February 2019 Baronial Business Meeting Minutes

South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

6 February 2019, 7:30pm

Doraville Civic Center – 3744 Central Ave., Doraville GA

Notes submitted by Lady Raven Helmsplitter, South Downs Chronicler.

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

Officer Reports

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

Other SCA Business

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

Non-SCA Business

  • Margavati brought fabric that needs a new home

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

Thanks!

–Raven