, nothing else to report

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer (DEI), (Vidushi Mewadi Margavati Bai & Lily of South Downs)

  • Thanks to Ogata for his comments/advice about casual bigotry
  • Thanks also to everyone who was supportive and to Lily who spoke up when the situation needed 
  • Might be a good time to revisit our class on microaggressions and unconscious bias – often people are not trying to be malicious, they just need guidance
  • Moving DEI classes to every other month will definitely make it easier to prepare/plan and advertise classes
  • Working with kingdom to develop reporting processes
  • Thanked everyone in the group for the work y’all are doing. Despite things we’re still working through as a kingdom, we worked really hard to be welcoming and inclusive

Webminister (Lady Zhelana Vovkivna)

  • Added chatelaine (demos) to help wanted page.
  • Zhelana is also looking for a deputy

Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)

  • Nothing to report

Their Excellencies, (Master Wistric Oftun & Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)

  • Sunneva shared Wistric’s notes which she then attempted to decipher
  • We’re doing RUM, which means Baronial Court, which means they need recommendations. Recommendation forms are online, but if you find it intimidating, just text their Excellencies. They want to know!
  • Since we’re ramping up in-person events, we’re looking for retainers/courtiers. Hang out with TE in shifts, help out, etc. Great job for newcomers, very low-key gig (other than for feast or court).
  • Looking forward to meeting everyone in person again 🙂 we miss that!
  • Let’s continue the lovefest!
  • And say hello to newcomers!

SCA Business

  • Red Tower
    • Isabella – need volunteers – many hands make light work
      • Merchantcrat
      • Event Steward
      • Nastycrat
      • Fundraiser lunch (Mattias mentioned that Excelsior would likely love to do this)
    • Going to do a passport – get stamps for taking part in activities, raffle basket giveaway at court. Need donations for raffle basket
    • Margavati asked about whether we’re still doing pavilions – maybe not? But we’re looking at a pavilion for an SCA swap in addition to the merchants
    • The Grand Bazaar is the event theme. Mattias discussed ideas for LW targets that would reflect the theme and not be cliche
  •  RUM
    • Isabetta is still looking for 2 people to be runners – need a person on each floor that teachers can access for help
    • Looking for a royal liaison
    • Looking for someone to do a royal lunch
    • Troll volunteers also
    • Interested? Text her on FB

Non-SCA Business

  • none

The business meeting was closed @ 2022

The next business meeting will be held on 06 July 2022, 1930, Zoom Meeting.

Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

April 2022 Baronial Business Meeting

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

06 April 2022, Time: 1930

Notes submitted by Signora Aelia Bassina, South Downs Chronicler.

Master Mathias Blackett called the April meeting to order. Our Seneschal, Master Nikoslav Mikolaevich, greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. Nikoslav read the Kingdom Anti-Bullying statement.

Officers Reports

Seneschal, (Master Nikoslav Mikolaevich)

  • Raven announced as Deputy Seneschal
  • Call for Red Tower Bids, 5 months out from the event. Last call for bids before per policy Baronials will make a bid. In 4 months their bid will be accepted if we don’t get a different one.
  • Discuss and vote on RUM Bid
    • Unknown if RUM would be handling teachers’ gifts or for South Downs. Typically handled by RUM deans.

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)     

  • Please check our website to make sure that all of your Awards are reflected. 
  • Still looking for a deputy

Knight Marshal (Lady Mairghread Wilson)

  • Mask & contact tracing has been dropped for now.  Vax checks are still required for GA, however.  Please be flexible as COVID rates may change and procedures may be put back into place.   Please be respectful of others’ choices if they choose to wear a mask or social distance.
  • Deputy KM now has loaner gear and will take over the office around 15 May 2022 with the new heavy reporting cycle.  My warrant is good until July, and I will be available to assist with transitioning if needed.
  • Upcoming practice considerations: This time of year practice is weather permitting; be aware last-minute cancellations may happen.   
    • 4/3/2022 – NO Practice (Coronation)
    • 4/10/2022 – NO Practice (Fool’s War)
    • 4/17/2022 – NO Practice (Easter)
    • 4/24/2022 – NO Practice (Lemonade Days at the Park) or look at an alternate location (Blackburn)? 
    • 5/1/2022 – Practice
    • 5/8/2022 – Depends on interest level (Mother’s Day)
    • 5/15/2022 – Practice
    • 5/22/2022 – Practice
    • 5/29/2022 – NO Practice (Artsty-Crown)

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

  • Practices have been sporadic of late, primarily due to event activity (Hooray for the return of in-person events!)
  • My work schedule will make my ability to attend scheduled practices uncertain for the next few months.  Any warranted rapier marshals who are able to help as celebrity guest rapier marshals for our practice, please contact me.  We will need your help.
  • Also, no warrant is required, but it would be much appreciated if someone could coordinate our loaner rapier gear over the next few months as well.
  • The search for a deputy/replacement for my position continues.

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

  • The next practice will be held on Sunday, April 24th.
  • Ælfric is having his marshal tournament this weekend at Fool’s War, so we should be up to 4 warranted LW marshals in the barony after that.
  • For those interested, I will be looking for a new MIT once Ælfric is a full-fledged marshal.

Reeve (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

  • We have $9,093.86 in the bank
  • March expenses were the storage space- still looking for a new storage site as the rate will go up in 2 months and thrown weapons supplies.  Arrows, axes, and knives from the Live Weapons budget totaled $191.48. The remaining approved budget for Live Weapons is $108.52
  • Q1 2022 is due at the end of this month. I will be following up with folks on any outstanding business as I am moving all digital records to the kingdom Exchequer Drive.
  • I am looking for a deputy! If you find office management and spreadsheets fun, this is a really satisfying office to hold and an important one to the Barony! If you have any questions please let me know.
  • A reminder, there is a new process for reimbursement. If you have NEW barony purchases to request, please fill out a Purchase Request Form. If you have receipts for already approved purchases (such as budgeted expenses and approved bid event expenses- NO personal purchases may be on a receipt!), please fill out a Check Request Form. I am happy to help with these forms if needed. These forms are very helpful with record keeping and financial transparency.  

Quartermaster (THL Isabetta de San Marco) 

  • We have stuff still, it hasn’t been touched.
  • I will also start looking at storage units. I will look around Atlanta. If you have any near you, please let me know.

Chatelaine (Lord Ogata Tarō Hiroyuki)

  • The number of chatelaine things happening has ramped up /significantly/.
  • If you all remember Lisa Rogers from Coronation, it was her first event. I was fencing for most of the day, but I caught up with her during the Rose Ball and afterward on the ride home and I’m pleased to report that she enjoyed herself!
  • Yesterday I got confirmation that we have two newcomers attending Fools War this weekend. So everybody I’d like to introduce you to Lola and Johann.
  • Lola and I are getting to the site together on Friday. Johann will be arriving on Friday as well, probably later.
  • My plan is to do some site touring with these two before fencing starts up on Friday, then help get camps set up before Friday Night Fights. If you’re unfamiliar, Friday Night Fights is basically the WWE of combat sports in the SCA.
  • Interestingly, we received an email from another prospective newcomer Devin Roark. They’re very interested in attending some of our upcoming meetings and in-person events. Right now our contact has been limited to an email thread, but I’ve suggested they get set up with a Facebook account to keep up with the Barony and Kingdom pages as well as news on events.
  • Additionally, I’ve got a little update on the Gold Key. Since the last meeting, Nikon has generously laundered and packed up everything he had been storing at his house and moved it to Majda and Justina’s house. This is not Gold Key’s final resting place, just a temporary location while we settle on a date to get it cataloged and stored more appropriately.
  • Nikon was able to get everything laundered and packed up, it’s currently residing at Majda and Justina’s house.
  • I’m heading over there tomorrow to get things for Lola and Johann. Majda and I are also settling on a day to get everything cataloged and photographed.

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

  • I am working on setting up demos. 
  • Currently, in the process of making a list of all of the places we would like to have demos. Please feel free to contact me if you have suggestions. 
  • Also, let me know if you’d like to be part of the demo team.

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

  • Please enter your A&S activities into our tracker. A link will be posted on Barony’s FB page.

Provost (Daegam Soong Myeong-Su)

  • Class this month will be Old English Pronunciation Basics by Lord Ælfric Hort.
  • I’d like to say thank you to Magnifica Justina di Silvestri for hosting the Theodosia Colloquia last month because it has helped fill our class schedule out to August!
  • We’ve got lots of interesting classes coming up. If you’ve got a class that you want to teach, please let me know! We’ve got a few slots still available and would be happy to have you teach!

Chronicler (Baronessa Aelia Bassina)

  • Still in need of a deputy. If you know anyone who may be interested, please direct them to me.

Social Media Minister (Lady Isabella Parr & Lady Agnes Halydaye) 

  • Nothing to report. We have social media.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer (DEI), (Vidushi Mewadi Margavati Bai & Lily of South Downs)

  • DEI class this month is DEI and the SCA (Applying Corporate DEI to the SCA), taught by Omokehindegbegbon Ayoka of the Opo, called Kehinde

Webminister (Lady Zhelana Vovkivna)

  • Corrected spelling of chatelaine deputy email
  • Added all awards from MCA
  • Changed Isabetta’s title
  • Changed LW officer
  • Linked to updated forms on reeve page

Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)

  • Nothing new to report.

Their Excellencies, (Master Wistric Oftun & Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)

  • We are sorry we can’t join you all tonight.
  • Congratulations to all who were recognized at Gulf Wars and Coronation – this barony and her members continue to shine. Another great achievement was Mariana’s feast at Coronation, which is being praised far and wide. 
  • We’ll see you at Fools War, where we will have the Baronial day shade set up. 
  • Thank you all, as always.

SCA Business

  • Mairghread
    • It has been brought to my attention that I am trying to sabotage Isabetta’s event bid. I would like to set the record straight, I think she is doing an amazing job at autocrating.
  • Ogata
    • If anyone needs Gold Key, please tell me before 2pm tomorrow (04/07/2022). If you don’t, I can’t promise it will be at Fool’s War. 
  • Justina
    • Thank you to everyone that helped with my elevation.

The business meeting was closed @ 2003.

The next business meeting will be held on 04 May 2022, 1930, Zoom Meeting.

Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

March 2022 Baronial Business Meeting

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

02 March 2022, Time: 1930

Notes submitted by Signora Aelia Bassina, South Downs Chronicler.

Master Mathias Blackett called the March meeting to order. Our Seneschal, Master Nikoslav Mikolaevich, greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. Nikoslav read the Kingdom Anti-Bullying statement.

Officers Reports

Seneschal, (Master Nikoslav Mikolaevich)

  • Reminder for call for Red Tower Bids
  • Reminder for call for RUM bids
  • No other announcements or updates

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)     

  • Nothing to report

Knight Marshal (Lady Mairghread Wilson)

  • CDC dropped mask requirement for fully vaxxed.  However, we will continue with mask mandate at practice until further guidance from Kingdom Seneschal is received.
  • Deputy KM now has loaner gear and will take over the office around July-ish.
  • Upcoming practice considerations:
    • This time of year practice is weather permitting; be aware last-minute cancellations may happen.  Vaccination cards or negative COVID tests, and contact tracing info is still required.  Please be respectful of others and maintain social distance.
      • 03/06/2022 – Practice
      • 03/13/2022 – Practice depends on Marshal coverage (Gulf Wars)
      • 03/20/2022 – Practice depends on Marshal coverage (Gulf Wars)
      • 03/27/2022 – Practice

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

  • February saw only a couple of rapier practices with sparse attendance, but there we were.
  • Loaner gear will now be available for Sunday practices, but please try to request it in advance.  Come on out and join us!
  • Tuesday evening practices are still TBD, as work is doing “work” things to my life.
  • Where else were we?  Some of us went to a Rapier and Saber Pedagogy retreat, learning to be better teachers.  Some of us went to Meridian Challenge of Arms, (see the pictures taken by HE Emelina).
  • Where else are we going?  Gulf Wars is coming.
  • From the desk of the Kingdom Rapier Marshal. Also, they are not allowing authorizations at Gulf Wars.

Gulf Wars is coming up very soon. Please check that your authorization card is up to date.  If your card is expired you will need to do a reauthorization. 

If a new card is needed before Gulf Wars, please opt to send your reauthorization paperwork to the email listed on the auth form. This will guarantee there is not a mail delay. 

If you have previously sent in an authorization form and have not received a card. please send a copy of your original paperwork to rapier@meridies.org and rapier.auth@meridies.org

Master Nikoslav

Deputy Earl Marshal – Rapier

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

  • Practices have started back up again. 
    • The next practice is set for this Sunday, March 6th so we can get one last practice in before Gulf Wars.
  • Loaner arrows are still en route, but the supplier is located in Ukraine. I will give them until April to update the tracking information before I contact them, international incidents permitting.
  • Royal rounds will commence this Sunday (March 6th), and hopefully, we will be able to have Ælfric run his marshal tourney at either Fool’s War or April’s Baronial practice.

Reeve (La Onesta Signore Justina di Silvestri)

  • Bank statement as the end of Feb 2022: $9,811.86
  • Last month we established our annual budget for the rest of 2022, you can find copies of that in the FB group files as well as the purchase request form if you have new baronial purchase requests, and the check request form if you have a receipt for an approved purchase. If you have any questions or need guidance navigating these forms, I’m always happy to help you out.
  • I want to be fully transparent about where this budgeted money is, so here are our expenses so far: 

  • We got an email from Public storage that the cost is going up from $349/mo to $466/mo.
    • This would be an additional $117/ mo and will cost us an additional $936 for the rest of the year
    • And bumps the cost of storage from $4,188 to $5,592/yr provided it doesn’t go up again. This is an additional $1,404 per year.
    • So we may want to consider our options. I called the storage office and the manager said they only do month to month but she applied the credit to our account for 3 months so the rate won’t increase yet and that gives us a little more time.
  • Lastly, I am looking for a deputy- if you like spreadsheets and organizing office things, this job is a lot of fun! Let me know if you have any questions, or if you are interested.

Quartermaster (THL Isabetta de San Marco) 

  • We have stuff.
  • Nothing was used at MCA.
  • Nothing new to report.
  • I will start pricing other storage options outside the perimeter. Hopefully, we can find something less expensive than what we are currently paying. 

Chatelaine (Lord Ogata Tarō Hiroyuki)

  •  Chatelaine things are happening.
  • I haven’t been available to see my friends, Viridia and Kayd, for classical saber practice. For lack of that, I’ve kept myself busy in other ways.
  • Nikon just got his floor installed, and we’ll be coordinating soon to get Gold Key cataloged so we know what we have and what state it’s in.
  • Also, as something Gold Key adjacent…
    • I’ve been putting some work into an idea that Margavati floated a while back, in which we develop guides for super simple extra-European garb.
    • The crux of the project is to “Make a really easy to follow set of guides for newcomers (and anybody, really) on how to make accessible garb, and give people options for cultures and time periods beyond a basic t-tunic”.
    • Credit goes to Margavati for that specific description.
    • Sometime tomorrow I’ll be releasing a guide on “Rolling Your Own Fabric Bolts for Rectangular Construction.” I chose to start there because having a bolt full of narrow lengths of fabric was a great way for me to expedite Japanese garb.

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

  • Nothing to report.

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

  • Our 1st quarter report went in. Let’s keep our tracking sheet going! As you enter your info in our A&S sheet please make sure you are entering your work on the Q2 tab.
  • 100 Days of Art/Sci challenge is up and running. Please drop in and add your voice to the challenge. Call out challenges to other folks to get them involved.
  • Gulf Wars! Lots of classes! I’d really like to encourage those who are attending to take a class or two and to consider taking one outside your normal interests. Be brave and try something new!
  • It’s not too soon to plan your entry for the Kingdom Arts & Sciences competition this May. For those who entered previously and received feedback from the judges please consider following the advice and re-enter your piece a final time. Judges love to see when their advice has been followed and it has improved an entry.

Provost (Daegam Soong Myeong-Su)

  • Class for this month will be a Theodosia Colloquia helped by La Onestra Signora Justina di Silvestri, which is a roundtable presentation where people do a short talk on a topic that they’re interested in or just learned about! It’s a very fun show-and-tell format that is sure to have some fun topics.
  • Classes are open for the rest of the year, so if you have a class that you’d like to teach for the Barony, please reach out to me or Lord Ælfric and we’ll get you on the schedule.
  • For the rest of the year, we need classes! If you’re interested, please let me know.

Chronicler (Signora Aelia Bassina)

  • I have had an inquiry as to being the Deputy Chronicler. However, I need to wait for approval from the Kingdom Schenishal and Kingdom Chronicler.
  • Nothing else to report.

Social Media Minister (Lady Isabella Parr & Lady Agnes Halydaye) 

  • We have social media accounts! 
  • We’ve had a slight uptick in spam posts so deleted those hopefully no one even noticed
  • Also went thru our member list in our group and deleted any obvious spam accounts. Even with the cull the FB Group still managed to grow by 2 this month. Insta grew by 6 and Twitter stayed the same. 
  • Worked with Owl’s Nest this month- they’re having a social for newcomers /fighters practice this weekend. Gonna share it on our socials tonight or tomorrow because it’s super close to us and if you know any newbies that are too shy for the event, this is a great way to dip their toes in!

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer (DEI), (Vidushi Mewadi Margavati Bai & Lily of South Downs)

  • Mental health check-in for DEI this month!

Webminister (Lady Zhelana Vovkivna)

  • Updated A&S Minister
  • All awards from MWAS
  • All awards from MCA
  • Corrected spelling of chatelaine deputy email
  • I am looking for a deputy!

Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)

  • Nothing new to report.

Their Excellencies, (Master Wistric Oftun & Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)

  • We want to thank everyone who made it to Midwinter, everyone who made it happen, and everyone who took classes. Also, thank you all for behaving!
  • We have a lot of officers who need deputies. Please take this opportunity to step up. The officer positions are designed to be doable. 
  • In general, continue to be awesome!

SCA Business

  • Margavati – if you are a young person and are looking for experience in both the SCA and real life, the Seneschal is a great place to start. 
  • Iazzie – with the recent change with the CDC and the drop in numbers, is there a plan to go back to an in-person meeting?
    • Nikoslav – from the last meeting, we are going to be looking at the previous place we were using and looking at other options. We were thinking of maybe being able to meet in person again in June/July (Summer). There are a number of places that have their own rules in regards to gathering. We also need to look at the cost of the location. This could be complicated with the increase in the cost of the storage area.
  • Kal – I just want to promote the Meridian Social at Gulf War. We may or may not have light-up Viking hats. 
  • Agnes – Is there a chance that in-person won’t resume?
    • Nikoslav – there may be options for zoom to continue for things like classes. It may be cheaper.
    • Wistric – My take on it is we will have an option for virtual even for the in-person meetings.

The business meeting was closed @ 2010.

The next business meeting will be held on 06 April 2022, 1930, Zoom Meeting.

Medieval Recreation in Atlanta, GA