Meeting Minutes

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.