Category Archives: Castle Wars

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

Castle Wars, Events, Meeting Minutes, Midwinter A&S

December 2019 Baronial Business Meeting

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

4 December 2019, 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
      • Lord Nikon Dawidowicz – change of device
      • Lady Una Hrolfsdottir – new name
      • Lady Isabella Parr – name and device registered at Laurel
    • Awards
      • Castle Wars
        • THL Bram Halfdannarson – Legion of the Bear
  • Knight Marshal (Lady Mairghread Wilson)
    • Castle Wars was awesome!
    • 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!
  • Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay, Lady Raven reporting)
    • Real Life™ is really getting in the way of my SCA time” (why he’s not here tonight)
    • Martial activities at Castle Wars seem to have been a success. Duke Bryce’s joint Heavy and Rapier scenarios worked pretty well. There was lots of fighting, and even some time for pickups. Other than some minor complaints about some of the scenarios running shorter than expected, it felt good.
    • 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.
  • Chatelaine (THL Justina di Silvestri)
    • We had a lot of new people at Castle Wars – we were glad to be able to loan Gold Key garb to so many new people! YAY! and they had fun! yay!
    • We do have a lot of good Gold Key, so we’re not concerned about the timing for having loaned garb returned (but all the garb will be returned no worries!)
    • Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)
      • We had a great turnout and reception at ConjurationCON
      • No new demos for us on the schedule, but we’ve been asked to participate in a homeschoolers demo which is in the works for this Friday (6 December) in Marietta – see Bú for more info
  • Arts & Sciences (THL Alisandre de la Chapelle, Lady Raven reporting)
    • We have A&S in the Barony, and it is good! Yay!
    • Thank you for everyone that taught at CW. Midwinter A&S class signup form will be posted once the event Facebook page goes up – think about teaching at Midwinter please!
    • No class in Dec due to the holidays.
    • 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.
    • Mark has dibs on the January A&S class, but the rest of the year is up for grabs.
  • Reeve (THL Andreva Rigaldi)
    • We have money! yay!
    • THL Juliane added that she has the invoice from Camp Benjamin Hawkins, and will pass it along to Andreva.
  • Quartermaster (THL Lucien d’Artois)
    • We have stuff! Yay!
    • He wants to discuss several issues with the Baronial storage unit, but it will wait until later in the meeting.
  • 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 agreed to serve as point person on creating the Midwinter A&S event page. An initial page has been created as a placeholder, which will be updated as content becomes available.
    • Updated profile pages:
      • Lady Agnes Halydaye – apprentice to Master Lorenzo
      • Lady Anneliese Wulf – apprentice to Her Excellency South Downs, Mistress Sunneva di Cleia
    • Updated awards for:
      • THL Peryn Rose Whitehorse – King’s Lancer
      • THL Bram Halfdannarson – Order of the Bear
      • THL Emelina le Norreys – Falcon’s Faith
      • Lady Bú Feiyan – Falcon’s Faith
      • Lady Anneliese Wulf – Swan’s Grace
  • Keeper of the Baronial Memes (Social Media Minister) (THL Emelina le Nourreys)
    • We have social media! Yay!
    • Yay! We have more followers on Instagram!
  • Minister of Children (Lady Melusine of South Downs, THL Mark de Wytteney reporting)
    • We had 33 kids at Castle Wars! Yay! (only 11 were The Scriveners’ :-))
    • The Ministry of Children has been working on having activities for all age ranges
    • The Peasant archery battle at Castle Wars was a huge hit with the kids; the adults, not quite as much lol
      • During the Peasant archery battle, Mark got to see HRH’s son Theo nail Sir Caius right in the face with an “arrow” (tennis ball), and then immediately also nail HRH in the face!
  • Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter, Captain Brendan de Hay reporting)
    • Looking for a deputy to whom she can eventually hand over the office’s responsibilities.
  • Their Excellencies, Master Wistric and Mistress Sunneva
    • Her Excellency regrets her absence, but His Tininess had to come home from daycare early.
    • Thank you to everyone who worked on Castle Wars, especially those on entourage and who volunteered with feast. Feast (and the feast hall decorations) turned out fantastic and was recognized across the Knowne World, as some of our social media photos were shared by the Society Facebook group.
    • We will host our Baronial holiday party on 14 December – stay tuned for a post on our Baronial Facebook group for organizing the potluck dinner. There will also be a Dirty Santa gift exchange for all who wish to participate.
    • Their Excellencies encouraged everyone to send in award recommendations – a lot of people worked really hard at Castle Wars, and writing award recommendations is a great way to recognize their work. Hit them up or fill out the award form on the seneschal page. They keep all the recommendations they receive.
    • Nikon pointed out that before you write a recommendation for someone, look them up on the Order of Precedence or better yet, our populace page
    • The populace was reminded that since New Year’s Day will be on the first Wednesday, the January business meeting will take place on the 2nd Wednesday (8 January)

Castle Wars Post-Mortem

  • We had an event! Yay!
  • WE had to file an accident report – Drogo cut his hand in the kitchen slicing potatoes
  • We had very few complaints – there were several suggestions for more parking and directional signs
  • The kitchen staff reported that there were some incidents of rudeness towards them. No details at the current time.
  • There was one incident of harassment at Castle Wars that is being investigated at the Society level. It was reported immediately to the autocrat and seneschal to get the timestamp on the event. Mark has been named the lady’s advocate as the situation plays itself out.
  • One vehicle was lost at the event – the car was inadvertently driven over a tree stump and lost its transmission.
  • All receipts have been received – several people/departments did not use their budget, so expenses were less than expected.
  • Lord Jürgen asked for clarification about who gets the till from Troll at the end of the night. He could not find any official info about handling funds from troll – this is important to clarify for anyone who works Troll at events. Updates will be provided at the next business meeting.
  • Anyone who is looking for a reimbursement check should see Lord Farouk.
  • Juliane mentioned that at both last year’s Castle Wars and again at this year’s Castle Wars, we revamped the way we market events and both years, had a great response. How can we revisit how to market next year’s Castle Wars?
  • Baroness Angharat asked who is South Downs’ meme/social media person? She would like to hire them for Blood and Roses in April.
  • Nikon mentioned how much he loved his teacher gift.
  • Master Ximon said that he had great support as the parking person; he spent the event driving the loop around the site as shuttle driver. We really need to have a shuttle driver at events at Benjamin Hawkins, since the site is so spread out and parking is mostly in specific areas.
  • Would it be possible to get a golf cart rental in the budget for next year?
  • Mistress Alessandra asked if someone could make a map of all the walking paths and interior driving areas – it would be really helpful, since they’re not marked clearly. Ximon added, regarding parking that no matter how much you mark up a site, you’ll have people trying to ignore the signage.
    • Jürgen suggested that we could make modular signposts with attachable arrows, etc. that could be illuminated (as the site at night is particularly difficult to travel through)
    • Sandwich board might be a better option since they are more flexible – they don’t need to be staked in and could still be customizable with arrows
    • Juliane added that this is a relatively new site, and as with most sites, the more we use it the more comfortable we’ll be with the layout.
    • Ximon suggested that we table this discussion for next year and is willing to lead up a parking committee/team for the site.
  • Ximon also thanked everyone who camped with South Downs, especially THL Stella who organized the camp. Everyone had a great time! Further thanks to Isabella for her great meal, and to everyone who helped break down camp on Sunday.
  • Drunk History went really well! Ximon repeated his challenge to the Barony – he is offering a prize for the winner of Drunk History, South Downs Edition.
  • Juliane will be submitting a bid for next year’s Castle Wars – stay tuned! It will be epic.
  • Bú asked if anyone had ended up with a (her) large soup pot; it’s gone on walkabout, and since it’s her mother’s, she’d really like it back.
  • Master Lorenzo followed “speaking of large soup pots…” Stella would love to have some help with the food side of being Camp Mom for future events. Please contact her if you are interested.
  • Angharat brought a tote with lost & found from the event and invited anyone who lost something at Castle Wars to check the tote. She also brought several scroll cases to return to the Barony/scribes.

Upcoming Events

  • Midwinter Arts & Sciences (1 February 2020), Lady Raven Helmsplitter and Master Ximon Martillo de Córdoba reporting
    • Submitted bid to Financial Committee; bid was approved by Financial Committee and was presented to the populace
    • 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.
    • No feast, but there will be a fundraiser lunch – possibly by the Order of the Blade?
    • Initial staff includes:
      • Master Ximon Martillo de Córdoba – co-Autocrat
      • THL Lucien d’Artois – Reservationcrat
      • THL Alisandre Isabeau de la Chapelle – A&S Class Coordinator
    • Complete bid is downloadable here.
    • After discussion by the populace, motion to vote on bid was made, seconded, and approved.

Other SCA Business

  • Juliane explained the process of submitting a bid
    • Bid goes to Seneschal for initial review. Seneschal has the right to accept or refuse the bid.
    • If the Seneschal accepts the bid, they forward it on to the finance committee who then approves or refuses it.
    • If the finance committee approves the bid, it is then presented to the populace for consideration and a vote.
  • Baron Piers is currently working on a bid for Coronation – as TRHs’ local group (Tir Briste) is already hosting Fools War the week following Spring Coronation, the event is being opened up to other groups. Piers mentioned he needed a co-autocrat, and ürgen volunteered.
  • Master Nikoslav offered a lyst fence to the Barony, free to a good home. Lucien confirmed that we have room for it in the storage unit, so arrangements were made to get it after it is used at Magna Faire.
  • Justina mentioned Jour d’Amour in January. The Courtesans Guild is being provided with a heated cabin and a lot of time to provide classes along the event theme (courtly love).
  • Ximon asked if we/the MoB hosts the fundraiser lunch at Midwinter, can he borrow a couple of crockpots.

Non-SCA Business

  • Mark mentioned that last Wednesday, two dogs showed up at their house. The dogs’ owner is newly disabled and can no longer care for the dogs, so Mark is trying to find a home for them. The dogs are dog- and cat- (and people!) friendly.

 
Business meeting is closed.

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

Thanks!

–Raven

A&S, Castle Wars, Meeting Minutes, Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

November 2019 Baronial Business Meeting Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

6 November 2019, 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
      • Robert Throckmorton. Reblazon of device. Sable, on a plate a Latin cross formy azure, a bordure parted bordurewise indented argent and azure. Registered on Aug 2019 LOAR
    • Awards
      • Red Tower
        • Una Ulfrdottir – Award of Arms
        • Lady Una Ulfrdottir – Cygnet’s Nest
        • Tryggvi Tryggsson – Award of Arms
        • Alessandro di Lorenzo – Cygnet’s Nest
        • Lady Alisandre Isabeau de la Chapelle – Velvet Owl
        • Lord Mark de Wytteney – Velvet Owl
        • Lord Mark de Wytteney – Court Barony
        • Melusine La Pucelle La Fayette – Argent Comet
        • Lady Mairghread Ragnhild Wilson – Red Raven
        • THL Juliane de Vivonne – Scarlet Star
        • THL Rhonwyn Alyna nic an Chrosain – Court Barony
        • Waelwulf – Award of Arms
        • Master Ximon Martillo de Córdoba – Meridian Majesty
        • THL Rhiannon verch Madyn – Meridian Majesty
        • Baron Seric of Marston – Grant of Arms
        • Captain Brendan de Hay – Grant of Arms
        • Lady Stella di Silvestri – Grant of Arms
        • Captain Pietro di Conti – Grant of Arms
        • Lord Quintus Valarius Gracchus – Grant of Arms
        • Lady Justina di Silvestri – Grant of Arms
  • Knight Marshal (Lady Mairghread Wilson)
    • Sunday practice has moved to the Viking Alchemist Meadery site (3080 Jonquil Dr., Smyrna, GA 30080) starting 13 October 2019. Everyone is very happy with the site!
  • Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)
    • Hi! Welcome! and thank you!
    • Sunday practices are now taking place at the Meadery; Tuesday evening practices will remain will continue at Brook Run Park (no change)
    • A continuing thank you to all who have been helping out with practices
    • Come to Castle Wars! There are some awesome scenarios in teh works, including those with audience participation!
  • Chatelaine (THL Justina di Silvestri)
    • Will be bringing Gold Key (loaner garb) to Castle Wars; if you know you will have need of loaner garb, please let Justina know so she can make sure she has garb in the sizes needed.
    • She is preparing her quarterly report – if you have anything you’d like to contribute to Gold Key, please let her know.
    • Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)
      • We have the maker space arranged for monthly project nights (yay!). The address is 675 Metropolitan Parkway SW, Atlanta. If you are interested in working at the space for project night, please contact Bu for further details.
      • ConjurationCON (15-17 November 2019)
        • We will have tables in two separate areas, so we will need volunteers to help staff the tables
        • We have space for dance practice/demo, if anyone can lead this
        • We have a set schedule for the fighting demos (two periods on Saturday), as well as an open field on Friday afternoon.
        • This event will run on a typical Con schedule (nearly 24hrs/day), so there’s lots of time and opportunity to volunteer and take part in the Con
        • This is a great Con for the SCA – lots of crossover in interests; we have had several new members come from past ConjurationCONs
        • Bú is working on getting a hotel room onsite for crash/downtime space. If you would be interested in accessing the hotel room, please let Bú know.
  • Arts & Sciences (THL Alisandre de la Chapelle)
    • We have A&S in the Barony, and it is good! Yay!
    • October’s A&S class on bookbinding, taught by Mistress Margavati, was a big hit! Check out our Facebook group for pictures of the class.
    • Due to the upcoming holidays, there will not be a class offered either in November or December. We will regroup in January with Marks medieval gaming class.
    • 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!
    • We received the PayPal check from Red Tower.
    • The quarterly report was submitted today.
    • We are currently in a little bit of a hole due to the increased costs of our meeting site and storage site, but we are in good shape overall.
    • Mistress Alessandra and Andreva are working on getting re-warranted so they can take over/continue (respectively) the Reeve office.
  • Webminister (Captain Pietro di Conti)
    • We have a website!
    • Updated Sunday fighter practice location to Viking Alchemist Meadery
    • Added November and December dates for live weapons practice
    • Changed deputy armored marshal from Lord Jarec Markov to Lord Jürgen der Vielfrass
    • Lady Zhelana agreed to serve as point person on creating the Midwinter A&S event page. An initial page has been created as a placeholder, which will be updated as content becomes available.
    • Updated Baronial Champions with latest info:
      • Master Davio de la Rouge – Baronial Rapier Champion
      • Baron Robert Throckmorton – Baronial Armored Champion
      • THL Stella di Silvestri – Baronial Arts Champion
      • TBD – Baronial Archery Champion (need SCA name, only have modern name)
    • Updated Castle Wars event page with latest info:
      • Castle Wars flyer, linked to Castle Wars Facebook event page
      • Schedule
      • Fighting scenarios
      • Feast menu
      • Live weapons schedule
      • Map
    • New profile pages for:
      • Alessandro di Lorenzo
      • Sir Kytte Meliora Stevenson
      • Lord Tryggvi Tryggsson
      • Lady Una Ulfrdottir
      • Lady Waelwulf
    • New profile photo for:
      • Lady Mairghread Wilson
    • Updated awards for:
      • Lady Agnes Halydaye
      • THL Alisandre Isabeau de la Chapelle
      • Lord Jarec Markov
      • THL Juliane de Vivonne
      • Lady Mairghread Wilson
      • THL Mark de Wytteney
      • Lady Melusine la Pucelle la Fayette
      • Lord Nikon Dawidowicz
      • Captain Pietro di Conti
      • Baroness Rhiannon verch Madyn
      • Baroness Rhonwyn Alyna nic an Chrosain
      • Master Ximon Martillo de Córdoba
  • Keeper of the Baronial Memes (Social Media Minister) (THL Emelina le Nourreys)
    • We have social media! Yay!
    • Yay! We have more followers on Instagram!
    • Gearing up for Castle Wars!
  • Their Excellencies, Master Wistric and Mistress Sunneva
    • We are really excited for Castle Wars!
    • We are still in need of courtiers – if you are interested, please contact Juliane
    • We are out of Red Raven medallions. Her Excellency has contacted the manufacturer and has an invoice ($20 each); this was voted on and approved.
    • Award recommendations – send them in, please! We have events (yay!) and we love to give out awards. Hit them up or fill out the award form on the seneschal page. They keep all the recommendations they receive
  • Seneschal (THL Mark de Wytteney)
    • Reminded everyone to please sign in if they hadn’t done so already.

Events

  • Red Tower (4-6 October 2019), THL Justina di Silvestri and Lady Isabella Parr reporting
    • Red Tower report is done; we made a profit of approx. $1071.92 (yay!)
    • What are we going to do with all these balls (marbles)?
  • Midwinter Arts & Sciences (1 February 2020), Lady Raven Helmsplitter and Master Ximon Martillo de Córdoba reporting
    • Submitted bid to Financial Committee; planning to present bid to populace at the next meeting
    • In the meantime, will take the time to get more info from the church site
  • Castle Wars (21-24 November 2019), THL Isabetta de San Marco and Baroness Angharat merch Morchant reporting
    • The Order of the Bear is the only polling order who has requested to schedule a meeting
    • The feast menu is available! It is AMAZING
    • Please let Isabetta or Angharat know as soon as possible if you need anything from the storage unit
    • Need volunteers to help with Troll, especially in the evenings and Saturday morning
    • Will it be possible to get a backdrop or drapes for the children’s activities pavilion?
    • Will we need propane for heaters? It is possible that the site will provide it – Juliane will check
    • We might be able to use the maker space to help get things done for Castle Wars
    • There was a discussion about how many tables we will need for Castle Wars – for feast hall, lyst field, etc.
    • Her Grace mentioned who thankful she is that we are able to have the memorial night archery shoot at Castle Wars; apparently, night shoots were illegal in Meridies not that long ago.
    • Ximon gave THL Stella mad props for all her work organizing the baronial encampment – yay! If you want to take part in the encampment, please contact Stella directly, and join the Facebook encampment group for the latest information.
      • Meal plan – we’re not doing an official meal plan, but we are organizing potluck meals throughout the weekend (for example, volunteers will cover the main dish at dinner, and the side dishes will be potluck from those camping with the Barony). What about lunches and breakfast? Site is offering breakfast on Saturday, included in the site fee.
      • Justina asked about Drunk History on Friday night – with a onesies competition, with prizes!
      • Her Excellency will be taking Lady Anneliese as an apprentice at the encampment Friday night, with a German dessert and hot chocolate bar reception
      • Master Lorenzo will also be taking Lady Agnes as an apprentice on Saturday night after Feast
      • Even if you don’t want to help out with cooking or bringing anything for the encampment meals, there’s still a lot that can be done to help out
    • For castle wars, come volunteer for troll! it’s right next to our encampment!
    • Get your reservations in!

Other SCA Business

  • Kingdom-level Events (KLEs)
    • We need to think about what KLEs we want to bid on in 2020, as every group is required to bid on at least one KLE. RUM/Fighters Collegium? We need to look at sites.
  • Melusine took Xander to the Atlanta Food Bank to volunteer and talked to them about the SCA. They suggested that we could do a baronial volunteer event to volunteer at the food bank. Volunteer schedule is set on a 90 day basis. Juliane suggested that we volunteer at a time when they really need the help (January?
  • Brian at the Meadery will need help with work-related projects in the upcoming weeks. Please contact him if you can help. Mark described the site in detail, and mentioned the possibility of the next-door warehouse opening a brewery as well. Everything is dependent on licensing and permits
  • Justina mentioned Jour d’Amour in January. The Courtesans Guild is being provided with a heated cabin and a lot of time to provide classes along the event theme (courtly love).
  • Justina asked if anyone would be interested in taking part in an SCA yard sale at a meeting.
  • Juliane is willing to organize a yard sale at Fools War as a merchant’s tent.

Non-SCA Business

  • Margavati had a whole bunch of Christmas decorations she gave away to any who wanted them.
  • SERFO! Master David Twynham is running this annual HEMA fencing event at Kennesaw State University’s Marietta campus. We are expecting more than 100 fencers from all over the country to attend for a full weekend of tournaments. A lot of SCA rapier fighters take part and do well in the tournaments, so register to take part, or just come by and watch a lot of great swordfighting!
  • THL Andreva’s chamber vocal group will present a concert of period music. Please contact her for more info and/or tickets.
  • Margavati is getting rid of her full-size futon, free to a good home.

 
Business meeting is closed.

Next business meeting will be held Wednesday, 4 December 2019, at the Doraville Civic Center.

Thanks!

–Raven

Castle Wars, Meeting Minutes, Red Tower, Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

May 2019 Baronial Business Meeting Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

1 May 2019, 7:30pm

Meeting site for May (temporary) Forest Fleming Arena – 3037 Pleasant Valley Dr, Doraville, GA 30340

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!”

Sir Iastreb introduced a newcomer to the meeting – this meeting was Rachel’s first SCA experience, so Mark gave her a quick summary of what was going on at the meeting.

Officers Reports

  • Herald (THL Lucien d’Artois)
    • Awards at Coronation (6 April 2019):
      • THL Lucien d’Artois – Burning Trumpet
      • THL Maire Dhocair Inghean Chiarain – Argent Comet
      • Captain Nikoslav Mikolaevich – Master of Defense
      • Mistress Mara Palmer – Sable Quill
      • Lady Justina di Silvestri – Order of the Velvet Owl
    • Awards at Fools’ War (20 April 2019):
      • Agnes Halydaye – Meridian Cross
      • THL Maire Dhocair Inghean Chiarain – Argent Comet
  • Knight Marshal (Lady Mairghread Wilson)
    • Mairghread announced that her marshal warrant expires in July, and although she has two deputies, they don’t come to meetings often. She said she is willing to continue serving as Knight Marshal and have her warrant renewed if the populace would like her to continue doing so.
    • Mark asked if she might want to get a deputy that would be interested in stepping up eventually. As Lord Nikon walked in, he was “nominated.”
  • Rapier Marshal (Lord Brendan de Hay)
    • Weather is improving, so practices are more frequent and back at Liane Levetan/Brook Run Park. Practices continue to take place on Tuesday evenings and Sunday afternoons, weather and event schedules permitting.
    • There have been anywhere from three to 15 people showing up at any given practice.
  • Live Weapons Marshal (Mistress Mara Palmer)
    • Mara described that Live Weapons in the SCA include target archery and thrown weapons (knives, axes, etc. that are also thrown at targets.
    • Mara said that practices have been going well – they’ve been able to hold two Royal Rounds at practices.
    • She mentioned that she is running low on loaner arrows; given that she still has available funds in her budget, she will move forward with purchasing additional arrows.
    • With the large number of children who have been attending practices, she will need to add to the supply of child-sized bows. Everyone was pleased with the enthusiasm of the participation of the children at these practices.
    • This June marks the second anniversary of the live weapons program in South Downs! Yay!
    • At last June’s (first anniversary) practice, the Baronial Live Weapons Championship was held. She suggested that this championship could be held each June as an annual event.
    • Mara also announced that due to her baby being due in the fall, she will be at Red Tower but not at Castle Wars.
    • South Downs has been asked to help out with live weapons at Arabian Nights in July, hosted by the shire of Arenal.
    • Practices for the next several months have been scheduled and are posted on the South Downs and Owl’s Nest Live Weapons Facebook group. Current averages for Royal Rounds and tassels can also be found here.
    • The live weapons marshallate has been revamped and she is now only one of two marshals in the Barony (the other doesn’t go to meetings).
  • Chatelaine (Lady Justina di Silvestri)
    • In addition to newcomer Rachel, we also had visitors from the Midrealm who were passing through our lands: Lady Aeffe Thorsdottir and Lady Godhit of Cynnabar, who presented Their Excellencies and THL Mark with a penny as a token to allow them to pass through our kingdom
    • Justina welcomed back Owen and Caroline, and welcomed (back) Lady Agnes, who has officially moved back into the Barony. Yay!
    • She also announced she has a new deputy in charge of demos, Bú Feiyan – yay!
    • We (the Barony) have been invited to present panels at DragonCon this year; this would be a great and fun opportunity for us! If you are interested, please contact Justina or Bú (who will follow up with our contacts at DragonCon about this)
    • Mark mentioned that we should try to get involved with some of the events (Lemonade Days, Cherry Blossom Festival, etc.) at the park(s) where we practice to see if we could do demos.
  • Arts & Sciences (Lady Alisandre de la Chapelle)
    • We have A&S in the Barony, and it is good! Yay!
    • Kingdom Arts & Sciences, aka Artsy Crown is coming up! There will be classes to take, and opportunities to teach! The signup sheet is available on the event website. Classes include martial topics, dance, a Courtesans track, and more!
    • Mark has a friend who is interested in teaching a blacksmithing class, perhaps on making tent stakes. This class would need to be offered on a weekend.
    • This month’s baronial A&S class will be a class on the Spanish Inquisition in May, taught by Zhelana Vovkivna, followed in June by a class on the Introduction to Middle English, taught by The Honorable Lady Wenyeva atte grene. This class counts as RUM class HIS-2110, toward the Literature HIS requirement, so if you’re working on getting your RUM credits done, you won’t want to miss this.
    • Thanks to the response from the populace, Baronial Arts & Sciences classes are nearly completely scheduled for 2019, but there’s still opportunities to share you knowledge! If you are interested in teaching a class, please fill out the form or contact Alisandre directly.
  • Quartermaster (THL Lucien d’Artois)
    • We have stuff! The Quartermaster manages all the stuff!
    • Lucien started by thanking everyone who helped move to the new storage space and re-inventory everything
    • He will set up a Google doc with a supplies list so anyone who needs to access the baronial supplies for an event will know what is available and can sign out what they need.
    • Mark added that the Minister of Children still has all her supplies and will reinventory her own supplies. She will also be donating wheeled bins that will make things easier at events for the kids’ activities.
    • The Barony has collected a large lost & found inventory over many past events; Lucien will bring it all to the next project night and it will be available to whoever wants the items. There had been discussion about holding a Baronial Yard Sale at an event or practice to sell off the lost and found and excess Gold Key, but there are questions about whether it would be worth it for the group (the Barony or another local group) to run such a yard sale, so we might also just offer it to anyone who wants the items, or donate it to Welcome Home or for kingdom largesse.
    • Juliane offered that she has photos of all the lost & found items, and will post them soon.
  • Reeve (THL Andreva Rigaldi)
    • We have money! yay!
    • Coronation was much more profitable than we expected, our profit total was just under $2,000 ($982 went back to Kingdom, and the remaining $982 was deposited to the Baronial bank account)
      • The site was more expensive than others we’ve used, but we over-budgeted on other items so it worked out really well
    • The monthly report is not yet ready, as today is the first of the month
    • Andreva reminded everyone that before an event flyer is submitted to Popular Chivalry (the monthly kingdom newsletter), it needs to go to her and Their Excellencies for approval and to allow Andreva to get PayPal set up for the event.
    • Speaking of PayPal, there will be a class on PayPal offered at Artsy Crown. Anyone who might be interested in running Troll (to run credit cards) and help with reservations needs to take this class.
  • Webminister (Lord Pietro di Conti)
    • We have a website!
    • Added new page for:
      • Baroness Isabetta de San Marco
    • Updated awards for:
      • Lady Agnes Halydaye
      • Master Nikoslav Mikolaevich
    • Posted change in meeting site for the month of May
  • Minister of Children (Lady Melusine of South Downs, THL Mark de Wytteney reporting)
    • Lady Melusine mentioned she has two deputies, Svala and Una
    • Melusine described how she would like to split children’s activities into two groups, based on age: Melusine would take the older kids (9+ years old), Una taking care of the younger kids (8 and under), and Svala will float between the two groups as needed.
    • She is looking for volunteers to teach classes for the kids at events; she is particularly interested in classes that reflect on the event theme and not just busy work.
    • We have been getting great feedback from people about our children’s activities, and Melusine had been asked to run children’s activities at Fools’ War and Artsy Crown.
    • Bú mentioned that she registered her child in Page School, and suggested that if the classes Melusine wants to offer are approved by the Page School, the children taking the classes will get credit.
  • Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)
    • Lady Raven is beginning to work on the next issue of the baronial newsletter, The Read Tower and has received a couple of articles.
      • Raven is always looking for more material – articles, photos, artwork, etc., so if you have something you’d like to contribute, please contact Raven directly.
  • Seneschal (THL Mark de Wytteney)
    • Mark thanked Brendan, Lucien, Lorenzo, Ximon, and everyone who helped with Coronaton and moving all the baronial gear to the new storage unit. Tir Briste was also very thankful for what they did to help set up Fools War.
  • Their Excellencies, Master Wistric and Mistress Sunneva
    • Her Excellency wants to get baronial beautification projects going for upcoming events – projects that will help spiff up the baronial campsite and the baronial (and that of its populace) presence at events.
    • Most of the new baronial silk banners have gone missing – it is most likely that they accidentally got packed in with something else and the person who has them doesn’t realize they have them.Their Excellencies have asked for everyone to go through their camping kits to see if anyone has them. They would love to get them back, please!
    • His Excellency mentioned that are a lot of jobs, in all categories, that need to get done in the barony throughout the year and at events we host; please consider volunteering for even an hour or two if you can. He also noted that it’s been a while since he’s heard Iazzie say “it’s embarrassing!” Find something you find interesting, that you are already participating in, and look into how you can help.
    • Adding on to what His Excellency said, Andreva pointed out that there are people who volunteer for an entire event and who need help covering for things/taking a short break, etc. Taking a few moments, even without “officially volunteering” to check in with those who have been working all day, is greatly appreciated. She said that, for herself, she “goes to ‘my’ events to work, [and] goes to other event to have fun.”

Upcoming Events

  • Red Tower (4-6 October, 2019)
    • Lady Justina and Isabella Parr presented a bid, with an event theme of Labyrinth (with history).
    • Hard Labor Creek State Park has already been booked for the event.
    • They do not yet have a feastcrat lined up yet, so the final costs may varya little depending on the feastcrat. However, feast pays for itself, so any variation should be minor.
    • Breakeven numbers compared to last year’s turnout are pretty close, but there is some wiggle room that would allow us to turn a small profit.
    • Motion to vote made, seconded and voted on with unanimous approval. Yay!
    • For details about the event bid, click here.
  • Castle Wars (21-24 November 2019)
    • Four bids by two parties (each party presented a bid for two different sites options)
      • The Al-Sihah Shriners site, where we’ve held several events over the past couple of years
      • Camp Benjamin Hawkins in Byron, where Coronation and Fools’ War were held this year
    • Andreva mentioned the Shriner site is $2900 (with deposit back), but we need to rent portapotties, ant killers, dumpsters, etc. and totals roughly $5K. People we talk to there are great, but the person who’s been onsite is difficult to work with. When we first started working with the site, it was pretty empty, but over the years they’ve expanded to allow short-term tenants living there (construction workers, etc), which has led to non-event attendees wandering into our campsites.
    • Camp Benjamin Hawkins has offered us a flat rate of $5,000, but portapotties and a lot of other things are included in the price. From what we’ve learned from Coronation and Fools’ War, we may need to rent additional portapotties (as well as reconsider their placement around the site). The site areas are more spread out than the Shriners’ site, and parking is more of an issue at Camp Benjamin Hawkins.
    • The populace was asked to narrow down the submitted bids based on site preference. Camp Benjamin Hawkins was selected by a clear preference.
    • Based on time constraints at the meeting, each event bid will be presented, but discussion will take place online and questions can be taken by email. A final vote on the Castle Wars bid will take place at the June business meeting.
    • Bid #1: Co-autocrats: Baronessa Isabetta de San Marco and Lady Angharat merch Morcant
      • Baronessa Isabetta has autocratted 2 coronations, 3 Meridian Challenge of Arms, and several other events
      • Event theme: The Battle of Agincourt
      • Breakeven numbers are 115 day trip, 200 weekend
      • Proposed feastcrat is Countess Thorkatla
        • Feast will be a traditional above and below the salt, sitdown feast for both
        • Feast will feature French and English dishes, reflecting the theme
        • 3 or 4 courses for each feast, and the menus will be complementary: similar dishes but with more extravagant ingredients for the above the salt feast
        • There will be two kitchen teams, each cooking one feast
      • For further details about the bid, click here
    • Bid #2: Co-autocrats: Baron Piers Simmons and THL Maire Dhocair Inghean Chiarain
      • Event theme: War at the End of Time (Dr. Who)
        • For the armored fighting, this will be represented as Rome vs. Gaul
        • For rapier fighting, this will be represented as France vs. England
        • There has been an offer of having siege engines at the proposed event, depending on approvals from site management
      • Proposed feastcrat is Mistress Marianna Cristina Tirado de Aragon
      • For further details about the bid, click here

Other SCA Business

  • Iazzie put on his hat as Deputy Seneschal for northern Meridies, and announced that there will be an open meeting with the SCA Board of Directors at Black Axe (7-9 June at Dalwhinnie Fields)
  • THL Juliane announced that she will be hosting monthly garb nights at her home on the second Thursday of each month; the first garb night will focus on viking aprons. For further information, please contact her directly.
  • Maire announced that this year’s Knowne World Costume and Fiber Arts Symposium will take place this June at the University of West Georgia. She is serving as class coordinator, and there are still spaces available to teach. Baronessa Isabetta is serving as troll coordinator, and they both encouraged anyone who could to volunteer.

Non-SCA Business

  • THL Andreva has a spring chamber music concert on 3 May in Decatur, 5 May at Northside Drive Baptist Church. The concert will feature music by women composers, and although the program is not entirely period, there will be several pieces by Hildegard of Bingen. Contact her if interested.
  • Master Mathias and Roís O’Shannon will hold their handfasting in 2020 – stay tuned!
  • This month will have a fifth Wednesday – that means, it’s time for another Baronial Fifth Wednesday Potluck! As always, it will be garb-encouraged, but not required. We’ll look into whether we can hold it here at the temporary meeting site.
  • This location will be our meeting site for all our meetings this month, because the Mayor outranks us 😀

 
Next business meeting will be held Wednesday, 5 June 2019, at the Doraville Civic Center.

Thanks!

–Raven

Announcements, Castle Wars, Dragoncon, Fighter Practices, Meeting Minutes, Midwinter A&S, Red Tower, Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

January 2019 Baronial Business Meeting Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

2 January 2019, 7:30pm

Doraville Civic Center – 3744 Central Ave., Doraville GA

Notes submitted by Lady Raven Helmsplitter, South Downs Chronicler.

THL Lucien d’Artois called the meeting to order. Master Wistric sez “Welcome! If you did not sign in, please sign in!”

Baronial Polling Results
HRM Gwenhwyfar announced that after a great turnout with votes and comments from the populace, the new Baron and Baroness South Downs will be Master Wistric Oftun and Mistress Sunneva de Cleia! Huzzah!

Officer Reports

  • Herald (THL Lucien d’Artois)
    • Awards – Magna Faire
      • Lady Stella di Silvestri – Order of the Velvet Owl
    • Submissions
      • THL Andreva Rigaldi – device and name change registered Margot de Saint Denis
  • Armored and Youth Marshal (Lady Mairghread)
    • Armored
      • Lord Bram has offered to step up as deputy armored marshal
      • Lady Mairghread will discuss with their new Excellencies how they would like to handle choosing their new rapier and armored Baronial champions
    • Youth
      • Completed reports for the youth program
      • Is working on rewriting the rules for youth rapier
  • Rapier Marshal (Lord Brendan de Hay)
    • We are still holding practices when the weather allows.
    • We are looking for a new site for Tuesday evening practices, given the ongoing problems with lighting at both Blackburn and Brook Run parks.
  • Live Weapons Marshal (Mistress Mara Palmer)
    • December’s practice was rained out
    • Practices through May 2019 have been scheduled and are posted on the South Downs and Owl’s Nest Live Weapons Facebook group
    • Mistress Mara needs to get in touch with anyone who’s earned a tassel, so she can arrange to have the tassels presented in court
    • She also has requested for volunteers to help make tassels for the archers. Instructions are available on the Facebook Live Weapons group; if interested in helping, please contact her directly.
  • Chatelaine (Lady Justina di Silvestri)
    • We’ve had some awesome new people who have recently joined the Barony – welcome!
    • Anachrocon is coming in February! Please stay tuned for updates, but in the meantime, teachers are needed to teach at Anachrocon, if interested, please contact Justina.
  • Arts & Sciences (Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)
    • We have A+S in the Barony, and it is good! Yay!
    • Thanks to the response from the populace, Baronial Arts + Sciences classes have been scheduled through July 2019 “because y’all are amazing!” But there’s still opportunities to share you knowledge! If you are interested in teaching a class, please fill out the form or contact Mistress Sunneva directly.
    • Our next A+S class will take place on January 23, when Sir Iastreb will teach the History of Chess; Iazzie described it as more of a survey of the evolution of chess from its earliest historical versions to modern chess as we know it today.
    • Lady Justina will teach February’s class, “Taking a Bite Out of History: Your Ancestors Were Cannibals!” followed by Cellach Ingen Oengusa’s class “Who Was King Arthur, Anyway?” in March, and THL Madalena’s class on making bysockets in April.
  • Reeve (THL Andreva Rigaldi)
    • We have some money! Huzzah! We don’t have specifics yet, as the report just arrived today, so she hasn’t yet had a chance to analyze it.
    • Andreva pointed out that the profits the Barony makes on our big events goes toward paying for the storage unit and meeting site rental fees, and not much more than that. So please consider hosting fundraiser lunches at events, as those profits go towards any other needs and requests for Baronial supplies
    • Gulf Wars is coming! Make sure you designate the Barony of South Downs as your local group when you volunteer – local groups will receive funds based on the number of volunteer hours logged by their members.
  • Quartermaster (THL Lucien d’Artois)
    • We have stuff!
    • Lucien thanked everyone who came out on project night to help mark new baronial kitchen supplies, etc.
    • Inventory weekend coming to a weekend near you! Please stay tuned and come and help out!
  • Webminister (Lord Pietro di Conti)
    • We have a website!
    • Worked on disk cleanup
    • Midwinter A+S site updates:
      • Class signup link
      • Fighter practice page – updated live weapons schedule for early 2019
      • Live Weapons marshal page – added links to Meridies archery scores and How to Make Tassels instructions
  • Minister of Children (Lady Myndee of South Downs, THL Mark de Wytteney reporting)
    • Not much has happened in the past month, but Myndee and her deputy have volunteered to run children’s activities at Fools’ War
  • Seneschal (Master Wistric Oftun)
    • Wistric thanked everyone who helped with the Baronial polling
    • We need to find a new meeting site, as the rental rate has been raised from $50/week to $70/week beginning in March 2019. Perhaps we can go to St. Philip’s in Buckhead? But we’re definitely open to new site options.
  • Their Excellencies
    • His Excellency also thanked everyone who helped with the Baronial polling, and is looking forward to the new Baron and Baroness South Downs
    • He then asked if anyone was going to Magna Faire, and what activities they were planning on taking part in – A+S? Fencing? Anything else?

Other SCA Business

  • Midwinter Arts + Sciences (9 February 2019)
    • We’re having an event next month!
    • Classes are coming along
    • Many volunteer positions have been filled, but volunteers are still needed – please contact Lady Alisandre if interested
    • Still looking for a group to host the fundraiser lunch
    • Evening court will be held in the ballroom but we have zero chance of getting in there before 3:00pm, so morning court will take place in the lecture hall
    • We are going to try to have evening court start at 4:30pm because there is a lot that will happen at court and we have a hard out of the site at 6:30pm
    • Now that we know who is being invested as Baron and Baroness South Downs, we can move forward full force with planning the investiture
    • Please pre-register for Midwinter A+S, it will make troll go a lot easier and more quickly
    • Speaking of troll, volunteers are still needed for troll shifts, especially first thing in the morning
    • Regional Fighter Practice – it’s happening (weather permitting)! Will be held Sunday, 10 February 2019, at Brook Run Park (usual practice location and time) We will have signage advertising the Regional at the Midwinter site
    • Inquiries have been made about crash space for Midwinter – Mara will be coordinating, so if you can offer crash space (or know someone who needs it), please contact her directly
    • There is interest in holding a Baronial yard sale, since the Barony has a good amount of stuff we no longer need, and there’s also people who want to donate. We’ll hold it perhaps at Midwinter, the Regional practice, or Fool’s War. There were a lot of ideas offered for the yard sale, and a volunteer to serve as point person was requested. Since Owl’s Nets has expressed interest in helping (as they have stuff to donate as well), it was suggested that Adaire be contacted to organize the yard sale.
    • The Courtesan’s track is still seeking volunteers to teach any of the Courtly Arts, social aspects of court, etc. Family-friendly classes are welcome.
  • Spring Coronation for TRH Sebastiannos and Morgan (5-7 April, 2019)
    • Juliane is going to look at the site this week. The new site, which is also where Fools’ War will be held, sounds really promising. HRH Sebastiannos is really excited about the site.
    • Discreet cigarette smoking is allowed – please religiously police your cigarette butts
    • Dogs are welcome on site (with all required paperwork) – if you bring your dog, please religiously police their butts 😉
    • A lot has already been negotiated with the site, thanks to Fynlo and the Fools’ War team, and the Boy Scouts (who own the site) are really excited about having us (the SCA) use their site in the future
    • Juliane has put a bid together already, and is working through requests from Sebastiannos for feast arrangements. She will discuss these requests with the finance committee to get them implemented.
    • Stunt Bards! (for feast?)
  • Red Tower (4-6 October, 2019)
    • Lady Veronica has volunteered to put together a bid
  • Castle Wars (21-24 November, 2019)
    • THL Piers is interested in autocratting, but has concerns about some issues with the site, including pricing and SERV-Safe certification for kitchen workers.
    • The event site will be the same Boy Scout camp site as Coronation and Fools’ War
  • Anachrocon (15-18 February, 2019)
    • Takes place over Presidents’ Weekend; it does conflict with several events, but we’re looking for volunteers
    • These are our people we just have to draw them in
    • We are seeking teachers for classes – please contact Lady Justina if interested
  • JordanCon (26-28 April, 2019)
    • Fantasy literature convention, in honor of author Robert Jordan
    • Will be held at the Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia
    • Tiff Frankin is point person for Meridies
  • Questions from HRM Gwynhwyfar
    • She wanted, first of all, to let everyone know that HRM Adhemar would have liked to have been at the meeting for the Baronial announcement and thank everyone personally
    • After the meeting, representatives for Meridies will need to come to a final decision about kingdom-wide fundraising for the Knowne Worlde party at Gulf Wars
      • Party theme – Hogwarts! HRM will be Fleur Delacour
      • There will be a fundraiser raffle, and items are being requested for the raffle
      • HRM wants to have an army of dementors, and mentioned something about thousands of glowsticks?

Other SCA Business

  • Mistress Allesandra mentioned that while Midwinter A+S is going on, the populace is welcome to enter the A+S competitions, and “we have like 400 laurels who would love to help you!”
  • Lady Stella is still looking for someone to take over organizing the baronial activity at DragonCon, as she won’t be able to be there for registering our group. Justina reminded us that we’ve been invited by the alternate history track to provide some classes

Non-SCA Business

  • His Excellency, Master Lorenzo, said that a couple of lovely chairs had been left behind at the baronial holiday party. If you left one, please come get it!
  • Dinner – Shaking Crawfish!

Next business meeting will be held Wednesday, 6 February 2019, at the Doraville Civic Center. Happy holidays and a happy new year!

Thanks!

–Raven

Announcements, Castle Wars, Fighter Practices, Meeting Minutes, Midwinter A&S

December Baronial Business Meeting Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

5 December 2018, 7:30pm

Doraville Civic Center – 3744 Central Ave., Doraville GA

Notes submitted by Lady Raven Helmsplitter, South Downs Chronicler.

THL Lucien d’Artois called the meeting to order. Master Wistric sez “Welcome! If you did not sign in, please sign in!”

Officer Reports

  • Herald (THL Lucien d’Artois)
    • Awards – Castle Wars
      • TBD
      • TBD
    • Submissions
      • TBD
  • Baronial Polling (THL Mark de Wytteney)
    • Polling begins at tonight’s meeting for non-residents
    • Polling will continue at next Sunday’s fighter practice and next week’s baronial meeting
    • He explained the polling process:
      • Voting will be a ranked system for the three sets of candidates; everyone will vote their order of preference for the sets of candidates
      • Ballots are being mailed for residents of the Barony today
  • Armored and Youth Marshal (Lady Mairghread)
    • Armored
      • Has been out of the loop for a little bit, due to real-life responsibilities
    • Youth
      • Completed reports for the youth program
      • Is working on rewriting the rules for youth rapier
  • Rapier Marshal (Lord Brendan de Hay)
    • Nothing to report
  • Live Weapons Marshal (Mistress Mara Palmer)
    • Mistress Mara was counseled by the populace to walk, not run, to the lectern as she approached to give her report
    • Practices have been going well, although they are starting to slow down as the weather has grown colder
    • Reports that Live Weapons will need more equipment – in particular, bows, arrows, and longer arrows
    • Castle Wars
      • went really well – great turnout, and many new participants. A total of 70 participants signed in at the archery range.
      • W did have a few safety incidents at Castle Wars, especially with people walking behind the targets. Mistress Mara emphasized that even if out of range, people walking behind the targets make the archers really nervous.
      • Thanks to the Barony of Bryn Madoc, who marshaled the throwing side of the Live Weapons activities at Castle Wars
    • It seems that there were many people who didn’t realize that they could come to our practices, even if not part of our Barony. Our practices are open to all, not just the members of the Barony!
    • Please check the Facebook group, South Downs/Owl’s Nest Live Weapons Practice to track upcoming practices.
  • Chatelaine (Lady Justina di Silvestri)
    • We had a lot of new people attend Castle Wars – it was awesome!
    • Lady Justina mentioned that there is a new Newcomers group on Facebook, and encouraged everyone – new and established members – to join, to ask and help answer questions and see what new people want to know about Meridies and the SCA in general.
    • Upcoming demos:
      • Anachrocon in February
        • Master Mathias mentioned that Anachrocon has asked for a commedia presentation. Anyone interested in helping, please contact Mathias directly.
      • DragonCon
        • Justina reminded us that we’ve been invited by the alternate history track to provide a couple of classes
      • Kennesaw State University (KSW)/OwlCon
        • Master Wistric mentioned that last March, KSW sponsored OwlCon; they have planned to hold it annually, but he’s not seen anything about this year’s event yet. Jaden and Lauren are looking into its status for this year
      • Possible demo at a library in Milton? More information to follow
  • Arts & Sciences (Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)
    • We have A+S in the Barony, and it is good! Yay!
    • We had 19 classes at Castle Wars, most well-attended
      • Courtesans’ track and the Newcomer’s track were both really encouraging
      • The period firearms demo was really exciting
      • Mistress Sunneva thanked everyone who took and taught classes
    • Next year’s classes for South Downs A+S nights are already scheduled through July 2019; if you are interested in teaching a class, please fill out the form or contact Mistress Sunneva directly.
    • Our next A+S class will take place on January 23, when Sir Iastreb will teach the History of Chess
  • Reeve (THL Andreva Rigaldi)
    • Castle Wars’ report has not yet been completed, pending final PayPal report
      • we made approximately $3,700 in profit
      • If you have receipts for Castle Wars, please send them to Andreva THIS WEEK
    • We have money in the bank, no outstanding checks
    • We have purchases we have made for the Barony that we need to approve:
      • $151 for tiki torches (HE South Downs)
      • $64.58 for 2 coffee pots and (?) air presses, which are so much easier to manage than industrial coffee urns (Justina)
      • $82 for dollies for transport (Lucien)
  • Quartermaster (THL Lucien d’Artois)
    • Nothing to report
  • Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)
    • Nothing to report
  • Webminister (Lord Pietro di Conti)
    • We have a website!
    • Sent Warrant for Appointment to the Office of Group Webminister to Kingdom Webminister at the Request of Rhiannon Mulholland
    • Updated Castle Wars website
    • Posted in-person polling announcement
    • New profile pages for:
      • Lord Guido of Axbridge
      • Lord Lucis Wicanius Cicero
      • Lord Jacob Mór
      • Captain Nikoslav Mikolaevich
      • Safa
    • Updated profile pages for:
      • Lord Nikon Dawidowicz (device, awards, and spelling)
      • Captain Brendan de Hay (awards)
      • Lady Myndee of South Downs (awards)
      • Lord Quintus Valerius Gracchus (awards)
      • THL Mark de Wytteney (awards)
      • Lord Jarec Markov (awards)
      • THL Juliane de Vivonne (awards)
      • Master Davio de la Rouge (awards)
  • Minister of Children (Lady Myndee of South Downs, THL Mark de Wytteney reporting)
    • Much of the Minister of Children’s report is regarding Castle Wars
      • One of the things thats important about the office is the issue of background checks. However, the MiC of a local group is the only one who is allowed to be sponsored/paid for by the Kingdom to get a background check – not even her deputy can be allowed to have a background check through the Kingdom. This restriction is causing problems with events with good turnouts for kids, such as Castle Wars. We’re not allowed to leave any children unsupervised, or supervised by a non-cleared volunteer – if one kid needs to go to the bathroom, they all need to go to the bathroom
      • We would love to have enough authorized support (without having to depend on the occiasional MiC from another group) to be able to split the group into younger and older kids so everyone can do cool things
      • Mock court was a huge success
      • We want to be able to get the kids active in what they are interested in doing in the society – not just passively doing arts and crafts “kids’ activities”
      • Mairghread mentioned her experiences with youth marshaling, comparing and contrasting her requirements with background checks with what the MiC has to go through
      • It was clarified that the Kingdom will only pay for one background check for an MiC per group, and that outside background checks are not applicable in the SCA. It was asked if it’s possible for the Barony to pay for an additional background check through the Kingdom, and if we knew how much the background check would cost, if finances are part of the problem? Can the group sponsor additional background checks?
  • Seneschal (Master Wistric Oftun)
    • If you haven’t signed in, please sign in
    • The 4th Wednesday this month is Boxing Day, there will be no meeting
  • Their Excellencies
    • His Excellency greeted the populace “Hi! I’m your lame duck baron!”
    • He then asked if anyone was going to Magna Faire, and what activities they were planning on taking part in – A+S? Fencing? Anything else?

Other SCA Business

  • Castle Wars Post-Mortem
    • THL Juliane stated that the #1 lesson learned was that we have the most awesome kingdom in the world
    • HRH Sebastiannos commented that his #1 lesson learned whas “Don’t give a kid a big tin of candy and let him go off with it!”
    • Other lessons:
      • When we got on site, we realized we didn’t have all the things we need for the lyst field – marking tape, flags, etc.
      • We should have a check off list for the field in advance
      • As a barony, we delineate in advance what each staff position involves, so there’s no confusion and less stress (esp for new people wanting to volunteer)
      • 3 hr courts are long
        • His Excellency really liked the idea of morning court to take care of a lot of the smaller awards done
        • HRM mentioned they had roving court which helped, but His Excellency pointed out the only people who would see court would be those who happened to be there
      • Having a co-autocrat would also be a great mentoring opportunity
        • Everyone needs a Nikon! But seriously, having a general assistant is a great idea
        • Iazzie mentioned that at MGT the autocrat has the co-autocrat take up the next year’s event. This would also help educate the autocrat – they have a year to find out all the details while co-ing
      • Issues that couldn’t be anticipated – at the Shrine, the radios didn’t work between the hall and the field. need to figure out how to work around it.
      • Lucien mentioned that Tir Briste has 3 co-autocrats (for Fools War?), each with a specific area of the event, so one person doesn’t have to run back and forth – makes communication around the event site much easier
      • Duke Thomas pointed out that CW is one of the biggest events of the kingdom, so we really should have a team of (co) autocrats just to manage
      • Landcrat
        • We need to address parking issues
        • Parking was really problematic, site manager was grumpy
        • We should have a parking team to manage where cars go as people arrive, especially with events this size. PARKING CZAR!
      • (Ximon) Cleanup
        • The people who were there until the end did an amazing job
        • We might consider working with a smaller group (for $$$) to help with set up and break down
        • Iazzie suggested that we contact Gulf Wars people to see how they handle volunteers for setup and breakdown
      • Andreva pointed out that yes, we make a decent profit with Castle Wars, but we also have had events over the year that have lost a lot of money
      • Volunteer raffle on Sunday didn’t get a great turnout because it was on Sunday
      • Lucien mentioned that we spent a lot of time on Sunday doing trash runs. Perhaps the pottycrat team could also do trash runs throughout the weekend.
        • Wistric mentioned that (Ben) had an idea – his Amtgard group has each camping group assigned a camp master, and each camp submits a deposit at registration. When their group is cleared to go, they get their deposit back.
        • Make it a competition? Whoever leaves their camp the quickest and cleanest gets an attaboy and kudos. hmm…
        • Better advertising in general for calling for volunteers
        • Rain was also an issue because the portapotties couldn’t be set where they needed to be – portapotty groups were supposed to be where the trash cans were set.
        • Andreva pointed out that it wasn’t that the site was trashed – it was that piles of trash bags were left at the portapotties, and it took forever for Ximon and Farouq to load up the trash and haul it to the dumpsters.
        • Could the parking people also inform groups about the trash situation – where the dumpsters are and that everyone is expected to dispose of their trash before they leave?
        • Perhaps the pottycrat could also have a trash detail throughout the weekend, going along camps collecting trash bags?
        • Dumpster locations? We can place them anywhere, since we have it brought in ourselves
      • Problem – the portapotty truck could not get on the swamped field, which is why so many cars were left on the field
      • Ximon, Lucien, Lorenzo, Wistric, and Ben did an awesome job
      • Truck was totally worth it, but it cost a lot more than was budgeted. Need to revisit budget for the truck
      • HRH mentioned that it would save the Barony a lot of money in repairing the castle wars by getting a trailer that is dedicated to storing the walls
      • Storing walls in storage unit, good short term solution but trailer is good long-term solution
      • RV fees were more than we expected/were told. need to clear that up
    • Midwinter Arts + Sciences
      • Please check with Lady Alisandre if you are interested in volunteering. We already have several volunteers for troll
      • Justina mentioned that we are looking for teachers for the Courtesans’ track – classes on any of the courtly arts, not just “R-rated,” are welcome
    • We are opening bids for Spring Coronation (HRH Sebastiannos and Morgan!), which will be held at the Fools War site
    • We need an autocrat for Red Tower 2019

Other SCA Business

    • Andreva announced that if you aren’t going to Magna Faire, she will be performing that same evening with her new vocal chamber group and invites everyone to come to the concert. It’s their first concert and “we have no idea what is going to happen.”
    • Mathias and Mara are planning a fuzzy PJs and dinner party (when?)

Next business meeting will be held Wednesday, 2 January 2019, at the Doraville Civic Center. Happy holidays and a happy new year!

Thanks!

–Raven

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

October Mini-Business Meeting

South Downs Baronial Business Mini-Meeting

17 October 2018, 7:30pm

Celebrity Guest Meeting Space – Cathedral of St. Philip

Notes submitted by Lady Raven Helmsplitter, South Downs Chronicler.

Herald (THL Lucien d’Artois) called the meeting to order. Master Wistric sez “Welcome! If you did not sign in, please sign in!”

Red Tower Post-Mortem

  • Lady Veronica da Lucca and Lord Mark de Wytteney, co-autocrats thanked everyone who worked on Red Tower – the event was awesome!
  • Veronica especially thanked all the staff and volunteers who rocked even in the brutal heat
  • We’ve already booked the site for next year
  • Comments and Observations
    • The people who had said they were going to do Friday night traveler’s fare couldn’t make it at the last minute, and it didn’t get covered in time. We will come up with alternate plans for future events, to make sure such offerings are covered
    • Several people mentioned that we could use more signs for that site (Camp Rutledge at Hard Labor Creek State Park), as they thought they had gotten lost (especially once they got to the unpaved section). “Is that a banjo? No, a hurdy-gurdy. Burma shave.”
    • Having trash cans on the field would be great, but everyone took great care of the lyst field – it was left crazy clean! The park rangers complimented us on how clean we left the site
    • The bathroom staff should be on site as early as possible to double-check the bathrooms and showers, to make sure they are suitably clean and stocked (especially with hand soap and paper towels)
    • Wistric asked if the two portapotties on the lyst field were sufficient – everyone seemed to think they were; perhaps add a hand wash station on the field?
    • Having a checklist for baronial supplies for each bin would make packing up a lot easier. Lucien said he’s already working on it, and the checklists should be ready by Castle Wars
    • It was suggested that Pietro should post the inventory on the baronial website so everyone knows what we have
    • We should make sure we have plenty of propane included
    • Sunday morning – the site closes at 10:00am, so we should have more voice heralds to nudge attendees; we should also announce the closing time more frequently throughout the day and at court
    • An additional checklist should be created for closing up cabins – perhaps posted in each cabin at the beginning of the event
    • Landcrat/crittercrat
      • Wasp spray would be helpful
      • The site should be checked for fire ants (again) before the site opens – there were some problems on the lyst field with them
    • Lots of praise for the live weapons set up – they felt part of the overall fighting, as opposed to isolated from the rest of the action
    • Lots of praise for lots of fighting – fighting all day long, even in the heat
    • Water on the field was handled pretty well, but others mentioned that we should have 3 water barrels per marshal space and one in the hall, as water started to run out on the field
    • Need to work the parking pass situation out – the site balked at the request for 100 parking pass Friday morning, and only gave 50 to the troll on Friday. Perhaps try to acquire them a few days in advance
    • Should we get golf carts for the site?
    • This had been investigated previously for Castle Wars, and the price they got was $1000 to rent a couple of golf carts
    • Ximon suggested that if we paid him $100, he’d happily shuttle people back and forth from the field to the hall
    • The idea of a shuttle person as one of the staff could be a really good idea/alternative to golf carts, actually
    • Bloody Ridge was really happy to have the opportunity to do the fundraiser lunch, but the logistics became difficult because the lunch area was back at the hall and therefore far from the field (where most of the people were). Suggestions were made to have a takeaway option or delivery option to the field? However, unless we run the fundraiser lunch ourselves, we can only make recommendations
    • The Gods Quest was a big success, especially for the kids
    • Her Excellency mentioned that she was also pleased with the set up of archery and live weapons, allowing them to feel much more a part of the overall fighting, and the Gods Quest – it would be great to do a similar quest for future events; having the Quest printed on the event flyers was a great idea
    • Her Excellency suggested that we might want to consider:
      • Having trash bags available at Troll for each cabin to pick up at check in
      • Making sure breakfast was provided to TRHs – their entourage is supposed to be in charge of that
      • Extending a special invitation to Master Evan to bring his book collection to a special scriptoria at a future event
      • Thinking about how to better use our baronial banners
      • Include in event staff dedicated people to help set up and take down baronial and kingdom pavilions
      • Encouraging an A+S class schedule for Red Tower – there were people who chose not to attend because there was a lack of classes
        • Veronica mentioned that there had been an executive decision to focus on fighting, but we also need volunteers to teach classes – please don’t wait for others to set up classes
    • Revel – Veronica thought it went really well, but there was some confusion about whether it was “official.” The alternate, family-friendly revel never really happened, but it was a good idea and should be planned earlier and advertised more to get a good turnout.
    • Minister of Children staff – if anyone is interested in volunteering, it would be a great help to the staff, as the kids groups could then be split up with the two credentialed leaders. Lady Melusine will investigate what (if any) background checks will be necessary for secondary volunteers, and how many credentialed people will be needed per number of volunteers.
    • Feastcrats need to make sure that they have their own supply of dish soap for this site, as it is not provided
    • The Barony has acquired a supply of new dishes and other kitchen supplies that need to be labeled. These will be brought to December’s project night so everything can be properly labeled and added to the inventory
    • Storage load out on Friday went really well. Lucien noted that moving forward, there will no longer be vehicle access to the storage facility, so we should look at cart options (perhaps at Costco?) to help get supplies into and out of the storage unit
    • The Barony is also considering moving to another storage facility, priorities being vehicle access and climate-controlled units
    • The event site has terrible coffee makers; we thought we had Baronial coffee makers, but apparently they died at a previous event. A voice vote was taken to replace the coffee makers (because coffee!)
    • In response to the issues surrounding the 10:00am site closing on Sunday, it was explained that this is because of the ranger schedule
    • Exchequer report:
      • Assuming all numbers are correct, our income was $4,217.98; with expenses totaling $3,166.63, our net profit was $1,051.35.

Castle Wars Business

  • Her Majesty has requested that the White Rose Ball be held at Castle Wars
    • There is some clarification needed about how this will be funded – from the Roses’ budget, or the Castle Wars event budget?
  • Lady Juliane still needs volunteers:
    • A hall steward
    • Someone to run the regular revel
      • Wistric talked to Duke Sinclair of Atlantia about bringing his tavern again to Castle Wars, and if so, we can do the revel there. We still ahve $355 from the Artsy Crown fundraiser lunch for a booze budget
    • For contributions to the volunteer raffle
  • How many war points will there be? Looking at five war points

Other SCA Business

  • Baronial nominations!
    • Piers Simmons nominated Sir Iastreb and THL Mariana
    • Lord Farouq nominated Master Wistric and Mistress Sunneva
    • Duke John nominated THL Lucien and Lady Juliane
  • Iazzie asked if the Barony had spoken to the Crown about the polling process. His Excellency mentioned that we are working under a compressed timeframe now, so we have talked to TRM to move the polling schedule more quickly than usual. It is important that anyone who wants to vote makes certain they have confirmed their ZIP code is within the Baronial boundaries or have otherwise followed the rules to be included in the voting
  • They are currently deciding whether ballots will be mailed or if polling will be at the meeting – it is important that as many people can be reached/included as possible
  • Current timeline includes having the investiture at Midwinter A+S
  • Polling should be mailed in early November, but it will be up to TRM when the decision will be made
  • TRM will ultimately choose whoever they want – this is a polling (where they take into consideration the views of the Baronial populace), not a vote in the usual sense
  • We will hold a Q+A for the candidates during the November business meeting (7 November)

With no other business, Lucien closed the meeting and dinner plans were discussed.

PLEASE NOTE: Next South Downs business meeting will be held Wednesday, 7 November 2018, at the Doraville Civic Center, 3770 Central Avenue, Doraville, GA. We will meet at the usual time, Wednesday 7-9pm.

–Raven

Castle Wars, Dragoncon, Events, Fighter Practices, Meeting Minutes, Midwinter A&S, Red Tower

July 2018 Baronial Business Meeting Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

11 July 2018, 7:30pm

Little Tree Studios

Notes submitted by Lady Raven Helmsplitter, South Downs Chronicler.

Herald (THL Lucien d’Artois) called the meeting to order. Master Wistric sez “Welcome! If you did not sign in, please sign in!”

Officer Reports

  • Herald (THL Lucien d’Artois)
    • Events – Legends
      • Lord Lucien D’Artois – Grant of Arms
      • Lady Mairghread Wilson – Argent Shield
      • Sable of South Downs – Award of Arms
    • Submissions registered at LOAR
      • Lady Juliane de Vivonne – badge
      • Master Mathias Blackett and Mistress Mara Palmer – joint badge; household name was returned
      • Ruqayah al-Zarqa – device change
    • Submissions in Society Commentary
      • Jurgen der Vielfrass – new name and device
      • Quintus Valerius Gracchus – new name and device
      • Lady Alisandre de la Chapelle – new device
      • Lady Myndee of of South Downs – new name and device
      • Nikon Davidowicz – new name and device
      • Lord Mark de Wyttenye – new alternate name and device
      • Lady Stella di Silvestri – new alternate name; badge was returned at Kingdom
    • Submissions in Kingdom Commentary
      • THL Andreva Rigaldi – new name
      • Margot de Saint Denis – device resubmission
    • Submitted to Kingdom
      • Tryggvi Tryggsson – new name
  • Armored and Youth Marshal (Lady Mairghread)
    • Armored
      • Sir Gelleys has offered up an armored practice for unit/melee training, to be held the second Sunday of the month, in order to make ready for fall events (including Foxes and Castle Wars)
      • Project night, focusing on armor workshops and repairing loaner gear, will take place next week at Baronial Project Night.
      • The Kingdom Marshallate will count the Tuesday evening armored practice held at Swift Cantrell as an Owl’s Nest practice, since the location is within the shire and many of the participants are members of the shire
      • Jaden Baron has agreed to be the new deputy armored marshal (yay!)
    • Owl’s Nest (Lady Mairghread is serving as their knight marshal until they have one established)
      • Received the rest of the loaner gear from Crispin
      • Owl’s Nest has finally got their own knight marshal again (yay!), so Mairghread no longer has to be responsible for that anymore. The joint Owl’s Nest/South Downs’ Tuesday evening armored practice at Swift Cantrell will continue as before.
    • Youth
      • Nothing to report
  • Live Weapons Marshal (Mistress Mara Palmer)
    • Our practices are averaging about 10 people per practice, with 5-8 people on a line at a time
    • We’ve also been getting a lot of kids attending practice (or wanting to), so we will be looking at acquiring more youth loaner gear; we still have funds available from our initial budget request, so we will just move forward with the purchases
    • This Sunday (15 July), their Excellencies will host the Live Weapons Baronial Championship, so come on out! We will have a celebrity guest marshal to marshal the event
    • Mara is looking for volunteers to become live weapons marshals-in-training; if interested, please contact her directly
    • Please check the Facebook group, South Downs/Owl’s Nest Live Weapons Practice to track upcoming practices.
  • Rapier Marshal (Lord Brendan de Hay)
    • Practices. We are still having them (even without Brendan) Sunday afternoons, concurrent with armored. Tuesday evening practices at 7pm, at Liane Levetan / Brook Run Park in Dunwoody. We’re averaging 2-12 people. For updates regarding rapier practices, go to the Atlanta SCA Fighting Facebook group.
    • Brendan thanked Master Ximon for his help in getting loaner gear to practices when he (Brendan) had work conflicts with practices.
    • We have plenty of rapier marshals-at-large, so even when Brendan can’t attend practice, there has been no problem with having marshal coverage at practices
    • Reminder: Lord Konrad will be hosting a regional rapier practice at his home in Jasper. Facebook link to the event is here.
  • Chatelaine (Lady Justina di Silvestri)
    • Justina has a carful of gold key that was donated by a former SCAdian that she will need help processing/repairing.
    • Justina would like to hold another Baronial swap meet before? after? DragonCon, since she may not have use for all the donated items.
    • If you have borrowed any Gold Key, please return to Justina as soon as possible. Thanks!
    • Gold Key database is now available
  • Arts & Sciences (Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)
    • We have arts *and* sciences, and that is good
    • Lady Justina taught last month’s class on poisons and the macabre and was well received
    • Katerina will teach this month’s class, on the new PayPal system for reservations. If you are interested in volunteering with troll at an SCA event, please come out for this class. She will teach both parts, covering reservations, troll, etc. THL Andreva encouraged everyone to consider taking the class, because the more people who are approved to handle the new Paypal registration/payment system, the easier it will be for those running troll at events.
    • Reminder: Sunneva has made a schedule for all of 2018 as a Google Docs spreadsheet so you (yes, you!) can sign up to teach a class at one of our monthly A&S nights. She is pleased to report we have classes scheduled through most of the rest of the year; there is also a list in development for alternate/back up classes, so even if there are no specific dates available, please sign up!
  • Reeve (THL Andreva Rigaldi)
    • Quarterly report was due yesterday (10 July), and was submitted on time
    • Our current accounts show that we had $10,621 in the bank at the beginning of the quarter, and we are now at approximately $8,000. This is due to having just made payments such as the storage unit rental, site fees, etc., and is rather average for us at this time of the year. Our two big events in the fall will take care of our finances.
    • Mistress Allesandra will be the new deputy (yay!)
  • Quartermaster (THL Lucien d’Artois)
    • We have stuff! Yay!
    • Lucien planning to have another storage unit inventory update after Pennsic; he had planned to do this before Pennsic, but he has been asked by Sol Haven’s quartermaster to help them get set up.
  • Webminister (Lord Pietro di Conti)
    • We have a website!
    • Updates
      • Disk cleanup to get under the web site’s disk quota
      • Added Castle Wars 2018 banners and “Your Fate in the War of Roses” random image generator game – sharable to Facebook. Several members of the populace commented on how much fun the game is!
      • Updated Red Tower 2018 site with initial blurb, event site, link to Facebook page, link from toolbar
      • Updated website to WordPress 4.9.6
      • Added ability to share to social media from AtlantaSCA and tinkered with which images are used as thumbnails on facebook
      • Swapped Lucien and Ximon as Quartermaster and Deputy Quartermaster
      • Updated Alisandre to be Deputy A&S Minister
      • Updated honors and titles for Lucien, Sable, and Mairghread from Legends event
  • Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)
    • Raven mentioned that recently, a couple of people had shown interest in becoming the deputy Chronicler, and asked if anyone is interested, please contact her directly.
    • Justina mentioned she is interested in serving as deputy, and has ideas about expanding social media opportunities, perhaps in conjunction with the Chatelaine?
  • Seneschal (Master Wistric Oftun)
    • After the recent “Find All The Sites” session, approximately 80 potential sites have been identified for further research. Anyone interested in helping research these potential sites, please contact Wistric.
    • A Future Farmers of America (FFA) site in Conyers was suggested by a member of the populace who had attended an event there recently. This has been added to the list.
    • It’s great that so many officers have gotten deputies lined up. All officers should consider finding a deputy for their position
    • September brings DragonCon!
      • Lady Stella is coordinating our presence at the parade. For those planning to attend, please check out the SCA at DragonCon page.
      • Owl’s Nest will be managing the table this year.
      • Ximon commented that he will again offer a six-pack (or equivalent) adult beverage of their choice to anyone who helps pull the chariot in the parade this year
    • Castle Wars!
      • Sir Iazzie is still waiting on getting the additional walls built – the funds are standing by.
      • Questions were raised about who owns the walls – Iazzie says we (South Downs) do, but things aren’t clear about the ownership of the towers
      • Things need to be determined about ownership and deputy ownership (in case the point person for the walls/towers is no longer available)
    • Do we still want to create a demo box? What would we want to include in it?
    • StreetsAlive will take place 30 September along Peachtree Street. Sawyer won’t be able to organize it, but Mistress Margavati can get info to Wistric to get things going. (note: this is the same weekend as MGT)
    • A high school teacher from Coweta County who attended the History Bee is interested in having us come do a demo at their school
  • Their Excellencies
    • Adela has re-authorized as an armored fighter! To celebrate, the baronial armored champion tournament will feature all combatants to fight her to sort out the fighters into brackets
    • Lorenzo is hoping to authorize in rapier by Red Tower
    • Their Excellencies reminded the populace that the baronial live weapons champion tournament will be held this Sunday during the live weapons practice, so come on out!
    • For those wanting to go to the live weapons practice and need arrows, they are available locally – just make sure you specify wood shaft, feather fletching, how much your bow draws (pounds) and the length of your draw
    • Upcoming events!
      • Royal University of Meridies (RUM) / Fighters’ Collegium (20-22 July)
        • Will be held in Murfreesboro – come on out!
      • Tournament of the Foxes (21-23 September)
        • We have sponsored Baronial teams for rapier and archery; we would love to also have an all-South Downs armored combat team as well! Represent!

Upcoming Events

  • Red Tower (5-7 October 2018), co-Autocrat Lady Veronica reporting
    • We have all volunteer positions covered; Veronica read through the list to confirm
    • Veronica will get together with Andreva and Mathias to work through herald logistics and duties
    • Mara requested donations of large pieces of cardboard for live weapons targets
    • Lorenzo asked about site tokens – Veronica has a bagful of tokens from past events that she will be using
  • Castle Wars (15-18 November 2018)
    • Juliane needs volunteers! We already have 378 (via the Facebook event page) planning on attending.
    • If we don’t offer a GTFO breakfast Sunday morning, we should at least make sure there’s coffee “so people don’t die”
    • There was discussion about offering a volunteer war point, perhaps a York vs Lancaster competition
    • Need donations for the volunteer raffle
    • Ximon asked about a truck rental to haul supplies from the storage unit (and walls?) – Juliane confirmed the truck rental is included in the approved budget
    • Andreva reminded everyone that per Kingdom law, any receipts submitted for reimbursement can not include any personal items on the receipt, regardless of how minor the cost.
  • Midwinter A+S (9 February 2019)
    • We have a theme! The Gutenburg Printing Press!
    • That’s pretty much all that’s ready to mention now

Other SCA Business

  • The Knowne Worlde Courtesans Guild podcast is live, baby! Justina is one of the podcast’s field reporters. She said they are looking for interviews, stories, poetry and other cultural aspects of SCA life. The podcast will be a digital salon hosted by the courtesans of the Knowne World Courtesans Guild and featuring artisans of historical arts from across the world. Tune in for intelligent discussion of history, re-enacting the pre-1600s world, and news of the Society. If you are interested in talking about your art, please contact Justina and she will be happy to chat with you!
  • In local courtesan news, the Courtesans of Meridies are sponsoring an adult-themed scribal challenge at Meridies Fall Coronation 2018! They want to see your naughty scribal side…
    • Prize: Replica Roman brothel coins (spintriae) and more!
    • Rules: Teams allowed, tracing allowed, incomplete allowed, documentation encouraged but not required.
    • Due to the nature of the subject, ONLY AGES 18+ may enter this challenge.
  • Justina is also sponsoring a category in the Meridies Scribal Challenge for Fall Coronation!
    • Best use of Poisonous Pigment in a Scroll
    • Prize: Historic poisonous plant seeds for the garden
    • Teams allowed, tracing allowed, documentation encouraged. Please include a description of materials used. Have fun!!!
  • Ca d’Oro has teamed up with the Sable and Gules Theater at Gulf Wars 2019. Lady Þýri’s fashion show was incredibly inspiring, so they are going to host a fashion show Monday of Gulf and will process to the Ca d’Oro department for a salon to discuss what each of them are wearing. They are looking for models – show off your garb of all eras and inspire newcomers! If you are interested, please contact Justina, or Sable and Gules directly
  • Iazzie mentioned that we need to start thinking about kingdom-level bids for 2019 – perhaps RUM/Fighters’ Collegium?

Non-SCA Business

  • None

Next South Downs business meeting will be held Wednesday, 1 August 2018, at Little Tree Art Studios.

–Raven

Castle Wars, Meeting Minutes, Red Tower

June 2018 Business Meeting Followup

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

20 June 2018, 7:30pm

Little Tree Studios

Notes submitted by Lady Raven Helmsplitter, South Downs Chronicler.

Herald (Lord Lucien d’Artois) called the meeting to order. Master Wistric sez “Welcome! If you did not sign in, please sign in!”

The purpose of tonight’s meeting is to have the autocrats of Red Tower and Castle Wars present their budgets for each event for review and approval before they are submitted to Kingdom.

Event Bid Presentations

  • Red Tower
    • Lord Mark reviewed the details of the budget breakdown. Please click here to view the budget
    • It has been confirmed that we will be able to have live weapons at the site (Camp Rutledge)
    • Motion to approve the bid was made, seconded, and approved unanimously
  • Castle Wars
    • Lady Juliane reviewed the details of the budget. Please click here to view the budget
    • Lady Juliane further reported that our Facebook event page shows we’ve already got 300 people saying that they’re planning on going to Castle Wars, and are asking about event registration.
    • THL Sibella will be making our site tokens (300 each red and white roses)
    • We will rent a U-Haul truck to transport the castle walls to and from site
    • Motion to approve the bid was made, seconded, and approved unanimously (except for Sir Iazzie, on principle 😀 )

Other SCA Business

  • Camp Kitchen Purchases
    • THL Mariana did a great job breaking down what we need and what we already have
    • Budget requested: $450 ($417 for supplies, remainder to cover shipping, etc.)
    • Motion to approve the bid was made, seconded, and approved unanimously
  • THL Andreva, our fearless reeve, pointed out that any purchases for SCA purposes must not include any personal purchases on the receipt – they must be completely separated.
  • Iazzie reported that Lady Mairghread received her Argent Shield at Legends last weekend (yay!)
  • Mairghread has been asked by the shire of Owl’s Nest to serve as their interim Knight Marshal, as they don’t have one right now.
  • Sir Caius Aurelius, the Kingdom Earl Marshal, has asked all the local groups to provide him with an inventory of their loaner gear; Mairghread will work on that for the Barony, and will be coordinating with our quartermaster, Lord Lucien, on this project. Mark will be adding further to our loaner gear (in process).

With all business being completed, the business meeting was closed and we returned to our regularly-scheduled dance practice.

The next South Downs business meeting will be held Wednesday, 11 July 2018, at Little Tree Art Studios.

–Raven