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September 2020 BARONIAL BUSINESS MEETING MINUTES

02 September 2020, 1931

Notes submitted by Signora Aelia Bassina, South Downs Chronicler.

THL Lucien d’Artois called the July meeting to order. Our Seneschal, THL Juliane de Vivonne, greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. Juliane read the Kingdom Anti-Bullying statement.

Officers Reports

Herald (THL Lucien d’Artois)

  • Two new award recipients at the last court, Lilly and Aelfric.. 

Knight Marshal (Lady Mairghread Wilson)

  • Quarterly reports have been done.
  • Zero practices. And we will continue to not have practices until the end of January.

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

  • Nothing new.

Live Weapons (Mistress Mara Palmer)

  • Nothing new to report

Reeve (Mistress Alessandra Giovanna Fioravanti)

  • Nothing new to report

Quartermaster (THL Lucien d’Artois)

  • We have stuff.

Chatelaine (Lord Nikon Dawidowicz), Finnvarr mac Branain reporting

  • One person has expressed interest. I will be reaching out to the MoC because she has a small child. 

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

  • Nothing new to report.

Arts & Sciences (THL Alisandre de la Chapelle)

  • We have A&S
  • We had people that entered into the largess challenge for Foxes.
  • There will be a barony Largess challenge coming up
  • There are classes coming up this month, 
    • We have a DEI class this month
    • Our monthly class is Magic and Superstition.

Chronicler (Signora Aelia Bassina)

  • First issue of the newsletter will be 1 October.
  • I am still looking for articles to be included. 
  • Barony decals are still available. Please support the barony, they are only $5 each!

Social Media Minister (HE Emelina le Nourreys)

  • We have interest in Social Media.
    • We are going to change the approval process for FB.

Webminister (Captain Pietro di Conti)

  • Received request from Lord Freybjorn (a Kingdom Webminister Deputy) for officer information to set up email addresses on a new kingdom email server; he has asked for Seneschal to be single point-of-contact.  Kingdom Webminister’s office has indicated they will eventually want all officer emails to be on their server.  Freybjorn has followed up by sending meridies.org login information to seneschal.  He is providing email accounts for officers but not deputies.  These will be email accounts, not email forwarders to personal accounts.
    • All officers will have a new email address that they will need to check as the emails will not be forwarded to personal emails.
    • This is to keep the historical documents available for officers that follow the current officers.
  • Sent quarterly report to kingdom webminister.
  • Added a new profile page and award for Lily of South Downs.

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

  • Not much to report
  • We did a class last month with the corporate DEI officer. It went well.
  • We would like to see new people come in.

Her Excellency, (Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)

  • Wistric is back as the Baron of South Downs!
  • We want to thank everyone for their support and patience.
  • We are committed in moving forward with the SCA Core Values.
  • Passions are high online, but the barony has been amazing at conducting themselves.
  • Please remember these de-escalation techniques:
    • As questions
    • Practice radical acceptance of other people’s feelings
    • Think about separating the action from the person.
  • Keep up with the radical accountability!

His Excellency, (Master Wistric Oftun)

  • I have always thought of the barony as my people.
  • You all have made us proud these last few months.
  • THank you to everyone that has been participating in the virtual activities.
  • It’s good to be back!

Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)

  • Nothing to report.

Seneschal, (THL Juliane de Vivonne)

  • There are still things going on, even in these unprecedented times
  • I have a deputy! His name is Nikolslov!
  • I still don’t have a provost. It’s a great way to dip your toe into becoming an officer. Please contact me if you’re interested.
  • There are two things I want to run. I want to start making announcements within the next week and a half.
  • South Downs is the innovative barony. 
  • Start thinking about Midwinter and if we want to do it online. I want this event to stand out.
  • I am really proud of everyone!

Recent Events

  • 15 August 2020 – Virtual Meridies Kingdom A&S
  • 22 August 2020 – Foxes 2020: Plague-Con

Upcoming Events

SCA Business

  • Raven: Back on the 15th of August, we had Artsy Crown. Several people from South Downs assisted. It went really well. We had 6 or 7 classes. Everything was zoom meetings. We had a really good turnout. Stella earned a perfect score and was recognized in Court.
  • Lily: I was wondering about the DEI office. Is it structured like the other offices? Is there a future plan?
    • Margavati: Right now, there isn’t. My thinking is that there would be some kind of change over the office. There are a lot of enthusiastic people in the barony that I think would do well in the position. If you’re interested, please message me.
    • Juliane: The way it works is there’s usually a two year tenure. Except in extenuating circumstances. Generally speaking, it’s a two year gig. When you sign up as a deputy, please remember that you are making that commitment for two years.
    • Margavati: Regardless, I could still use functionally deputies. I welcome the assistance. This is a new thing for local groups. I welcome all ideas. I’m really here to help educate people and advise the barony as a group.
    • Juliane: there was a misunderstanding on what the kingdom DEI office does. Please come to me if you have any questions.
  • Kalbardr: We are in week one of the mystery box phase. If you have one, please take a photo of your box and send it to me. 
  • Lyk: I would like to see event tokens for Castle Wars. Juliane agreed.
  • Margavati: I am purely tech support for a Grave finds video thing. If you want to, it’s basically you would have everything around you that would be taking with you to the afterlife. The deadline is September 18.
    • There was the suggestion for putting a trigger warning on the video since some people have lost loved ones during this pandemic.

Business meeting was closed at 2033.

Next business meeting will be held 07 October 2020, 1930, Zoom Meeting.

Dragoncon, Meeting Minutes, Red Tower, Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

MAY 2020 Baronial Business Meeting Minutes

6 May 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 discussed the new Zoom meeting format – in particular, she would like to have everyone make sure they keep themselves on mute until you have something to say. She also walked everyone through the Zoom meeting features, including the “raise hand” feature which marks that you wish to speak.

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
    • The armored marshals report is due on 15 May – it will be a slim report (as there have been few events or practices) but she will get it sent in and forward a copy to the Seneschal late next week.
  • 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, but we’re not spending any of it as there’s nothing to spend it on right now (except for the storage unit).
  • Chatelaine (Lord Nikon Dawidowicz)
    • We were going to have a couple of newcomers join the meeting tonight, but they ended up not being able to. We hope they can join us for future meetings.
    • Kingdom chatelaine has requested another Gold Key (loaner garb for new people to borrow at events) inventory; Nikon is planning to pick up some additional garb and will take care of inventory once that’s done.
  • Minister of Arts & Sciences (THL Alisandre de la Chapelle)
    • 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
    • She spoke with Their Excellencies and now would like to ask the populace if there would be any interest in a Porch Fairy exchange (like a Secret Santa in quarantine); everyone thought it would be a great idea!
  • Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)
    • We have words!
    • We have a new Chronicler in the works! Lady Aelia Bassina of Veii will step up sometime soon (probably July)
  • 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
    • There is a Baronial glow-up video in the works – there will be more info once we have the Baronial YouTube channel set up
      • Glow up videos are videos which start with one person doing some every day activity, then they have a scarf (or something similar) thrown at them from off-screen. Person 1 picks up the scarf, approaches the camera, holds the scarf up to the camera to blot out the scene, then when the scarf is pulled away, Person 1 is dressed up and doing something cool and finally tosses the scarf out of frame. This is then repeated over again with a new scene, and Person 2 catching the scarf, etc.
      • In our video, we would have each person/group start out in modern clothes and relaxing, then be revealed in their SCA garb, and a setting or doing an SCA activity for a couple of moments.
      • All submitted videos will be compiled into a single video which we will post on our YouTube channel.
  • Their Excellencies South Downs (Master Wistric Oftun and Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)
    • Carver misses everyone!
    • Sunneva wanted to discuss how appreciative they are of everyone in the Barony and everything we are doing to support each other. In addition to doing a porch fairy project as Alisandre had described, if you’d like to get a missive from her, she will gladly send you mail – just PM her your mailing address. If you know of someone who’s not online, please consider sending them mail or connecting with them somehow.
    • Finally – if you know anyone who needs help, from communicating to food to whatever please contact Their Excellencies.
  • Seneschal (THL Juliane de Vivonne)
    • She mentioned recent news from the Crown – as Coronation had been canceled, TRM Boru and Fianna have been given permission to extend their reign until the end of May.
    • Red Tower has a bid from Mariana and Farouq; finance committee has approved the bid, and we’ll vote on it in May
    • Zoom meetings – how does everyone feel about meeting via Zoom? It is admittedly a strange format for the structure of our organization as there is a lot we do that is not really Zoom-compatible. What do we want to do with the off-nights?
      • Margavati is willing to host a dance night via Zoom, but she’ll need to figure out how the logistics first
      • Alessandra is willing to send people goldwork supplies and host a gold work class for project night (or A+S class night?)
      • How many classes are Zoom-compatible?
      • Aelia would like to know if a kids’ Zoom event could be set up? Her daughter misses everyone. Una thinks this would be a great idea! Justina wanted to know if this would be an adults’ welcome to support, etc.
        • Alessandra mentioned that after a full day of working with the kids online, she would like to see something done that is low-parental activity – maybe something like a kids’ “happy hour”?
        • It doesn’t need to be on Wednesdays – Allesandra mentioned that Gwinnett County doesn’t have classes on Fridays, so Thursday would allow them to stay up a little later.
      • Charlie suggested that he’s been working on a project that is currently fighter-oriented but could have other applications – a choose your own duel/adventure game he’s been developing
      • Justina mentioned that the online revel she hosted last week was successful, and that we could do similar events for the Barony. She found that conversational games gave everyone an opportunity to participate.
      • Baronial Zoom games night!
      • Improv theatre night?
      • Wistric suggested that there are probably classes that have been taught in the past that would be transferable to a Zoom format

SCA Business

  • Margavati is organizing a baronial Glow up video and would love to have as many people as possible participating. Deadline is Sunday for your video. Instructions are posted on the Baronial Facebook site. Justina mentioned that the Courtesans’ Guild is doing a “Pass the Veil” challenge along the same lines.
  • Red Tower
    • Mistress Mariana and Lord Faruq would be co-autocrats
    • Site will be Hard Labor Creek State Park (our traditional Red Tower site)
    • Theme will be Elizabethan, Sinners and Saints
    • We can use martial budget to pay for things like tourney prizes, etc.
    • Quest during the day to find the seven graces and sins
    • Do we have a contingency if we are still under lockdown?
      • It would likely then be canceled, but Mariana mentioned that the schools are planning to get back in September. Would the park allow for a return of the deposit if it came to that?
      • The seneschal would be the one who handles the deposit and would be the one to negotiate the return if necessary.
      • Andreva suggested that if we contact them early enough, they might be willing to roll over the deposit to the next year.
      • Justina mentioned that even if the government calls for everything to open, that doesn’t mean that people will want to go to an event yet.
      • Should we budget for additional cleaning/sanitizing materials? Alessandra points out that *if* we can get additional sanitizing stuff, as cleaning supplies are hard to find right now.
      • We should proceed with Red Tower assuming it will happen, but be prepared that it might be canceled.
    • Sidebar – financial committee needs to clarify what the current rules are regarding who gets in free at events?
      • Voted and passed
  • Alessandra is looking for a deputy! It’s not hard – you just have to know how to count (sort of)
  • Margavati will host another Indian/South Asian online social in the next couple of weeks. Emelina offered to advertise it on the kingdom page
  • Justina brought up our presence at DragonCon.
    • She said that (assuming it happens) we have the opportunity to host a panel; however, she is not comfortable with attending herself this year, given the current state of the pandemic. Is this something we want to pursue this year? She needs to let the coordinator know asap and preserve the connection for next year.
    • Juliane said she has passes for this year, but already knows she will not be going.
    • Maybe virtual panels? It will be important to keep the door open for next year
    • Given the number of people in our Barony who are already hesitant to attend DragonCon, it doesn’t look like we would even have the staff to cover in-person tables/panels: however, we could easily manage virtual panels.

Non-SCA Business

  • Sir Iastreb’s robotics students put together a video for a competition – please view and vote for them! The winner goes to nationals.
  • Finnbarr – Is there anything we can do as a Barony to help those who can’t get out or can’t find things when they go shopping? Wistric suggested that Finnbarr should post this in the baronial Facebook group. We definitely don’t want to see anyone going without or going hungry. Iazzie said that this sort of outreach is perfectly in keeping with the SCA’s goal of outreach, etc. so he is sure there would be no conflict.
  • Aelia offered that she has a 100lb bag of bread flour – if you want some, just PM her.
  • “New Jay” (as opposed to Captain Pietro) mentioned that stores are hiring extra security to guard some of the more sought-after items.
  • Sawyer made a bunch of 3d printed disks if anyone wants them

Next business meeting: Wednesday, 3 June 2020. It will likely still be online via Zoom, but stay tuned!

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

March 2020 Baronial Business Meeting Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

4 March 2020, 7:30pm

Notes submitted by Lady Raven Helmsplitter, South Downs Chronicler.

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

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

Officers Reports

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

Recent and Upcoming Events

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

SCA Business

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

Non-SCA Business

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

 
Business meeting is closed.

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

Thanks!

–Raven

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

February 2020 Baronial Business Meeting Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

5 February 2020, 7:30pm

Notes submitted by Lady Raven Helmsplitter, South Downs Chronicler.

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

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

Officers Reports

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

SCA Business

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

Non-SCA Business

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

 
Business meeting is closed.

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

Thanks!

–Raven

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

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, Dragoncon, Events, Fighter Practices, Meeting Minutes, Red Tower, Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

August Baronial Business Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

2 August 2017, 7:30pm

Atlanta Friends Meeting House

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

Lord Lucien d’Artois called the meeting to order.

Officer Reports

  • Herald (Lord Lucien d’Artois)
    • Submissions
      • Annaliese Wolf – name/device at Laurel (3nd month – post-commentary)
      • Stella di Silvestri – device at Laurel (2nd month of commentary)
      • Juliane de Vivonne – badge at Laurel (1st month in commentary)
      • Porcia Secunda – name at Laurel (1st month in commentary)
      • Lucien d’Artois – badge x2 at Kingdom
      • Konrad Windhorn – name at Kingdom
    • Court Report
      • RUM:
        • Mara Palmer – Broken Bow
        • Stella di Silvestri – Guiding Hand
      • Arabian Nights:
        • Mathias Blackett – Kingdom Bard
  • Armored and Youth Marshal (Lady Mairghread)
    • 6-8 armored fighters at Sunday practices
    • Joint fighters practice with Owls Nest continues to go well
    • We have one new youth fighter (yay!)
    • Mairghread has requested $200 for additional loaner gear
  • Live Weapons Marshal (Mistress Mara Palmer – THL Mathias reporting)
    • July practice hosted ~22 archers
    • Royal round was held at practice
    • Update on acquiring loaner and baronial gear: we’ve only had to buy 3 bows
    • We have two new marshals in training
    • If interested in shooting archery at foxes, please contact Mistress Mara; if you are taking part in other tournaments during the event, please be aware there’s a lot of waiting around between archery rounds
    • For more information about archery in Meridies, please check out their website
  • Chatelaine (Lady Stella di Silvestri – His Excellency reporting)
    • Everyone is encouraged to sign up for DragonCon and take part in the parade!
    • Stella made up some baronial business cards for distribution at demos, etc., which should arrive Monday
    • We’ve had several new people come to events and practices recently
    • Stella is still looking for a deputy chatelaine, in charge of demos – if interested, please contact her
  • Reeve (THL Maire)
    • We have some money! yay!
    • We are spending a lot of money so we have to be careful, especially with the event season and our several events coming up this fall
    • Everything is paid up till the end of the year. With the site location changing for Castle Wars, we need to be extra careful with funds until we know more about how the change will impact the budget
    • Mara mentioned that she’s still running way below budget with archery needs.
  • Arts & Sciences (Lady Veronica da Lucca)
    • The July A+S class night was on making viking aprons, and taught by Lady Juliana
    • This month’s class, on how to event steward, will be presented by Mistress Jadi. She plans to set up the class as a roundtable featuring participants who have extensive experience in event stewarding from both inside and outside the barony, who can provide a variety of viewpoints and experiences on event stewarding. Ximon volunteered. This is would normally be held on the 4th Wednesday, but there are schedule conflicts, so please stay tuned.
    • This month will be our 5th Wednesday in-garb potluck – everyone is welcome!
  • Webminister (Lord Pietro di Conti)
    • Updated the Knight Marshal page
    • We need to add a Live Weapons Marshal page, now that we have a live weapons program
    • New profiles for Aidan MacKay, Konrad, Mairghread, and Piers have been added
    • His Excellency added the new baronial awards page to the website
    • Red Tower event page was updated
    • Castle Wars event page updated – the Castle Wars page includes a downloadable pre-registration form; it was agreed that the Red Tower page should also have a pre-reg form
    • Fighter practice page/schedule has been updated and expanded
  • Seneschal (Master Wistric Oftun)
    • We have a barony (huzzah!)
    • Do we want to sponsor something at Meridian 40 Year? We should discuss and let Countess Thorkatla know.
  • Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)
    • Nothing to report
  • Their Excellencies
    • Their Excellencies have received several recommendations for the new baronial awards! The populace is encouraged to write more!
    • They also encourage the populace to write more recommendations for deserving gentles for all sorts of awards for upcoming events! Check the OP if you aren’t sure if someone has a particular award
    • Their Majesties are already putting the list together for Castle Wars
    • Foxes!
      • Her Excellency would love to sponsor several teams for the tournaments at Foxes – rapier, armored, and archery (team names: Adela’s Special Snowflakes? unless there’s only one team in a particular tournament, then they’ll become The Snowflakes?).
      • Her Excellency will be working on new tokens this weekend – everyone is invited to help (silk banner painting practice!)
      • There should be several rapier and armored teams – yay!

Upcoming Events

  • Red Tower (30 September – 2 October 2017)
    • Lady Emmelina created a lovely flyer for the event – look for it in the upcoming kingdom newsletter
    • A pre-registration form and a Google doc for a signup list are in the works
    • Site visit planned for tomorrow (3 August)
    • Volunteers needed:
      • Herald(s)
      • Head troll
      • Pottycrat
      • Royal liaison
      • 2 list mistresses
        • (updates)Rapier covered per wistric
        • Serafina will do armored list
      • Hall steward (Mathias volunteers)
      • Children’s activities?
      • Travelers’ fare
      • Cleanup Royal site Sunday
    • Owl’s Nest is taking care fundraiser lunch; we will do fundraiser lunch @ Crossroads
    • Feast – THL Mariana is working on recipes, menu will be pinned down this weekend
  • Castle Wars (17 – 19 November 2017)
    • Flyer should be ready this weekend for submission to PopChiv
    • Most staff taking care of, just needs landcrat and heralds
    • Site map has been sent to Their Majesties so we can determine where they want their camp to be
    • Need donations for volunteer raffle
    • Lucien needs volunteers for troll
    • Maire said we need heaters and lights for troll
  • Fall Crown List (10-12 November 2017)
    • Co-hosting with the shire of Depedale and the Barony of Bryn Madoc
    • Will take place at Little Tallapoosa Park in Carrollton
    • Portapotties reserved
    • Event flyer about to go out
    • Everything is going smoothly
    • We (South Downs) will be the ones handling insurance
      • Maire mentioned that insurance for a group is taken care of for the first event of the year that group does

SCA Business

  • Mathias said there had been mention of 5th Wednesday in-garb potluck including some SCA dancing or bardic performances. He would be interested in getting some people together to do some commedia?
  • Ximon needs to talk with the reeve to get the check to cover the loaner rapier armor we bought from Tina (and the youth combat helm)
  • Sir Iazzie: The castle walls need repair/replacement (“rapier uses the walls, armored abuses the walls”).
    • Wants to talk to Sebastionnos about repairing/building a new wall and see how much it would cost.
    • We also need a gate of our own; with a second gate and repaired walls, we could do 2 castles for fighting scenarios.
    • Repairs very important, but we really do need *additional* wall pieces.
    • Hopefully we can store the walls and gates at the Shrine – currently they’re at His Highness’.
    • Can we get together with Tir Briste to help out with walls?
    • Fundraising idea – donate X$ to wall, maybe get your device on a wall? 🙂
  • His Excellency is going to test out new rope and stake wall for meridies royal encampment at pennsic
  • Lucien reminded everyone about the 2nd mini business meeting, possibly starting in August to help keep track of upcoming events (thru Midwinter A+S), to take place 3rd Wednesday of each month
  • After tonight’s meeting, we will meet for Baronial Chivarly / Heart of South Downs awards

Non-SCA Business

  • Lady Juliana suggests parking ideas for DragonCon. Parking Panda allows you to buy reserved parking spaces for much cheaper than public parking.
  • Other parking ideas;
    • Parking at the Cathedral for $20/day
    • Buy a monthly pass at the International Center parking garage for $120; pass is good for a full month, so if you need to park downtown at other times during September, it can be a good deal.

All the business issues having been addressed, the business meeting was closed.

Next South Downs business meeting will be held Wednesday, 6 September 2017, at the Atlanta Friends Meeting House.

–Raven