December Baronial Business Minutes - Barony of South Downs

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

2 December 2015, 7:30pm

Decatur Recreation Center

Notes submitted by Lady Raven Helmsplitter (mka Helena Bretherton Hay), South Downs Chronicler

Lord Bjorn Gullharr called the meeting to order.

Officer Reports

Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)
- Nothing to report
A+S (Lady Tryggva Ingvarrsdóttir)
- The classes that were offered at Castle Wars were awesome!
- Please contact Tryggva if you’re interested in teaching a class at a future event
  - Mid-winter A+S
  - Kingdom A+S @ Artsy Crown
  - Regional events
- There is no class lined up for December; however, there will be a 5th Wednesday in-garb social and potluck (New Year’s Edition) on 30 December
Rapier Marshal (Lord Brendan de Hay)
- Lots of rapier at Castle Wars
  - 45 fencers
  - Master Wistric was elevated to the Order of Defence
    - He fought +40 fencers for his prize fight, was killed cleanly by only one person
- Practices are happening regularly on Sunday afternoons and Tuesday evenings, thanks to all the other fencers who step up to cover when Brendan has a work conflict
- Magna Faire – the Chivalry is sponsoring a Sword + Buckler tournament for the rapier fighters, all are encouraged to take part
- We have a lead on an indoor practice site for the winter, at the Horizons School in Atlanta
  - They are open to negotiations on price “make us an offer”
  - Would the Barony be open to providing funds for the site, depending on how negotiations go?
Knight Marshal (Master Ximon Martillo de Córdoba)
- We have a new knight marshal, Captain Jean-Michel d’Aix en Provence
- Due to Jean-Michel’s weekly work schedule, it is likely that Ximon will continue to submit reports at the business meeting
Reeve (Lady Maire Dhocair Inghean Chiarain)
- Not much to report
- Castle Wars financial report – looks like we made $4,400 on the event (and the populace rejoiced)
Herald (Lord Bjorn Gullharr)
- Stefan says hello!
- Names and devices
  - Pietro di Conti – Name passed; device returned and re-resubmitted
- Court reports
  - Castle Wars – Baronial Court
    - Alisandre Ysabeua de la Chapelle – Tower Or
    - Serafina Alamanni – Tower Argent
    - Isobel Nugent – Tower Or
    - Brendan de Hay – Tower Gules
    - Raven Helmsplitter – Tower Gules
  - Castle Wars – Royal Court
    - Veronica da Lucca – Meridian Cross
    - Sefa Mjoksiglandi – Meridian Cross
    - Mara Palmer – Grant of Arms
    - Mathias Blackett – Grant of Arms
    - Emelina le Norreys – Meridian Cross
    - Wistric Oftun – Order of Defense
Chatelaine (vacant)
- No longer vacant! Stella di Silvestri will be the new chatelaine
Their Excellencies
- Halllooooo!!!

SCA Business

Event Reports
- Castle Wars – Ximon reports on behalf of Isobel
  - Total onsite attendance – 610
  - Wistric’s elevation was impressive, and his garb for the ceremony was a m a z i n g
  - Nothing but compliments on the event
  - A+S, merchanting went smoothly
  - Volunteers were well-appreciated
    - Sebastiannos and Brendan were congratulated on the work they did for martial activities
    - Morgan Griffin for finding the ridge pole for the baronial pavilion
  - Post-mortem
    - Need to adjust portajohn cleaning schedule
      - Also – more portajohns, revisit locations
    - Car fee will go up to $5/day/car, only will affect daytrippers
    - The large field we use is $100 in addition to the park site rental
    - Problems with mundanes accessing the event site through bordering neighborhood access to the back side of the park
      - No paperwork or waivers were collected
      - Perhaps we could rope off the vulnerable areas? add signage?
      - Should we set up a security patrol for next year?
    - Should we build a baronial shower house?
    - Should we establish a royal campsite? Past two crowns have requested the same campsite.
      - We could just set aside the specific site for future events there, but there was concern that since the Crown has first choice of site at any event, we should leave options available to them
      - Other option would be to see how next event/year goes. If they choose the same site again, we could just set that site aside as the “royal encampment,” as three consecutive years with the Crown choosing the same site could suggest the site is indeed “established.”
    - Genevieve will need to have someone take over as landcrat for next year – she will be happy to train the new person, but she won’t be able to do the job next year.
  - It’s not too soon to submit bids for next year’s Castle Wars (just sayin’)
Other SCA Business
- Potential new space for meetings – Methodist church in Dunwoody
  - Do we want to have meetings at the same place every week, or should we move around?
    - General opinion was that a consistent meeting place is important to encourage new members, by making it easier to find us (recruiting)
    - The church as a large community space in addition to meeting rooms – could be useful for fighter practice
  - Do we want to keep meetings on Wednesdays, or is there flexibility on this point?
    - Meeting site may require a change in what day of the week we meet (Wednesdays seem to be busy days for churches holding their own meetings and services)
    - Fridays, Mondays, and Thursdays seem to be problematic because they interfere with event packing, attending, and unpacking.
    - Tuesdays are an option, but then we’ll need to change the rapier practices to Wednesdays
  - We need to negotiate a price – Mathias is working on that this week
- Viking Krampus (20 December)
  - Atlanta Kali has invited us to join in their viking event. Martial cross-pollination! shenanigans! mead!
  - Viking Krampus – link to event details (Facebook)
- Magna Faire (4–6 December)
  - This weekend at the WoW campground in Blountsville, AL (Barony of Iron Mountain)
  - Baronial Investiture
  - His Excellency Iron Mountain (Captain François le Souris) will be elevated to the Order of Defense
  - Stella Nova (novice A+S competition) – do consider submitting an entry. Ximon mentioned that Rhi will be entering an item of garb, others also mentioned they are working on entries.
  - His Excellency South Downs has arranged for a series of fur muffs to be built for the new Barons Iron Mountain, Their Majesties, and Their Highnesses.
- Twelfth Night (9 January 2016)
  - We will be joining Bryn Madoc at their Twelfth Night event
    - Potluck feast
    - Baronial championship tourneys
- Midwinter A+S (13–14 February 2016)
  - Event Staff
    - Autocrat – Mara Palmer
    - Reservations – Maire Dhocair inghean Chiarain
    - A+S Faire and Class Coordinator – Tryggva Ingvarsdottir
    - Lunch Feastcrat – Wilhelmina de la Coste
    - Royal Liaison – Mathias Blackett
    - Smoker – Borgar (Sunday)
    - Still need volunteers for the Royal Luncheon (Saturday) and the cookout coordinator (Sunday)
  - Location
    - University of West Georgia, Carrollton (13 February)
      - Site includes a lecture hall for court, 7 classrooms, 4 faire rooms, 1 meeting room, and 2 Royal rooms.
    - Blackburn Park, Atlanta (14 February)
      - Regional fighter practice
  - Event does conflict with Black Gryphon/Meridian Heraldic & Scribal Symposium, in Thor’s Mountain
  - Midwinter Arts & Sciences event page
- Red Tower (30 September – 2 October 2016)
  - Looking at Camp Rutledge at Hard Labor Creek State Park; second choice is Tallapoosa (where it was held last year)
- South Downs Supper Club
  - This month is hosted by Wistric and Sunneva
  - Theme is Christmas/holiday desserts
  - Please contact Wistric or Sunneva for more info, or go to the South Downs Supper Club Facebook group page – must RSVP to confirm there is still space
  - Medieval Cookery recipes for inspiration
- 2016 Event Bids
  - RUM (Royal University of Meridies)
    - Veronica may be submitting a bid
  - 2017 Artsy Crown
    - Iazzie is interested in putting together a bid to hold it at Mc Intosh Reserve Park (where we had Castle Wars)

Next South Downs business meeting will be held Wednesday, 6 January 2016 – happy holidays!

–Raven

Medieval Recreation in Atlanta, GA