South Downs Baronial Business Meeting

7 March 2018, 7:30pm

Little Tree Studios

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

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

Officer Reports

• Herald (Lord Lucien d’Artois)
  • Events – Midwinter A+S
    • Lady Mairghread Wilson – Kestral’s Talon
    • Lady Emmelina le Norreys – Baronial A+S Champion
    • Lady Alisandre de la Chapelle – Swan’s Grace
    • THL Sibella Denton – Sable Keep
    • Lady Raven Helmsplitter – Falcon’s Faith
    • Lord Konrad Windhorn – Phoenix’ Spark
    • Lord Mark de Wytteney – Falcon’s Faith
    • Lady Melusine LaPucelle Dix LaFayette – Falcon’s Faith
    • Lord Lucien d’Artois – Red Raven
    • Lady Juliane de Vivonne – Red Raven
    • Lord Brendan de Hay – Chivalry Award
    • Lady Maire Dhocair inghean Chiarain – Order of the Bough
  • Submissions
    • Lady Juliane de Vivonne – new badge
    • THL Mathias Blackett – new household name and badge
    • Mistress Mara Palmer – new household name and badge
    • Lady Ruqayah al-Zarqa – device change

• Armored and Youth Marshal (Lady Mairghread)
  • Armored
    • Armored practice has resumed now that the weather is cooperating (fingers crossed!)
    • Lady Mairghread will not be at practice this coming week (Sunday, March 11 and Tuesday, March 13) because she will be at Gulf Wars – would like to have another marshal volunteer to lead practice
    • Lord Mark de Wytteney is our newest authorized armored fighter (yay!)
  • Youth
    • Will be teaching a youth armored fighting class at Owl’s Nest’s Newcomer’s Collegium on April 28. Mathias and Sir Iazzie will be also be teaching an alternative weapons class at Newcomer’s, and Mark also volunteered he is teaching a class.

• Live Weapons Marshal (Mistress Mara Palmer – THL Mathias reporting)
  • Mathias read from Mistress Mara’s report “We are really bad at picking dates!
    I’m sorry!”
  • That being said, please check the Facebook group, South Downs/Owl’s Nest Live Weapons Practice to track upcoming practices.

• Rapier Marshal (Lord Brendan de Hay)
  • Practices. We are still having them, Sunday afternoons, concurrent with armored. Tuesday evening practices at 7pm, temporarily moved to Blackburn Park due to the lighting situation at Liane Levetan. We’re averaging 2-12 people. For updates regarding rapier practices, go to the Atlanta SCA Fighting Facebook group.
  • Thanked everyone who came out to this year’s Meridian College of Arms, hosted by the Shire of Arenal! Everyone who went had a great time, and the Barony fielded three fencers, and several event support staff.
  • Mairghread mentioned that the Kingdom Youth Rapier Marshal, Master Ysabel de Sancte Croix, is looking for a Youth deputy. Please contact Master Ysabel directly if interested.

• Chatelaine (Master Wistric reporting for Lady Justina di Silvestri)
  • Demo at Anachrocon (2/17-18) went really well and had a fair number of people already interested in history showed further interest in SCA, with at least 2-4 people get more detailed information on the upcoming events of Fools War and Newcomers Collegium, and a few new people joined the fighter practice group. Everyone who showed up was fantastic and engaging to attendees- was a great experience.
  • Demo for the Knights Templar at the Atlanta Masonic Temple (2/24)- Lord Mark and Jarec did a brief demonstration and lecture on the history of the Templars and the kit and fighting style. The audience was engaged and came up to us with questions after. They have reached out to offer a donation to the barony as thanks.
  • Gold Key: I am going to itemize and input info of the gold key into a google doc so that we can keep a running record of what we have. I hope in the upcoming months to have a shirt/chemise drive… if anyone has any ideas or tips getting more underclothes to gold key, I am very open to suggestions 🙂
  • April SCA swap/giveaway/yard sale: April 11 is a project night, and it looked like my post in the South Downs Facebook group was well received, so let’s have an SCA swap meet! Bring garb you no longer wear, craft items, feast gear, camp gear, fabric, etc. This is a great opportunity for newcomers and people who need SCA gear to be more comfortable at events, to try a new craft, and for more seasoned members to declutter their homes.

• Arts & Sciences (Mistress Sunneva de Cleia)
  • Our February A+S class topic was Building a Collapsible Banner Pole, taught by Master Ximon Martillo de Cordoba. Everyone enjoyed the class (and the double entendres).
    Ximon thanked Mark and Meulsine in particular for their assistance.
  • This month’s class, “How to Run a List Field,” will be taught by Juliane.
  • Reminder: Caterina will be teaching a Paypal class for the Barony in July,
    as well as at Newcomer’s Collegium. THL Andreva encouraged everyone to consider taking the class, because the more people who are approved to handle the new Paypal registration/payment system, the easier it will be for those running troll at events.
  • Artsy Crown – Mistress Sunneva will touch base with Lord Piers to get A+S class registration going
  • Sunneva and Emmelina will be spearheading a baronial (encampment) beautification effort, starting soon – stay tuned!
  • Sunneva has made a schedule for all of 2018 as a Google Docs spreadsheet so you (yes, you! you know it’s one of your new year’s resolutions) can sign up to teach a class at one of our monthly A+S nights. She is pleased to report we have classes scheduled through August.

• Reeve (THL Andreva Rigaldi)
  • Andreva reported that we have money! $9,234.73 is in our new bank account.
    The old Bank of America account will be closed shortly.
  • She reported that we had 220 people at Midwinter A+S, including 13 children and 28 paid non-members (including the cast of the local production of Spamalot).
    Profit from the event totaled $983.37 (yay!)
  • Andreva will run troll for Artsy Crown, as she has taken the Paypal class. She encourages everyone – especially if you are interested in volunteering at Troll – to take the class, so you can help with reservations and taking credit card payments onsite. At future events, the Head Troll will likely need to have taken the Paypal class before the event.
  • Lisa – who has been running Paypal for our events – is looking for a Paypal deputy. Please contact her directly if interested.
  • Andreva is also looking for a deputy – if you’re interested, please contact her directly. If you can use Excel, you can do this job!

• Webminister (Lord Pietro di Conti)
  • We have a website!
  • Updated:
    • Meeting site address to 2838 Franklin
    • Justina as Chatelaine
    • Emmelina as Baronial Arts Champion
    • Sunneva as A&S Minister
    • Ximon’s device
    • Red Raven list to include Mistress Margavati, Ximon, Lord Sebastianos, and Mistress Serafina. Still need to confirm some award dates, though likely sometime 2009-2013. Lorenzo already was listed
    • Linked to “demo suggestion” form on Chatelaine page
    • Posted A&S class list
    • Events: Artsy Crown (new page), Festival of Vices and Virtues, Newcomers, Golden Lily, Fools War, Dreamstone
  • Sent webminister writeup to Chronicler for newsletter

• Chronicler (Lady Raven Helmsplitter)
  • Still need articles for the Winter 2018 issue of The Read Tower, due Saturday, March 10, before the clock springs forward for Daylight Savings Time; goal of the newsletter is to inform, particularly newcomers, about what we do, why we enjoy what we do in the SCA, and why a newcomer would want to take part. Examples:
    • Officers’ column: each Baronial officer has a column where they can describe what they do, what’s cool about what you do as that officer, and anything (events, practices, etc) you want to publicize. Roughly 500 words (a page or so?). Officer columns due March 7 before midnight.
    • Guild reps: again, you have a space where you can let the populace know what you do, why you find it cool, and what your Guild has going on. And again, roughly 500 words would be great
    • Articles I’d like to have written, 500-750 words (ish); if you’d like to write an article, please let me know and we’ll chat:
      • Reveling at Castle Wars: one of the things that makes Castle Wars special, the camping and reveling; article and photos  STILL NEED
      • Presentation (?) Herald at Crown: what it’s like to process with a combatant at Crown and announce them at the beginning of the tournament? STILL NEED
      • Rapier activity beyond the world of the SCA (SERFO/HEMA) (thanks, Brendan de Hay!)
      • A+S Competitions at Midwinter A+S (Thanks, Sunneva!)
      • Class handouts, recipes, etc. – please include images (I can scan if necessary), and a writeup introducing the material (ongoing)
      • Artwork and photos – again, I can scan artwork if necessary (thanks, Andreva, for the 40 Year photos!)
      • Would love an article for the *next* issue on something about Gulf Wars (suggestion: the Al-Mahala salon, or Ca’ d’Oro). And please submit pictures! Thanks!

• Seneschal (Master Wistric Oftun)
  • No report…
  • But wait! We have a new person at the meeting! Wistric asked everyone to introduce themselves, so we did 🙂
  • The shire of Tir Briste has set up a fire ant management plan in coordination with the management at Al-Sihah Shrine (where Fool’s War, Artsy Crown, and other large events will be held), and has given us permission to come out to the shrine several times before events to destroy ants. Tir Briste (and the Fools War autocrat) will need help, so when the treatment dates are announced, please consider helping if you can, especially since we will need to do the same in advance of our own event, Artsy Crown
  • Mark had talked to people in Tir Briste about who handles the mowing and if there are better options; the site is large and high grass contributes to problems with the ants and other critters.

• Their Excellencies
  • Gulf Wars
    • Who’s going?
    • If you’re planning on going to Gulf Wars and plan to be on site by Tuesday morning of War Week, please let Her Excellency know – she would love to have members of the Barony take part in the procession and carry the Baronial banner, looking fab and badass 🙂
    • If you plan on camping with the Barony for Fool’s War, please make sure Her Excellency know you are doing so – we need to make sure we have enough in our group for the space allotment we’re looking for.
  • If you have any additional comments about Midwinter A+S, please let Lady Alisandre know.

Upcoming Events

• Artsy Crown (26-29 May 2018)
  • There will be two fundraiser lunches, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. If interested, please let Lord Piers know – he’s giving South Downs first dibs.
  • Other than that, everything is moving along well.
  • PayPal:
    • We are 85% set on PayPal for this event.
    • Do we have any PayPal readers? How many will we need? Does anyone have any?
    • Does the barony wish to invest in a couple of readers? We don’t know yet if Kingdom has decided to move forward with this PayPal experiment (although being able to pay online and take credit cards at the door is really helpful)
    • There were a couple of PayPal issues that have been cleared up – specifically, we had problems with tracking reservations for multiple feasts (Artsy Crown has two, one on Saturday and one on Sunday evening
  • Lady Emmelina offered to coordinate a fundraiser art sale at Artsy Crown, with proceeds going to the Castle Wars revel (yay!); need to figure out logistics/space between classes, lunch, etc., but everyone loved the idea
  • Lucien will serve as quartermaster for the event, since Ximon can’t attend
  • Piers will make arrangements for the trailer to be towed from the Base to and from the event site.

• Red Tower (5-7 October 2018)
  • Will be held at Hard Labor Creek in Rutledge, GA
  • We have an autocrat! Lord Mark de Wytteney!
  • We have a theme – Gods Among Us (Greek!)! Every activity will have a Greek god or goddess sponsor
  • Some ideas were developed at dinner after 40 Year
  • Youth activities idea – have people volunteer greek gods in disguise, and the kids can spend the day trying to figure out who is a god

• Castle Wars (15-18 November 2018)
  • Will be held at Al-Sihah Shrine in Macon, GA
  • We have an autocrat! Lady Juliane!
  • Theme: War of the Roses
  • She is busy putting together the bid, and needs staff in every department
    • Mairghread volunteered as MiC (or to help find one if she can’t make it)
    • Feast? Beast? Should talk to Sir Lochlann
    • Mark volunteered as Landcrat
    • Andreva will help with reservations
    • Ximon offered general assistance
    • Raven offered to do the flyer and site booklet

SCA Business

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

Non-SCA Business

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

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

–Raven