Category Archives: Events

Society ANNOUNCEMENTS, Meeting Minutes

November Baronial Business Meeting (and Candidate Q+A) Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

7 November 2018, 7:30pm

Doraville Civic Center – 3744 Central Ave., Doraville GA

Notes submitted by Lady Raven Helmsplitter, South Downs Chronicler.

THL Mark de Wytteney called the meeting to order. Master Wistric sez “Welcome! If you did not sign in, please sign in!”

Baronial Candidates Q+A

With the announcement of Their Excellencies Lorenzo and Adela’s intent to step down in the near future, three sets of candidates were nominated to serve as the next Baron and Baroness South Downs:

  • Master Wistric Oftun and Mistress Sunneva de Cleia
  • THL Lucien d’Artois and THL Juliane de Vivonne
  • Sir Iastreb Desislavich and THL Marianna Cristina Tirado de Aragon

The meeting began with a question and answer session with all the candidates, documented here (and on the baronial FB group) with this video:

Video of baronial candidate question and answer session

Baronial officers submitted their reports to be posted separately.

Officer Reports

  • Herald (THL Lucien d’Artois)
    • Awards – Red Tower
      • Lord Brendan de Hay – Order of the Red Raven
      • Lady Raven Helmsplitter – Order of the Red Raven
    • Submissions
      • No new submissions, no change in status to existing submissions
  • Armored and Youth Marshal (Lady Mairghread)
    • Armored
      • Nothing to report
    • Youth
      • Nothing to report
  • Rapier Marshal (Lord Brendan de Hay)
    • Nothing to report
  • Chatelaine (Lady Justina di Silvestri)
    • Nothing to report
  • Arts & Sciences (Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)
    • Nothing to report
  • Reeve (THL Andreva Rigaldi)
    • Nothing to report
  • Quartermaster (THL Lucien d’Artois)
    • Nothing to report
  • Webminister (Lord Pietro di Conti)
    • We have a website!
    • Added signup sheet for 2019 A+S classes
    • Updates to Red Tower website:
      • Schedule
      • Sitemap
      • Gods & Quests
    • Updates to Castle Wars website:
      • Land map
      • Merchant list
      • Rapier schedule
      • Courtesan salon
      • Meridies Pride link
      • Notice of cancellation of equestrian activities
      • Notice of closing of PayPal registration
    • Updates to Midwinter A+S website:
      • Added Midwinter 2019 to top level “Events” dropdown menu
    • Updated info for other upcoming events:
      • Fall Crown List
      • Magna Faire
    • Updated awards:
      • Lord Brendan de Hay – Order of the Red Raven
      • Lady Raven Helmsplitter – Order of the Red Raven
      • Master Wistric Oftun – Argent Comet
      • Lord Davio de la Rouge – Argent Comet
  • Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)
    • Nothing to report
  • Seneschal (Master Wistric Oftun)
    • Nothing to report
  • Their Excellencies
    • Nothing to report

Thanks to THL Mark de Wytteney and Lord Nikon Dawidowicz for their help in coordinating and recording the Q+A session this evening.

Next business meeting will be held Wednesday, 5 December 2018, at the Doraville Civic Center. Please note that the first non-resident polling will take place at the December business meeting.

Thanks!

–Raven

Meeting Minutes, Castle Wars, Dragoncon, Events, Fighter Practices, 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

Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

March 2018 Baronial Business Meeting Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

7 March 2018, 7:30pm

Little Tree Studios

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

Herald (Lord Lucien d’Artois) called the meeting to order.

Officer Reports

  • Herald (Lord Lucien d’Artois)
    • Events – Midwinter A+S
      • Lady Mairghread Wilson – Kestral’s Talon
      • Lady Emmelina le Norreys – Baronial A+S Champion
      • Lady Alisandre de la Chapelle – Swan’s Grace
      • THL Sibella Denton – Sable Keep
      • Lady Raven Helmsplitter – Falcon’s Faith
      • Lord Konrad Windhorn – Phoenix’ Spark
      • Lord Mark de Wytteney – Falcon’s Faith
      • Lady Melusine LaPucelle Dix LaFayette – Falcon’s Faith
      • Lord Lucien d’Artois – Red Raven
      • Lady Juliane de Vivonne – Red Raven
      • Lord Brendan de Hay – Chivalry Award
      • Lady Maire Dhocair inghean Chiarain – Order of the Bough
    • Submissions
      • Lady Juliane de Vivonne – new badge
      • THL Mathias Blackett – new household name and badge
      • Mistress Mara Palmer – new household name and badge
      • Lady Ruqayah al-Zarqa – device change
  • Armored and Youth Marshal (Lady Mairghread)
    • Armored
      • Armored practice has resumed now that the weather is cooperating (fingers crossed!)
      • Lady Mairghread will not be at practice this coming week (Sunday, March 11 and Tuesday, March 13) because she will be at Gulf Wars – would like to have another marshal volunteer to lead practice
      • Lord Mark de Wytteney is our newest authorized armored fighter (yay!)
    • Youth
      • Will be teaching a youth armored fighting class at Owl’s Nest’s Newcomer’s Collegium on April 28. Mathias and Sir Iazzie will be also be teaching an alternative weapons class at Newcomer’s, and Mark also volunteered he is teaching a class.
  • Live Weapons Marshal (Mistress Mara Palmer – THL Mathias reporting)
  • Rapier Marshal (Lord Brendan de Hay)
    • Practices. We are still having them, Sunday afternoons, concurrent with armored. Tuesday evening practices at 7pm, temporarily moved to Blackburn Park due to the lighting situation at Liane Levetan. We’re averaging 2-12 people. For updates regarding rapier practices, go to the Atlanta SCA Fighting Facebook group.
    • Thanked everyone who came out to this year’s Meridian College of Arms, hosted by the Shire of Arenal! Everyone who went had a great time, and the Barony fielded three fencers, and several event support staff.
    • Mairghread mentioned that the Kingdom Youth Rapier Marshal, Master Ysabel de Sancte Croix, is looking for a Youth deputy. Please contact Master Ysabel directly if interested.
  • Chatelaine (Master Wistric reporting for Lady Justina di Silvestri)
    • Demo at Anachrocon (2/17-18) went really well and had a fair number of people already interested in history showed further interest in SCA, with at least 2-4 people get more detailed information on the upcoming events of Fools War and Newcomers Collegium, and a few new people joined the fighter practice group. Everyone who showed up was fantastic and engaging to attendees- was a great experience.
    • Demo for the Knights Templar at the Atlanta Masonic Temple (2/24)- Lord Mark and Jarec did a brief demonstration and lecture on the history of the Templars and the kit and fighting style. The audience was engaged and came up to us with questions after. They have reached out to offer a donation to the barony as thanks.
    • Gold Key: I am going to itemize and input info of the gold key into a google doc so that we can keep a running record of what we have. I hope in the upcoming months to have a shirt/chemise drive… if anyone has any ideas or tips getting more underclothes to gold key, I am very open to suggestions 🙂
    • April SCA swap/giveaway/yard sale: April 11 is a project night, and it looked like my post in the South Downs Facebook group was well received, so let’s have an SCA swap meet! Bring garb you no longer wear, craft items, feast gear, camp gear, fabric, etc. This is a great opportunity for newcomers and people who need SCA gear to be more comfortable at events, to try a new craft, and for more seasoned members to declutter their homes.
  • Arts & Sciences (Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)
    • Our February A+S class topic was Building a Collapsible Banner Pole, taught by Master Ximon Martillo de Cordoba. Everyone enjoyed the class (and the double entendres).
      Ximon thanked Mark and Meulsine in particular for their assistance.
    • This month’s class, “How to Run a List Field,” will be taught by Juliane.
    • Reminder: Caterina will be teaching a Paypal class for the Barony in July,
      as well as at Newcomer’s Collegium. 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.
    • Artsy Crown – Mistress Sunneva will touch base with Lord Piers to get A+S class registration going
    • Sunneva and Emmelina will be spearheading a baronial (encampment) beautification effort, starting soon – stay tuned!
    • Sunneva has made a schedule for all of 2018 as a Google Docs spreadsheet so you (yes, you! you know it’s one of your new year’s resolutions) 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 August.
  • Reeve (THL Andreva Rigaldi)
    • Andreva reported that we have money! $9,234.73 is in our new bank account.
      The old Bank of America account will be closed shortly.
    • She reported that we had 220 people at Midwinter A+S, including 13 children and 28 paid non-members (including the cast of the local production of Spamalot).
      Profit from the event totaled $983.37 (yay!)
    • Andreva will run troll for Artsy Crown, as she has taken the Paypal class. She encourages everyone – especially if you are interested in volunteering at Troll – to take the class, so you can help with reservations and taking credit card payments onsite. At future events, the Head Troll will likely need to have taken the Paypal class before the event.
    • Lisa – who has been running Paypal for our events – is looking for a Paypal deputy. Please contact her directly if interested.
    • Andreva is also looking for a deputy – if you’re interested, please contact her directly. If you can use Excel, you can do this job!
  • Webminister (Lord Pietro di Conti)
    • We have a website!
    • Updated:
      • Meeting site address to 2838 Franklin
      • Justina as Chatelaine
      • Emmelina as Baronial Arts Champion
      • Sunneva as A&S Minister
      • Ximon’s device
      • Red Raven list to include Mistress Margavati, Ximon, Lord Sebastianos, and Mistress Serafina. Still need to confirm some award dates, though likely sometime 2009-2013. Lorenzo already was listed
      • Linked to “demo suggestion” form on Chatelaine page
      • Posted A&S class list
      • Events: Artsy Crown (new page), Festival of Vices and Virtues, Newcomers, Golden Lily, Fools War, Dreamstone
    • Sent webminister writeup to Chronicler for newsletter
  • Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)
    • Still need articles for the Winter 2018 issue of The Read Tower, due Saturday, March 10, before the clock springs forward for Daylight Savings Time; goal of the newsletter is to inform, particularly newcomers, about what we do, why we enjoy what we do in the SCA, and why a newcomer would want to take part. Examples:
      • Officers’ column: each Baronial officer has a column where they can describe what they do, what’s cool about what you do as that officer, and anything (events, practices, etc) you want to publicize. Roughly 500 words (a page or so?). Officer columns due March 7 before midnight.
      • Guild reps: again, you have a space where you can let the populace know what you do, why you find it cool, and what your Guild has going on. And again, roughly 500 words would be great
      • Articles I’d like to have written, 500-750 words (ish); if you’d like to write an article, please let me know and we’ll chat:
        • Reveling at Castle Wars: one of the things that makes Castle Wars special, the camping and reveling; article and photos  STILL NEED
        • Presentation (?) Herald at Crown: what it’s like to process with a combatant at Crown and announce them at the beginning of the tournament? STILL NEED
        • Rapier activity beyond the world of the SCA (SERFO/HEMA) (thanks, Brendan de Hay!)
        • A+S Competitions at Midwinter A+S (Thanks, Sunneva!)
        • Class handouts, recipes, etc. – please include images (I can scan if necessary), and a writeup introducing the material (ongoing)
        • Artwork and photos – again, I can scan artwork if necessary (thanks, Andreva, for the 40 Year photos!)
        • Would love an article for the *next* issue on something about Gulf Wars (suggestion: the Al-Mahala salon, or Ca’ d’Oro). And please submit pictures! Thanks!
  • Seneschal (Master Wistric Oftun)
    • No report…
    • But wait! We have a new person at the meeting! Wistric asked everyone to introduce themselves, so we did 🙂
    • The shire of Tir Briste has set up a fire ant management plan in coordination with the management at Al-Sihah Shrine (where Fool’s War, Artsy Crown, and other large events will be held), and has given us permission to come out to the shrine several times before events to destroy ants. Tir Briste (and the Fools War autocrat) will need help, so when the treatment dates are announced, please consider helping if you can, especially since we will need to do the same in advance of our own event, Artsy Crown
    • Mark had talked to people in Tir Briste about who handles the mowing and if there are better options; the site is large and high grass contributes to problems with the ants and other critters.
  • Their Excellencies
    • Gulf Wars
      • Who’s going?
      • If you’re planning on going to Gulf Wars and plan to be on site by Tuesday morning of War Week, please let Her Excellency know – she would love to have members of the Barony take part in the procession and carry the Baronial banner, looking fab and badass 🙂
      • If you plan on camping with the Barony for Fool’s War, please make sure Her Excellency know you are doing so – we need to make sure we have enough in our group for the space allotment we’re looking for.
    • If you have any additional comments about Midwinter A+S, please let Lady Alisandre know.

Upcoming Events

  • Artsy Crown (26-29 May 2018)
    • There will be two fundraiser lunches, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. If interested, please let Lord Piers know – he’s giving South Downs first dibs.
    • Other than that, everything is moving along well.
    • PayPal:
      • We are 85% set on PayPal for this event.
      • Do we have any PayPal readers? How many will we need? Does anyone have any?
      • Does the barony wish to invest in a couple of readers? We don’t know yet if Kingdom has decided to move forward with this PayPal experiment (although being able to pay online and take credit cards at the door is really helpful)
      • There were a couple of PayPal issues that have been cleared up – specifically, we had problems with tracking reservations for multiple feasts (Artsy Crown has two, one on Saturday and one on Sunday evening
    • Lady Emmelina offered to coordinate a fundraiser art sale at Artsy Crown, with proceeds going to the Castle Wars revel (yay!); need to figure out logistics/space between classes, lunch, etc., but everyone loved the idea
    • Lucien will serve as quartermaster for the event, since Ximon can’t attend
    • Piers will make arrangements for the trailer to be towed from the Base to and from the event site.
  • Red Tower (5-7 October 2018)
    • Will be held at Hard Labor Creek in Rutledge, GA
    • We have an autocrat! Lord Mark de Wytteney!
    • We have a theme – Gods Among Us (Greek!)! Every activity will have a Greek god or goddess sponsor
    • Some ideas were developed at dinner after 40 Year
    • Youth activities idea – have people volunteer greek gods in disguise, and the kids can spend the day trying to figure out who is a god
  • Castle Wars (15-18 November 2018)
    • Will be held at Al-Sihah Shrine in Macon, GA
    • We have an autocrat! Lady Juliane!
    • Theme: War of the Roses
    • She is busy putting together the bid, and needs staff in every department
      • Mairghread volunteered as MiC (or to help find one if she can’t make it)
      • Feast? Beast? Should talk to Sir Lochlann
      • Mark volunteered as Landcrat
      • Andreva will help with reservations
      • Ximon offered general assistance
      • Raven offered to do the flyer and site booklet

SCA Business

  • Emmelina still has the baronial court backdrop – it needs to get to GW, and is at her apartment in Smyrna. Arrangements were made
  • Andreva will be hoteling at Artsy Crown, and is looking for someone to share expenses
  • A discussion began about recognizing Caterina for all the work she has done for our Barony, even though she is not a member of South Downs
  • Andreva reminded everyone that *we* are hosting Artsy Crown – start writing recommendation letters to the Crown for worthy people!
  • Bekah thanked everyone in advance for all who will be helping at Newcomers.
    • She is looking for someone to do a protocol and precedence class – possibly Mathias?
    • She would also like to offer a fun hands-on class if possible. Wistric suggested that perhaps he could do an introduction to finger loop braiding class
  • A discussion about possible event sites started. The Masonic Temple on Peachtree was suggested as a possibly suitable Midwinter A+S-type site; also, the site where this past weekend’s con (in Gwinnett?) took place – perhaps they’d be interested in our doing a demo next year?

Non-SCA Business

  • Margavati’s Indian dance group will have a recital at the Georgia World Congress Center on March 25; tickets are available.
  • Sawyer has some extra moldable plastic if anyone wants it

Next South Downs business meeting will be held Wednesday, 4 April 2018, at Little Tree Art Studios.

–Raven

Events, Meeting Minutes, Midwinter A&S, Red Tower, Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

February Baronial Business Meeting Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

7 February 2018, 7:30pm

Atlanta Friends Meeting House

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

Herald (Lord Lucien d’Artois) called the meeting to order.

Officer Reports

  • Herald (Lord Lucien d’Artois)
    • Lucien announced that the heralds will have a consultation table set up at 40 Year, so come by with your questions.
    • Submissions
      • Five baronial badges were registered at Laurel
      • Mathias Blackett – household name and badge
      • Juliane de Vivone – badge resubmitted
      • Ruqayah al-Zarqa – device change
    • Duke John was asked about the history of the Kestrel – he said it was inspired by an award offered by the Shire of Sol Haven, which recognizes those who contribute to the local group but aren’t actually a member of the group
  • Armored and Youth Marshal (Lady Mairghread)
    • Armored
      • We’ve had a great turnout at practices, so much so that the new fighters have had to swap out loaner gear between them (yay!)
      • Several of the new fighters are ready to be authorized.
      • One fighter (Brady) is technically a member of Owl’s Nest, but he’s been training with Mairghread; still needs a gorget. Lord Mark has offered to build one for him this weekend
    • Youth
      • She has two fighters who want to authorize by Pennsic
      • One of the youth fighters asked if she (Mairgrhead) could run youth combat at Newcomers’ Collegium, but she hasn’t yet received her paperwork from Kingdom
  • Live Weapons Marshal (Mistress Mara Palmer – THL Mathias reporting)
    • Last practice got rained out
    • Our next series of practice have been posted to our FB group
  • Rapier Marshal (Lord Brendan de Hay)
    • Practices. We are still having them, Sunday afternoons, concurrent with armored. Tuesday evening practices at 7pm, temporarily moved to Blackburn Park due to the lighting situation at Liane Levetan. We’re averaging 2-12 people.
    • We are still waiting for updates from Liane Levetan Park about the lighting situation and work order
    • Thanks to all who’ve helped cover marshaling practices while Ben is working!
    • For updates regarding rapier practices, go to the Atlanta SCA Fighting Facebook group.
  • Chatelaine (Lady Stella di Silvestri)
    • After two years in the office, Lady Stella announced that she is stepping down as Chatelaine and that Lady Justina will be stepping up as our new Chatelaine. Thank you for all your hard work, Lady Stella!
  • Arts & Sciences (Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)
    • We had a great turnout at Midwinter A+S; 14 classes were offered.
    • Sunneva has made a schedule for all of 2018 as a Google Docs spreadsheet so you (yes, you! you know it’s one of your new year’s resolutions) 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 July.
    • This month’s class on building a breakdown banner pole will be taught by Master Ximon. He points out that this is not a historically accurate banner pole, but it does pass the “10-ft rule”
    • Sunneva is looking for a deputy, and asked if you contacted her previously about this, to please reach out to her again.
  • Reeve (THL Andreva Rigaldi)
    • Andreva reported that we have (some)money! Approximately $10,000
    • We have a new account at Regions Bank, and are currently waiting on the new checks to arrive and to finish closing out the old Bank of America account. Because of this,
      she needs to have all receipts in by March 1
    • She reported that we had 220 people at Midwinter A+S, including 13 children and 28 paid non-members (including the cast of the local production of Spamalot)
    • Andreva is also looking for a deputy – if you’re interested, please contact her directly
  • Webminister (Lord Pietro di Conti)
    • We have a website!
    • Updated:
      • Class schedule
      • Live weapons practice schedule
      • Web pages for new baronial awards
      • Posted photos from 40-Year, cub scout demo, and Midwinter A+S
      • Class notes
      • Is adding members’ devices to their webpages
  • Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)
    • Still need articles for the Winter 2018 issue of The Read Tower; goal of the newsletter is to inform, particularly newcomers, about what we do, why we enjoy what we do in the SCA, and why a newcomer would want to take part. Examples:
      • Officers’ column: each Baronial officer has a column where they can describe what they do, what’s cool about what you do as that officer, and anything (events, practices, etc) you want to publicize. Roughly 500 words (a page or so?)
      • Guild reps: again, you have a space where you can let the populace know what you do, why you find it cool, and what your Guild has going on. And again, roughly 500 words would be great
      • Articles I’d like to have written, 500-750 words (ish); if you’d like to write an article, please let me know and we’ll chat:
        • Reveling at Castle Wars: one of the things that makes Castle Wars special, the camping and reveling; article and photos  STILL NEED
        • Presentation (?) Herald at Crown: what it’s like to process with a combatant at Crown and announce them at the beginning of the tournament? STILL NEED
        • Rapier activity beyond the world of the SCA (SERFO/HEMA) (thanks, Brendan de Hay!)
        • A+S Competitions at Midwinter A+S (Thanks, Sunneva!)
        • Class handouts, recipes, etc. – please include images (I can scan if necessary), and a writeup introducing the material (ongoing)
        • Artwork and photos – again, I can scan artwork if necessary (thanks, Andreva, for the 40 Year photos!)
  • Seneschal (Master Wistric Oftun)
    • Anachrocon – if you have Viking garb, wear it! If you don’t, wear what you like.
      There was a problem with setting up classes, so we’ll just have fighting otuside and an inside table for recruiting. Wistric will update the Anachrocon schedule on the FB group page
  • Their Excellencies
    • Gulf Wars
      • Who’s going?
      • If you’re planning on going to Gulf Wars and plan to be on site by Tuesday morning of War Week, please let Her Excellency know – she would love to have members of the Barony take part in the procession and carry the Baronial banner, looking fab and badass 🙂

Event Report

  • Midwinter Arts + Sciences (2-4 February 2018)
    • Lady Alisandre sent in an event report as she was not able to attend the meeting
      • We need to find an alternate site instead of UWG – the way the University handles reservations makes it difficult to confirm the site until just a couple of weeks before the event. Suggestions from the populace:
        • Red Top Mountain (where Owls Nest will host Newcomers’ Collegium)
        • Sir Iazzie suggested Gwinnett County Fairgroungs – we could use one hall as a sleeping hall,
          and one divided up for classes. Lots of parking.
        • Cobb County Fairgrounds
    • Everyone agreed that Midwinter A+S was a great and successful event!
    • Lord Pietro was tasked with passing along cheers to Alisandre

Upcoming Events

  • Artsy Crown (26-29 May 2018)
    • Our bid has been submitted; we haven’t heard anything back yet but Iazzie feels confident that we will get the bid
    • Sir Lochlann will do the fighters’ feast Sunday night
    • Need someone to take care of Sunday breakfast – Lady Illy volunteered
    • Need someone to take care of Monday morning GTFO breakfast
    • Help with Royal lunches (Lady Justina will be the royal liaison, but will need help)
    • Still need to determine who will do the fundraiser lunch
    • Iazzie has reached out to the autocrat for Fools’ War (also held at the Shrine) – they will be treating the site for fire ants, so it should be in pretty good shape before our event
    • Lady Emmelina offered to coordinate a fundraiser art sale at Artsy Crown, with proceeds going to the Castle Wars revel (yay!); need to figure out logistics/space between classes,
      lunch, etc., but everyone loved the idea
  • Red Tower (5-7 October 2018)
    • Will be held a Hard Labor Creek in Rutledge, GA
    • We have an autocrat! Lord Mark de Wytteney!
    • We have a theme – Bacchanalia! Please send Mark any ideas you may have for the event
    • Some ideas were developed at dinner after 40 Year
    • Iazzie mentioned that he knows a couple of people who are interested in doing feast

SCA Business

  • Lady Justina got great feedback for Period Heroes at Midwinter (yay!) Contributions are always welcome! Period Heroes will make an appearance at Ca’ d’ Oro at Gulf Wars
  • Wistric mentioned the state of the storage unit; seems there’s a lot of materials for unfinished (unstarted?) projects
    • There’s a fair amount of leftover fleece from the Red Tower sheep – Illy suggested that it could be used for cows for Bryn Madoc (Danelaw?)
    • An entire bin of moving blankets which will be turned into storage bags for the thrones
    • Baronial regalia? A linen unfinished cloak or cassock with baronial arms – it may well be a cover or shade for the thrones for court (fits into a frame). The frame has been lost over the years, so it could become a project for something else. Wistric will bring the fabric to the next meeting.
    • A full bolt of canvas that was originally going to be a painted wall; perhaps it could become two smaller walls (easier to handle
    • Several unfinished banners that Baroness Rhiannon had worked on once upon a time; Ximon would like several volunteers to help with it
    • Several bolts of cotton duck (white, green, black) – perhaps can be used for loaner gear? Mark volunteered to help with this
    • Additional silk for banners – we definitely need more banners as a Barony! Also a frame and paint; could become a group project night, teaching how to make a painted silk banner
    • Lady Juliane would love to encourage South Downs to be more spiffy in 2018
    • Ximon suggested that we break down the banner project into easier manageable sessions: develop design, assess silk pieces, etc.
  • Mairghread mentioned that Thor’s Mountain baronial candidates are now down to 4 (one had had his membership lapse); the remaining had a Q+A event that was recorded and posted. The new Baron and/or Baroness will step up at May Faire. Her Excellency Thor’s Mountain has been ill, and the Vicar has stepped up recently to handle administrative issues.
  • Juliane mentioned that His Excellency is interested in restoring the Red Raven as a polling order; is there a gap in the OP that needs to be added/corrected?
  • Ximon thanked everyone who contributed to the MoB fundraiser lunch at Midwinter A+S

Non-SCA Business

  • Andreva’s chorale has a concert coming up, featuring folk songs in a lot of different languages. Concert is in May 18 and 20
  • Mairghread will be on active duty orders for the next couple of months, and it may impact her attendance at Gulf Wars. Sunday practice availability will also be spotty for the next couple of months, due to needed house repair
  • dilly dilly!

Next South Downs business meeting will be held Wednesday, 7 March 2018, at our new site, Little Tree Art Studios.

–Raven

Events, Meeting Minutes, Midwinter A&S, Red Tower, Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

January 2018 Baronial Mini-Business Minutes

South Downs Baronial Mini-Business Meeting

17 January 2018, 7:30pm

Little Tree Art Studios

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

Herald (Lord Lucien d’Artois) called the meeting to order.

Midwinter Arts + Sciences (2-4 February 2018)

  • Do we know how many have pre-registered yet?
  • We only have 15 classes submitted so far
  • We still need volunteers:
    • One person to supervise vigil and Order meetings, to be a runner for meeting attendees as needed
      • Two people have volunteered, two teens who helped at the last event with cleanup
    • Someone to put up road signage (Sir Iazzie volunteered)
    • Lady Alisandre will need some things from the Baronial storage unit – she will compile a list of things for Master Wistric to get from the storage unit, and this will be a good test for the new request sheet
  • The schedule being developed for the Order meetings, vigil, Meet & Greet, etc., is really complex
  • Andreva may be able to serve as voice herald to announce class changes and meetings, but if she cant, she will find someone who can (perhaps Lord Knut?)
  • The annual Sari Safari will take place on Sunday after Midwinter
  • Do we want to do a Regional Fighter practice as done in past years?
    • Should we hold our Baronial Championship tourneys at this practice?
    • How elaborate do we want the practice to be? Cookout, etc.? A reminder that that Sunday is also Super Bowl Sunday, so it’s possible we might not have as strong a turnout as we would otherwise
    • The populace decided that we should just have a regular practice, but extend the invitation through the Midwinter event
  • We won’t be able to get onsite to set up on Friday evening, so we will need as many people as possible onsite Saturday morning at 7:00am to help get everything set up
  • The fundraising lunch will either be held in a classroom or at the end of the 2nd floor hallway (as last year)
  • Site tokens have been ordered but have not yet arrived. Plan B (in the event we don’t get the tokens on time) will be to use leftover tokens from Red Tower, which are already strung (yay!)

Baronial Storage Unit

  • Wistric announced that a lot of progress has been made on organizing the Baronial storage unit – he’s posted several pics on the FB group to document the work done and those who’ve come out to help. We will need approximately 12 storage tubs to continue organizing All The Things – having identical tubs will make it easier and more consistent to manage everything. The populace approved $150 to purchase more tubs.

Cub Scout Demo

  • Lisa reminded the populace about the Cub Scout Demo for her son’s pack next Thursday, and encouraged everyone to come out and take part – it’s a lot of fun, and they loved having us come out the last time. The demo starts at 7:00pm. For more info, check out the event that will be set up on the baronial FB group.

Anachrocon (February 16-18, 2018)

  • We’ve been asked to take part in the in the con by holding a demo (fighting, maybe live weapons?)- maybe also teach classes? The deadline to get into the con booklet has passed, but we can still take part. Master Ximon and THL Andreva both said they’d go.

Other Business

  • Castle Wars 2017
    • Does anyone know who ended up with the waivers from Castle Wars? The deputy needs to have them. Whoever has them, please get them to Wistric.

Next South Downs business meeting will be held Wednesday, 7 February 2018, at our new site, Little Tree Art Studios.

–Raven

Announcements, Meeting Minutes, Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

December 2017 Baronial Business Meeting Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

6 December 2017, 7:30pm

Atlanta Friends Meeting House

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

Herald (Lord Lucien d’Artois) called the meeting to order.

Officer Reports

  • Herald (Lord Lucien d’Artois)
    • Submissions
      • Lady Stella’s device registered at Laurel
      • Lady Juliane’s badge rejected and resubmitted to Laurel
      • Mistress Margavati is next
    • Awards – Castle Wars
      • Peryn Rose Whitehorse – King’s Lancer
      • Pietro di Conti – Companion of the Argent Rapier
      • Piers Simmons – Falcon’s Faith
      • Mairghread Wilson – Falcon’s Faith
      • Justina di Silvestri – Phoenix’s Spark
      • Stella di Silvestri – Swan’s Grace
  • Armored and Youth Marshal (Lady Mairghread)
    • Practices are going well, especially Sundays at Liane Levetan Park. Recently,
      turnout has been hit-or-miss because it’s now event season
    • Tuesdays have been hit and miss, Owl’s Nest fighters don’t come out consistently
    • We have two more youth fighters! yay!
    • Definitely getting a strong response with youth fighters
  • Rapier Marshal (Lord Brendan de Hay)
    • Practices. We are still having them, Sunday afternoons, concurrent with armored. Tuesday evening practices at 7pm, temporarily moved to Blackburn Park due to the lighting situation at Liane Levetan. We’re averaging 2-12 people.
    • We are still waiting for updates from Liane Levetan Park about the lighting situation and work order
    • Thanks to all who’ve helped cover marshaling practices while Ben is working!
    • For updates regarding rapier practices, go to the Atlanta SCA Fighting Facebook group.
  • Live Weapons Marshal (Mistress Mara Palmer – THL Mathias reporting)
    • Practices are still going strong! We’ve been averaging 10 shooters at practice
    • We now have both 10- and 20-yard target ranges
    • We have youth archery!
    • Our next practice is Sunday, 17 December – for more info, check out our website
    • Still waiting to hear about practice dates for 2018 –
      our hosts are trying to coordinate their scout calendar. Stay tuned!
  • Chatelaine (Lady Stella di Silvestri – His Excellency reporting)
    • If you haven’t joined the South Downs Facebook group, do so! It’s the best place to keep up with what’s happening in the Barony
    • We’ve had some new people show up to the Barony 🙂
      Be nice and welcome them!
  • Arts & Sciences (Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)
    • Welcome to Mistress Sunneva, our new A+S Officer!
    • There is now a Google Docs spreadsheet posted on the Baronial Facebook group where you can sign up to teach a class in 2018
    • Midwinter A+S is the next event on the Baronial calendar. Sunneva will post a signup sheet to teach at Midwinter on the Baronial Facebook group soon – stay tuned!
  • Reeve (THL Mathias Blackett)
    • We have money! Not sure exactly how much (so soon after Castle Wars), so no more spending until he figures it out
    • We had a small profit from Crown List – everything was budgeted and spent well, but expenses were higher because of the site, and attendance was less than usual for this type of event
    • After Kingdom took their split, and the rest of the profits were split among the three hosting groups, we made ~$166
    • Lady Juliane suggested that perhaps we don’t go outside of Georgia for our event sites
    • We also had a lower turnout than usual for Castle Wars (adults, 479??) but a lot of kids (brought total number up to 529). However, kids aren’t counted for event purposes, per Kingdom law. Usually we’re at 700.
    • Expenses were also higher – even though the SCA doesn’t charge for kids, kids are charged a park fee (which we ultimately cover).
    • For the next two years, Castle Wars will be held at the Al Sihah Shrine Temple in Macon, which will cost us less
    • Spending was also careful and well done. Expenses totaled $7124, and we made a profit of $2808. This is lower than in the past but we still came out ahead.
  • Webminister (Lord Pietro di Conti)
    • We have a website!
    • Updated:
      • Have continued to update the populace pages
      • Updated several titles
      • Updated Castle Wars map and photos
      • Updated event calendar
      • Setup Midwinter A+S pre-registration page
  • Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)
    • The Baronial Newsletter (“The Read Tower”) has been published! Yay! Thanks to all who contributed to the issue, and for everyone’s patience as I got this inaugural issue done
    • (Please note: this part is more detailed than the original officer report 🙂 ) Will begin working on the Winter issue after the holidays. I’m looking for the following content; I want to highlight what we, the populace of the Barony do, and what we find fun about the SCA:
      • Officers’ column: each Baronial officer has a column where they can describe what they do, what’s cool about what you do as that officer, and anything (events, practices, etc) you want to publicize. Roughly 500 words (a page or two?)
      • Guild reps: again, you have a space where you can let the populace know what you do, why you find it cool, and what your Guild has going on. And again, roughly 500 words would be great
      • Articles I’d like to have written, 500-750 words (ish); if you’d like to write an article, please let me know and we’ll chat:
        • Reveling at Castle Wars: one of the things that makes Castle Wars special, the camping and reveling; article and photos
        • Presentation (?) Herald at Crown: what it’s like to process with a combatant at Crown and announce them at the beginning of the tournament?
        • Rapier activity beyond the world of the SCA (SERFO/HEMA) (thanks, Brendan de Hay!)
        • Class handouts, recipes, etc. – please include images (I can scan if necessary), and a writeup introducing the material
        • Artwork and photos – again, I can scan artwork if necessary
    • Thank you all! I hope you enjoyed the issue
  • Seneschal (Master Wistric Oftun)
    • We need to develop an event site database; look for sites for different kinds and sizes of events
    • Updated Con database
    • We need to start looking for a new meeting site – good parking, decent meeting room. Perhaps a pub? Coffeehouse?
  • Their Excellencies
    • Christmas party at Their Excellencies! You all should come! 16 December. Please carpool if you can, as parking may be somewhat limited. Please check out the Baronial FB group or the event site for more details.
      • Dirty Santa ($20 limit)
    • Thanks to everyone for Castle Wars! Everyone helped through the weather, much appreciated
    • Please write more award recommendations – specific person, specific reasons. All awards! Kingdom *and* baronial!

Upcoming Events

  • Midwinter Arts + Sciences (2-4 February 2018)
    • We have a site! University of West Georgia (not Little Tallapoosa, Mathias!)
      • University of West Georgia changed their scheduling – classes don’t get scheduled there until the very end of the semester, so getting the site confirmed was tough. It might be a good idea to find another site
    • The Meridian Order of the Blade will sponsor a fundraiser lunch of a variety of chilis and stews. Will need crockpots.
    • Mistress Sunneva is in charge of classes -if you want to teach, talk to her
    • THL Andreva and Lord Farouk will do the royal luncheon.
    • Lord Piers will head up troll, with help from Lords Lucien and Pietro
    • Juliane is co-autocrat
    • Need merchantcrat
    • Katerina from Owls Nest has offered to do PayPal for pre-reg, but we have some fees that need to be taken care of from Castle Wars and Crown before we can get PayPal cleared
    • Library again? wasn’t utilized much last year, although the idea was cool.
    • There will not be a heraldic consultation at MWA+S unless someone volunteers, but there will be one at 40year
  • Cub Scout Demo (25 January 2018)
    • At the University Heights Methodist Church, at 7:00pm
    • We’ve been invited by special request of the Cubmaster (again!) 🙂 The Cubmaster is a big DragonCon and photography aficionado
    • Each den provides a speaker for one meeting each year, this den has a theme of knights in shining armor, etc., and they’ve loved having us over in past years
  • Artsy Crown (26-29 May 2018)
    • Sir Iazzie is submitting a bid
    • Would be held at the Al Sihah Shrine in Macon
  • Red Tower (5-7 October 2018)
    • Do we have a site?
    • Andreva is putting together a bid

SCA Business

  • Castle Wars Post-Mortem
    • It went really well – everyone helped so much
    • What could have gone better:
      • Made a mistake with rapier marshal, had tournaments instead of melee
      • Parking can be moved to the other side
      • Portapotties can be moved to better places
      • Troll – receipts need to be given to every single person; this is a rule that changes depending on kingdom seneschal
      • Merchants complained about where they were placed
      • Merchants should be closer to artisans row
      • Bigger bottles of hand sanitizers at portapotties that aren’t soap
      • If we have an event at Mackintosh again we need to keep in mind “Lake Mackintosh” from past years (rain) and how that may impact site layout
      • Shrine – keep on top of fire ants
      • Mairghread commented on calibration issues in the fighting, recommends that MiC brief fighters ahead of time on Meridian calibration standards.
      • Make sure your rapier and armored marshals get along
      • we need to figure out how to deal with the castle walls. Ximon suggests a 25ft Uhaul truck to carry all the things.
    • What went well (yay!):
      • The revel space was a great idea, even beyond the weather issues – where can the revel take place at the shrine?
      • Yay Stella for running camp! And keeping everyone caffeinated!
      • Camp kitchen rocked!
      • Ximon mentioned how much he likes Mackintosh
      • Thanks to Wistric for making sure all the things got done; he pointed out that Lucien is the man for everything he took care of
      • heater and pavilion for troll was awesome

    Non-SCA Business

    • Margavati brought a bunch of stuff she’s clearing out from her house

    Next South Downs business meeting will be held Wednesday, 3 January 2017, at the Atlanta Friends Meeting House.

    –Raven

Meeting Minutes, Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

November 2017 Business Meeting Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

1 November 2017, 7:30pm

Atlanta Friends Meeting House

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

Herald (Lord Lucien d’Artois) called the meeting to order.

Several new people came to the meeting, so we all introduced ourselves, and shared our office (if applicable) and interests we each have.

Officer Reports

  • Herald (Lord Lucien d’Artois)
    • Submissions
      • Anneliese Wolf’s name and device were registered at Laurel.
    • Awards – Red Tower:
      • THL Mathias Blackett – Red Raven
      • Duke John of Ean Airgead, Lord Pietro di Conti, Mistress Mara Palmer – Kestrel’s Talon
      • Lord Brendan de Hay – Falcon’s Faith
      • Lady Emelina le Norreys – Swan’s Grace
      • Mistress Sunneva de Cleia and Master Wistric Oftun – Phoenix’s Spark
      • Beatrice – Sparrow’s Wing
      • Marianna Cristina Tirado de Aragon – Heart of South Downs
      • Lord Lucien d’Artois – South Downs Chivalry Award
  • Armored and Youth Marshal (Lady Mairghread)
    • Practices are going well, especially Sundays at Liane Levetan Park. Recently,
      turnout has been hit-or-miss because it’s now event season
    • Tuesdays have been hit and miss, Owl’s Nest fighters don’t come out consistently
    • No practice this weekend (5 November) because of ConjurationCon and regional practice in Tir Briste, so go there instead!
    • We have one more youth fighter (Eric) yay!
    • Lady Mairghread will be MiC of Friday night activities at Castle Wars. We are hoping to have (again) Knight Bowling and Friday Night Theme Music for fights (but we need another DJ
  • Live Weapons Marshal (Mistress Mara Palmer – THL Mathias reporting)
    • We’ve been averaging 10 shooters at practice
    • We now have both 10- and 20-yard target ranges
    • We have youth archery!
    • Our next practice is this coming Sunday (5 November) – for more info, check out our website
    • Mistress Mara has a link to arrow sources – check with her for more info
    • The populace inquired how many tassels does the baronial populace now have? The answer: a LOT!
  • Rapier Marshal (Lord Brendan de Hay)
    • Practices. We are still having them, Sunday afternoons, concurrent with armored. Tuesday evening practices at 7pm, temporarily moved to Blackburn Park due to the lighting situation at Liane Levetan. We’re averaging 2-12 people.
    • We did hear back from Liane Levetan Park about the lighting situation – they’ve put in a work order
    • There are lots of rapier activity planned for the fall event season – come out to events and get your stab on!
    • For updates regarding rapier practices, go to the Atlanta SCA Fighting Facebook group.
    • No practice this weekend (5 November), due to ConjurationCon and the Tir Briste regional practice – come join us there!
    • Ximon mentioned that we should work in some more demos – if you have any leads on demo opportunities, please let Brendan know
    • Upcoming – SERFO (HEMA fencing tournament in Atlanta)! and Castle Wars!
  • Chatelaine (Lady Stella di Silvestri – His Excellency reporting)
    • If you haven’t joined the South Downs Facebook group, do so! It’s the best place to keep up with what’s happening in the Barony
    • Speaking of demos, ConjurationCon will happen the weekend of 4 November – come on out! We’re coordinating efforts with Bryn Madoc – come on out, it’s a lot of fun! Touch base with Stella or Piers if you are planning to help out, so they can know who to expect.
  • Arts & Sciences (Lady Veronica da Lucca)
    • Lady Alisandre taught October’s class on making fencing shirts – it was an excellent class
    • Volunteers are needed for future activity/class nights! If you are interested, please contact Lady Veronica until the end of the month, or Mistress Sunneva beginning in December, as she will be taking over as the Baronial Arts + Sciences officer (yay!)
    • This month’s class night is scheduled for the night before Thanksgiving – it was suggested that we reschedule until the following Wednesday, in conjunction with the fifth Wednesday potluck
  • Reeve (THL Lady Maire Dhocair Inghean Chiarain)
    • We have money! and checks! (no) thanks to Bank of America. We may be changing banks – Bank of America has been difficult to work with. Researching options now.
    • Reservationist for Castle Wars reports almost 100 pre-registered, very low number at this point
    • Sir Iazzie suggested that in addition to “spamming” the kingdom with advertisements, announce that reservations can be taken at Crown List
  • Webminister (Lord Pietro di Conti)
    • Updated:
      • Artisan’s Row page (Castle Wars)
      • Officer’s Page (Master Ximon as Quartermaster)
      • Awards pages
  • Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)
    • The Baronial Newsletter (“The Read Tower”) is in progress – really! Hope to have it released in the next couple of weeks (before Christmas)
  • Seneschal (Master Wistric Oftun)
    • Lady Juliane de Vivonne is the new deputy for site researching
    • We need to look for sites for different types of events, small to Knowne World level events
  • Their Excellencies
    • We will see you all the next few weekends at ConjurationCon, Crown List, and Castle Wars!

Upcoming Events

  • ConjurationCon (3-5 November 2017)
    • Most of the info has already been conveyed – come on out!
  • Fall Crown List (10-12 November 2017)
    • At Little Tallapoosa Park, co-hosting with the shire of Depedale and the Barony of Bryn Madoc
    • Mattias has nothing new to report
    • The newly-(re)formed Moneyers Guild will meet at Crown List; the Moneyers Guild is about making coins
    • Pottycrat is still needed – Mairghread volunteered to do it on Saturday when she’s there (daytripping)
    • Mathias is serving as acting seneschal at Crown list, as Wistric will not be able to make it
    • Barony may need to bring tables and dayshades – need to arrange trip to storage unit to get them; maybe coordinate carrying stuff from Crown List to Castle Wars, as they are on two consecutive weekends
  • Castle Wars (17 – 19 November 2017)
    • Need to determine who can serve as reeve on site, as Mathias won’t be there. Maybe Maire?
    • Needs help to attach tokens to things (strings? ribbon?). It was determined that this can be taken care of at next week’s meeting, since it’s project night 🙂
    • Wednesday before Castle Wars, we will meet to help load the trailer. Ximon has offered to pull a trailer with his truck, as he will be attending the entire weekend.
    • Need to approve funds to rent trailer, approved unanimously (~$200)
    • Lorenzo has a trailer that can be used for overflow if necessary
    • Juliane did her Iazzie impersonation to remind everyone that “THE BARON AND BARONESS SHOULD NOT HAVE TO SET UP AND TEAR DOWN THEIR OWN STUFF. MUFFIN.”
    • Discussed alcohol policy – no open containers, no visibly pouring into cups etc.
    • Castle walls – Iazzie has repaired them and built a gate system for them. They still need to be painted grey this weekend at THL Kynwric’s house. more work to be done after Castle Wars on them (sealing/varnish). Expect to need $400 on repairs, with $ available to make 10 more walls.
  • Midwinter Arts + Sciences (2-4 February 2018)
    • Alisandre still waiting to hear from Sibella to confirm site availability (University of West Georgia)
    • The Meridian Order of the Blade will sponsor a fundraiser lunch of a variety of chilis and stews
  • Cub Scout Demo (25 January 2018)
    • At the University Heights Methodist Church, at 7:00pm
    • We’ve been invited by special request of the Cubmaster (again!) 🙂 The Cubmaster is a big DragonCon and photography aficionado
    • Each den provides a speaker for one meeting each year, this den has a theme of knights in shining armor, etc., and they’ve loved having us over in past years

SCA Business

  • Lady Alisandre will be making candied orange peel this weekend at her home, and has invited anyone who wants to learn to make it to come over and learn/help.
  • Iazzie is working on doing some short Cervantes and Shakespeare plays for future A+S opportunities. Perhaps resurrect the actors’ guild (of sorts)?

Non-SCA Business

  • Nothing new to report

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

–Raven

Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

October Mini-Business-Meeting Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

18 October 2017, 7:30pm

Atlanta Friends Meeting House

Notes submitted by Stunt Chronicler, Lord Brendan de Hay (mka Benjamin Hay), on behalf of Lady Raven Helmsplitter, South Downs Chronicler.

Upcoming Events

  • Castle Wars (17 – 19 November 2017) – Lord Piers reporting via speaker phone
    • Would like to shift $200 from main CW budget for party food (Unanimously approved) Check to be issued to Mistress Jadi.
    • Equestrian fees: A great deal of drama over the extra fees associated with horsing around. Her Excellency was asked if the Barony would consider covering the extra fees. Unanimous vote NOT to cover the fees from the Barony coffers. His Excellency asked that objectors be referred to him directly.
    • Due to the need to change venues mid-stream, the flyer to PopChiv was delayed (late by less than 1 day), and did not make the October issue. For future reference, however, autocrats are asked to prioritize the flyer and pricing structure announcements so no one will be surprised.
    • On an individual note, please get pre-registrations in so the Baronial camp can be allotted the space needed. Lady Stella is camp mistress.
    • A&S and Artisans’ row have merged. Contact Mistress Sunneva and/or Mistress Peryn with requests for teaching slots or merchant space.
    • Do we have tables? Led to discussion of how things will get to site. As usual, private trucks and trailers are the plan for now.

    Next South Downs business meeting will be held Wednesday, 1 November 2017, at the Atlanta Friends Meeting House.

    –Raven

Meeting Minutes, Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

October Baronial Business Meeting Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

4 October 2017, 7:30pm

Atlanta Friends Meeting House

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

Herald (Lord Lucien d’Artois) called the meeting to order.

Officer Reports

  • Armored and Youth Marshal (Lady Mairghread)
    • Practices are going well, especially Sundays at Liane Levetan Park
    • Tuesdays have been hit and miss, Owl’s Nest fighters don’t come out consistently
  • Rapier Marshal (Lord Brendan de Hay)
    • Practices. Nothing new. Sunday afternoons, concurrent with armored. Tuesday evening practices at 7pm, temporarily moved to Blackburn Park due to the lighting situation at Liane Levetan. We did hear back from the folks at Liane Levetan Park – they have put in a work order for the lights, so we’re hoping things will be fixed soon.
    • Brendan thanked everyone who has helped cover marshalling practices when he’s had work conflicts
    • There are lots of rapier activity planned for the fall event season – come out to events and get your stab on!
  • Live Weapons Marshal (Mistress Mara Palmer – THL Mathias reporting)
    • Lady Stella, Master Lorenzo, and THL Mathias got their tassels
    • The October practice has to be moved to Sunday, 15 October (the Sunday of Coronation weekend)
    • Come on out to Red Tower! It will be fun for everyone, even new archers – loaner gear will be available if you’d like to try target archery
      • One of the shoots at Red Tower will be a stuffed animal shoot; Lady Justina suggested that she (or someone) could play teddy bear doctor to repair the shot stuffed animals,
        so the kids won’t be upset at shooting stuffed animals
    • Mara has not gone over budget, and is almost done buying all the things
    • For more information about archery in Meridies, please check out their website
  • Chatelaine (Lady Stella di Silvestri – His Excellency reporting)
    • Lady Stella will be taking on 2 deputies:
      • Demo deputy is Lord Piers
      • Gold key is Lady Justina
    • Donations have been made to the Barony – a range of things that will be useful in general
    • Do you have suggestions for future demos? Stella is setting up a Google Doc that will make it easy to submit your idea and send it on to Piers and Stella
    • Speaking of demos, ConjurationCon will happen the weekend of 4 November – come on out! Touch base with Stella or Piers if you are planning to help out, so they can know who to expect.
  • Arts & Sciences (Lady Veronica da Lucca)
    • A+S quarterly report to kingdom is due soon – Lady Veronica passed around a sheet so everyone could list what they’ve worked on this past quarter
    • This month’s class is a surprise! (ETA: Lady Alisandre taught a class on making fencing shirts
  • Webminister (Lord Pietro di Conti)
    • Nothing to report
  • Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)
    • Nothing to report
  • Seneschal (Master Wistric Oftun)
    • Mini-business meeting last week happened – $1,000 was approved for upcoming expenses for Castle Wars,
      including propane tanks, torches, etc.
  • Reeve (THL Lady Maire Dhocair Inghean Chiarain)
    • Distributed several checks, per the previous week’s meeting
    • Maire reminded everyone working on upcoming events that it is preferred to submit your expense receipts as much all together as possible, so that fewer checks are written
  • Herald (Lord Lucien d’Artois)
    • Submissions
      • Five baronial badge submissions have advanced to Society
    • Court Report
      • Tourney of the Foxes:
        • Veronica da Lucca – Order of the Velvet Owl
      • Meridian Grand Tournament (MGT)
        • Master Wistric Oftun received the Stallion’s Blood
  • Their Excellencies
    • Red Tower is coming up! Come out! Have fun!
      Help out!

      • Justina will be teaching a class with Their Excellencies on how to be a courtier – this will be a great class for newcomers!
    • Castle Wars is coming up! If you haven’t written an award recommendation for someone in time for Red Tower and are thinking of doing so, do it now so it can be considered in time for Castle Wars. Their Excellencies love giving out awards!

Upcoming Events

  • Red Tower (30 September – 2 October 2017)
    • Everything is going well – Lady Julianna was nervous, but she met with Her Excellency and they put together lists of things that need to be done
      • We need people for set up (Friday @ 3:00pm), and tear down (Saturday night and Sunday morning); several volunteers offered
      • Still need a volunteer as pottycrat – easier than most events, since there’s a bathhouse and cabins,just the 3 portapotties on the field. Stella volunteered.
      • Need help with site heralding – Don Scott?
      • Mattias will herald the rapier tournament – Wistric wants to find out what’s being planned
      • Do we have popup tents available for the list mistresses?
      • Mattias was had ideas about hall decorations – will try to drape it in curtains to make it look like a Roman hall, then will put the South Downs banners
      • Can we set up a lounge long enough for His Highness Tim to lounge on?
      • Lucien has sign up sheet for troll – Friday 5-Midnight, Sat 7am – 1pm. Weather permitting, troll will be at main pavilion near field instead of main hall – need to put on the Red Tower FB page
      • Mairghread asked if we have enough ropes/stakes/etc to mark off fighting fields. If not, a good option would be flour to mark off the edges of the fields
      • Juliana needs a check to get things taken care of on site; she also needs cash advance check for cash for troll.
      • Question about portapotties – would it be possible to have hand sanitizer supplied in each of them?
  • 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 Talapoosa park, with Bryn Madoc and Depedale
    • Mattias doesn’t have much new to report
    • There was a small discussion about non-feast meals
    • Planning will get into high gear after Red Tower
  • Castle Wars (17 – 19 November 2017)
    • There was a problem with site tokens that were ordered – they turned out to be way too small. Piers is sending them back, and will get refund eventually.
    • He has already found an alternative token (with help from Wistric and Iazzie). This is within the existing budget, so no vote needed
  • Midwinter Arts + Sciences (2-4 February 2018)
    • Alisandre still waiting to hear from Sibella to confirm site availability (University of West Georgia)

SCA Business

  • As part of what was recently donated to the Barony, we now have a wrought iron cooking tripod and 2 portable holes, and an iron rose the was donated. Could we use it as a prize at (Midwinter A+S?) cooking competition? We could also use feast gear that was donated for volunteer raffles at upcoming events
  • Ximon thanked Lorenzo and Adela on behalf of the Meridian Order of the Blad for loaning them water coolers, and Veronica for providing a scroll last minute
  • Lorenzo told a story about having a runic scroll translated at MGT

Non-SCA Business

  • Nothing new to report

Next South Downs business meeting will be held Wednesday, 1 November 2017, at the Atlanta Friends Meeting House.

–Raven