Category Archives: Announcements

A&S, Announcements, Castle Wars, Events, Meeting Minutes, Midwinter A&S, Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

AUGUST 2020 Baronial Business Meeting Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

05 August 2020, 1931

Notes submitted by Lady Aelia Bassina, South Downs Chronicler.

THL Lucien d’Artois called the August meeting to order. Our Seneschal, THL Juliane de Vivonne, greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. Juliane read the SCA Anti-Bullying statement and stated the meeting is being recorded.

Officers Reports

Herald (THL Lucien d’Artois)

  • We only had one award recipient this month, that would be Piers(Queen’s Rapier Champion).
  • We’ve had one name registrations.

Knight Marshal (Lady Mairghread Wilson)

  • Our Earl Marshal had put a notice on the kingdom page stating that there’s no in person events until the end of January 2021.
  • He also addressed unofficial fighter practice. Please be aware the SCA does not cover that so it would be on your own insurance.
  • Masks: just be prepared for when we come back together that we may have a mask mandate. It would be recommended to start practicing with a mask on.
  • New armored combat rules have been posted. No determinations have been made and probably will not be made for a while.

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

  • Nothing new to add.
  • Echo what the Knight marshal said.
  • There is a virtual fighter practice Facebook group. Virtual academy of the rapier is another Facebook group that is available.

Live Weapons (Mistress Mara Palmer)

  • No report.

Reeve (Mistress Alessandra Giovanna Fioravanti)

  • We have money, we spent it on the storage unit.
    • We spend about 287 a month on the storage unit, paid through October.
    • If Midwinter doesn’t happen, we may need to think about alternatives. If it doesn’t, we run into the situation where we don’t have money for events.
    • We are not at panic level yet.
    • Red Tower is completely paid for.
    • I need a deputy!

Lady Mairghread suggested that we have a budget to see where all the money needs to be spent.

Quartermaster (THL Lucien d’Artois)

  • Fortunately, we have stuff!
  • Nothing else to add

Chatelaine (Lord Nikon Dawidowicz)

  • There hasn’t been any movement as far as new members. I haven’t heard from anyone that someone approached them.

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

  • No report

Arts & Sciences (THL Alisandre de la Chapelle)

  • We have A&S!
    • There is an A&S exchange that was suggested.
    • Kingdom A&S coming up this month.
    • We have a couple of classes coming up this month.
    • Think about ideas for largess, it will be a competition with a prize.

Chronicler (Lady Aelia Bassina)

  • First issue of the newsletter will be 1 October.
    • I am still looking for articles to be included. 

Social Media Minister (HE Emelina le Nourreys)

  • Our numbers are up.

Webminister (Captain Pietro di Conti) – (Includes work done by both Zhelana and Pietro)

  • Added pronouns for Piers, Mairghread, Alisandre, Aelia, Wistric, Iastreb, Lorenzo, Zhelana, Raven.  Note: we will only add pronouns for people who ask.
  • Updated the picture for Sunneva on the Baroness page and her personal page.
  • Updated Aelia to be official chronicler, gave her access to the chronicler login.  Set up a temp login for Raven to post old minutes.
  • Added device, title, link to blog to Aelia’s page
  • New pages created for Danielle de Lyon, Anna Felice Tavestoche, Michael Stagge, Sara Wandrownyczka
  • Added classes taught to Zhelana’s page
  • Updated Google form to add pronouns to the question list, and to forward email notifications to Zhelana
  • Established succession plans for the Webminister office to hand over the office to Zhelana (the current Deputy) at Midwinter A&S 2021.  Had several discussions on the succession plan with Baroness and Seneschal.
  • Prepared Westminster job description.
  • Added Mark to the order of the Red Raven.
  • Added Finnbarr as deputy chatelaine.
  • Updated device on Mairghread’s page
  • Added Queen’s Rapier Champion to Piers’ page.

Diversity Equity and Inclusion Officer (DEI), (Vidushi Mewadi Margavati Bai)

  • Class went really well last month. There were a bunch of conversations that happened after. WE are looking forward to the next class. I am trying to give people opportunities to talk as much as I can.
    • The Society DEI officer will be doing a Q&A, I will try to promote it in more places than just the barony. 
    • If you hear of things happening, please let me know.
    • Thank you to everyone that’s been so open and understanding.

Her Excellency, Mistress Sunneva de Cleia

  • Tonight would be midnight madness at Pennsic. Just like with what happened at Gulf Wars, there are merchants that are out there and posted. If you have coin, they have wares.
  • Earlier this week was SCA Social Media Appreciation Day. I want to give thanks for both Emelina and Isabella. Thank you to everyone that has been keeping the SCA virtual. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed.
  • Award recommendations. Please send them. I would love to recognize people. There is an award recommendation page on our site. Sending in the recommendations really helps me and the scribes.
  • Discussion Point:
    • The Heart of South Downs and the Chivalry Awards. A couple of people have reached out to me regarding this. There will be a committee. If you would like to be on that committee, please let me or Wistric. All opinions are valid.
    • I like mailing stuff. If you need a care package or a friendly note, please PM me your address.
  • Remember to lean on your SCA family if you need to. Also, if you need to step back, it’s okay. We will see you when you get back. Keep the people impacted by this virus in your thoughts.

Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)

  • No report.

Seneschal, (THL Juliane de Vivonne)

  • We’ve lost two people recently. They passed very suddenly.
  • In the last two days, we have heard of 3 people that have tested positive for COVID, one being our King. Please wear masks and be safe.
  • I had announced at the last meeting that we were reinstating the Provost position. It’s basically organizing classes, making sure registration is sent to RUM. Lord Kal has been wonderful in doing that for us. I would love it if someone would reach out to me in their interest. It’s a great position for someone new to the Barony.
  • The BOD has canceled events until the 31st of January. That is for anything in person. If you do anything outside the SCA, you cannot post it on any official SCA page.
  • For Midwinter, it is close to when they allow in-person again. However, I do not believe that Midwinter will be allowed to happen. It wouldn’t fit with the rollout plan for the Kingdom/Society.
  • The Law Committee. They are accepting new members. It will be a rotating people. They are accepting nominations and self-nominations. One from each peerage and two from the populace. If that’s something that interests you or if you know someone that would do a really good job (get their permission first), please let them know. They have been meeting Tuesday nights. 
    • Iazzie stated that most Kingdom positions are for 2 years.

Recent Events

Upcoming Events

  • 10 August 2020 – LGBTQ+ 101 with Lykania and Cellach
  • 12 August 2020 – Project Night
  • 15 August 2020 – Virtual Meridies Kingdom A&S
  • 19 August 2020 – Intro to DEI with Society DEI Officer Q&A to follow
  • 22 August 2020 – Foxes 2020: Plague-Con
  • 26 August 2020 – Class Night – Maedeup: Korean Knots with Myeong Su

SCA Business

  • Margavati: I taught a class over the weekend for Pennsic for the Courtesans. It was neat because each kingdom has a day. It’s a great way to learn stuff. Justina hosted Meridies for the whole day. They are going all war week. Kal has been provosting. Yay, Barony of South Downs! We rock!
  • Jay: Do we have any more info on Castle Wars?
    • Juliane: Sunneva and I need to get together to sort things out. We will get that rolled out sometime soon.
  • Margavati: My husband had a big bucket of bone black. He has more. If you need bone black for pigment, please let him know.
  • Margavati: Countess Gwen is doing a project. It’s a grave finds recreation thing. It’s a glow up focus on grave finds. I only know what I need to know. If you’re interested, she’s doing that. Information is on the Kingdom page.

Business meeting was closed at 2021.

Next business meeting will be held 02 September 2020, 1900, Zoom Meeting.

Announcements, Castle Wars, Meeting Minutes, Red Tower, Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

JUNE 2020 Baronial Business MEeting MInutes

3 June 2020, 7:30pm
Virtual meeting on Zoom

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

As our Herald, THL Lucien, was unable to attend tonight’s meeting, Lady Mairghread stepped in and called the meeting to order. THL Juliane, our Seneschal sez “Welcome!” and reminded everyone that the meeting was being recorded, per Kingdom law. She then read the Bullying and Harrassment statement from the SCA. She also offered that she (and Their Excellencies and the Baronial Officers) understands how everyone is under a lot of stress, and to please reach out if you need anything.

Our Social Media officer, THL Emelina, read out a disclaimer for everyone to be aware of and agree to, that our business meetings are being recorded and that by participating in this meeting, we have given our consent to have footage containing our faces and/or comments used by the Barony and the Kingdom as necessary.

Officer Reports

  • Armored Marshal (Lady Mairghread Wilson)
    • We are still in a holding pattern regarding practices.
    • Her quarterly report has been sent in. There were very slim numbers for the quarter, and she is expecting even slimmer numbers for the coming quarter, due to the adjusted schedule posted by the Crown.
    • Discussed Baron Mark’s thoughts about what fighter practice might look like once we *do* get back, as he had posted on Facebook recently.
      • Sir Iastreb commented that we will likely have to revisit where we hold Sunday practice, at the Meadery in Smyrna – it will be difficult to manage crowds and safety issues
      • Juliane commented that the owners of the Meadery have not been really hip on wearing masks, for performance reasons, which conflicts with SCA safety rules.
  • Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan deHay)
    • Due to the current cancellation of practices and events, we are also in a holding pattern until things get going again
    • In the meantime, stay tuned – we are working on getting some online rapier activity going soon – discussions, classes, etc. Will post about these events on the Atlanta SCA fighting Facebook group.
  • Live Weapons Marshal (Mistress Mara Palmer)
    • Nothing to report
  • Reeve (Mistress Alessandra Fioravanti)
    • We have money!
    • She reminded everyone that she is looking for a deputy – her job is not that difficult, and she is willing to show anyone who’s interested what the job is like. Please contact her if you would like more information.
  • Chatelaine (Lord Nikon Dawidowicz)
    • So far, the only new person who’s actually come to a meeting and interacted and stuff is Jay, who we all know now is awesome. I’ve had a couple other nibbles but no bites yet.
    • Nikon and Majda Anwar have talked about doing maybe a rolling mini-class for newcomers that just covers handy entry-level information – perhaps a 30 minute class once a week for 4 weeks that starts over every month, covers basic newcomer info like what all the titles mean, first event essentials list, getting started with a persona, things like that. Just very surface level, 101 stuff.
      However, we haven’t really started working on it yet because *gestures at everything*.
  • Minister of Arts & Sciences (THL Alisandre de la Chapelle)
    • We have art! (and some science as well)
    • Alisandre has posted some virtual A&S opportunities in the Baronial Facebook group; and asked the populace to please let her know if they learn of any additional online opportunities (classes, events, etc) so she can share it with the Barony
    • Check out the classes being offered at Virtual RUM (Royal Academy of Meridies) this July, and ongoing classes at the Honorable Clover on Facebook.
    • Working cool projects? New projects? while everyone’s staying at home? Post your work on the Baronial Facebook page so we can all ooh and ahh and ask questions!
  • Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)
    • We have words!
    • Lady Aelia Bassina of Veii will step up at the July meeting! Yay!
    • Aelia addressed the populace – as the incoming Chronicler, she would like to (re)start our newsletter and asked for suggestions:
      • For the title – everyone still likes the old title, “The Read Tower,” so it was decided that would remain.
      • With the development of our social media team, everything that has been posted on our Instagram page already has release forms, so that material will be available.
      • She is interested in showing the progression of the newsletter through the ages.
  • Keeper of the Baronial Memes (Minister of Social Media) (THL Emelina le Nourreys)
    • We have been posting on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook
      • We now have more than 250 follows on Instagram
      • Emelina is encouraging the populace to share the the cool projects they’re working on at home – please take pictures of your project work and send them to her so they can share on our Instagram page
    • Our smash-up video (a fighter’s version of the glow-up video idea) got over a million views! It was awesome, and Emelina and Isabelle thanked Ogata (Charlie) for editing the video.
    • Ogata confirmed that his friends wrote the music for the video, and everyone asked to have our thanks passed along to them.
    • There was a lot of discussion about what everyone’s favorite parts of the video were – there were many!
    • HRM has asked us to write up more award recommendations.
  • Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)
    • Nothing to report
    • Magistra Alessandra mentioned that her daughter, Katie, would like there to be more members of the Sparrow’s Wing (the Baronial children’s award) so she can hold order meetings. Currently, she is the only member and attendee, but more cupcakes are required.
    • Alessandra suggested that a blog could be set up on the Baronial website where parents could brag about their kids’ art and projects.
  • Their Excellencies South Downs (Master Wistric Oftun and Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)
    • Sunneva wanted to discuss the new diversity statement posted by the Board of Directors. If you haven’t read it, please make sure you do.
    • In-person events have been canceled up through 31 August 2020, but in the meantime, she loves seeing everyone virtually.
    • Wistric thanked everyone who participated in the smash-up video – it was awesome!
    • Also – taking part in activities such as the video, online classes, and other online activities is a good way to help keep our energy up as both a Barony and as individuals.
    • He reiterated the importance of writing recommendations for people who have shown themselves deserving of recognition, and mentioned that TRH are planning to have a virtual Court sometime in the next couple of weeks and would love the opportunity to recognize people.
    • There are a couple of months left where we are going to be limited to online activities, and there is a lot of space to fill on our virtual calendar. If you’re considering teaching a class sometime, practicing teaching via Zoom on the local level is a great way to work through your class before Virtual RUM.
    • Their Excellencies thanked everyone for being amazing during these trying times.
    • Recently, Emelina posted a “Draw the Faces of Their Excellencies” on Facebook; our cousins in the Midrealm saw this and put a challenge out to their Barony to one-up us!
  • Seneschal (THL Juliane de Vivonne)
    • She mentioned recent news from the Crown – Coronation will be held online on Saturday, 27 July, and will be set up just like the online courts
    • Events are canceled through the end of August
    • Red Tower – There are concerns about planning, given the current situation – will it happen? can it happen? in what format? These are still being worked through and the answers will likely change as the pandemic continues, so we’ll need to stay flexible.
    • The Kingdom Exchequer notified us that our financial policy is not aligned with that of the Kingdom; Juliane and Alessandra are working through this to fix the discrepancies.
    • Juliane asked and will continue to ask on Facebook for any topics the populace would like to add to the meeting agendas.
    • She also thanked Their Excellencies for their imaginative approach to keeping interest and energy up in the Barony (the Draw the Faces game was great!)

SCA Business

  • Red Tower (2-4 October 2020)
    • Site: Hard Labor Creek State Park, Rutledge, GA
    • Mistress Mariana confirmed that event planning is proceeding as normal until told otherwise. A request for event volunteers will be posted soon.
  • Castle Wars (19-22 November 2020)
    • Site: Camp Benjamin Hawkins, Byron, GA
    • Juliane had mentioned that Isabetta is going to take the lead on Castle Wars autocratting because of Juliane’s conflicts of interest as seneschal. Juliane is holding off submitting the bid for the time being until she can see how the next couple of months are going to look like.
    • Sunneva mentioned contingency planning will be key; and as Sunneva happened to have written a book on contingency planning, is more than happy to help brainstorm.
    • Sunneva also asked about the timeframe for submitting the event bid – it is her understanding that if we don’t get a bid in soon, we’ll have to cancel?
    • Juliane asked Alessandra about the Baronial budget – if we don’t have Castle Wars, how will the Barony stand financially? What will the impact be? Alessandra said we should still be in good shape as most of our other expenses (other than the storage unit at $860 per quarter and the Zoom fees at $14.99 per month) have also gone away.
  • Midwinter Arts & Sciences (6 February 2021)
    • Site: TBD
    • We should start thinking about this event – we need an autocrat.

Other SCA Business

  • Mairghread mentioned virtual RUM/Fighter’s Collegium (17 July 2020) is looking for teachers, not sure what format. If interested in teaching for Fighters Collegium, please contact her or Master Edward.
  • Emelina mentioned that we now have a Baronial YouTube channel, and we can post class videos there.
  • Justina mentioned that this coming weekend is Court, and she is looking forward to hosting another virtual revel afterwards. She’ll post to the Baronial Facebook group once she’s got everything set up.
  • Sir Iastreb announced we have new people in the Barony – Anya from Thor’s Mountain has just moved to South Downs! She can’t make meetings yet because of classes but she is looking forward to getting involved soon. Master Ximon added that we should keep an eye out for new people and reach out to them so they feel welcome.
  • Lily thanked Alessandra for showing her how to be a reeve.

Non-SCA Business

  • None

Next business meeting: Wednesday, 1 July 2020. It will likely still be online via Zoom, but stay tuned!

With my backlog of minutes now done, I am now officially handing over the reins of the Office of the Chronicler to Lady Aelia. Thank you, everyone!
–Lady Raven

A&S, Announcements, Dragoncon, Events, Fighter Practices, Meeting Minutes, Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

March 2020 Baronial Business Meeting Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

4 March 2020, 7:30pm

Notes submitted by Lady Raven Helmsplitter, South Downs Chronicler.

THL Lucien d’Artois called the meeting to order. Our new Seneschal, THL Juliane de Vivonne, sez “Welcome! If you did not sign in, please sign in!”

Before the officers began giving their reports, THL Piers asked to speak before the populace. He offered an apology for how he handled the coronation bid he submitted.

Officers Reports

  • Herald (THL Lucien d’Artois)
    • Nothing to report
    • Lucien is also the kingdom submissions deputy; if you want to submit something, please let him take a look at it before you submit it officially. It will save you time and money to do so, and he’s more than happy to help. Just contact him via Facebook or text him directly.
    • Sir Iazzie offered a PSA: a lot of people like to do their heraldic consultations at Gulf Wars, but it’s always better to work locally and wrap things up (if needed) at Gulf Wars. It usually adds time to processing your submission if you don’t work locally first – the heralds at Gulf Wars get slammed with consultations
    • Mistress Alessandra mentioned that another reason to not have your consultations done at Gulf Wars is that alcohol might be involved there, and you might end up with strange results 😀
  • Knight Marshal (Lady Mairghread Wilson), Lord Jürgen reporting
    • Mairghread will be out of town for a couple of weeks for training for her new business, so Lord Jürgen will cover Tuesday evening practices in her absence
    • Practices are going well – Sunday practice continues at the incipient Viking Alchemist Meadery site (3080 Jonquil Dr., Smyrna, GA 30080). Everyone is very happy with the site! We have gone back to holding joint practices on Tuesday evenings with the rapier fighters at Brook Run Park, 4770 N Peachtree Rd, Dunwoody, GA 30338, near the Veterans’ Memorial.
  • Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)
    • Levetan Park may be getting too dark for Tuesday evening practices. So far, so good, but suggestions for alternate locations are welcome.
    • Thanks, as always, to our collection of rapier marshals who make it possible for practice to happen without me. Efforts to get a couple more people warranted are under way.
  • Live Weapons (Mistress Mara Palmer), THL Juliane reporting
    • People have been shooting stuff! Yay!
    • We have equipment! Yay!
    • There have been some issues with the Royal Rankings – we are working through them, just be patient
    • Upcoming practices are, as always, posted on the South Downs/Owl’s Nest Live Weapons Practice group, so come check us out!
  • Reeve (Mistress Alessandra Fioravanti)
    • We have money! yay!
    • She finished the report for Midwinter – we made a profit of $1,272 from the event. Yay!
  • Quartermaster (THL Lucien d’Artois)
    • We have stuff! Yay!
    • He is planning to do another inventory before the spring event season gets too far underway, but it will likely be after Gulf Wars
  • Chatelaine (Lord Nikon Dawidowicz)
    • Tom has accepted the deputy chatelaine position. Yay!
    • Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)
      • Our next demo will be on 9 May at the Alpharetta Library; they are looking in particular for people to demonstrate calligraphy and embroidery inside the Library and fighters outside. The indoor demos will be very hands-on.
  • Arts & Sciences (THL Alisandre de la Chapelle)
    • We have A&S in the Barony, and it is good! Yay!
    • It’s time for the quarterly report – post what you’ve done the past three months on the baronial A+S spreadsheet so we can document it.
    • This month’s A&S class will be about silkworms taught by Erin Neko Hennessy (what is your SCA name?)
    • April’s A&S class will be on weaving with gold thread, taught by Mistress Alessandra
    • Speaking of A&S classes in the new year… are you interested in teaching a Baronial Arts & Sciences class in 2020? Submit your class idea on this form, or contact Alisandre directly.
    • There was a good turnout at the A&S/group visit to Fine Fabrics. Everyone first met up at the food court at the Global Mall for delicious Indian food, then we headed over to Fine Fabrics for a guided tour (for those like your Chronicler who gets easily overwhelmed there).
    • It is also gift basket season! Their Excellencies will need largesse for event season gifts. They’ll give Alisandre a list of largesse they already have – if you are considering making something for this effort, please contact Alisandre first so she can coordinate if necessary
  • Keeper of the Baronial Memes (Social Media Minister) (THL Emelina le Nourreys)
    • We have social media! Yay!
    • Yay! We have 20 new followers on Instagram!
    • Emelina has set up the Instagram account to automatically crosspost to Facebook
    • Social media posts from MCA got picked up by Society
  • Webminister (Captain Pietro di Conti)
    • We have a website! yay!
    • Cleaned up website menus, removing obsolete links
    • Replaced the 2019 A&S baronial class schedule with a link to THL Alisandre’s 2020 A&S spreadsheet
    • Updated baronial meetings page with the new Freeside Atlanta project night location
    • Added profile for Erikr and added him as a deputy on the Knight Marshal page
    • Added Lady Aelia as deputy on the Chronicler page
    • Submitted quarterly report to the kingdom webminster
  • Their Excellencies, Master Wistric and Mistress Sunneva
    • Thanked everyone who worked on Midwinter A&S last month
    • Reminded everyone who is planning to go to Gulf Wars that if you are considering volunteering, make sure you get your volunteer hours logged and (if so), consider applying those hours to South Downs.
  • Seneschal (THL Juliane de Vivonne)
    • Red Tower will actually start in September; not sure how this will impact the PopChiv event requirements
    • We have unofficially had our Artsy Crown bid approved; the event flyer is being published in PopChiv
    • Kingdom was notified that Coronation’s feastcrat is looking for middle and high school aged children to serve feast, and there will be a teen hafla afterwards.
    • Juliane described a plan for the next five years – she was going to take it easy and not autocrat any events in 2019, but would look at autocratting Castle Wars in 2020 before she stepped up as seneschal as she isn’t comfortable with the idea of autocratting while serving as seneschal.
      • However, she had already been making plans to autocrat this year’s Castle Wars and has asked THL Isabetta to co-autocrat Castle Wars with her so she can recuse herself from any financial issues for the event
      • Iazzie had concerns since this would remove a layer of responsibility for the barony that would be problematic.
      • THL Andreva pointed out that the legal paperwork related to submitting a bid requires three signatures: the seneschal, the reeve, and the autocrat.
      • His Excellency asked if the kingdom seneschal had any thoughts about the situation.

Recent and Upcoming Events

  • Meridian Challenge of Arms (MCA), 28 February – 1 March 2020, Dalwhinnie Fields
    • 96 people attended
    • We had fencers come in as far away as Glenn Abhann (10 hours drive!)
    • This was the first time that MCA was held as a weekend event
    • Lex was really excited to host the event there
    • Everyone had a great time, and not having a hard departure deadline on Sunday was really helpful
    • Chickens!
    • There was a brick oven onsite, and fundraiser lunch was made-to-order woodfired pizzas – so great!
    • Funny moment – the Barony of Iron Mountain was assumed by the heralds to host the event (MCA, like Meridian Grand Tournament, are hosted by the kingdom, not by any local group). Shenanigans ensued.
    • THL Isabetta was tasked to make the site full of pageantry, and had everyone bring their banners. This created a beautiful scene with the banners fluttering in the breeze around the lyst field.
    • House Excelsior made several kingdom pennons to add to the pageantry. It rocked!
  • Artsy Crown (22-25 May 2020, Camp Benjamin Hawkins, Byron GA)
    • Countess Gwynhwyfar offered a donation of a linen tunic from Linen Garb as a raffle for everyone who volunteers at troll. Thank you!
    • There will be a signup sheet for setup and teardown
    • There is a potential handfasting to be scheduled Friday night of Artsy Crown – this, however, will not be part of the official schedule, they’re just letting people know it will happen.

SCA Business

  • Lady Isabella has been asked to spearhead our baronial beautification project; she would love some help to make general signs for parking, etc., at an upcoming project night.
  • Freeside Atlanta is moving to another location and is looking for large cardboard packing boxes and help packing
  • We now have bardic meetings in our barony! For more info, please contact Master Mathias

Non-SCA Business

  • Andreva has a spring concert the weekend of 19 April at Northside Church; the theme is motets (a 16th century music form). If interested, please contact her for ticket info
  • THL Justina brought a bunch of fabric and other stuff, free to a good home. Anything not taken after the meeting will be donated to Goodwill.
  • THL Stella said we are a go for the DragonCon parade! Yay!

 
Business meeting is closed.

Next business meeting will be held Wednesday, 1 April 2020, at the Doraville Civic Center.

Thanks!

–Raven

A&S, Announcements, Dragoncon, Events, Meeting Minutes, Midwinter A&S, Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

February 2020 Baronial Business Meeting Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

5 February 2020, 7:30pm

Notes submitted by Lady Raven Helmsplitter, South Downs Chronicler.

THL Lucien d’Artois called the meeting to order. Our new Seneschal, THL Juliane de Vivonne, sez “Welcome! If you did not sign in, please sign in!”

Juliane announced we had special guests to the Barony attending our meeting tonight: The Honorable Lady Saruca bint Lazari from the East Kingdom, one of the Society’s Ombudsmen, and Her Exuberance, Baroness Anna, of late from the Kingdom of Lochac and newly arrived to our fair Barony. The populace greeted them warmly.

Officers Reports

  • Herald (THL Lucien d’Artois)
    • Nothing of note happened at Midwinter A&S (lol)
    • Submissions
      • No new submissions, no change in status for submissions in progress.
    • Awards
      • Midwinter Arts & Sciences, 1 February 2020
        • His Excellency, Master Wistric Oftun – Pelican
        • Lady Aelia Bassina – Meridian Cross
        • THL Juliane de Vivonne – Meridian Cross
        • Lady Mairghread Wilson – Cygnet’s Nest
        • Mistress Marianna Cristina Tirado de Aragon – Court Barony
        • Sir Iastreb Desislavich – Court Barony
        • THL Justina di Silvestri – Red Raven
        • THL Stella di Silvestri – Red Raven
  • Knight Marshal (Lady Mairghread Wilson)
    • Lady Mairghread thanked everyone who came out to the regional fighter practice last Sunday (2 February); we had more than 40 armored fighters come out, and the weather was (uncharacteristically) awesome
    • Mairghread will be out of town for a couple of weeks for training for her new business, so Lord Jürgen will cover Tuesday evening practices in her absence
    • Mairghread would like to add Lord Eirikr Pálsson as her deputy marshal – as there were no objections, she will move forward with getting him set up.
    • Practices are going well – Sunday practice continues at the incipient Viking Alchemist Meadery site (3080 Jonquil Dr., Smyrna, GA 30080). Everyone is very happy with the site! We have gone back to holding joint practices on Tuesday evenings with the rapier fighters at Brook Run Park, 4770 N Peachtree Rd, Dunwoody, GA 30338, near the Veterans’ Memorial.
  • Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)
    • Captain Brendan echoed what Mairghread said about the regional practice – we had 10 fencers attend practice
    • We have new fighters (yay!), including one crossing over from armored fighting Brendan reminded the populace that *anyone* can cross over, and fight both forms – one day armored, one day rapier (for example)
    • Mairghread mentioned that we will have a youth rapier fighter who will try to authorize on Sunday
    • Master Ximon thanked the barony for supplying the food for the cookout at the regional practice – everyone ate well
    • Ximon also thanked everyone who signed His Excellency Wistric’s birthday card at the practice, who was also very well surprised at the birthday cake.
    • Levetan Park may be getting too dark for Tuesday evening practices. So far, so good, but suggestions for alternate locations are welcome.
    • Thanks, as always, to our collection of rapier marshals who make it possible for practice to happen without me. Efforts to get a couple more people warranted are under way.
  • Live Weapons (Mistress Mara Palmer), THL Juliane reporting
    • Master Mathias and Conor have been covering practices for Mara in her absence.
    • We have equipment! Yay!
    • Upcoming practices are, as always, posted on the South Downs/Owl’s Nest Live Weapons Practice group, so come check us out!
  • Quartermaster (THL Lucien d’Artois)
    • We have stuff! Yay!
    • He is planning to do another inventory before the spring event season gets too far underway, but it will likely be after Gulf Wars
  • Chatelaine (Lord Nikon Dawidowicz)
    • Lord Nikon was welcomed as our new Chatelaine, and THL Justina was thanked for all her hard work as the outgoing Chatelaine
    • Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)
      • Our next demo will be on 9 May at the Alpharetta Library; they are looking in particular for people to demonstrate calligraphy and embroidery inside the Library and fighters outside. The indoor demos will be very hands-on.
        • It was pointed out that this is the same weekend as the Meridian heralds’ retreat, so some of our regular demo participants will not be able to make this demo
        • The barony has many leftover embroidery hoops from Red Tower that we can use for the demo, and Sir Iazzie has some blank practice scrolls he can donate
        • THL Saruca mentioned that her barony does an “armor petting zoo” at their demos, allowing visitors to handle some of the armor the fighters use, and that it’s very popular
        • THL Justina and THL Emelina suggested setting up some photo ops at the demo, that we can then post on our Instagram site
        • Next Wednesday (12 February) will be project night at the maker space (the old location); Bú will be making a photo backdrop for demos.
  • Arts & Sciences (THL Alisandre de la Chapelle)
    • We have A&S in the Barony, and it is good! Yay!
    • Alisandre thanked everyone who came out to take a class or teach a class at Midwinter A&S! If you didn’t teach, consider teaching at a future event!
    • It’s time for the quarterly report – post what you’ve done the past three months on the baronial A+S spreadsheet so we can document it.
    • This month’s A&S class will be “How to Submit an Event Bid,” taught by Juliane
    • March’s A&S class will be on weaving with gold thread, taught by Mistress Alessandra
    • Speaking of A&S classes in the new year… are you interested in teaching a Baronial Arts & Sciences class in 2020? Submit your class idea on this form, or contact Alisandre directly.
    • Alisandre is looking at starting up A&S weekend sessions; the first/next one is a trip to Fine Fabrics, just before MCA later this month.
    • It is also gift basket season! Their Excellencies will need largesse for event season gifts. They’ll give Alisandre a list of largesse they already have – if you are considering making something for this effort, please contact Alisandre first so she can coordinate if necessary
  • Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)
    • We have a deputy! Yay! Lady Aelia Bassina of Veii has graciously volunteered.
  • Keeper of the Baronial Memes (Social Media Minister) (THL Emelina le Nourreys)
    • We have social media! Yay!
    • Yay! We have more than 200 followers on Instagram!
    • Emelina thanked Lady Isabella in particular for helping cover while she was focused on scrolls for Midwinter
  • Webminister (Captain Pietro di Conti)
    • We have a website! yay!
    • Changed copyright to Year 2020
    • Communicated with Kingdom Webminister about kingdom web policy issues – they want all web sites to have a meridies.org domain, but this might be hard for us. I emailed Kingdom Webminister on 25 January 2020 asking if having meridies.org redirect to the existing web site would be acceptable. I hadn’t received any reply as of 5 February so I sent another email to follow up. If they won’t allow this, we need to either migrate content to their site (a large effort) or figure out how to change our domain name to use theirs. We would also need to reprint promotional materials.
    • Updated Seneschal’s email and web page to go to THL Juliane
    • Updated Reeve’s email and web page to go to Mistress Alessandra
    • Updated Chatelaine’s emails and web pages to go to Lord Nikon and Lady Bú
    • Updated Minister of Children’s email and web page to go to Lady Una
    • Added Lady Isabella to social media email
    • Added Midwinter A&S kingdom-level awards for His Excellency Master Wistric, Lady Aelia, THL Juliane, Lady Mairghread, Mistress Marianna, Sir Iastreb
    • Added January and Midwinter A&S barony-level awards for THL Wenyeva, THL Juliane, Lady Aelia, Lady Isabella, THL Justina, and THL Stella
  • Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)
    • Discussed children’s activities at Midwinter – the kids had a lot of fun!
  • Seneschal (THL Juliane de Vivonne)
    • The populace welcomed Juliane as our new Seneschal, adn thanked THL Mark for all his hard work as the outgoing Seneschal
    • Juliane pointed out that the kingdom calendar has Castle Wars 2020 listed incorrectly – it should be 4 days (Thursday, 19 November – Sunday, 22 November)
    • RUM (the Royal University of Meridies): as a Barony, we are required to submit a bid for a Kingdom-level event; there is interest in autocratting, but we need a site! If you have any ideas, please text Juliane directly. In the meantime, she’ll find out when the bid is due – they’re not calling for it yet, so we ahve some time.
    • She is looking for a deputy for finding sites

SCA Business

  • Midwinter post-mortem will take place later this month, due to several key absences at tonight’s meeting
  • Next week is project night, and Emelina will start publicizing. Please feel free to share her FB posts to help get the word out (so she doesn’t feel like she’s spamming everyone)
  • MCA (Meridian Challenge of Arms) – if you are planning to attend, please pre-register! Registration deadline is 14 February There are feast spots left! There will also be a bonfire and Master Geoffrey’s tavern, The Cock and Feather, will be there. It will be epic!
  • The kingdom newsletter, Popular Chivalry (PopChiv), needs to have some info updated. Juliane has reached out to its editor, Lord Einarr knytir – he said that he needs to receive the request by email and will take care of it once he’s recovered from the flu.
  • Alisandre shared a post about pronoun pins; she’s putting together a group order that she’ll pick up at Gulf Wars, if anyone is interested in adding to her order. Please post requests on the Barony FB page so she can keep track of orders.
  • Sir Iazzie is the current ombudsman for our region, and is looking for a successor. Please contact him directly if interested.

Non-SCA Business

  • Juliane mentioned the deadline for signing up the Barony for the DragonCon parade is coming up (15 February), and we need someone to volunteer to coordinate our presence at the parade. Ximon volunteered. Stella has made Meridian and South Downs ribbons for your badges if you march in the parade.
  • Saruca wanted to take a selfie with everyone before the meeting ended.
  • Iazzie recognized Brendan for being on top of things at Midwinter, and Juliane seconded.

 
Business meeting is closed.

Next business meeting will be held Wednesday, 4 March 2020, at the Doraville Civic Center.

Thanks!

–Raven

A&S, Announcements, Events, Meeting Minutes, Midwinter A&S, Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

January 2020 Baronial Business Meeting

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

8 January 2020, 7:30pm

Notes submitted by Lady Raven Helmsplitter, South Downs Chronicler.

THL Lucien d’Artois called the meeting to order. Our Seneschal, THL Mark de Wytteney, sez “Welcome! If you did not sign in, please sign in!”

Officers Reports

  • Herald (THL Lucien d’Artois)
    • Submissions
      • THL Juliane de Vivonne – new badge
      • Sara Wandrownyczka – new name and device
      • Mistress Mara Palmer – badge registered on October 2019 LOAR
    • Awards
      • None – THL Lucien reminded everyone to write award recommendation letters, and to double-check the dramatis personae page on the baronial website or the kingdom Order of Precedence page to see if the person you wish to write a recommendation for already has the award.
  • Knight Marshal (Lady Mairghread Wilson)
    • We had an injury report that needed to be submitted.
    • Lord Jürgen is away on military training, so Lady Mairghread is looking for backup marshals for practices.
    • Practices are going well – Sunday practice continues at the incipient Viking Alchemist Meadery site (3080 Jonquil Dr., Smyrna, GA 30080) starting 13 October 2019. Everyone is very happy with the site! As of this past Tuesday (6 January 2020), we went back to holding joint practices on Tuesday evenings with the rapier fighters at Brook Run Park, 4770 N Peachtree Rd, Dunwoody, GA 30338, near the Veterans’ Memorial.
  • Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)
    • Practices at the Meadery are awesome. Huge thanks to those making this happen.
    • Levetan Park may be getting too dark for Tuesday evening practices. So far, so good, but suggestions for alternate locations are welcome.
    • Thanks, as always, to our collection of rapier marshals who make it possible for practice to happen without me. Efforts to get a couple more people warranted are under way.
  • Live Weapons (Mistress Mara Palmer)
    • Master Mathias and Conor have been covering practices for Mara in her absence.
    • We have equipment! Yay!
    • Upcoming practices are, as always, posted on the South Downs/Owl’s Nest Live Weapons Practice group, so come check us out!
  • Chatelaine (THL Justina di Silvestri)
    • She seconded the comments of others so far that the Sunday practices at the Meadery are AWESOME! It’s also a great place to bring newcomers.
    • Collegium Vulcani, hosted by the shire of Des Forges in December, was also awesome! This year’s event featured classes particularly useful to newcomers to the SCA.
    • If you have anything you’d like to contribute to Gold Key, please get to Justina by the end of January so she can finalize inventory before Lord Nikon steps up as Chatelaine in February.
    • She reminded the populace that we all are chatelaines, in practice.
    • Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)
      • We have a possibility of several library demos in the next couple of months, and they’d like to pay us for it. The payments would be set up as donations to the Barony, so we would not violate any rules regarding non-profits or the Society.
      • Potential dates are 8 February or 7 March, so attendance would need to work around Knight’s Gambit and Gulf Wars (respectively). They’re also interested in having us come out in April (4 or 11 April) to demo fighting and crafting.
      • Second Wednesday project nights continue at Freecyle. They are moving to a new location in March or April, and it would be great if we could come out to help with their move since they’ve been really good to us.
  • Arts & Sciences (THL Alisandre de la Chapelle)
    • We have A&S in the Barony, and it is good! Yay!
    • It’s time for the quarterly report – post what you’ve done the past three months on the baronial A+S spreadsheet so we can document it.
    • Baron Mark will be teaching this month’s class on period dice games. He is putting together swag bags of dice and antique coins in a bag for purchase by those taking the class – he will determine the final costs for this and will let everyone know in advance of the class.
    • We are still looking for teachers for Midwinter Arts & Sciences, to be held in Decatur on 1 February. If you’re interested in teaching, please sign up on the baronial page. Alisandre was asked if time slots could be requested – this is not really possible, due to all the moving pieces involved in the scheduling puzzle.
    • Speaking of A&S classes in the new year… are you interested in teaching a Baronial Arts & Sciences class in 2020? Submit your class idea on this form, or contact Alisandre directly.
  • Reeve (THL Andreva Rigaldi)
    • We have money! yay!
    • End of year report is done, pending Seneschal’s signature.
      • Balance: $12,113.13
      • Outstanding checks: $11,XXX
      • We are up $1,401.19 from last year, which is really good given that our expenses have increased ($100 for first two meetings, $25 for each meeting after that per month)
    • This is Andreva’s last business meeting as Reeve – she’ll hand off the position to Mistress Alessandra in February.
  • Webminister (Captain Pietro di Conti)
    • We have a website! yay!
    • Many, many Castle Wars web page updates
    • Submitted quarterly report to the Kingdom Webminister
    • Lady Zhelana did several updates to add content to Midwinter A&S event page.
    • Removed temperature restrictions from Fighter Practice page; added “warranted marshal required”.
    • Disk cleanup: reduced number of backups retained from 4 to 3 for sake of disk space.
    • Posted the dates of Jan-May live weapons practices.
  • Keeper of the Baronial Memes (Social Media Minister) (THL Emelina le Nourreys)
    • We have social media! Yay!
    • Working on memes and signage for Midwinter A&S.
    • Yay! We have almost 200 followers on Instagram!
  • Minister of Children (Lady Melusine of South Downs, THL Mark de Wytteney reporting)
    • Lady Melusine (Myndee) is stepping down, and Lady Una will serve as our Minister of Children – her background check has been done, and everything is good to go!
    • Everyone thanked Myndee for all the work she’s done to really establish children’s activities both in the barony and in the Kingdom.
  • Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)
    • Looking for a deputy to whom she can eventually hand over the office’s responsibilities.
  • Their Excellencies, Master Wistric and Mistress Sunneva
    • Thank you all for coming out for the baronial holiday party! We had a great turnout, everyone had a great time, and it went on until the wee hours of the morning.
    • We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.
    • Once again, we are looking for retainers for Midwinter A&S – it’s fun and easy! If interested, please contact Juliane.
    • Their Excellencies then called over Andreva, who opened the Court of Their Excellencies South Downs.
      • THL Wenyeva atte grene was called into court and awarded The Phoenix Spark for having “become (an) integral member of the Barony after moving from another Kingdom or returning to the Society from a long hiatus.” And there was much rejoicing from the populace.
      • With Their business being done, the court of Their Excellencies was closed.
  • Seneschal (THL Mark de Wytteney)
    • This is also Mark’s last business meeting as seneschal, and Juliane will be taking over. Mark was thanked for all the work he’s done as seneschal.
    • If you haven’t already done so, please sign in!

Upcoming Events

  • Midwinter Arts & Sciences (1 February 2020), Lady Raven Helmsplitter and Master Ximon Martillo de Córdoba reporting
    • Event to be held at Holy Trinity Parish Episcopal Church in downtown Decatur – new site, 3 blocks to Decatur MARTA station, 5 blocks to Avondale MARTA station, so it’s intown and easily accessible.
    • Everything is moving apace – the insurance application has been submitted and we should have the documents back in plenty of time for the event.
    • The Meridian Order of the Blade will offer a fundraiser lunch of chili and stews.
    • Event staffing has been completed.
    • Andreva asked about what we have in inventory for power cords and adapters for PayPal, and if we needed to purchase more – financial committee approved, will be added to troll box.
    • We will go to the site in a week or two (depending on parish coordinator’s schedule) to do a final walkthrough and drop off deposit and insurance paperwork.
  • Jour d’Amour (24-26 January 2020)
    • THL Justina announced that the Courtesans of Meridies will be hosting a symposium and salon at the event.

Non-SCA Business

  • Mistress Margavati brought a bunch of books to the meeting, free to a good home (or homes).
  • Mistress Mara announced that she will be hosting a baby shower for Gwyneth (Morgan) at Midwinter A&S – if interested in attending, please stay tuned fro details (or contact Mara directly).

 
Business meeting is closed.

Next business meeting will be held Wednesday, 8 February 2020, at the Doraville Civic Center.

Thanks!

–Raven