Category Archives: Meeting Minutes

May 2024 Baronial Business Meeting

1 May 2024, Time: 7:30 PM EST

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

Magister Lorenzo called the May meeting to order. The 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:
    • 5/1 – Business Meeting (Zoom)
    • 5/8 – Project Night (Zoom)
    • 5/15 -DEIB Office Q&A (in-person)
    • 5/22 – Class: Sacred Geometry with Master Rhydderch (Zoom)
    • 5/29 – 5th Wednesday social/potluck (in-person)

Herald (Magister Lorenzo Petrucci)     

  • Not much activity for submissions
  • Awards:
    • Coronation:
      • Mairghread Wilson – Count Barony
      • Lorenzo Petrucci – Kestrel’s Talon
    • Fool’s War:
      • Dorian Araigneé – Award of Arms
    • Dreamstone:
      • Roís O’Shannon – Meridian Cross
      • Lorenzo Petrucci – Argent Rapier
      • Valdemar Varg- Award of Arms
      • Istvan Roka- Award of Arms

Knight Marshal (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

  • May 4th – No heavy practice
  • May 12th – Practice
  • May 19th – Practice
  • May 26th – No heavy practice
  • Drink water before you come to practice, the weather is getting hot.

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 we’re trying to get better about including Discord.  Loaner gear is usually available, but it doesn’t hurt to check the “Atlanta SCA Fighting” group or message us in advance.  Sometimes when I’m not available, the “stunt marshal” might not be able to bring it.
  2. If you have any trouble at all finding practice announcements, feel free to reach out directly to me or Ld. Eirikr.  If you are using Discord, please @ us, otherwise your post will probably be lost in the chatter.
  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 our celebrity stunt marshal team, particularly Ldy. Ogata, Master Ximón, Master Nikoslav, et. al.
  4. Big shout-out to folks recently giving rapier a try.  Congratulations to a slew of new authorizees.
  5. If you helped out transport and load the castle walls to Fool’s War, thank you so much!
  6. HYDRATE!

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

  • Live Weapons is picking up popularity
  • Nathri from Bryn Madoc has been giving out target stands
  • There were thrown weapons at Crossroads, thank you Lord Ælfric for running that!
  • Practice this month, aiming for practice on May 18th
    • Nothing is scheduled yet, waiting for response from the equestrian practice

Exchequer (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri

  • $4902.86 in the account
  • Lord Salim is working on Q1 Report and updating Q4 for the Kingdom
  • Paypal for RUM is being worked on
  • Maestra Isabetta has checks for storage to give in person
  • Waiting to change signatories on bank account
  • If you can, CC Lord Salim on emails and messages when sending emails for Exchequer activities

Quartermaster (Maestra Isabetta de San Marco

  • We have stuff
  • Still looking for a deputy

Chatelaine (Capt. Ogata Mitsuko)

  • Nothing to report

Demo Deputy (VACANT)

  • Nothing reported

Arts & Sciences (Lady Maryam)

  • Some things are picking up!
    • Thanks to Lord Ælfric for teaching class on Archery
    • Project night and class on Sacred Geometry coming up this month too
    • Not too late to enter something for Kingdom A&S, submit via form ahead of time
    • RUM is coming up, sign up to teach!
    • Keep making things and talking about them.

Provost (Lord Ælfric Hort)

  • We had 6 students in attendance at this past month’s class on basic concepts and language in Archery.  I think it went really well – if a little long for the format.
  • This month’s class will be on May 22 at 7pm.  It will be a virtual class night on Zoom and our teacher will be Master Rhydderch discussing Sacred Geometry. Come out to learn about the invention of geometry and its use in medieval construction and architecture, all without having to do any math.
  • I am currently looking for teachers for July, August, September, and October. I will not know if those will be in person or virtual until in-person nights are officially scheduled for the later half of the year, but if you specifically need one or the other, we can be flexible and shift months around if possible. If you have something you would like to teach or otherwise share with the Barony, please get in touch with either myself or Sumarliþi.

Chronicler (Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong)

  • Aiming to have the May issue of The Read Tower Newsletter released this Friday.
  • 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

There once was a medievalist volunteer

Who set a tough precedent, oh dear!

Every month, a new poem

Each report, must now show some

Facts, figures, plus rhythm and cheer!

  • We’ve begun to get the word out about RUM; please keep an eye out for the Paypal registration, schedule, etc to become available. I’m pleased and thankful to report that Baroness Emelina will be the Social Media Officer deputy! Thank you! 

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

  • Planning on having a DEIB class on May 15 this month
    • DEIB Officer Q&A and Suggestions from the Barony about DEIB classes in the future
      • Come and ask questions about the DEIB Office and bring suggestions on what kinds of classes you’d like to see in the future
      • If you can’t come to the meeting, please feel free to send questions and suggestions to my email beforehand so your questions can be answered: dei.southdowns@meridies.org

Webminister (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

  • Some photos aren’t showing up on the website, will look into fixing it.
  • Have a flier for RUM, haven’t put it up yet. Will see if Acharya Margavati will want to put it up for the website.
  • For future events and needed updates please email me those to the web.southdowns@meridies.org email or use the request update link on the webpage.

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)

  • Baroness Rhiannon
    • RT 50 planning
      • Rough graphic is up gate token, please take a look or submit other designs to get some more ideas in
      • Site is Little Tallapoosa
      • Thinking about giving young heralds a chance to get some practice and have a chance to herald in combatants at the tourneys at RT50
      • Major kudos to everyone who’s been active at events, in and off the field and supporting and helping the barony shine at events. Thank you for making this group the best group!
  • Baron Ximon
    • Progress:
      • Golden Lily – May 11 – Daytrip
      • Artsy Crown – Memorial Day Weekend – Arriving mid. afternoon on Sat
        • Will need to go to storage to pick up the baronial pavilion, will need help on Friday to help set up the pavilion and help tearing it down at the end of the event
      • June
        • Warden’s Challenge – hoping to go
          • If you’re into archery and thrown weapons, come out!
      • RUM
        • Fighter practice after RUM – will discuss with financial committee about funding for that and securing the pavilion
      • You guys rock! Please write in recommendations so we can get people recognized!

SCA Business

  • Royal University of Meridies
    • Lord Sumarlidi and Capt. Brendan
      • Flyer has been made, will send it to the Exchequer and Deputy Exchequer to get Paypal set up for the event
      • FB Event is set up, thanks to THL Agnes for handling that
      • Sign-up sheets for staff positions will be coming soon
  • Red Tower 50
    • Little Tallapoosa Park in Carrollton
      • Did confirm site policies regarding fire pits, archery, and equestrian. The same rules as MacIntosh. Raised fire pits are okay, we can have archery and equestrian as long as things are set up correctly.
      • If you have any questions, please email Their Excellencies or Lady Raven
      • Looking at hosting various salons at RT
  • Castle Wars
    • We currently have Camp Bert Adams reserved for Castle Wars in Covington GA
    • Please contact us if you are interested in running the event!
  • Bardic Event in Trimaris
    • Jacksonville, FL
      • May 4th 2024, hosted by Barony of Castlemere
      • Please contact Mathias if you have any questions
  • Dance and Gaming Event in Trimaris
    • June 15th 
    • Daytrip
    • St. John’s Lutheran Church, 1950 Silver St., Jacksonville FL
  • Artsy Crown
    • Baronial encampment in the works
  • Lady Maren has moved out of the area to Chicago, and she donated some things to the Barony. Baron Ximon will be bringing some of the items to the potluck at the end of the month so come by and feel free to peruse and grab some things.
  • Maestra Isabetta – Looking for a deputy for quartermaster for Gulf Wars. If you’re interested, please contact me. Will just need a copy of your resume.
    • Job: You would be the person that department heads could come to for checking-out inventory and check back in at the end of war.

Non-SCA Business

  • None reported

The business meeting was closed @ 8:22 PM EST

The next business meeting will be held on June 5th, 2024, 7:00 PM EST via Zoom Meeting.

March 2024 Baronial Business Meeting

6 March 2024, Time: 7:33 PM EST

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

Magister Lorenzo called the March meeting to order. La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri, covering for our Seneschal, Lady Raven Helmsplitter, started recording the meeting and greeted the populace joining the Zoom meeting. La Magnifica Justina read the Kingdom Anti-Bullying statement.

Officers’ Reports

Seneschal, (Lady Raven Helmsplitter) (Covered by La Magnifica Justina)

  • Schedule for this month:
    • Mar. 13th: online project night
    • Mar. 20th: in-person dance practice
    • Mar. 27th: in-person meeting – RT 50 planning discussion
  •  

Herald (Magister Lorenzo Petrucci)     

  • No activity for name or device submissions, please email me if you have something if you want to submit.
  • Awards:
    • MCA
      • Lady Ogata – Meridian Order of the Blade
      • Majster Nikoslav Mikolaevich – Order of the Pelican
      • Mistress Alessandra Giovanna Fioravanti – Meridian Majesty
      • Baroness Rhiannon verch Madyn – Order of the Bough
      • Baron Ximon Martillo De Cordoba – Order of Defense

Knight Marshal (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

  • April will have no heavy practices due to events.  Gulf Wars will take up next 2 weekends we will have practice on the 24th if weather allows.

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 our celebrity stunt marshal team, particularly 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!
  5. Meridian Challenge of Arms was successful.  Congratulations to Master Ximón on his elevation to the Order of Defense and Ldy Ogata  on her induction to the Meridian Order of the Blade.  Barons Mark de Wytteney and Piers Simmons were the Royal Family’s choices to be included in the MCA Championship.  Well done everyone!
  6. HYDRATE!

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

  • We had held practice at Mistress Peryn’s farm, she is happy to have us there to share when the Meridian Equestrian calvary happens
  • Practice may not happen this month due to events

Exchequer (Lord Salim) (covering for La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

  • Here are the march stats:
    • We have $5,522.22 in the bank.
  • March storage is paid
  • Go over MWAS numbers
    • total attendance tally: 112
    • Profit: 1228.14
  • If you sent Reeve a receipt, look for your reimbursement check coming to you in the mail- if you want me to hold sending it till after Gulf Wars, please let me know.

Quartermaster (Maestra Isabetta de San Marco

  • We have stuff, the new storage unit looks like it’s working out pretty well
  • Still needs to be organized, but will need to set some time aside to do so
  • Still looking for a deputy

Chatelaine (Lady Ogata Mitsuko)

  • Nothing reported

Demo Deputy (VACANT)

  • Nothing reported

Arts & Sciences (Lady Maryam)

  • Not a long to report this month
  • Had a great 2-in-1 class month in February, Research Basics and Research Basics: The Paper
  • Shout-out to everyone who volunteers to teach, thank you!

Provost (Lord Ælfric Hort)

  • We had 6 students in attendance at the February Class Night for Baroness Rhonwyn’s Research Basics class.  We also got a bonus class on Research Papers.
  • There will be no Class Scheduled for March, as the normal Class Night (3/27) is going to be used for the In Person Red Tower 50-year planning meeting.
  • I am still looking for classes and teachers for most of the rest of the year – April, June, August, September and October.  Please reach out to me if you have something you would like to teach or if you have any suggestions for class topics that I might be able to request teachers to provide for us.
  • I am still looking for a Deputy.  The job is not difficult, just requires a little bit of organization and scheduling ability.  If you are interested, or know anyone who might be, please get in touch with me so that we can start getting someone trained to be able to help with the upcoming Fall Event Season and to take over when I step down following Midwinter 2025.

Chronicler (Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong)

  • Nothing new to report.
  • 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

  • We’ve got socials! Note about Discord and meeting schedules: Discord is currently reporting the baronial meeting schedule based on an automated link to the barony Google Calendar. Thanks to Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong for setting that up! 
  • Something for the barony to think about is figuring out how to get everyone, or at least the appropriate leadership and officers, access to add and edit meetings and other activities to that Google Calendar to take full advantage of this functionality. There is a google sheet that also has meeting information on it, but it isn’t linked to Discord and not sure it can be. Your humble Agnes does not know if the website could also be configured to be linked to the Google Calendar, but that would be cool to explore. Thank you!

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

  • Thank you for bearing with me while we work through the DEIB office and classes
  • Hoping to pick up with DEIB Classes next month

Webminister (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

  • Nothing significant to report.  
  • For future events and needed updates please email me those to the web.southdowns@meridies.org email or use the request update link on the webpage.

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 and Rhi
    • Good luck if you’re currently packing for Gulf Wars!
    • Thank you to the barony for being so hospitable to our visitors during MCA and for Baron Ximon’s vigil
    • Meeting on March 27th will be a brainstorming session on RT50, please come to share some ideas
      • RT50 will be the first weekend in October at McIntosh Reserve.
      • Bring some snacks so we can share while we brainstorm!
      • If you have any questions or ideas for RT50 and can’t make it to the meeting, please message us on FB or email us 

SCA Business

  • Meridian Challenge of Arms
      • Baron Ximon
        • Had a fabulous event, thanks to THLady Alisandre for setting up the hospitality table
        • Lady Raven took some photos and will post them soon
  • Royal University of Meridies
      • Sumarlidi
        • In the planning stages, be on the lookout for for more information as it comes it coming weeks and months
  • Red Tower 50
      • Event Steward still TBD
      • Please come to the meeting at the end of the month so we can discuss planning!
  • Castle Wars
      • Lady Raven
        • Looking for bids, please contact me if you’re interested
        • Reserved Bert Adams for Castle Wars
      • Baron Ximon
        • I may not be there for all of Castle Wars due to not getting vacation off at work, but Baroness Rhi will be there, so please take care of her!
  • Comic Con Demo
      • Lady Mairghread
        • 100 names gathered from the demo, will be passed along to TRM to invite to Fool’s War
        • Had one newcomer come to MCA from the demo
  • Gulf Wars
    • If you’re going to GW, have fun and be safe!

Non-SCA Business

  • None reported

The business meeting was closed @ 8:03 PM EST

The next business meeting will be held on April 3rd, 2024, 7:00 PM EST via Zoom Meeting.

February 2024 Baronial Business Meeting

7 February 2024, Time: 7:30 PM EST

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

Magister Lorenzo called the February 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:
    • Feb. 14th: online
    • Feb. 21st: online
    • Feb. 28th: in person meeting – Research Basics with Baroness Rhonwyn
  • Thanks to all who came out to Midwinter and the Fighter Practice!
  • We got the bid for RUM at UWG
    • Event stewards: Sumarlidi and Captain Brendan
  • If you have a website as an officer, please check the website and submit any changes to keep the information up to date
  • For the populace, we have a page for interests and information to be listed, so please contact the westminster if you need to update the page
  • The Baron and Baroness want to meet with the officers sometime soon to discuss plans for 2024
  • Officers, please email me if you haven’t already to update warrants and paperwork for the officers
  • We are going to start collecting items from South Downs’ history to display at Red Tower 50, so if you have anything you’d like to be displayed as well, please let me know.

Herald (Magister Lorenzo Petrucci)     

  • No activity for name or device submissions, please email me if you have something if you want to submit.
  • Awards:
    • Midwinter
      • Lord Ælfric – Falcon’s Faith
      • Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong – Falcon’s Faith
      • THL Lykania – Court Barony
      • Magister Lorenzo – Meridian Majesty, Order of the Pelican
      • Acharya Mewadi Margavati Bai – Order of the Pelican

Knight Marshal (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

  • We have been having practices that have been relatively well attended.  Completed a few authorizations at last weeks regional practice.  Regional practice was fairly well attended even with the horrible weather.  There were 5 youth fighters.  And also 2 brand new fighters in loaner gear.  Performed multiple authorizations and reauthorizations.  My squire brother Ajax got authorized for youth sparring. 
  • There will be no practice on 11 February due to Knights Gambit and the Comicon demo and 25 February there will also be no practice, this is the week of MCA and I intend to be there to see his Excellency be recognized as a MoD.  As always I will post any changes to practices on the Atlanta SCA Fighting Facebook page.

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 our celebrity stunt marshal team, particularly 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!
  5. Regional practice after MWAS was successful.  Fencing, lessons, a little meleé.  Good fun.
  6. HYDRATE!

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

  • Supposed to have target archery practice at the regional fighter practice after midwinter, but the weather had other plans
  • Target archery practice will be Feb. 24th, which is the same weekend as MCA
    • Combining target archery practice with equestrian and Meridian Calvary practice
    • Will be at Mistress Peryn’s farm

Exchequer (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

  • We have $4,708.22 in the bank
  • 2023 Q4 has been submitted to Kingdom
  • Complete numbers for MWAS will be ready for the March report
  • Please get all event receipts to me by February 17th. You can email them to me at excheq.southdowns@meridies.org.
  • As many are aware, the NMR fee for events will increase to $10 starting this April

Quartermaster (Maestra Isabetta de San Marco

  • We have stuff, the new storage unit looks like it’s working out pretty well
  • Still needs to be organized, but will need to set some time aside to do so
  • Still looking for a deputy

Chatelaine (Lady Ogata Mitsuko)

  • Nothing reported

Demo Deputy (VACANT)

  • Demo at Comic Con coming up this weekend, come hang out and help out at the demo!

Arts & Sciences (Lady Maryam)

  • We had a wonderful Midwinter A&S this weekend. Thank you to the autocrats, Her Grace Thorkatla, and Baroness Rhiannon for your help and guidance in making this happen.
  • A shout out to Mathias Blackett who received a score of 20 on his Shakespearean soliloquy entry!
  • I’m looking forward to Red Tower 50 right now – I definitely want to make sure we can show off all the prowess of our barony’s artisans!
  • Thank y’all for being great!

Provost (Lord Ælfric Hort)

  • Last month’s class night – Medieval Nicknames with Wenyeva – had 5 students in attendance.
  • This past weekend was Midwinter A&S.  We had 80 total students take 26 different classes over the course of the day.
  • This month’s A&S Class night will be February 28th – in person at Doraville Civic Center.  Baroness Rhonwyn will be teaching a class on Research Basics.  If you’ve ever wanted a bit more help or information on how to get started with researching that A&S project you want to start, don’t miss this class.
  • Finally, I am still looking for a deputy Provost.  February of 2025 will be the end of my term in office and I would like to start training a replacement before we get deep into the planning season for Red Tower.
  • As always if you have anything you would like to teach, please reach out.  I have openings most of the rest of this year through October.

Chronicler (Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong)

  • Nothing new to report.
  • 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

  • We have media, we’re social, we’re doing just the most-ial!!

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

  • No DEIB class for this month, but we can work on one for next month
  • Please contact me if you want teach something, we can have the sessions in many formats, whether it’s a roundtable, a lecture, or more
  • The DEIB office for South Downs is still going forward as of right now

Webminister (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

  • Nothing significant to report.  
  • For future events and needed updates please email me those to the web.southdowns@meridies.org email or use the request update link on the webpage.

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 and Rhi
    • We’d like to say thank you for all the work for Midwinter and congratulations to all those who received awards this weekend
    • Looking forward to basically having a repeat of the same thing at RUM in July
    • In March, we’re hoping to host a kick-off meeting to plan for Red Tower 50

SCA Business

  • Midwinter A&S
      • Baron Piers and Lord Eirikr
        • Event went smoothly, thank you to all volunteered to help make it happen
      • Magister Lorenzo
        • Shout out to Ælfric for taking advantage of the tools to schedule classes for Midwinter
        • Maybe work scheduling out with meetings and classes next time so that meetings line up with classes so people don’t have to miss two classes for one meeting
      • Baron Ximon
        • Shout out to Ysabel who did the Royal Luncheon, it was a fantastic lunch
        • As far as we know, no complaints!
        • South Downs rocks and pulled it off again!
      • Lady Maryam
        • Her Grace Thorkatla helped make the A&S go smoothly, as she always does
  • Meridian Challenge of Arms
      • Baron Ximon
        • If you’re planning on going to MCA on Friday, we could use some help setting up the pavilions 
        • We’ll have a hospitality table set up
  • Royal University of Meridies
      • Sumarlidi
        • In the planning stages, be on the lookout for for more information as it comes it coming weeks and months
  • Red Tower 50
      • Lady Raven
        • No bid yet, looking to do it at McIntosh
      • Baron Ximon
        • Looking to showcase the history of South Downs
        • Looking to host a panel/roundtable on the history of South Downs
        • Want to see if we can create tshirts for it and host special tournaments
        • Want to put together a website specifically for the event, not just a FB page
        • Master Rhydderch wants to build a full size trebuchet for the site
        • Bring your ideas to brainstorm on what we can do for Red Tower 50
  • Castle Wars
      • Lady Raven
        • Looking for bids, please contact me if you’re interested
        • Looking to use Bert Adams for Castle Wars
  • Lady Lily
      • Wondering if we have a Baronial Historian when we’re discussing showcasing South Downs’ history
  • Baron Ximon
    • If you’re interested in becoming a Baronial Historian to help shape that office and start keeping track and recording our history
    • Will post a link to his virtual vigil
    • Discussion on display at Red Tower 50, possible tshirts, and other ideas

Non-SCA Business

  • None reported

The business meeting was closed @ 8:36 PM EST

The next business meeting will be held on March 6th, 2024, 7:00 PM EST via Zoom Meeting.

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.

December 2023 Baronial Business Meeting

6 December 2023, Time: 7:30 PM EST

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

Magister Lorenzo called the December 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:
    • This is the last meeting for 2023
    • Stay tuned for January 2024, still TBD. January in-person dates are 1/17 and 1/31 (5th Wednesday potluck)
  • Baronial calendar has been updated for 2024 with the in-person dates through June 2024.
  • Castle Wars was a huge success! Thanks for everyone who came out, and everyone who helped make CW happen 🙂 
    • We will have our post-mortem later on in the meeting
  • Many, many thanks to Isabetta for securing our new storage unit, and for everyone who helped move our stuff there.
  • His Excellency and I went to Bert Adams for a site visit to scout out the site for RedTower 2024 (RT 50!). Waiting to hear that our requested reservation date is approved.
  • 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
  • Midwinter A+S is coming (3 February 2024)! Piers and Eirikr will present their bid later on in the meeting.
  • 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)     

  • Not much news with submissions, contact me if you need help with submitting anything
  • Castle Wars Awards
    • Lady Roisin / Lord Ælfic – Order of the Broken Bow
    • Her Exuberance Anna / La Magnifica Justina – Argent Comet
    • Noble Ajax – Award of Arms
    • Acharya Mewadi Margavati – Order of the Falcon’s Faith
    • Mistress Veronica – Order of the Red Raven
    • Baroness Sunneva – Swift’s Heart
    • THL Kurt – Writ for Pelican

Knight Marshal (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

  • Practices have been going on, last week was canceled for weather
  • We should have practice for the next two Sundays, won’t have practice Christmas eve
  • Will start looking for a deputy to help take over and help run practices.
  • Had a lot of fighters that came out for CW and got reauthorized

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.
  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. Castle Wars:  The Meridian Order of the Blade Invitational tournament Saturday morning went well (Congratulations to Lady Ogata on her victory!), and the new meleé scenario from Ldy. Ogata was well-received.
  7. HYDRATE!

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

  • Castle Wars was a very big day on the live weapons range, over 50 people show up on the range
  • Lots of tournaments and busy time on the range!
  • 13 people completed at least one royal round, including a little six year old girl who really enjoyed herself and didn’t want to leave.
  • Will need to get more target butts soon, will put together a proposal to purchase new targets, probably around $150 each.
  • Had a conversation about the new potential practice location, will go check out the site to see if it’ll work. If it is, we’ll have archery practice Dec. 17th!
  • Will probably start looking for a deputy soon

Exchequer (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

  • Our current bank balance is $8,117.38 
  • Firstly, I am very excited to announce I have a deputy reeve! Lord Salim will be training with me over the next year and has already helped so much with paperwork. He is very skilled in all things reevery and the barony’s financial matters are going to be in such capable hands. We have submitted his request to be warranted and I will include him in the majority of correspondence from my office moving forward. 
  • As previously discussed, the Honorable Lady Majda is also joining the reeve team as fundraising special deputy 
  • The biggest thing to cover tonight is getting the 2024 annual budget discussed and approved.
  • I uploaded a pdf to our facebook group files page and will also add to the Zoom chat 
    • THL Mairghread made a motion to move it to vote, M. Isabetta seconded. 22 for, 1 opposed, vote passed.
  • Second approval needed is an overage from castle wars, the only overage. Original approved budget was $1150, the financial committee approved an urgent addition of $400 due to the expected attendance, and the bathrooms needed mid event cleaning. The final total was $1635, putting it $85 over budget. we need the barony to vote to approve this overage 
    • THL Mairghead made a motion to move to vote, Baron Ximon seconded. 22 for, 1 opposed, vote passed.
  • Another overage to note for your records, the FC approved $42.20 to reimburse Red Tower Travelers fare, no additional vote is needed
  • Salim and I are going to get the ball rolling again on completing the Financial policy update- stay tuned.

Quartermaster (Maestra Isabetta de San Marco

  • Got everything moved to the storage unit in one day and everything fits.
  • Many thanks to everyone who came to help.
  • Will head over during Christmas to reorganize and rebuild the spreadsheets
  • CW items and walls in the back, so things we need for CW will be out of the way for now.
  • Still need a deputy, took over in 2021.
  • Payment schedule has been put in place.

Chatelaine (Lady Ogata Mitsuko)

  • Nothing to report.

Demo Deputy (VACANT)

  • Demos covered by Lady Ogata
  • Lady Ogata is planning on taking over the demo deputy position when Baroness Arnora takes over, but if you’re interested, please let us know!

Arts & Sciences (Lady Maryam)

  • Castle Wars went well with the various classes and salons hosted. Hoping to see more salons in the future.
  • Midwinter A&S is coming! Will have more news soon! Look forward to it!
  • In the meantime, keep sharing your projects, interests, and/or rabbit holes you’ve gone down in any way you please! 

Provost (Lord Ælfric Hort)

  • Castle Wars saw a lot of classes and Salons being offered for the enjoyment of the attending populace.  26 individual people took 8 different classes with 31 RUM credits received overall.
  • There will be no Baronial A&S Class night for the month of December.  January Baronial Class Night should be Wednesday, Jan. 24th – and I am still looking for a teacher for that month and all of the rest of 2024 as well.
  • Also be thinking about classes you might want to teach for Midwinter A&S.  I will be putting out a call for teachers soon.
  • And finally, on that note, I am looking for a deputy Provost to begin helping me organize and promote A&S Class activities for the coming year, as well as help with coordinating classes for Midwinter Arts and Sciences in February.  Please get in touch with me on Facebook or Discord if you are interested in the position.

Chronicler (Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong)

  • Thank you to all who got your reports sent in early!
  • Behind on October and November’s 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

  • Nothing reported.

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

  • Currently not looking for a deputy while we work on some structural changes in the office and things get settled.
  • That said, please reach out if you’re interested in the office or want to help. DEIB is our collective responsibility, so help is always welcomed.
  • There will not be anything DEIB on the schedule for this month due to the holidays. We will work with the officers to figure out future scheduling.

Webminister (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

  • No deputy yet, but will start looking for one soon.
  • 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

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
    • Not much to say, but if you think people should be recognized, please give us award recommendations!

SCA Business

  • Castle Wars Post-Mortem
    • Lady Ysabel and Lady Hessa
      • Thank you to EVERYONE who came out and helped out with the event, it was incredible seeing our vision for the event come to life and become a reality.
      • Lots of happy people and vendors who were pleased with the setup of the event. We had the chance to try some new things with vendor services and an info point to help out and check in on people.
      • Spoke with the park, they are building showers and toilets permanently on the site in the cinderblock building. They were pleased with how the group handled our parking passes and they appreciated how we handled it.
      • We were having trouble with the gate codes, but moving forward they may add in multiple codes to help keep the gate from malfunctioning again.
      • We may need to find a way to tell the general population that it’s a closed and private event to help prevent random people from walking through the event.
      • Lost and found is still posted on the FB group, please check to see if you’re missing anything.
      • Please send in names for the volunteer drawing so that people can get a chance to get something after all of the help with Castle Wars.
      • Campsites have stone/rock markers with numbers and numbers on trees, and may want to use them going forward to help organize camps next time.
    • Baron Piers Simmons
      • Only complaint is that the last camp had to walk past parking for the closest porta potty, but the event was fabulous in general.
    • Lady Lily
      • Loved seeing the event stewards in one place and easy to find, and thank you for the food and snacks and general hospitality
    • La Magnifica Justina
      • So many thanks to Dorian for all of his help at check-in, you were a rockstar!
      • Thank you to the event stewards for letting us try new things with the location of check-in, and many thanks to Lady Ysabel for getting more signs to help inform people where to go.
      • Still some things that we can learn and improve on.
      • Going forward if we use this site again for bids since they use a flat fee, $625, but they also charge per person overnight per night. The total fee ended up being $1806, so it may be hard to calculate this bid in the future.
      • Total attendance: 455 people
      • Profit: $2758.40
      • We didn’t have the infrastructure to support late check-in. If we want to have support late check-in, we will need to plan ahead to make sure we have lights and staff to help cover shifts.
  • Midwinter Bid
      • Baron Piers and Lord Eirikr
        • Bid for Feb. 3 2024 at Pafford Hall at UWG.
        • Proposed $15 prereg and $20 at the gate for site fee
          • Myeong Su made a motion to bring the bid to vote, Dorian seconded. Motion passes and the bid is approved.
        • Popchiv and Kingdom Chronicler will be contacted to get the flyer in.
  • DEIB Directive
    • Acharya Mewadi Margavati Bai
      • There’s been a directive from higher up to restructure the DEIB office and local offices may be reworked or eliminated structurally. The work will not stop being done and we will still have resources, but we’re not sure how it will work going forward.
      • Things will be shared more as we know more going forward.
      • Many, many thanks to Lady Lily for all of your work!
    • Majster Nikoslav
      • DEIB stuff for the Kingdom is not going away, but will be restructured. The system will be more regional instead of local to help deal with issues as they arise.
      • Many thanks to Lady Lily and Acharya Mewadi Margavati for all of your work in both local and Kingdom offices.

Non-SCA Business

  • None reported.

The business meeting was closed @ 9:12 PM EST

The next business meeting will be held on January 3rd, 2024, 7:00 PM EST via Zoom Meeting.

November 2023 Baronial Business Meeting

01 November 2023, Time: 7:32 PM EST

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

Magister Lorenzo called the November 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)

  • Meeting Schedule
    • 8th – Virtual project night
    • 15th – In-person dance practice
    • 22nd – no meeting due to Thanksgiving
    • 29th – In- person 5th Wednesday potluck
  • We have a new storage unit!
  • Holding off on scheduling new meetings at the in-person site until we work out new finances
  • HE Ximon and Raven will be doing a site visit at MGT and Crown Lyst site – Bert Adams (?)
    • Looking to host Red Tower 50 there next year
  • We need to start looking at a KLE event for next year to satisfy the Kingdom requirement
  • We still need  Midwinter A&S bids, please contact ASAP so that we can have the bid approved by the December business meeting to make the Popchiv deadline to ensure that we can host court

Herald (Magister Lorenzo Petrucci)     

  • Magister Lorenzo has stepped up as herald 
  • Heraldry
    • Still doing consultations on names and devices, if you need assistance, let Lorenzo know
    • If you’ve done any heraldic displays, please let me know
  • Awards
    • Kindgom of the West 
      • Rhonwyn and Aelia – Queen’s Award of Excellence
    • Coronation
      • Margavati – Argent Lily
      • Lorenzo and Aelia – Bough
      • HE Rhiannon – Order of the Velvet Owl

Knight Marshal (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

  • We will have practice this weekend
  • We won’t have practice the weekend of Crown Lyst
  • Then Castle Wars the next weekend, so we’ll just have practice this weekend and the last weekend of the month
    • If you want to be reauthorized before Castle Wars, come out this weekend to get authorized. We will have forms at Castle Wars in case you want to get it done there, too.
  • We do have a combat archery marshal for Castle Wars

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.
  4. Big shout-out to folks recently giving rapier a try.  Looking forward to seeing more folks having fun!  We did a new Basic Authorization and a re-authorization this past weekend.   We had one brand-new fencer!  
  5. The carpentry on the 4’ high crenelated walls is done.  Each panel is free-standing and promises to be sturdier than the last couple of times we used them.  Sadly, my work schedule got insane, and the painting probably won’t get done this time.  I’ll be setting up the towers & gates for a test run just before loading them into the trailer for transport.
  6. Castle Wars schedule will include a Friday Night Firelit Fighting event,  the Meridian Order of the Blade Invitational tournament Saturday morning, and a new meleé scenario from Ldy. Ogata which draws from a story of St. Martin’s life.
  7. HYDRATE!

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

  • Spoke with Isabetta about using her parents’ pasture for archery practice, looking to see if we can get a portapotty for the practices
    • If their pasture doesn’t work, their neighbors’ might, still just waiting to find our
  • Will update as we get more information for our practice location.

Exchequer (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

  • Not much to update, we have $2,091.95 in the bank, with a few deposits pending but reimbursement checks will be sent out this week if you are waiting for Red Tower Checks
  • Keep a look out for a Castle Wars troll volunteer sign-up sheet once a schedule is finalized.
  • Please remember to get any 2024 budgetary requests to me or the financial committee before the last week of November. Barony will be voting on the 2024 budget next month.

Quartermaster (Maestra Isabetta de San Marco

  • Getting a new storage unit in Douglasville – $320 a month. 10×30, pretty sure we can fit everything in, including the castle walls. The unit also comes with insurance.
  • Goal will be to get everything in the weekend after Castle Wars.
  • Isabetta has purchased a lock to make sure we can lock stuff.
  • Still need a deputy

Chatelaine (Lady Ogata Mitsuko)

  • First of all Happy After-Halloween everyone!! I hope you all had fun last night and your ‘eens got Hallowed
  • We have some big news about upcoming demos
    • Count Sebastianos Ionnides has started coordinating an SCA panel for ATL Comic Con
    • The dates for our panel at the con are February 9th and 10th, 2024
    • I can put you in touch with Sebastianos about more information on ticketing, parking and staff passes
    • Although I couldn’t be at the last one personally, I heard that the SCA panel went OFF and it was absolutely amazing
    • So, if you were there helping out at the last one, you made it what it was and you’re awesome for it.
  • I’ve been asked to put together a list of classes and arts exhibitions for this next one. If you do arts and/or sciences, and you are available on February 9-10, 2024, please hit me up so we can get you on our class schedule!

Demo Deputy (VACANT)

  • Demos covered by Lady Ogata
  • Lady Ogata is planning on taking over the demo deputy position when Baroness Arnora takes over, but if you’re interested, please let us know!

Arts & Sciences (Lady Maryam)

  • We had a project night! Thanks to everyone that showed up to share what they were working on. 
  • Thank you to everyone who is sharing their work on the Discord server! Our server is a great place to share your current projects and discuss anything A&S related. We’ve also got a channel just for research topics, because sharing your research is fun!
  • Magna Faire is coming up, on December 1-3 at Dalwhinnie Fields, and there will be two faires – the Magna Faire and the Kingdom A&S regional. Registration is open now – you can sign up for one or both of the faires!
  • And thanks everyone for the warm welcome as the new A&S officer.

Provost (Lord Ælfric Hort)

  • This past month we had 8 people show up for our monthly class night – Theodosia Colloquia (Spooky Edition) hosted by La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri.  We will not have A&S Class Nights for November or December due to Holidays and scheduling.  Our next Class night will be January 24, 2024.  I do not currently have a class lined up for that night yet, so please let me know if you have something you would like to teach.
  • Castle Wars is coming up the weekend before Thanksgiving.  Teacher and Salon signups have closed and I am still working on wrangling together a schedule, but at final count we are expecting 6 different salons as well as 15 classes, discussions, or demos. 
  • And finally, on that note, I am looking for a deputy Provost to begin helping me organize and promote A&S Class activities for the coming year, as well as help with coordinating classes for Midwinter Arts and Sciences in February.  Please get in touch with me on Facebook or Discord if you are interested in the position.

Chronicler (Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong)

  • Thank you to all who got your reports sent in early!
  • Behind on October and November’s newsletters, but will post them as soon as I get them done
  • 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

  • Nothing reported.

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

  • Thanks to Lady Maryam and Lady Ogata for hosting the newcomers session last month for our newcomers!
  • This month there will not be a DEI class; November is a very busy month for me, and I don’t want to try to put the extra pressure of a class on myself. Additionally, the class would be the day before Castle Wars, and while I’m still not sure I’ll be able to make it, I want to try. So, I think it would be easier for everyone if we skip this month. The good news is we will be able to do dance instead!
  • Probably not going to have a class in December either, due to the holidays. If you have any class ideas for January or any month going forward, please let me know!

Webminister (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

  • Webpage for Castle Wars is up, making some changes to it
  • If you need stuff updated, just let me know.

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
    • As a brag on our populace, at Danelaw, Alexius was fingerloop braiding and ended up teaching others how to do it too. Kudos to him!
    • Castle Wars court on Saturday is going to be pretty full, so we’re not going to hold baronial court during Kingdom court at Castle Wars.
      • Baronial court will be a short, morning court at 10:30 AM. Come to court if you can to see people get recognized.
    • Jumping to 2024 – next year, South Downs will be 50 years old. Therefore, we should plan something big for our 50th year at Red Tower – Oct. 4th-6th, 2024.
      • Hoping to throw some ideas around to see how we can celebrate next year
    • Send in award recommendations!

SCA Business

  • Castle Wars
    • Lady Hessa
      • Could use help on a couple of things:
        • Fire marshal to monitor fires on site
        • Royal Liaison
        • In the middle of scheduling right now, including a Pelican meeting
        • If you need anything from the storage unit, please contact Maestra Isabetta
        • No children’s activities right now, but we do have a combat archery marshal
        • Will need to contact the financial committee since we need an additional porta potty
        • Master Mathias – Going to check to see if he can get a couple extra trash cans for the food vendor section of the site
          • The site doesn’t have a dumpster on site, so we usually place the trash somewhere so it can be picked up after the event.
          • There are 4 camps that have submitted over 10 reservations, going to need to figure out land layout for camps
        • La Magnifica Justina – Should we look into getting some large trash cans or collapsible ones for the barony to use for future events?
        • Lady Lily – Do we have a list of current food vendors so that we know in advance who will be there so we can plan accordingly.
          • There are currently 4 food vendors.
        • Lord Ælfric – may need one of the large pop ups for classes at Castle Wars, can use one for two classes at once. Need to get tables as well. 
        • La Magnifica Justina – Troll is going to need tables and chairs as well.
  • Knowne Worlds Cooks and Bards – no updates on this yet, plan is still for 2026 and possibly at Bert Adams

Non-SCA Business

  • Next Friday, Nov. 10th is the Fernback After Dark Vikings event.

The business meeting was closed @ 9:17 PM EST

The next business meeting will be held on December 6th, 2023, 7:00 PM EST via Zoom Meeting.

October 2023 Baronial Business Meeting

04 October 2023, Time: 7:36 PM EST

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

Magister Lorenzo called the October 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)

  • Meetings this month:
    • Next week is virtual meeting project hosted by Baron Ximon via Discord
    • Oct. 18 – in person meeting
    • Spooky Ted Talk with Justina
  • Still looking for storage space, preferably on the east side of town, so if you find something, please let us know.
  • Site reservations, two times a month in person next year until budget gets fixed
  • We’ll need a bid for KLE, we should plan now for next year, start thinking now about it.
  • Midwinter is coming up, Feb. 2nd, 2024. Still need a bid for Midwinter. Usually Sat event, then regional FP on Sunday, but we could consider it being a weekend if we want. Need a bid in December to meet the popchiv deadline.

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)     

  • No real submissions recently
  • Awards:
    • Ximon and Rhi – Landed Baron and Baroness
    • Ximon – writ for Master of Defense, happening at MCA.
    • Wistric and Sunneva – Court Baron and Baroness, Fellowship of St. Orion
    • Raven – Argent Comet
    • Mara – Red Raven
    • Aelfic – Swift’s Heart
  •  

Knight Marshal (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

  • Practices have been happening. Last weekend was MGT, but the stunt marshal held practice.
  • People should be coming out this weekend, especially more heavy fighters. I will be out for War of the Wings and Gatalop, but we’ll see if we find a stunt marshal..
  • Looking for a combat archery marshal for Castle Wars, if you know someone, please let me know.

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

  • 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.
  • This Sunday (9/10) we’ll still be cleaning up and returning from Red Tower.  Sorry, no rapier practice.
  • As my mundane schedule gets even crazier, we’ve started a chat including every rapier marshal who might step in to fill those gaps.  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.
  • Big shout-out to folks recently giving rapier a try.  Looking forward to seeing more folks having fun!
  • Red Tower in the books!  Thanks everyone!  Congrats to M. Nikolaus Hildebrand, Red Tower Rapier Champion and M. Nikoslav Mikolajevich, winner of the Baron & Baroness’s rapier prize.  Huge thanks to M. Lorenzo for administering our lists, Mssrs. Nikoslav & Niccolo for marshaling assistance, and Cpt. Pietro for hard work as Baronial rapier champion.  Also a huge shout out to THLs Eamonn and Alessandra  for field setup help, and to everyone who helped clear the field Sunday AM.
  • Castle Wars is coming up faster than you think.  Castle Wars requires a castle, which we happen to have.  However, it needs work.  If you are interested in helping beautify the castle, please contact me.  Some of the pieces are heavy, some of them need some minor carpentry (mostly done now), and all of them need some paint.  (Insert new calendar info)
  1. Castle Wars schedule will include a Friday Night Firelit Fighting event,  the Meridian Order of the Blade Invitational tournament Saturday morning, and as all the meleé we can pack in around it.  Stay tuned.
  2. HYDRATE!

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

  • LW at Red Tower went really well, thanks to Magistra Mara and Tyme for running the range
  • Thanks to all who took the class to learn how to set up the range
  • Still looking for an archery site
  • Might hold a thrown weapons practice and 20 yd archery at my house
  • Also currently setting up LW stuff at Castle Wars, still trying to figure out themes and such for the shoots.
  • We’re in need of new target butts, they’re getting to the point where they may not be safe anymore. They were originally set to last five years, but have lasted longer than that already. This is the main thing I’m looking to get for LW. They cost around $190.

Exchequer (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

  • We have $2016.95 in our account.
  • We are still waiting for Paypal checks from RUM and Red Tower.
  • We are under audit, but the documentation for the auditors is getting prepared.
  • We’ve discussed the need for fundraisers with Kingdom, THL Majda have agreed to be a deputy to focus on fundraising.
  • We’re losing more money that we’re making due to storage, we need to find a solution soon.
  • The financial committee will be meeting to focus on budgets going forward.
  • If you’re on staff or an officer, please stay within budget for your events and offices. Please reach out to me if you want to discuss the process on how to request a budget for your office and how to request purchases for the barony.

Quartermaster (Maestra Isabetta de San Marco

  • We still have stuff.
  • Without the castle walls in the storage unit, we may be able to downsize to a 10×20. I’ve been looking at storage units down in Douglas county, the prices are much cheaper. 
  • Justina made a motion for a budget to be established for the storage unit for $350. Motion passed.
  • Baron Ximon made a motion to look at the 10×30 unit in Douglas county

Chatelaine (Lady Ogata Mitsuko)

  • I’d like to give a special shout-out to people who helped me open, close, and maintain Troll as well as Gold Key during Red Tower

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

  • Nothing reported

Arts & Sciences (Lady Maryam and HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

  • HE Rhiannon has helped Lady Maryam transition to her office, and after this meeting Lady Maryam will be officially the new officer.
  • We’ve had a few classes and we’ve got people working on stuff. If you have any questions/advice/reports for A&S, please let me know!
  • Nothing much to report this month. Coming out of summer there isn’t a whole lot of A&S focus.
  • I do hope everyone is thinking ahead to Magna Faire and our own Midwinter A&S Faire. I’d really like to see a good showing at both. Remember that if you enter into any or all of the regional A&S Faires and then update your entry as suggested on your judging sheets, you can re-enter the same piece for Kingdom A&S for a final judging. It’s like getting expert advice on your entry before the big event.
  • This is my last report as Baronial A&S Officer. Thank you so much for all of your support. Starting next month you’ll be hearing from Lady Maryam. Please give her all of your support as well!

Provost (Lord Ælfric Hort)

  • This past month we had 7 people show up for our monthly class night – Sumarliði taught us about workouts and exercise culture in the Greco-Roman world.  October’s class night will be October 25 and will be an in person Theodosia Colloquia (Spooky Edition) hosted by La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri. Come out and participate by sharing a short 5 min. talks on a spooky or spooky-adjacent topic of your choosing.  If you do not have a topic you wish to talk about, you are welcome to attend and listen in.
  • This will be our final Monthly Class night for the 2023 calendar year.  We will start up monthly classes again in January.  Currently the full 2024 year is open and I am looking for those interested in teaching.
  • Also, Castle Wars is coming up the weekend before Thanksgiving.  I need teachers and those wishing to host Salons for the event.  If you are a member of a Guild or other interest group in the Kingdom, please encourage them to consider hosting a salon.
  • Links for signups
  • And finally, on that note, I am looking for a deputy Provost to begin helping me organize and promote A&S Class activities for the coming year.  Please get in touch with me on Facebook or Discord if you are interested in the position.

Chronicler (Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong)

  • Working on September’s issue of The Read Tower right now, will add in the officer’s reports and business from this meeting to add in the newsletter and will hopefully have it posted by Friday this week.
  • 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

  • Nothing reported.

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

  • I’d like to thank Xander for the class on Tourette Syndrome, it was a great class that was well attended.
  • Sadly, something has come up for my Silk Roads teacher, so I’d like to put out a call to anyone who might be interested in teaching a DEIB class this month! I also want to let everyone know in advance that there won’t be a DEI class in November. My schedule will just be too busy that month. 
  • Please reach out to me if you’d like to teach this month or in the future.

Webminister (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

  • Still working on getting updates to the page, so shoot me an email and I’ll get stuff updated.

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)

  • Rhiannon
    • Thank you to everyone who helped out at Red Tower. The event was magical and everyone was very helpful. 
    • We’re looking forward to some things coming up in the future.
    • Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns. We’re here to help and support.
  • Ximon
    • Thanks to everyone who helped make the event special for us, from helping set up the field to working Check-in to cooking. Thank you.
    • If you have any award recommendations, please reach out to us so we can make sure that we recognize our populace.

SCA Business

  • Red Tower Post Mortem
  • Master Mathias
      • Thanks to everyone who set up things to those who worked Check-in. We were very happy to get all the slots for positions quickly. No literal fires!
      • The bathrooms on site had some issues, but that was out of our control.
      • The feast was amazing, there were lots of good things said about the pre-court feast and the to-go boxes.
    • Capt. Brendan
      • Event went well and we got to learn a few new things. We’ve got a lot of new-to-the-barony people to the barony. Wider communication could have been better to make sure that people could succeed. 
        • Traveler’s fare probably could have needed more support if it was communicated a little bit ahead of time.
    • Lady Lily
      • Just FYI, if anyone shoots archery, wear a finger guard so that you don’t get month-long numbness.
    • La Magnifica Justina
      • Shout out to Lady Ogata for running check-in at Red Tower.
      • Big thing is that the only people who can use barony money are the people on the bank account. Money was removed from the Troll box to pay for the parking passes on site. Cash should only be placed in the box and managed by those working at Troll, not used to pay for things on site.
      • Overall, the budget was under budget, missing some receipts for traveler’s fare. 
      • Send receipts to exchq.southdowns@meridies.
    • Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong
      • Consider putting together guides of how to run certain things at events or offices so that we can help everyone else who’s new in the barony.
      • There’s some interest in hosting or having roundtable discussions on how to be an event steward or officers, etc.
    • Lady Raven
      • Get teams together for setup and teardown to help resources to make sure that everyone else is on the same page.
    • Baron Ximon
      • There were some complaints about mold in dorms 1 and 2, some people had to move. 
      • Might want to see if there’s something that we can do if we want to use the site again for those with sensitivities.
  • Castle Wars
    • Lady Hessa and THLady Ysabel
      • We are getting vendors coming in, about 6 or 7, more might be coming in now that we’re past MGT. Please reach out if you want to be a vendor.
      • Working on layout and making adjustments as needed
      • Classes and salons for Castle Wars: there may be something from the courtesans, fiber, woodworking, herbal. We’ve got two salon sign-ups, which are more like classes. Will need to request one of the pavilions for class space for Castle Wars.
        • Eirikr
          • Looking for a Combat Archery marshal, if we don’t have one, we can’t have combat archery.
      • Waiting to hear from the minister of children, talked to the Kingdom chatelaine to host a newcomers camp. Will need to make sure that we have a camp set aside for camp. Welcome Home may reimburse newcomers, but won’t be hosting a Welcome Home camp or anything like that. 
        • Sumarlidi
          • South Downs camp planning is underway. Make sure that you put South Downs on your reservation to get space for South Downs camp.
          • We’ll have some Trimarians back in South Downs camp again.
      • A class – one/two hours on a specific topic with a teacher talking about or demonstrating something for that time slot. A salon is a space themed around a topic so we can have discussions, watch demonstrations, or try things out even if there’s stuff going on.
      • Mods from the Honorable Clover have offered to host a How to Run Troll class.
      • Please volunteer for Troll for Castle Wars!
      • Can’t confirm youth combat for Castle Wars yet.
      • We have 27 pre registrations currently. Even if you’re supposed to be comped for the event because you’re on staff, please send in your registration via Paypal either way for record keeping.
      • Take a How to Run Troll class even if you don’t want to run a troll just as general information on how paperwork is handled or for general knowledge
      • Event Stewards want hugs!
  • Discussion on Knowne World Cooks and Bards Symposium for 2026 tabled to November business meeting.
  • May need to discuss the budget for fixing the castle walls, see if the financial committee can vote to approve it to make sure we’re in policy. Keep in mind that budgets for officers don’t roll over to the next year.
  • Next week, Their Excellencies will be going to Coronation and will be bringing the baronial pavilion and some seating space, wouldn’t mind some help with set up and some people to volunteer for entourage. Everyone is also welcome to come sit under the pavilion. TRH have decided to set up Coronation as a grand court. They’ve asked each barony to set up a pavilion or activity, and since we’ve got a lot of fiber geeks in the barony, we’d like to have some people volunteer to bring things to work on while hanging out in the space, weaving, embroidery, spinning, etc. We’d love to have you.

Non-SCA Business

  • None reported.

The business meeting was closed @ 9:35 PM EST

The next business meeting will be held on November 1st, 2023, 7:00 PM EST via Zoom Meeting.

September 2023 Baronial Business Meeting

06 September 2023, Time: 7:32 PM EST

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

Magister Lorenzo called the September 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)

  • Thanks to everyone who came out to last week’s 5th Wednesday social!
  • Schedule for this month:
    • Next week (9/13) virtual TBD
    • 9/20 in-person DEIB Tourette Syndrome with Xander
    • 9/27 in person: Roman Workouts with Sumarliði
  • Still looking for a new storage unit
  • I will need to get the meeting site reservations set up in the next month or so. # of in-person meetings will depend on 1) interest and 2) budget. Would like to discuss further next month.
  • Anyone going to MGT later this month, I would really appreciate getting photos as well as opinions of the event site. I am planning to go for a site visit in the next month or so to get a sense of suitability for which events we might host in the future.
  • 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
  • Midwinter A+S is coming, and we need bids! It is traditionally the first Saturday in February, but it’s currently not on the kingdom schedule.
  • Red Tower is this weekend! More info later on in the meeting.
  • Castle Wars is coming! More info later on in the meeting.

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)     

  • Nothing reported from Bu
  • From Lorenzo
    •  working on name submissions and armory submissions
    • Awards at Pennsic: Majda got an Argent Slipper and Arnora got her Court Barony
    • If you want to help out with site or heraldry, please let Master Mathias know!

Knight Marshal (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

  • We have been having practices that have been relatively well attended.  
  • Completed a few authorizations at last week’s practice.  I will have authorization forms at Red Tower for those in need of authorization. I will not have loaner gear with me.
  • There will be no practice on 10 September due to Red Tower and unless there is a marshall available on 1 October there will be no practice, this is the week of MGT and both my deputy and I will be fighting at MGT.  
  • I also completed my youth sparring authorization so if THL Mairghread or another youth marshal is there we have multiple people that can fight with youth.

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

  • 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.
  • This Sunday (9/10) we’ll still be cleaning up and returning from Red Tower.  Sorry, no rapier practice.
  • As my mundane schedule gets even crazier, we’ve started a chat including every rapier marshal who might step in to fill those gaps.  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.
  • Big shout-out to folks recently giving rapier a try.  Looking forward to seeing more folks having fun!
  • This weekend, Red Tower!
  • Castle Wars is coming up faster than you think.  Castle Wars requires a castle, which we happen to have.  However, it needs work.  If you are interested in helping beautify the castle, please contact me.  Some of the pieces are heavy, some of them need some minor carpentry, and all of them need some paint.  I’d like to arrange a couple of work days/weekends in my front yard.  Available times for me are Monday, 9/18-Friday, 9/29 or Saturday 10/7-17.
  • Castle Wars schedule is currently expected to include the Meridian Order of the Blade Invitational tournament, as well as all the meleé we can pack in around it.  Stay tuned.
  • HYDRATE!

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

  • The search for a new archery place continues, may start looking at schools or parks until we can find a new place
  • Thrown weapons are still at Master Mathias’ house.
  • Didn’t have practice last month, hoping to have one for September
  • Around 17th of 24th for Sept. for live weapons practice
  • Equipment is good, want to practice with more atlatls
  • Live Weapons will be at Red Tower, Mara will be marshal at RT
  • Teaching a Marshal class at 8 AM for setting up the range to get RUM credit

Exchequer (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

  • We have $4292.28 in our account
  • PO Box is up for renewal by the end of this month. Expense is $226, previously approved in the annual budget meeting. I will renew next week. 
  • We are going to need to update the signatories on our account so I will discuss that process with the financial committee.
  • Just made a deposit today of $155 for pre-reg checks for RT
  • Paypal Use Request for CW is complete and should be available after RT. 
  • Reminder that for the time being, all troll registration must be either pre-preg via Paypal or check, or with cash or check at the gate. We can’t accept cards at this time.
  • It is a requirement that if you want to purchase a member discounted ticket, then you must present a current membership card. Even if you pre-register!! If you are not able to show proof of membership, then you will need to pay the $5 non member cost.
  • Reminder for all event expenses, absolutely NO personal purchases may be on a receipt that you turn in for reimbursement. 
  • Please check your budgets. If you are able, please consider separating purchases onto different categories. For example, if you are buying food and general supplies for the event, making those be on separate receipts is very very helpful and helps make paperwork easier.
  • If you have any purchase or money questions or any questions in general about the Barony’s funds please reach out to me any time. 
  • Please be patient at troll with the volunteers, sometimes the paperwork takes time on site.
  • You can show a screenshot of your membership card or even the email as proof of purchase of your membership.
  • If you haven’t received a card from Corporate and you don’t have one, email them and they will send you one for free.

Quartermaster (Maestra Isabetta de San Marco

  • We still have stuff.
  • We still need a new storage space.
  • She still needs a deputy.

Chatelaine (Lady Ogata Mitsuko)

  • Will be writing up an article about the recent High Museum visit with some newbies and possible recruitment
  • Next up is the Viking exhibit at Fernbank Museum.
  • Master Mathias will be there with mead for the Fernback After Dark, Friday Nov. 10th!
  • Lady Ogata will be tied up with reservations and troll for Red Tower.
  • We’ve got some newcomers preregistered over Discord and garb for people!
  • Full report will be coming soon.

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

  • Nothing reported

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

  • We’ve seen an explosion of A&S on our Discord server recently and it makes me super excited to see everything being shared. Lots of textile projects and garb, wood working, jewelry making and bone carving too. And Sara is even learning to write Hebrew! You all ROCK!!!
  • And as a bonus, you’ve all been sharing your knowledge, research and resources. The sharing of knowledge is super important. You never know, someone may see something you’re doing or read a resource you post and become interested in a new thing. Keep sharing your work and your knowledge South Downs!!
  • I’m also happy to announce that Maryam has accepted the position as our A&S Officer. I’ll be working with her over the next few months to bring her up to speed on all things A&S. Thank you Maryam!!

Provost (Lord Ælfric Hort)

  • This past month we had 13 people show up for our monthly class night – Medieval Flavors with Mistress Christianna MacGrain.  
  • September’s class night will be September 27 in person at the Doraville Civic Center.  Sumarliði will be teaching us about Roman Workouts.
  • We also have 4 classes coming up at Red Tower this weekend.
  • I currently have all Teaching spots filled for the remainder of the 2023 calendar year.  Now is a great time to be thinking ahead to Castle Wars, Midwinter A&S, as well as monthly classes for 2024.
  • And on that note, I am going to start looking for a deputy Provost to begin helping me organize and promote A&S Class activities for the coming year.  Please get in touch with me on Facebook or Discord if you are interested in the position.

Chronicler (Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong)

  • Working on September’s issue of The Read Tower right now, will add in the officer’s reports and business from this meeting to add in the newsletter and will hopefully have it posted by Friday this week.
  • Goal is to get new bots for the Baronial and Kingdom calendars connected on the Discord and Baronial website before Castle Wars, won’t have time until after Red Tower this weekend.
  • Looking into Mailchimp to see if we can use it to send out the newsletters via email to those who want to subscribe and stay updated.
  • If you want to add events like Supper Club or gatherings to the South Downs Calendar, please feel free to reach out to me and we can get them added!
  • 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

  • Not much to report from social media presence; however we’ve had reasonably good interactions with Red Tower promotional posts. A notable part of that was that the Society page picked up our photo album for the Red Tower feast and that generated a lot of interest. Thanks to Lady Ysabel for taking the time to get all of those great photos during the feast test run!
  • If you aren’t currently a Discord user, I encourage you to give it a shot because the Barony’s Discord server is lively and full of interesting content and discussion! South Downs server is essentially a collection of ongoing group chats, organized by topics such as A&S, upcoming events, cooking, garb, etc. As a relatively new Discord user myself, I can promise that the learning curve isn’t too bad and the payoff is well worth it.

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

  • Thanks to Maryam for stepping into A&S and for teaching her class last month on LBGTQ People in the Medieval Middle East.
  • For this month’s DEI class, which will be in person on the 20th of September, Xander will be teaching a class about Understanding Tourette Syndrome.

Webminister (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

  • Made updates to a couple of officer pages to reflect current officers/deputies and updated the Deputies needed page.  
  • Made some minor updates for awards I know of for baronial members.  
  • Created and made updates to the Red Tower 2023 webpage.  For future events and needed updates please email me those to the web.southdowns@meridies.org email.  This helps me keep track of what I haven’t done yet and also gives me a historical tracking.  I don’t want to forget about needed changes but if it is just through messenger I have a tendency to forget because it gets marked as read.
  • I don’t think I have seen the flyer for Castle Wars yet to put up on the website.  The sooner it gets approved the sooner I can put it up.

Minister of Children (VACANT)

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

Their Excellencies, (Master Wistric Oftun & Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)

  • Still here for the next three days!
  • Thank you all, we look forward to seeing you at Red Tower. Thank you for the wonderful experience, as always.
  • If you haven’t filled out your ballot for the Swift’s Heart nominations, please fill it out and send it back by midnight tonight, Sept. 6th.

SCA Business

  • Red Tower
  • Master Mathias
        • Capt. Brendan posted a list of things in the inventory, if you’re on staff and haven’t requested things from the storage unit, please let Capt. Brendan know
        • Will be driving a minivan to bring Live Weapons equipment
        • Friday, around 6:30PM, we will meeting at the storage unit in Doraville to pack for Red Tower. If you’re able to bring something down to the event, please come to the storage unit to help bring things down so we don’t have to rent a trailer.
        • Message Capt. Brendan on FB or rm.southdowns@meridies.org if you need something from the storage unit so that they can compile a list of things needed from the storage unit
        • Master Mathias is touching base with all of the staff to figure out what things would be needed
        • Still need a herald for Their Majesties for Kingdom Court at Red Tower
        • We don’t know if we’ll have Children’s Activities at RT due to positive COVID tests
        • 1PM is the earliest that the site will let us on, Master Mathias will try to be on site as early as possible
        • Still looking for someone to run the lists for the tournaments
        • For future note, certain positions on staff can get their site fees comped, but not parking or feast fees, so please keep that in mind.
  • Castle Wars
    • Lady Hessa and THLady Ysabel
      • Site tokens have been ordered
      • Still looking for some positions to be filled, please let us know if you’re interested in helping
      • Still in need of a landcrat, which is most important thing so far, people to help with parking and bathroom patrol. Please volunteer even if people have volunteered already, we’re hoping to have teams to help rotate responsibilities
        • Master Mathias will take over for Landcrat for CW
      • Need to look for a merchantcrat
    • Capt. Brendan
      • The castle for Castle Wars needs some work, currently at Capt. Brendan and Lady Raven’s house.
      • Will need some work days/weekends at their house to work on the walls
      • Brendan may be out of town on days that work will need to be done on the walls
        • He is free between Sept. 18-29 and Oct. 7-17
        • Current plan is for Saturday, Oct. 7th.
      • May need to look into purchasing another measuring wheel
    • La Magnifica Justina
      • Need to figure out how teams are going to work with people for the troll team at Castle Wars to make sure she can train people properly
  • Supper Club – Lady Maryam
    • Alisandre is hosting again, late Oct. or early Nov.
    • Please let Lady Maryam know if you have any ideas for a theme
    • Once the date gets finalized, we’ll post it!
  • La Magnifica Justina
    • Start thinking about 2024 budgets
  • Seong Myeong Su
    • Lorenzo and I are going to start opening our house after Red Tower for craft nights on Thursdays
  • Master Mathias
    • Come see the commedia show at Red Tower!

Non-SCA Business

  • None reported

The business meeting was closed @ 8:55 PM EST

The next business meeting will be held on October 4th, 2023, 7:00 PM EST via Zoom Meeting.

August 2023 Baronial Business Meeting

02 August 2023, Time: 7:32 PM EST

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

Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong called the 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)

  • RUM has happened, Pennsic is coming, Red Tower is coming, Castle Wars is coming. Heading to a very busy fall!
  • Officer positions are filling up, Thanks to Lord Eirikir and Baron Piers for setting up emails for officers, everyone should be set up with emails currently.

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)     

  • Magister Lorenzo: Been doing some consultations but nothing was submitted yet
  • Awards in South Downs at RUM: THLady Majda and THLady Alisandre – Red Raven, Baroness Laurettia – Kestral’s Talon, Lady Ogata – Baronial Award of Excellence, Valentina, Sumarlidi, and Karimatu the Wanderer – Award of Arms, Lady Ysabel – Meridian Cross, Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong – Court Barony.

Knight Marshal (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

  • THLady Mairghread: KM is at Pennsic, but we will still be having heavy practice for the next couple weeks, so come on out!

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

  • 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.
  • This Sunday (8/6) and next Sunday (8/13), I will be attending the Pennsic War.  Our cadre of “stunt marshals” has been alerted, so practices will probably happen anyway.  Again, keep an eye on the FB group.
  • Shire of Owls’ Nest is holding Tuesday evening rapier practices at Swift Cantrell Park in Kennesaw.  Captain William posts on Atlanta SCA Fighting.  Athens School of Arms is not technically SCA, but is chock full of SCA rapier & C&T folks.  Athens School of Arms
  • As my mundane schedule gets even crazier, we’ve started a chat including every rapier marshal who might step in to fill those gaps.  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.
  • Big shout-out to folks recently giving rapier a try.  Looking forward to seeing more folks having fun!
  • Congrats to Conor Sofia on basic authorization, just in time for Pennsic!
  • Saturday, 8/26, there’s a Regional Fighter Practice at Fort Yargo State Park (https://fb.me/e/UiwfE6dO) and an InterKingdom BIRTHDAY BASH/fighter practice at Laurel Grove (https://fb.me/e/cuGfHkmfs). Both events promise to be awesome, simultaneously high activity (if you want) and low pressure.
  • Red Tower and Castle Wars are coming.  Look for more details of martial goings-on after your marshals return from Pennsic.  I would absolutely adore having another marshal to split and/or delegate duties to.
  • HYDRATE!

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

  • We had thrown weapons practice, we had someone qualify for the Meridian Order of Weapons Master – Enzio Galente.
  • Date for the next Live Weapons session is TBD, potentially August 27th.

Exchequer (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

  • $4432 in accounts
  • RUM numbers $1385 – gross from day-of Troll, total $1465 from paypal pre-reg , minus the paypal fee – $80. We have to split with Kingdom, so our total profit is $1385.16, minus $50 for the non-member fee, which we’re also splitting with Kingdom.
  • 282 total attendees, adult members –  255, adult non-members – 20, children – 7.
  • RUM: $150 budgeted for printing, but the total cost was over by $54. Total overall budget for the event was under the proposed event budget of $300, though. 
  • Vote brought up to approve overage, motion by Baron Piers and second by THLady Mairghead, vote passed and was approved.

Quartermaster (Maestra Isabetta de San Marco

  • We have stuff!
  • Looking for a new storage space
  • Still looking for a deputy

Chatelaine (Lady Ogata Mitsuko)

  • I have more information on a demo opportunity on September 16th, it is the Haralson County Annual Fried Pie Festival in Buchanan GA!
  • The festival goes from 9am to 4pm in downtown Buchanan. Please get in touch with myself or my demo deputy Lady Bu Feiyan if you’re interested in participating!
  • We also have a museum outing in the works, we’ll be checking out the High Museum’s exhibit on historic samurai armor and accoutrements! We are using a doodle survey to check off which days we are available. If you are interested in attending, be sure to check out the baronial discord server for that doodle link. I’ve personally been to the exhibit 3 times already and I am so hype for a 4th! I’ve also been advertising this to my friends outside of the SCA, so this is a great time to enjoy historic topics with some new faces.
  • I’d also like to give a big thank you to Sara Wandrawnyzcka for her gold key donation last month

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

  • Nothing reported, but potential demos covered by Lady Ogata

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

  • From the A&S side of things there’s nothing to report this month other than I still need a deputy.
  • The report is quarterly, through Google sheets and forms. Quick and easy, please contact me or Lady Raven if you’re interested in this officer position!

Provost (Lord Ælfric Hort)

  • This past month we had a good turnout for our monthly class night – History of Comedy with Master Mathias Blackett.  August’s class night will be August 23 via Zoom.  Mistress Christianna MacGrain will be back with us teaching “Medieval Flavors”
  • I currently have all Teaching spots filled for the remainder of the 2023 calendar year.  In the next week or so, I will be putting out the teacher sign up for Red Tower.  We will also need teachers for Castle Wars later in November, and of course I will need teachers again next year for A&S class goodness, so please get with me if you have any questions or want to discuss anything that you might want to teach in the future.

Chronicler (Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong)

  • The July issue of The Read Tower has been posted!
  • The August issue will be posted by the end of the week, but may be shorter than the July issue.
  • That said, I’m going to be collecting interviews from members of 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.
  • If you’re going to Pennsic this year, please grab some photos for me and let me know what your favorite memory is from this Pennsic. I want to do a post-Pennsic “South Downs: On the Road Again” section for the September newsletter.
  • Baronial calendar will get integrated and posted/linked once I get back from Pennsic.

Social Media Minister  (THLady Agnes Halydaye

  • Nothing reported, but ramping up Red Tower social media.

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

  • On DEIB this month, still looking for teachers for a class on intercultural connectivity in period, specifically the Silk Road.
  • I’d like to thank my teachers from last month, Dorian, Alawyn, Sumarlidi, for the fantastic class on Quiet Spaces!

Webminister (Lord Eiríkr Pálsson)

  • Nothing reported

Minister of Children (Vacant)

  • Position is open, please talk to Lady Raven or Lady Una with any questions or if you’re interested
  • A background check is required for the position

Their Excellencies, (Master Wistric Oftun & Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)

  • This is our penultimate meeting with everyone! We’re going to Pennsic on Friday.
  • We really appreciate how the barony held together for the past three years during the pandemic and during our tenure.
  • Thanks to Myeong Su and the RUM crew for a great event. Congratulations to everyone who was recognized at RUM and we’ll see you at Pennsic or Red Tower!

SCA Business

  • RUM:
    • Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong:
      • Thanks again to everyone who helped with RUM! If you’d like to run RUM or have any questions, please feel free to contact to me at seongmyeongsu.sca@gmail.com
  • Castle Wars Bid:
    • Ysabel and Hessa have revised the bid for Castle Wars from before, revised budgets look good.
    • If anyone is interested in learning how to run an event, please contact Lady Hessa or Lady Ysabel so you can shadow and learn
    • Paypal fee line may be off on the spreadsheet, will check and edit
    • Macintosh may not require additional insurance, will check contract to confirm
    • Lady Hessa has talked to Ellawin about Equestrian
    • General budget may be used to cover emergency expenses, like ant killer, etc.
    • Mairghread made a motion to approve the budget, La Magnifica Justina seconded the motion.
    • Bid has been approved.
    • PDF of the bid will be passed around to the Financial Committee for signatures.
    • La Magnifica Justina made a motion to add $100 to the General Budget 
  • Red Tower:
    • Baron Piers: 
      • Site visit on the 12th, if you want to go, let me know so we can coordinate timing. 
      • THLady Mairghread may go to have a deputy marshal look at the field.
    • Lady Raven: 
      • Look at the parking situation for weekend parking. Check if they’ll allow for archery for the large field in the back.
      • Possibly look into using the field set up from Red Tower last year to see if we can set up the same way for this Red Tower.
    • Master Mathias: 
      • Magistra Mara will be taking over as live weapons marshal since Conor couldn’t get the weekend off.
      • Site tokens: get with Mathias to see if we have site tokens already
      • Quote 200 site tokens in just materials for fingerloop from Luke, $100 was budgeted for site tokens.
  • DragonCon:
    • Not doing anything for DragonCon as the Barony for the parade or demo table.
    • Lord Ælfric remembers someone mentioning a change for an onstage demo at DragonCon for 15 mins, may need to look into if there’s a post for that for more information.
  • Pennsic Meridian Hafla:
    • Acharya Margavati: If you’re going to Pennsic, Meridies is hosting a hafla on Tuesday night by the request of Her Majesty. If you’re available from 7pm-9pm on Tuesday to help setup or come afterwards to help cleanup, or want to volunteer for checking IDs, we’d love to have you, Meridian Royal Camp is in block N03. You’ll get free food (before everyone else!)
    • Party starts at 9pm, if you come before 8 to help direct traffic, it would be appreciated.

Non-SCA Business

  • None reported.

The business meeting was closed @ 8:25 PM EST

The next business meeting will be held on September 6th, 2023, 7:00 PM EST via Zoom Meeting.

July 2023 Baronial Business Meeting

05 July 2023, Time: 7:30 PM EST

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

Magister Lorenzo called the July 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)

  • We have a busy fall with RUM, Pennsic, Red Tower, Castle Wars coming up., so keep your calendar open to help volunteer.
  • Discord server has been very active with lots of planning and activity. Join if you haven’t!
  • Officer positions are filling up, thanks to Baron Piers and Lord Eirikr for setting up emails and access.
  • If you need access to emails, please contact Lady Raven via the Seneschal email: sen.southdowns@meridies.org

Herald (Lady Bú Feiyan)     

  • Magister Lorenzo is covering tonight as deputy Herald.
  • If you haven’t registered a name or device, contact Magister Lorenzo and he will work with THLord Kurt for more information.

Knight Marshal (Lord Erikr Palsson)

  • We have been having practices.  It has been hot but people are still coming out. 
  • We have a Regional practice the day after RUM.  Site has been reserved.  Rapier and Heavy will be there along with YOUTH.  Jon Montgomery is bringing some loaner gear for the kids to let new kids give it a try.  If you have kids bring them or if you are authorized youth sparring please come out to give them someone to play with and learn from.
  • I will be going to Pennsic for my first time and will be there both weeks this year so I will need a Marshal to fill in for practices. (Lady Mairghread Wilson has volunteered to help, thank you!)

Rapier Marshal (Captain Brendan de Hay)

  • 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. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/259276954180390)
  • Shire of Owls’ Nest is holding Tuesday evening rapier practices at Swift Cantrell Park in Kennesaw.  Captain William posts on Atlanta SCA Fighting.  Athens School of Arms is not technically SCA, but is chock full of SCA rapier & C&T folks.  https://www.facebook.com/AthensSoA/posts/pfbid0Wy76Rze5Dy3SoGoRGpzx71VWwMm9mLUwmtUAM63gnyD5wiVATE5dL1ww659a5XnLl
  • Special thanks to Master Ximon, Lady Ogata, and Baron Piers for filling gaps in my ability to attend practices.
    • Taking item 3 a little further.  As my mundane schedule gets even crazier, we’ve started a chat including every rapier marshal who might step in to fill those gaps.  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.
  • We do currently have one more Rapier Marshal in Training.THL Pietro is on the track.  Having more marshals means more rapier activity  available for practices, demos, and events.
  • Big shout-out to folks recently giving rapier a try.  Looking forward to seeing more folks having fun!
  • Big thank you to Captain Rodrigo from Bryn Madoc for coming out to Sunday practice recently and facilitated several new authorizations.  More fighters means more people to have fun with!
  • Shameless plug for RUM, and our big practice extravaganza the following day.  South Downs fighter practice moves to Carrollton for that day.

Live Weapons (Master Mathias Blackett)

  • We are still searching for a new practice site. 
    • May start looking at the eastern side of Atlanta for practice sites, but would prefer the west side to keep it a joint practice with Owl’s Nest.
  • Current practices are still being held at Master Mathias’ house, focusing on thrown weapons right now until we can find a site that will accommodate archery.
  • Thrown weapons practice in June was well-attended with 6 people.

Exchequer (La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri)

  • We have $5,313.28 in our account,
  • Troll for RUM is still looking for 2 volunteers, it’s a super fun way to get to see everyone coming in to the event and If you have never worked check in, that is ok, I will train you and you won’t be on your own
  • A reminder that if you have any event expenses, please keep all receipts and be mindful of your budget and bring any concerns to Myeong Su or me and we can discuss them with the Financial Committee. We can’t guarantee you will be fully compensated if you go over budget and it also leads to delays in receiving your reimbursement

Quartermaster (Maestra Isabetta de San Marco

  • We have stuff!
  • Getting a new storage unit is current priority, will probably kick in after Pennsic
  • Still looking for a deputy

Chatelaine (Lady Ogata Mitsuko)

  • June has been interesting for the office of chatelaine, as we have at least two opportunities for demos
  • One of these would be through the Doraville Day Camp
  • I spoke to Crystal Dawson with Doraville Parks and Recreation and this is what we’re looking at:
    • A demo at the Doraville Day Camp would involve 60 campers ages 5-12
    • We have the option to do small group demos at an hour a time over several days or present to all 60 kids at once
    • Crystal told me the kids this summer have been receptive to presentations on medieval crafts, arts and sciences, and camp life. Although I pitched combat sports and live weapons demonstrations as possibilities, Crystal turned these down.
    • I’m assuming fighting and live weapons could be a little PG-13 for this group, but that’s okay.
    • I’m told they are a creative, diverse, energetic and overall excitable group, and that sounds good to me!
  • Additionally, we have another demo opportunity at a festival in West Georgia.
    • Maestra Dori Coblentz, a local fencing instructor with the Decatur School of Arms, recently put me in touch with a festival organizer named Caron Connelly.
    • This demo is an order of magnitude larger (apparently around 11k participants). I currently know less about this but I’m getting in touch with Caron today and tomorrow to ask questions
  • This is a heads up to Fru Arnora and Lady Bu that I’ll be cc-ing the both of you on these email chains
  • No dates for either of these demos yet

Demo Deputy (Lady Bú Feiyan)

  • Nothing reported, but potential demos covered by Lady Ogata.

Arts & Sciences (HE Rhiannon verch Madyn)

  • This month the A&S focus is on RUM. Please take advantage of the wonderful classes being taught by excellent teachers.
  • I’m looking for a deputy ASAP! Any interested parties please send me a Facebook  message. Supporting the arts and sciences is a great way to see what everyone is doing. Plus our Kingdom quarterly reports are super easy to do.

Provost (Lord Ælfric Hort)

  • This past month we had two classes offered.  15 people came to our monthly class night – Intro to Inkle Weaving with Master Ximon and 8 attended our bonus class night – Feast Appreciation with Mistress Christianna.  
  • July’s class night will be July 26 via Zoom.  Master Mathias will be teaching History of Comedy.
  • I currently have all Teaching spots filled for the remainder of the 2023 calendar year.  We will need teachers for Red Tower and Castle Wars later in the fall, and of course I will need teachers again next year for A&S class goodness, so please get with me if you have any questions or want to discuss anything that you might want to teach in the future.

Chronicler (Seong Myeong Su Daesaseong)

  • Settling into the Chronicler position, got access to the email, website login, and Kingdom Chronicler group. Will strive to post meeting minutes by the first Friday of the month to the website.
  • Will be working on articles and content for The Read Tower, anything from articles to event recaps or photos and shout-outs! 
  • Send content to me at chron.southdowns@meridies.org to get included in the newsletter.
  • Will set up a consent release form for content for the newsletter.
  • Hoping to get a mailchimp or something similar out so people can sign-up for emails with the newsletter.
  • Will get with officers to help kick off a Baronial Google Calendar to help keep track of all the things we’ve got going on.

Social Media Minister  (THLady Agnes Halydaye

  • Nothing reported, but our Discord is active and growing!

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

  • Amazing class last month for our first in-person DEIB class with Lady Mitsuko and La Magnifica Justina di Silvestri!
  • I am working on the DEIB class for this month and I posted to the Discord to see if I can gather some panelists. If I can get at least a couple of people to participate, then we will have a class on “The subtle impact of quiet spaces” on the 12th.  If I can’t find anyone then we’ll probably need a backup activity.
  • I didn’t see the info about the RUM post mortem, when I started planning things, so I thought the date would be for the 19th. That gives me a little less time to hunt for participants. Still, I will do my best to make this work. I’ve already reached out to my fellow Meridies DEIB folks, though I haven’t heard back yet. I’ll keep the barony informed of my progress with the class. Thanks again for all you do. 

Webminister (Lord Erikr Palsson)

Minister of Children (Lady Una Ulfrdottir)

  • Looking for a deputy as she has stepped down, but will stick around until we find a new officer.
  • Plan is to have a joint effort at RUM for children’s activities

Their Excellencies, (Master Wistric Oftun & Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)

  • If you’re not busy with RUM or Pennsic prep, please jump on storage unit sites and see how much 250 sq ft will cost near you
  • If you’re new and want to volunteer for a position or job, please feel free to jump in and go for it! The barony will support you!
  • Actively looking for retainers for RUM to help with Carver since he will be at RUM. Anneliese will be posting a link soon once the schedule is set.
  • This is the second to last court before they step down at Red Tower, so we hope that you can make it!

SCA Business

  • Royal University of Meridies (RUM)
      • We’re 10 days out from RUM! I’ll be going to the storage unit sometime this weekend to pick up a few things, mostly toilet paper, check-in materials, and boards for the schedules.
        • Will pick up water coolers and cups for outdoor classes and regional FP on Sunday
      • If you need anything from the storage unit, please let me know before this weekend.
      • Dame Sibella posted a draft of the schedule yesterday, and we’re working on getting it in the database and changing the formats for large posters.
      • Always need volunteers for unloading teacher materials and help getting them into their classrooms.
      • Will work on scheduling the performance before court to start when court is scheduled to start.
  • Red Tower
      • Thanks to everyone who volunteered, within four days we have all the staff positions filled for the event!
      • Fundraiser lunch in Southern Consortium, right of first refusal
      • Mathias will try to do a site visit sometime soon.
        • Questions about site for parking and big field for use for archery/live weapons/martial activities.
  • Castle Wars
    • Bid in progress with Lady Hessa and THLady Ysabel
    • Current bid is looking at using McIntosh as the site.
    • Hoping to get the bid in to review by July 19th.
  • Printify shop profits have come in for April and May, we’ve made $148.48! Myeong Su will get a check to La Magnifica Justina soon.
    • Will be working on more designs too, most likely after RUM.
  • Storage Unit
    • Current unit is 20×20, cost is over $500 a month right now
    • Possible to pay a month ahead of time, or try to negotiate advertising or get someone to help us out as a non-profit
  • Supper Club – Lady Maryam
    • Thanks to everyone who came out to Supper Club!
    • We’re going to try to make this a more regular thing
    • If you are interested in potential themes, let Maryam know! She’s trying to get the next date together for the next session.

Non-SCA Business

  • The High Museum has a Samurai Exhibit from June 23rd to Sept. 17th. Go check it out!

The business meeting was closed @ 8:31 PM EST

The next business meeting will be held on August 2nd, 2023, 7:00 PM EST via Zoom Meeting.