Category Archives: Fighter Practices

January 2024 Baronial Business Meeting

3 January 2024, Time: 7:30 PM EST

Notes submitted by Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong, South Downs Chronicler.

Magister Lorenzo called the January meeting to order. Our Seneschal, Lady Raven Helmsplitter started recording the meeting and greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. Lady Raven read the Kingdom Anti-Bullying statement.

Officers’ Reports

Seneschal, (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)

  • Schedule for this month:
    • January in-person dates are 1/17 and 1/31 (5th Wednesday potluck)
    • Project online, class on third wednesday
  • His Excellency and I went to Bert Adams for a site visit to scout out the site for RedTower 2024 (RT 50!). Looking for a new site since it’s booked for the weekend that we wanted.
  • We need to start thinking about what KLE we might put in a bid for, as every barony is required to submit a bid for a KLE
    • Another group may be doing RUM this year
  • Midwinter A+S is coming (3 February 2024)! 
  • Officers:
    • Please check your officer page on our website to make sure your info is correct – especially links to external websites (kingdom, for example). If there are any updates needed, please get your updates to Eirikr (I believe he has a form to use).
      • Populace – please also check your listing in Dramatis Personae > People of South Downs. If you have updates (or are not listed), please let Eirikr know and he’ll update your listing.
    • Their Excellencies would like to meet with all the officers (and deputies) sometime soon (possibly in January, after the holidays), to discuss what we want to do in 2024.
  • Our pause during the pandemic made our usual processes, well, weird. I want to get back on track with our normal terms of office, and am looking into what the usual/expected terms of office should be. In the meantime, I’d like to have all the officers let me know when they started their terms.

Herald (Magister Lorenzo Petrucci)     

  • Nothing to report
  • Write in award recommendations!

Knight Marshal (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

  • Got a practice last weekend
  • Jan. 7th – next weekend will not have a practice here, but up at Laurel Grove for an interkingdom fighter practice.
  • Jan. 14th – no loaner gear for heavy available, but practice will happen
  • Jan. 28th – no practice

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

  1. Practices have been proceeding, weather and other events permitting.  Sundays starting around noon (concurrent with armored practice).  Schedule changes, cancellations, and any other relevant information is shared on the FaceBook group “Atlanta SCA Fighting,” and sometimes other locations depending on circumstances.  Loaner gear is usually available, but it doesn’t hurt to check the “Atlanta SCA Fighting” group in advance.  Sometimes when I’m not available, the “stunt marshal” might not be able to bring it.
  2. BTW, “Atlanta SCA Fighting” is still visible publicly and searchable, but is now “Private” to keep the bots out.  If you have any trouble at all finding practice announcements, feel free to reach out directly to me or Ld. Eirikr.  It should be readable to anyone, but you’ll need to join in order to post.
  3. Thanks to everyone for working together to keep practices happening.  I wouldn’t mind having a deputy step up who could take over from me in the not-too-distant future.  In the meantime, my continued thanks to Ldy. Ogata, Master Ximón, Master Nikoslav, et. al.
  4. Big shout-out to folks recently giving rapier a try.  Looking forward to seeing more folks having fun!  Just before Castle Wars, we had several new authorizations, and a couple of new auths at CW.  The field is getting bigger!
  5. The castle is now as functional as it’s ever been.  It still needs paint.  It’s really nice to see it stored indoors again, but let’s please keep in mind that it really does need a work day sometime for a sprucing up (new paint will also help protect the wood from bugs and weather).
  6. A couple of rapier-centric event announcements:  Bryn Madoc’s 12th Night celebration this weekend (https://brynmadoc.meridies.org/events/12th-night/) and Nantyderwiddon’s InterKingdom Fighter Practice (https://fb.me/e/78hCoX9RX) are bothe this Saturday.
  7. HYDRATE!

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

  • At Twelfth Night this weekend, there will be a thrown weapons range but no archery.
  • Archery practice this month, working with Mistress Peryn in Villa Rica for mounted archery
    • Jan. 13th – Calvary practice as well as archery on the ground to start out
    • Might check to see if archery practice is viable in Villa Rica
    • Details will be on the Meridian Calvary Page
    • If you’re interested in learning how to be an archery marshal, let Master Mathias know!

Exchequer (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

  • Our current bank balance is $2127.15
  • Did get a check in the mail, so it should be deposited soon
  • Expenses
    • Meeting space paid through June
    • Practice space for after Midwinter is reserved
  • Email made for the deputy Exchequer!
  • Paypal is up for Midwinter
  • Paperwork for the bank account will be updated soon

Quartermaster (Maestra Isabetta de San Marco

  • Nothing to report
  • Looking for a deputy

Chatelaine (Lady Ogata Mitsuko)

  • His Highness and Baron Engelbrecht have put together a demo at Atlanta Comic Con Feb. 9-11th.
  • If you want to get involved, contact His Highness Sebastianos or Baron Engelbrecht

Demo Deputy (VACANT)

  • Demos covered by Lady Ogata

Arts & Sciences (Lady Maryam)

 I hope everyone had a good holiday season and a great start to the new year.

  • Midwinter A&S pre-registration is open, and the regional faire is open for all kinds of entries (except brewing due to site restrictions)! To register in the faire, find the link on the Facebook event page, the event’s Discord channel, or you can message me. 
  • Even if you don’t have anything to enter, there will be an opportunity to show your appreciation for our artists by voting for your favorite entry at the faire and sharing your input. 
  • Additionally, if maybe you have been researching a topic or fixated on something you’d like to share – please consider teaching or sharing your knowledge at a class night!

Provost (Lord Ælfric Hort)

Getting back into the A&S Class Swing for the new year.  

  • Midwinter class signups are in full swing.  Still have approximately a week and a half remaining before the signup deadline Jan. 14.
  • Wenyeva will be teaching about Middle English Nicknames online on Jan. 24th.
  • I still have most of the year open for teaching slots, as well.  Please get with me if you have things you would like to share with the barony.  Our class nights are a great way to test out or dry run a class that you might be interested in offering for larger events as well.
  • I am still looking for a Deputy.

Chronicler (Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong)

  • Thank you to all who got your reports sent in early!
  • Behind on newsletters, but will post them as soon as I get them done
  • Updating the baronial calendar with the in-person/virtual meetings, should update and in turn update the baronial calendar as well.
  • Always looking to interview the populace for each issue, so please fill out this form to get included! Eventually I’d like to collect these into one PDF so we have a good collection of information about our members: https://forms.gle/MNxww3KUQJo2VsEG9
  • Please submit photos, art, articles, shout-outs, or anything that you’ve found interesting and want to share! I’ll always be collecting stuff for the newsletters going forward. You can submit either through this form: https://forms.gle/8SyEF9D7c8rMCnZP6 or email me at chron.southdowns@meridies.org.

Social Media Minister  (THLady Agnes Halydaye

  • Our social media is full of interesting things and beautiful people!
  • The preregistration link for Midwinter should be posted on the various channels, go preregister!

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Officer (DEIB), (Lady Lily of South Downs)

  • Nothing to report.
  • Waiting to hear back on the reorganization of the office on the society level

Webminister (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

  • Send in requests if you need your information updated on the website
  • Link to form to update you information on the SD website: https://forms.gle/omZbL4QcaDFbHQV78
  • Midwinter event page and Paypal info are up and running.

Minister of Children (VACANT)

  • Position is still open, if you are interested, please contact Lady Raven.

Their Excellencies, (Maestro Ximon Cordoba de Martillo & HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

  • Ximon 
    • Happy Holidays to everyone!
    • Thanks to everyone who are working on getting Midwinter and the Regional Fighter Practice together
      • If someone wants to teach an outdoor class under the pavilion, please know that there’s plenty of space
    • After Midwinter, we’re going to start planning for RT 50th Year
    • You guys are an awesome barony and we’re really proud to be a part of South Downs!

SCA Business

  • Midwinter A&S
      • Baron Piers and Lord Eirikr
        • Looking for runners and people to help with parking
        • All the other positions are already filled
        • We’ve got about 15-16 classes already
        • There’s a couple classes at a Salon as well
        • Always looking for volunteers for Troll and Teacher check-in
        • Master Mathias
          • Commedia performance planned for an half hour right before court
        • Midwinter may be filmed for a documentary, going to look into what rules may apply for filming from the Society and from the University
        • May schedule a couple more order meetings, will check with the contacts to make sure
  • Twelfth Night
      • Master Mathias
        • Come support the regional faire at Twelfth Night!
  • Castle Wars
      • Lady Ysabel
        • Winners from the raffle have been contacted and the prizes will be brought to the Jan. pot luck meeting at the end of the month.
  • Commedia dell’Arte
    • Master Mathias
      • If you have any connections at universities that would be interested in hosting a lecture or two from Master Anton about Commedia

Non-SCA Business

  • None reported.

The business meeting was closed @ 8:17 PM EST

The next business meeting will be held on February 7th, 2024, 7:00 PM EST via Zoom Meeting.

South Downs Fighter Practice

For your convenience South Downs has combined the heavy and rapier sign up onto one platform. Here is the link to sign up for either. If our combined numbers stay under 20 we will combine our practices. If not, we will break out and split the field to practice at opposite ends of the greenspace to maintain Kingdom distance requirements. Sign up includes fighters as well as all spectators.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4da8a72faafac70-south

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

New sunday practice location

Our Knight Marshal, Lady Mairghread writes:
“Tired of redunculous heat or marshy practice fields? We have been offered an indoor practice location! The Viking Alchemist has graciously offered their new space to practice, and mead will be available for purchase.

Practice will move there starting next Sunday 13 Oct.”

The new Sunday practice location is:
3080 Jonquil Dr
Smyrna, GA 30080

Tuesday practice locations remain unchanged.

February 2019 Baronial Business Meeting Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

6 February 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. Our new Seneschal, THL Mark de Wytteney, sez “Welcome! If you did not sign in, please sign in!”

Officer Reports

  • Herald (THL Lucien d’Artois)
    • Awards – Menhir
      • Mistress Mara Palmer – Split Arrow
      • THL Piers Simmons – Order of the Bough
      • THL Marianna Cristina Tirado de Aragón – Order of the Laurel
  • Armored and Youth Marshal (Lady Mairghread)
    • Armored
      • Lots of discussion lately about warranted marshals; essentially, the kingdom’s marshallate has not been functioning consistent with Society’s rules about establishing marshals. In response, the kingdom Earl Marshal has asked all local groups to provide him with a list of their armored, rapier, and live weapons marshals.
        • Lady Mairghread, as our local Knight Marshal, is collecting all the information for South Downs – if you are a marshal, please give her your contact info as soon as possible.
        • Only warranted marshals can run an event, with the clarification that *any* warranted marshal can run an event, they don’t have to be the local group marshal.
        • Further clarification, per THL Juliane’s question: the person running the tournaments does not have to be a warranted marshal, but the marshal with the responsibility for the event has to be warranted.
        • Rules for the Society and kingdom marshallate and potential changes were discussed – there will be changes coming down the pike, so stay tuned!
    • Youth
      • Nothing to report
  • Rapier Marshal (Lord Brendan de Hay)
    • We are still holding practices when the weather allows.
    • There will be a regional fighter practice at Brook Run/Levetan Park this Sunday, following Midwinter A&S (weather permitting) – come on out!
  • Chatelaine (Lady Justina di Silvestri)
    • We’ve had some awesome new people who have recently joined the Barony – welcome!
    • After Midwinter A&S and the Gold Key streamlining/purge, Justina will update the Gold Key spreadsheet
    • Countess Ysmay is requesting write-ups about the SCA for newcomers
    • Will host a salon and newcomers’ Q&A
    • Anachrocon will take place over Presidents’ Day weekend!
      • There’s a Facebook group for Anachrocon, for the latest info
      • Rapier fighters have volunteered to host a demo – will there be any armored fighters going?
      • Signup sheets for volunteering are online
      • 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.
    • Upcoming demo
      • OwlCon at Kennesaw University on 16 March. His Excellency has asked the Gold Key Deputy to help out.
  • Arts & Sciences (Lady Alisandre de la Chapelle)
    • We have A&S in the Barony, and it is good! Yay! Now that Mistress Sunneva has stepped up as Baroness South Downs, her deputy Lady Alisandre has stepped up as Minister of Arts & Sciences
    • Thanks to the response from the populace, Baronial Arts & Sciences classes are nearly completely scheduled for 2019, only three class slots still available “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 Alisandre directly.
    • Midwinter will rock – we will be offering lots of great classes!
    • Our next A&S class will take place on 27 February, when Lady Justina will teach “Taking a Bite Out of History: Your Ancestors Were Cannibals!”
    • In March, Cellach Ingen Oengusa will teach a class “Who Was King Arthur, Anyway?”, followed by THL Madalena’s class on making bysockets in April.
  • Reeve (THL Andreva Rigaldi)
    • We’ve had some unexpected expenses come in (exploding coffee pots!), which is why it’s important we are careful with our expenses
    • There was a vote on having the following officers removed from the baronial bank account, since they are no longer relevant officers for the bank:
      • Laura Thomason
      • Owen Townes
      • Joseph Coffee
    • There was then a vote to confirm the following offers to be added to the baronial bank account, as they are now relevant officers for the bank:
      • Erin Garrard
      • Christee Cartee
      • Mark Baron
      • Meghan Vaughan
    • Andreva is also head troll and reservationist for Coronation; please get your reservations in, and please consider volunteering for troll.
  • Quartermaster (THL Lucien d’Artois)
    • We have stuff!
    • We’ve begun looking at alternate storage spaces nearby; we are currently paying +$300 per month for our storage space. Some things that may make a difference in costs:
      • Do we need the space to be climate-controlled?
        • Textiles? We have three bins
        • Paper goods – we discussed options to help keep textiles and paper goods dry (silica packets, baking soda)
      • Finding a non-climate-controlled site could save us significant money. At our current storage site, the non-climate-controlled spaces are $150 per month, less than half of what we are paying now. Other sites have larger (non-climate-controlled) spaces for just a little bit more, that would allow us to store the castle walls at the storage site as well
        • 20’x20′ at Extra Space: $207 per month
        • 20’x20′ at Public Storage: $170 per month
    • Do these facilities offer 24×7 access?
    • If we move, when would we move? We are paid through the end of February at the current storage facility. It would be great if we could move out before Fools War, to simplify moving the castle walls.
    • We could perhaps move on 24 February, after MCA?
    • Would we get a discount at the new site if we pay for a full year in advance?
    • What are the insurance requirements at new storage facilities? We are currently required to have it.
    • A supplies list will be needed for Midwinter; Alisandre and Justina will provide a list
  • Webminister (Lord Pietro di Conti)
    • We have a website!
    • Updated the Officers page to bring Quartermaster and Minister of Children listings current
    • Updated awards for:
      • Wistric Oftun
      • Sunneva de Cleia
      • Andreva Rigaldi
      • Stella di Silvestri
      • Rhiannon verch Madyn
      • Marianna Cristina Tirado de Aragón
    • Updated devices for:
      • Margavati Bai
      • Marianna Cristina Tirado de Aragón
    • Updated pages for:
      • “History of Chess” class notes to Iastreb’s profile page
    • Submitted Y2019 Q1 report to Kingdom Webminister
    • Updated legal disclaimer for Y2019
    • Posted polling results
    • WordPress user adjustments:
      • Renamed admin user form from “sd-admin” to “webminister”
      • Created a deputy webminister userid (Pietro took a moment to mention that is is looking for a deputy, so if anyone is interested, please contact him directly)
      • Added “lorenzo” login (“baron” login is still Lorenzo for now)
      • Downgraded “artsci” user from administrator privileges to author
    • Midwinter A&S web page updates:
      • Posted event schedule
      • Posted class schedule
      • Link to the regional fighter practice
      • Link to Sari Safari
      • Link to sign up Midwinter A&S Faire
      • Added Baroness Sibella’s note about no live weapons on the University of West Georgia site
      • Added Alisandre’s notes about not being able to have merchants on site, and about the research library
      • Updated staff list
      • Added admission cost
    • Created event page for “Coronation of Morgan and Sebastiannos” 5-7 April, 2019
      • Posted Pop Chivalry flyer
    • Updated 2019 class schedule on main A& page
  • Minister of Children (Lady Myndee of South Downs, THL Mark de Wytteney reporting)
    • HRM Gwenwhyfar has been working on getting deputies approved for background checks – YAY!
  • Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)
    • Nothing to report
  • Their Excellencies
    • Master Lorenzo sez “I QUIT!” Motion seconded, voted on, and approved 😀
    • HRM thanked Lorenzo for everything he’s done in the Society, beyond being Baron South Downs

Other SCA Business

  • Midwinter Arts & Sciences (9 February 2019)
      • We’re having an event this weekend!
      • Need setup crew for 7:00am; site opens at 8:00am, classes start at 9:00am
      • Also need cleanup crew; it was suggested that someone should go and take photos of each room before setup begins, so we know how each room needs to be restored at the end of the day
      • Need a social media person to respond to Facebook comments (especially thoes comments about having problems finding the site)
      • Evening court will be held in the ballroom but we have zero chance of getting in there before 3:00pm, and we will need someone to help direct attendees to the ballroom
      • Margavati mentioned Sari Safari will take place on Sunday, for anyone who won’t be going to the regional practice. Please join the FB group for the event (or contact Margavati) for details
      • There will be a garage sale at Sunday’s regional practice – BYOT (Bring Your Own Table)
  • Spring Coronation for TRH Sebastiannos and Morgan (5-7 April, 2019)
    • We have a site (Camp Benjamin Hawkins), we have insurance in process, we have the flyer posted in Pop Chivalry!
    • The event is being branded as “TRH are throwing a party!”
    • Juliane will be doing memes of TRH and TRM
    • We need staff/volunteers, especially someone to work on parking logistics
    • Sebastiannos has volunteers from the Order of the Bear lined up
    • Feast will be held during court
    • Marianna has plans for feast
    • The muses will make an appearance
    • Site tokens are being taken care of by Sebastiannos
    • Feast tokens will be place cards – as above-the-salt feast will be pre-registration only, place cards will work.
    • Feast will be all finger foods and open bar; when you come into feast, food will already be on the table
    • Kebab marshal! Everyone sign a release! 😀
    • Queen’s yeoman tourney is definite for coronation
    • Pre-reg is open!
  • Gulf Wars (9-17 March, 2019)
    • Justina invited everyone to come visit the Ca’ d’Oro at Gulf Wars, and they’ll be hosting both a salon and a ball
  • Artsy Crown (24-27 May, 2019)
    • The seneschal for Owl’s Nest is looking for volunteers for Artsy Crown – if interested, please contact THL Charles de Joscelynne

Non-SCA Business

  • Margavati brought fabric that needs a new home

Next business meeting will be held Wednesday, 6 March 2019, at the Doraville Civic Center.

Thanks!

–Raven

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

December Baronial Business Meeting Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

5 December 2018, 7:30pm

Doraville Civic Center – 3744 Central Ave., Doraville GA

Notes submitted by Lady Raven Helmsplitter, South Downs Chronicler.

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

Officer Reports

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

Other SCA Business

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

Other SCA Business

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

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

Thanks!

–Raven

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